Catering Plan for an Office or Corporate Party

So you've been assigned tasks for a special event in your workplace, and you've been told to take care of the food and drinks. You need a catering plan! So what's there to take note of when deciding on a catering plan?

Be mindful of your budget. A fraction of your budget goes to food and drinks, so you might want to add some interesting additions when it comes to refreshments and nibbles. To fit your budget better, you should discuss some options with the right firm you have selected to provide your catering services. Finger food catering is quite big right now with office parties, and most corporate catering services are willing to accommodate your ideas and suggestions. If you have a particular theme in mind that can catch the interest of your office mates and encourage their spouses to join, keep in mind that you have to create a fun and memorable office party that will allow your bosses and co-workers to bond and get to know each other more than just the corporate identity. Having your superiors and co-workers get to know each other in a more personal level strengthens inter-office teams and relationships.

Because most parties are held for recreation and leisure, ask around if your co-workers at the office are willing to do a themed party, like a bowling showdown, or a mad hatter tea party where everybody who is expected to attend is encouraged to wear a wacky hat. This allows for your party-goers to be creative and enjoy themselves. If you are allowed to be extravagant, organize a carnival-themed party and have the food prepared in mini carts like in a real carnival. This includes fun carnival finger food if your catering Sydney service is willing to serve hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream and waffles or fish and chips.

Part of outstanding office catering is when the caterer helps you choose a location. Because you spend about 5 to 6 days in the office every week, it's time to get to know your friends from the office outside the workplace. If you are leaning towards a picnic, perhaps your caterer of choice can do a spit roast catering. Does your caterer have experience in weddings too? They might have some interesting suggestions when it comes to wedding finger food that might be fun and tasty when prepared for a non-wedding celebration.

You want to see your guests socializing and chatting around, and you could always check a finger food company for the hottest trends in finger food and serving styles that could go well with your office party. For a whole new gastronomic experience for your co-workers, ask around if they might want a cold finger food selection and try to integrate their top choices in your catering services.

Send out some fun invitations or fun emails using your company server to make it official. Plan for a series of games and a little bit of fun, including some special prizes like corporate journals, bookmarks or something memorable. This will give you some brownie points for a job well done-in party planning, that is.

Spread the word to all your co-workers and proudly announce "You are invited!" Don't be surprised to see your name under corporate party planner for the next office event too.

Corporate Events: Building Long-Lasting Relationships

When trying to build a relationship with your clients or bond with staff members to increase their morale, corporate events is a powerful tool. In organizing an event like this, it is important to consider the reason why it is held in the first place. If it is for clients or business associates, will it be one way of showing your appreciation? If it is for your employees, is it because of a special holiday or occasion? It is important to know these things because it will also help you in thinking of the appropriate theme as well as looking for the most suitable place where it can be held.

Like any other event, it is also important to know how many people will be attending the affair. For corporate events for staff members, you will still have to ask for their final attendance. It is most likely, however, that all of them will be attending. On the other hand, corporate events for business associates will require you to ask for a confirmation. This is important because the number of people who will attend will determine the venue as well as the budget.

Location is also an important part in planning for an event. You will want the party to be in a place that is accessible to everybody. It can be somewhere near the office or where public transportation is near. If the venue is far, you can also arrange for transportation with a service that will bring your staff members to the venue and then back at the office.

Deciding where the venue will be also includes planning for the menu. If you will rent a place, they already have accredited caterers for you to choose from and you cannot get one that is not in the list. Also consider the kind of dining you will have whether a sit down meal is more appropriate or buffet style.

Now that you have, more or less made the layout of the event, it is time to start looking around. Choose those that are affordable but without compromising the quality. Ask friends or your staff members if they can give some recommendations. Look through websites in your area and start calling.

Once you have everything all set up, you already know how many will be attending, what you will need, what food to serve, and the venue where it will be held, get the booking. This usually requires a fifty percent deposit. You can now start sending out invites. For staff members, a group email is enough. Or you can go all out and send everyone their own personal invitation.

Corporate events allow you to mingle with staff members and business associates in a more personal setting. This helps establish rapport as well. In a more informal setting, it is easier to build relationships and at the same time celebrate success.

When planning for an event like this, it is not important to achieve perfection. While a perfect event is ideal, the success of corporate events is measured by how much everyone had a great time.

Top Ten Corporate Hospitality Events for 2012

There can be no better way than building relationships with your clients at a top sporting event, so why not choose one of the following top ten corporate hospitality events for 2012;

1. Twickenham Six Nations Rugby 2012: England will be looking to bounce back after a tough World Cup in New Zealand and with interim coach Stuart Lankaster in charge, the players will be out to impress in order to keep their places. England takes on Wales on 25 February, before playing Ireland on 17 March.


2. British Grand Prix 2012: After two years of domination by Sebastian Vettel, the two British drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will be keen to impress and win in front of their own fans at Silverstone on Sunday 8 July 2012. Formula One is one of the most glamorous sporting events to attend and impress your key clients.


