Events, Etc - Catering and Design Blog

If you're looking for a great way to make your current clients feel like VIPs and persuade prospective clients to come aboard, then it's time for you to throw a professionally catered client appreciation event. These corporate events not only mean a lot to your guests, but they also do a good deal to promote your business and keep it "top of mind" with them -- as long as you do it right.

Client appreciation events may be held either for current clients exclusively or for a mix of current clients and prospective clients. The latter allows your prospects to mix with satisfied clients and hear first-hand what you've done for them, essentially selling your company or organization in a casual, "no-pressure" environment. Any self-promotion you do provide for the event should be extraordinarily subtle -- you want the emphasis to be on social networking, not sales.

Of course successful networking means that your participants have to be able to move freely around the room and talk instead of sitting at tables with their mouths full. So you and your Bay Area event planner will need to design your client appreciation event with mobility in mind. Finger foods, small glasses, little plastic trays to hold refreshments in one hand -- these are the essential tools of the networking mixer. They can also be conversation pieces in their own right. Here at Events Etc... we come up with imaginative, delicious food and drink options for all kinds of Bay Area events, and we know that the quality of menus and service can make or break these events' success. Classy, casual, light, happy -- the ideal client appreciation event encompasses all of these attributes. Your current clients will feel truly appreciated -- and your prospective clients may decide to become current clients!

In a previous article we talked about the advantages of catering on-site social events at the end of an all-day meeting. So now let's examine the other side of the coin -- reasons you might consider hosting your end-of-day mixer or other social event for your Bay Area event at an off-site location.

One of the main benefits of switching venues at the end of the day is psychological. Your guests have just spent all day at the meeting site, attending panel discussions, participating in small groups or seminars, and generally keeping their brains in business mode. By transplanting them from that location, which they've come to associate with work, into a whole new space dedicated purely to fun and relaxation, you're essentially giving them permission to let their hair down, chat and have a good time. The lack of agenda allows for a looser, less structured environment in which participants and organizers can get to know each other better and talk about things other than the meeting itself.

Of course, if you just move everybody from one hotel ballroom to another, you aren't likely to achieve a real change of scenery. That's why you should consider a totally different space -- one quiet enough for conversation, soothing enough to allow people to wind down after their all-day meeting, and yet stimulating enough to inspire new kinds of interaction. An art gallery or museum can provide the perfect setting for drinks, light snacks and fascinating things to look at and talk about. It's a great way to say, "Okay, we're done with the meeting, and now we're just having fun."

Here at Events Etc... we're happy to help you plan an off-site social event to complement your all-day meeting. Let us make your "post-event event" a memorable one!