Corporate party entertainment Manhattan

Fall is here, and personally, it’s my favorite season. The weather is crisp, the new school year has begun, and the 4^th quarter is now underway. It’s also the perfect time to throw an office party in New York City – summer’s over, so you won’t lose people to vacations, and it’s not yet blizzard season, when nobody wants to go anywhere except home after a long day at work.

Oftentimes when planners decide to put together a fun fall shindig to motivate staff or reward loyal clients, there’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety involved: where do I begin? What do I do? How do I do it? As a professional event programmer and producer for the past fifteen years, I know firsthand how overwhelming and intimidating the prospect can be. After all, this isn’t just some gathering of friends and family, but rather colleagues, bosses, clients and other stakeholders. There’s a lot on the line!

Fear not – I’ve compiled a helpful step-by-step guide, which will help you navigate the process of putting together great NYC corporate event entertainment during the fall season. Take these 10 steps in order for best results:

• 1. Select a Month – First things first, we need to pick a date that works for everybody (or at least most people). Look at the calendar, and decide: which month should we do this? You’re specifically looking to avoid any anticipated busy patches, conflicts, holidays, etc. Be sure to plan it far enough out that people can actually mark it on their calendars – I’d suggest at least 4-6 weeks, however you can drop down to fewer if needed, since any longer and we’re into holiday party season.

• 2. Select a Portion of the Week – After you’ve selected your month, decide the PORTION of the week you want to hold your event on. Notice I didn’t say “date” – the reason? You don’t want to box yourself in, especially because if you’re planning to hold your event offsite, the venue may not have availability on the day of the week you want (more on that below). For now, focus on which part of the week you want to do this. I always recommend earlier in the week. For one, venues are typically slow on Mondays & Tuesdays, and would love to host your group at a great rate. Later in the week, particularly Thursday and Friday, are popular social nights in the city, and your group won’t love that idea (for a holiday party, maybe – but not for a fall social event).

• 3. Determine Your Budget – Do this first, BEFORE you get your heart set on a specific venue, entertainment, activity, etc. You have to know how much you have to spend before you commit it, and having this number in mind will be tremendously helpful as you narrow down your prospective options.

• 4. Choose Your Activity – Very important that this step comes BEFORE you choose your venue, and here’s why: you want to select a venue which works well with whatever it is you’re doing. Decide what kind of entertainment you’d like for this event: something structured, or casual? Should it be engaging, or passive? Does it need to be done indoors, or outdoors? (it’s still warm enough to hold an outdoor event, however with each passing week it’s just going to get colder. We’re also into storm season). Consider what you’ve done in the past, and ask yourself: did people enjoy that? Should we try something new? I’m a big fan of asking your audience directly: what would you like to do? It’s an easy way to obtain feedback when choosing the event entertainment.

• 5. Book the Venue – Whether holding your event onsite or offsite, you’ve got to lock the space down ASAP. Hopefully you will have done your homework, and chosen a venue which is A) geographically convenient; B) appropriate for the audience/activity; C) private – you don’t want a “semi private” space if you can avoid it; and D) has availability during your preferred hours. Speaking of which…

• 6. Choose Your Event Time – When will this start? How long will it go for? You’ve got to consider that people are likely coming directly from the office, and will also need time to get to the space if it’s being held offsite. Having a nice “buffer time” between when you have access to the space and when the entertainment activity begins is a good idea, since you know as well as I do that people never arrive on time, but rather “drift in” in waves. Having a venue with no curfew is the best option, since there’s no time restrictions; however, if there is another party coming in after yours, or a significant fee incurred for staying past a certain time, you should factor this into your party planning.

• 7. Send the Invitation – Get the word out, the earlier the better. Fall calendars tend to fill up quickly, since people want to get in as much of Manhattan as they can before the thermometer plunges. Make up your guest list, send the calendar invite, and keep track of RSVP’s so both you and the venue have an accurate headcount.

• 8. Provide Updates As Needed – Things change from the original plans, this is natural. Schedules become unexpectedly conflicted, venues have issues, start/end times get nudged, and a host of other items crop up. As the planner, it’s your job to stay on top of this, and provide excellent communication to your guests, venue, entertainment vendor and any other stakeholders in the function.

• 9. Show Up Early, Stay the Entire Time – This event is your baby, you’ve worked hard to make it happen! Now, you must see it though to the end. Arrive well in advance of your guests, to ensure that the space is set up properly and that everything is in place as it should be. Once the party is underway, you are going to be the go-to person for everything: troubleshooting, ensuring people know where to be and when, keeper of the timeline/run of show, etc. Do NOT duck out early, lest something happens and you’re nowhere to be found. It would be a shame to have put in this much time and effort, only to have something go wrong at the final stage and you weren’t there to correct it.

• 10. Send Thank-You’s – Your obligations don’t end once the last plate is cleared and the final bill paid. You MUST thank those who made the event possible, in order to maintain your relationships and keep people feeling good about what (hopefully) was a tremendously successful party.

Whether you’re looking to do something extremely casual or complex, so long as you follow the above 10 steps, in the above order, you are well on your way to pulling of a fantastic experience for your colleagues or clients, which they will fondly remember long afterwards!

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