Feeling stumped when it comes to serving great food at your corporate events?
Everyone is a food critic. Yes, your events’ attendees are too!
While they won’t necessarily be showing up to critique the food, they do expect a quality experience that fits the theme and atmosphere of the event. And, if all the right nodes aren’t hit, expect the critics to come out and make their opinion known!
When planning refreshments and meals, there are several moving parts that need to be considered. It’s no wonder that so many corporate event planners struggle with getting it just right.
These questions will help you build the necessary foundation to get on the right track. You’ll find that if you can successfully identify and implement the answers to these questions, planning the grub at your next corporate event is much more likely to go off without a hitch!
1. What Do You Serve?
Fair enough – sometimes the answer to this question can be pretty obvious.
But, it remains an essential component to planning successful events.
One of the major reasons planning food for corporate events can be frustrating is because the event planner simply has no idea what to serve.
Sometimes, the best way to answer a question is to dig a little deeper and ask a few more questions. Consider these points:
- What is the size of the budget?
- Who are the attendees?
- What is the overarching goal or type of event and desired vibe?
- What is the venue or location?
- What is the timing of the event?
- What expectations about “event food” influence guests?
When you get clear on these points, you’ll often find the answer to your perfect food selection waiting for you.
2. How Do You Serve It?
Now that you’ve gained clarity on what kind of food you’re serving, it’s time to focus on how you’re going to serve it.
Have you ever been to a restaurant and waited hours before eating anything? Or maybe you dealt with rude service right off the bat? Or, perhaps even, you were completely ignored upon arriving and left after no one was around to seat you?
Ask yourself this: did the quality of the food even matter after the service spoiled your experience?
It goes without saying, nailing the service aspect of the food experience is just as critical as the food itself.
Just as you choose the meals based on the goals of the corporate event, the service should also match the atmosphere, vibe and overall objective of your upcoming gathering.
Whether you’re going with a butler-passed, plated, or buffet experience, ensure the “how” aspect of serving the food is on point and on time!
3. How Much Do You Serve?
There are few greater disasters in the corporate event planning world than having only enough food for some of the guests.
You don’t want attendees leaving hungry, or having so much food that unnecessary money is wasted from the budget. So, you also have to get clear on how much food you’re going to serve.
Consider the timing of the event, are you holding it during a commonly recognized meal period such as breakfast, lunch or dinner? If so, be prepared to serve a substantial amount of food. Also consider that popular items are consumed much more than you may expect, don’t be caught off guard by ordering just a few portions of the good stuff!
Of course, the size of the event also needs to be considered. Feeding 100 people is an entirely different ball game than feeding 15.
These 3 questions give you a solid foundation to take the headache out of the food aspect of your corporate event planning.
Remember, the clearer you get on each of the “3 questions” the smoother your meal planning will go. <– Click to Tweet
Tell us in the comments below, what’s the most important step you take to ensure a flawless food experience for your guests?
Enjoyed this post? Find many more ideas and strategies for corporate event planners in our free digital copy of Going Live: Insider Secrets to Corporate Event Production.