Your next event may look fantastic, but is it actually helping your business grow?
It's an interesting question, and one that came up when we started looking at the event programme of a Swiss company working with Ultra High Net Worth individuals and corporate clients. They were investing in client dinners, networking opportunities, trade shows, sponsorships and staff gatherings, plenty happening, plenty of money being spent and no shortage of enthusiasm, but when we looked a little closer, something became clear.
They were organising events for very different audiences, often without defining what each audience needed or what the business wanted to achieve.
Now here is the thing, filling a calendar with events is easy, making those events work together to build relationships, attract new clients, strengthen loyalty and support business growth takes a little more thought, so rather than starting with venues, menus and guest lists, we started with the people.
The first group, prospective UHNW clients.
These are people who probably receive more invitations than they could ever accept. Another corporate dinner with a presentation about how wonderful your company is? Ehhhhh, perhaps not!
What about a small, carefully curated experience built around something they're genuinely interested in? An intimate gathering, an unusual location, exceptional hospitality and the opportunity to meet interesting people, no hard sell, Just a memorable experience where relationships can develop naturally, trust can begin to grow and the brand becomes part of the conversation without dominating it.
Then, there are the existing clients.
These are the people who already trust you with their business, and that relationship deserves continued attention. Exclusive experiences, private educational sessions, opportunities to meet specialists or simply an enjoyable evening where they feel valued.
The objective isn't always to sell something, more often than not it's to listen, understand their changing needs and remind them why they chose to work with you in the first place.
Next, your wider corporate clients and business partners.
Here's where the strategy can look quite different, with trade shows, industry conferences, sponsorships and partner events can all create opportunities, but simply turning up with a stand or putting your logo on a programme isn't necessarily going to deliver much.
Could you organise a private gathering alongside a major conference? Host a thought leadership discussion? Book out a restaurant for a morning breakfast or hire a cruise for the eevning, by bringing selected clients and partners together around a shared business challenge suddenly, you're doing more than attending an event you're creating your own opportunities within it.
And finally, the audience companies sometimes overlook. Their own people.
Your staff are the ones delivering the client experience every day.
They need opportunities to learn, develop feel cherished and build relationships too.
Leadership retreats, specialist training, educational workshops, team gatherings and, yes, a proper party now and again! Because celebrating success and giving people time to enjoy being together is just as important as the next training session, its actually way more IMHO.
Now, imagine bringing all four audiences into one coordinated annual event strategy.
Not four separate calendars, but a programme designed around clear business objectives.
We can look at where the business wants to grow, which relationships need strengthening, what knowledge needs sharing and how events can support each stage of the client and employee journey.
Then we start making some interesting decisions.
Which events should be intimate and exclusive? Which should reach a wider audience? Where should we collaborate with partners rather than create something ourselves? And perhaps most importantly, which events should we stop doing because they're simply not delivering enough value? We can build a programme across the year, establish realistic budgets, identify the right internal stakeholders and agree what success should look like before a single invitation goes out.
That's the difference between organising events and designing an event strategy.
At HOWARD&Co, we bring an independent perspective, additional capacity, creative thinking and a network of trusted specialists to help companies turn their event programmes into something far more purposeful. And once we've worked out the WHY, WHO and WHAT, we can get on with the rather enjoyable business of making it all happen.
From exclusive client experiences and brand activations to leadership retreats, and staff celebrations, we design and manage the whole experience.
So, here's a question for anyone looking at their 2027 event calendar. Are you planning another year of events, or are you designing a year of opportunities?
If you'd like a fresh pair of eyes on your event programme, let's have a conversation, you might be surprised by what we discover before we've even booked a venue!
Howard
Founder, HOWARD&Co
Based in Switzerland - Working globally.
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