Corporate Events Guides

Planning an event where the bosses—perhaps even the President of the company?—will be in attendance can be nerve-wracking. Can anything be ever good enough for the bigwigs?

Thankfully, the big bosses are much like any regular employee, and good bosses are comfortable and secure enough with themselves to know who they are, and not parade around like they own the place (even if they literally do.)

But no matter how humble or down to earth the bosses might be, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t get the treatment that they deserve. Here are a few things that you need to bear in mind when dealing with VIPs:

Give them a prime spot. There will always be such a thing as a VIP table, which is usually front and center of the event area. All VIPs being grouped together is the norm, but it’s best to do a little research on whose friends (or frenemies) with who to get the seating chart right.

Serve them their food, don’t let them line up at the buffet area. This is SOP for any catering service to serve the VIPs first, much like you would serve those in the presidential table in a wedding first. But a little reminder won’t hurt.

Add a little more to their table for their enjoyment. Whether it’s a bottle of champagne or an extra serving of hors d’ oeuvres, or maybe more dessert?

Acknowledge their presence right away. It’s embarrassing if or when VIPs are seen loitering around because no one paid attention to them or saw them come in. While they probably won’t mind, it shows ignorance in your part to not know your higher ups. Assign ushers to look out for specific VIPs, and once spotted, to immediately lead them to their seats. Make a running list of the VIPs who are in the event, and hand the list to those who will be giving their remarks or speeches, so that they can acknowledge their presence while in the podium.

Be available, but keep your distance. Assign a “runner” or assistant of sorts to keep a watchful eye on those in the VIP table to be of help for anything that they’ll need, from running out of water to being led on stage for their opening remarks. Paying attention to them is different from babying them too much, so it’s better to literally stay at arm’s length, and just observe them from afar.

Give them tokens, not loot bags. VIPs won’t mind getting the standard notebooks with the company logo on them, but perhaps it’s best to go the extra mile with your gift for them. After all, they took time out of their busy schedules to grace your event. Think a beautiful picture of a tourist attraction in the Philippines, a leather notebook with their initials, or anything that they can proudly display in their office.

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