Holiday parties that people attend
Specialist · Corporate · 15 min
Dates, budgets per head, programs, and the entertainment that works for 50 to 500 colleagues.
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Specialist · Corporate
Specialist track: Holiday parties that people attend; Conferences: program, AV and registration; Trade shows and booth activations; Galas and award nights.
Specialist · Corporate is part of the free Event Planner Academy. It has 6 lessons, about 1.5 hours of study in total, and every lesson comes with a narrated video, a printable worksheet and a short quiz.
How to work through it
- Watch the narrated video at the top of each lesson, then read the lesson itself. The video covers the key points; the page has the tables, examples and checklists.
- Complete the worksheet for your own event, or for the running Harbour Gala example.
- Take the quiz and mark the lesson complete. Your progress is saved in this browser.
- Finish all twelve core modules and pass the final exam to print your free certificate.
Conferences: program, AV and registration
Specialist · Corporate · 15 min
Session design, breakouts, AV house rules, registration platforms, sponsors and entertainment between sessions.
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Trade shows and booth activations
Specialist · Corporate · 15 min
Booth layout, staffing, lead capture, sales entertainment and measuring booth ROI.
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Galas and award nights
Specialist · Corporate · 15 min
Program shape, sponsorship, the ask, and spectacle before the ask.
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Team building and offsites
Specialist · Corporate · 15 min
Formats by team size, GTA venues and activities, and measuring whether it worked.
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Hybrid and virtual events
Specialist · Corporate · 15 min
Platforms, production, engagement design, and the hybrid checklist.
Read moreWho this track is for
This track is for in-house event, marketing, HR and executive assistant teams who are responsible for company events, and for independent planners who serve corporate clients. It assumes you have the basics from the core modules, especially budgeting and vendors, and concentrates on the formats companies run most often in the GTA: holiday parties, conferences, trade shows, galas, team building days and hybrid meetings.
What you will be able to do
After six lessons you should be able to plan a holiday party people want to attend, structure a conference program with sensible AV and registration, design and staff a trade show booth that produces leads, shape a gala program around sponsors and the ask, choose a team building format that suits the group, and decide when a hybrid component is worth the cost. Each lesson ends with a worksheet you can apply to a real event on your calendar.
How the lessons build
The lessons follow the corporate year roughly in reverse order of familiarity. Holiday parties come first because almost every company runs one and the planning principles carry into the rest. Conferences and trade shows follow, introducing registration, AV and measurable goals such as leads. Galas add sponsorship and fundraising. Team building focuses on outcomes for a working group, and the hybrid lesson addresses remote colleagues. Throughout, the emphasis is on measuring results, linking to the event ROI calculator and the reporting lessons in the core curriculum.
Practical considerations in the GTA
Corporate calendars cluster. December dates for holiday parties and spring and autumn conference seasons book early, so start venue searches well ahead. Downtown Toronto venues offer transit access for staff but often charge for parking and AV; suburban hotels and golf clubs often have free parking but need a plan for guests who drink. Find out if your company has its own policies on alcohol, gifts and expense limits before you design the program. Allow just under two hours for the track. The corporate events hub and the holiday party planning guide put the lessons into practice.