3. England v Australia One Day Internationals 2012: With England now crowned the number one Test match side in the World, they will be looking to advance up the One Day Rankings in 2012 and there can be no better to do this than to beat big rivals, Australia. The five match series takes place between 29 June and 10 July 2012, with matches being staged at Lords, The Oval, Edgbaston, Durham and Old Trafford. The battles between new Aussie fast bowler James Pattinson and England's batting genius, Eoin Morgan are likely to be key to the series result.


4. European Football Championships 2012: Spain will certainly be the team to beat at the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, having won the last FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship. With the likes of Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and Scott Parker in the side, England will be hoping they can go all the way in the tournament, which takes place in June 2012.


5. Wimbledon Tennis Championship 2012: Will 2012 finally be the year we have a British Men's champion? Andy Murray has had a strong 2011 and will be hoping to push the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all the way. Rain stopped play is an inconvenience of the past now with the fantastic Centre Court roof! Enjoying one of the UK's top social events in style, will ensure your client has a day they will never forget.


6. Cheltenham Race Festival 2012: The Cheltenham Festival is quite simply, sport at its very best. With an amazing 60,000 people cheering 'their' horse up the famous Cheltenham hill to victory, the atmosphere simply has to be seen to be believed. With a variety of bands and other forms of entertainment, Cheltenham is more than just a Race Festival, it is a whole social experience.


7. Cartier International Polo 2012: Cartier International Polo is the most prestigious polo event in the world and epitomises the high society lifestyle enjoyed by royalty and celebrities alike. The excitement of the polo ponies galloping across the pitch and the buzz from the crowd, ensure that you will have an experience like no other.


8. Henley Royal Regatta 2012: For over a century and a half, The Henley Royal Regatta has been the essence of an English social event. Situated on such a beautiful stretch of the River Thames, this event provides an ideal medium for business entertainment. With an opportunity to take a cruise down the Thames and see the rowing at first end, there is no better way to impress your clients.


9. The Open Championship Golf: There have been some fabulous performances from Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy over the last 12 months in majors and this pair will be looking to repeat their 2011 feats in the 2012 Open, which is being held at Royal Lytham and St Annes in Lancashire. With Tiger Woods appearing to be getting back towards his best, the 2012 Open is sure to be highly entertaining.


10. The Grand National 2012: Aintree Racecourse is known to millions worldwide as the home of the Grand National; The World's greatest steeplechase. The festival is now well and truly established as one of the great horse racing festivals and one of the year's top social occasions. The 2012 Festival takes place between 12-14 April 2012.

Types of Customer Service Options for Small Business

Customer service or customer support is a very important part of running a business. Any small business owner who wants his business to grow and be profitable needs to invest a portion of his resources to making sure that his customers are satisfied with the products and services they bought. Fortunately, there are ways for small businessmen to provide excellent customer service without breaking the bank. Here are some of the options available to them.

1. Telephone Support - The most basic of customer support options, telephone support is still preferred by many customers, especially the older ones. Nothing beats talking to a real person on the other line. You can have a special telephone line dedicated for such purposes if you receive many calls and inquiries during business hours. Consider voice over Internet phone (VOIP) when setting up a customer service line.


2. Email Support - This is probably one of the convenient and easy ways to provide support to your customers. In your web site, make sure that you have a noticeable button that allows your customer's to send you an email with just a click using their preferred email program. You can also opt to have a contact/email form installed in your web site. Make it a policy to answer all emails within 24 hours after you have received. If you are receiving more emails than you can handle in a day, adjust the response time allowance to 48 hours. You can also have one of your employees handle the email support during their off-peak hours.


3. Live Chat Support - Instant messaging, or live chat as it is called in the business world, is the best real-time support you can give to your customers next to telephone support. You can add a link to the live chat support on your web site and you can answer it while you're on the office and doing some work. Many new businesses can be generated through live chat support.

Nowadays, these types of customer support are outsourced by big, multinational companies in order to minimize costs. Small businesses can do that, too. By turning to virtual outsourcing, businesses can be sure that their customers will get the assistance they need even if they cannot personally attend to their concerns. It's like hiring a permanent employee without the hassles of supervising one, not to mention the expenses associated with having full time staff.

Corporate Party Planning With the Party Planner Software

To plan a corporate party is completely different from organizing a private party. Whether you are a professional event planner or you are hosting an event for your own business, to map out a corporate affair can be a really tricky endeavor as you have to cover even the minutest of details. There isn't any scope for mistakes here. From registration and payment collection to setting up the perfect atmosphere, hosting a successful business party requires lengthy preparations and execution for the event to come off in a seamless manner. If you are assigned with the duty to plan a similar party, find in the party planner software the perfect aide to streamline all your back-office operations.

The following procedures are automated by the party planner software:

1. Creation of the online party registration form:

Corporate parties are meant to strengthen relationship between existing customers and stakeholders and build camaraderie amongst co-workers. Establishing new collaborations is also on the minds of the top officials. For that, one needs to ensure that each step of party planning from the very start is made hassle-free for all the invited guests. Creating an online registration platform is a step towards achieving that objective.

The software application helps you to create and upload an online party registration form that can be accessed by your valued guests at anytime, from any web enabled device. There is already a pre-built template in the solution; you just need to customize it as per your organizational requirements and your form is created within a few minutes. The process is that fast.

2. Enabling of online payment

Online payment processing is surely the most viable option when it comes to party registration fee collection from your corporate guests. The online payment management solution of the software application supports a number of online and offline, PCI-secure payment gateways such as PayPal, Cybersource, and Authorize.net. Your guests can either pay through one of these means or avail of the wire transfer method to send in their registration fees. Either ways, the funds transferred are received almost in real-time under heavy weight security supervision and monitoring.

3. Sending email invitations

Sending a well-designed and composed email invitation is a must before any official party. To do that well in advance, you can use the bulk email messaging service that comes embed with the party planner software and can be accessed free of charge. The feature requires you to simply set the list of email addresses to which you need to send the emails to and schedule them in a timely fashion. Hence, as per the devised calendar, they are sent out in an automated manner.

It always helps if you are a user of a premiere third party customer relationship management (CRM) service. Then, you do not need to import the email addresses of your intended guests for the corporate party from any external sources. The contact details of all your customers are stored there in a centralized database.

4. Online promotion

No event today is entirely successful without proper marketing and campaign strategies. You need to promote it well across a wider platform to grab maximum attention. The best way to do this is by promoting the event on various social networking sites. A focused social media promotional approach can get you more attendees for the party and help uphold the brand image of your company in front of a larger audience.

On availing of the party planning software, you can also manage the party on site in a much more systematic way. It provides you with a number of productivity tools that can be used to facilitate easy check-ins, onsite registrations, and feedback gathering after the party. You can also generate a report on the event's overall performance by using the custom reporting tool.

Wedding Event Planning - Smooth Sailing

The first step of wedding event planning is to determine the exact wedding date. It is the first detail that should be taken care of before starting the wedding planning preparation. It is very important because it will determine the availability of the venue for the wedding ceremony, the wedding reception and the availability of your friends and family on the assigned date.

To maximize the return on your investment in money, you should search for venues that can provide a package deals. Ask them for price packages on times of the year when weddings are not typically held. Most weddings are hosted during the morning or afternoon because this leaves the evening available to host the reception at night. There are also certain months of the year when weddings can become significantly cheaper. These are typically a few days after the holidays. During the off peak periods, you can find a lot of cost savings.

Your wedding day is undeniably a special occasion for you and to your partner. Thus, it is a good idea that you hire a professional to capture this momentous occasion. Many of your friends can take good pictures and videos as well. But for this special occasion, you should opt for something special. You want to ensure that these memories are lasting and visually captured. In this way, you can share every moment of your dream wedding with your friends and family.

Another important detail to plan for is the cake. Before you select a cake for your wedding, try tasting several varieties first. You should invite some friends and family to try cake with you because something that you enjoy may not be something that your guests like. Cake tasting can be a fun event in itself.

Lastly, no wedding is complete without a beautiful wedding gown. You should start browsing for a wedding gown months before your actual wedding ceremony date. It is less difficult to find an outfit for the groom, but they should also start to plan what they will be wearing a few months before the actual ceremony date. Plan these crucial events in advance in case there is trouble with the fitting of your clothing. And if the and your spouse do not have enough time to plan your wedding, consider hiring a professional wedding planner to manage the details of this event.

Using Your iPhone in Your Event Planning Business

Event planning is a multi-faceted business. Running a successful event planning business requires knowledge, contacts as well as strategy to bargain, a quick wit and the ability to stay calm at all costs. Managing and overlooking the event is stressful yet fun.

The great thing about event planning is that you're not chained to an office. You can meet clients over coffee or lunch and conduct business anywhere.

This is where your iPhone comes in. Of course you can use your iPhone in your event planning business to manage your calendar, communicate with your suppliers and customers, preview music and research venus, and update your online picture galleries and portfolio. But did you know that you can also use your iPhone to easily and securely process Visa, MasterCard and other payments from your customers?

The question now is, how? Well, it's as easy as ABC. Here's how:

A. Apply for a merchant account and payment gateway from a merchant services provider that offers next-day funding and fast turnaround time on merchant account applications and account setup.

B. Download the mobile credit card processing app from the iTunes App store.

C. Once your merchant account and payment gateway are live, use your API login ID and transaction keys to set up your information in the App settings screen.

D. Your credit card transactions will be entered and completed on one screen and you will know instantly when your customer's card is approved.

E. Getting a receipt to your customers is easy. All you have to do is enter their email address into the App and, once the transaction is approved, the receipt will be emailed to them.

Mobile credit card processing with your iPhone is secure. Security features include AVS and CVV2 codes and SSL encryption for data transfer. Your customers' credit card numbers are not stored on your phone.

Closing deals is easy when you can take a deposit from your new customer anytime, anywhere right on your iPhone!