8 Tips to Help You Step Up a Business Awards Banquet

by Samantha Higgins Professional Writer

Are you planning to host a business awards banquet and are looking for ways to step it up? You're reading the right post, but first things first. According to Forbes, a banquet is a versatile event ideal for official and personal purposes. That means you can plan a banquet to commemorate a wedding anniversary just as you could throw one to present best-performing workers awards or to host a fundraiser for a charity. In other words, a banquet can be as large or small, formal or informal as you wish.

If you wish to step up a business awards banquet you're planning to host, you can use several tips. The top eight tips you can leverage in stepping up your company's business awards banquet are highlighted below:

1. Surround Your Banquet Presentation Dais with Big Screens

As you're already aware, it's paramount for you to make critical yearly events such as banquets and award ceremonies as entertaining and relevant as possible. One way of achieving this is by flanking your presentation podium with big screens to allow guests to view from all angles and tables comfortably.

Ensure you hire an experienced audiovisual consultant to create a convincing slideshow displaying winners to run during the cocktail period and up to the moment when the banquet kicks in. Apart from keeping your banquet guests entertained, they'll learn meaningful information about the event and the day's winners.

2. Contract a Professional Facilitator to Serve as the Master of the Ceremony

Don't just host an annual banquet to celebrate your best-performing staff casually. Instead, step it up by getting a top-ranking professional facilitator to serve as the Master of the ceremony of your banquet. You could opt to work with an individual who is popular in the industry or an entertainer who's knowledgeable and charming. Such a professional facilitator will MC the event, usher in key speakers of your banquet, and crack jokes while ensuring your business awards banquet progresses as planned.

3. Hire a Professional Event Planning Company

To make your annual business awards banquet unique and outstanding, you must get the right people to do excellent for you. Therefore, you should hire a professional event planning firm to help create a unique design concept that demonstrates your event branding style. That means the firm you hire should include your company logo, animated elements, and images for display on LED backdrops or the earlier mentioned large screens.

4. Call on Different Team Players to Present Awards to Winners

Another excellent strategy to help you step up your company's annual business awards banquet is requesting various team members to give out awards to winners. Here, you can identify department heads who are excellent at narrating various informal short stories relevant to the event. That way, your guests can remain focused and entertained by various people with varying personalities, making your banquet one of a kind.

5. Showcase Your Annual Banquet Event's Twitter Hashtag Conspicuously on All Screens

Do you want your guests to actively participate in your annual awards banquet while it's ongoing? Then ensure you prominently display your Twitter hashtag across all the screens. Doing so allows guests to comment and make public your award winners continually, and ultimately this helps reinforce your brand value to the outside world.

6. Hire an Entertainment Company

People love and expect to listen to music, particularly when attending a party, ceremony, or award-giving event like a banquet. Therefore, to step up your annual business awards banquet, ensure you partner with an entertainment firm to play appropriate music during the event. For instance, whenever a speaker or award winner walks to the podium, music should be deployed to accompany the individual while entertaining your guests.

7. Add Glamour to Your Surroundings with Lighting

Step up your annual business awards banquet by installing responsive and repeatedly changing LED lighting effects. Hire a reputable audiovisual firm to help you select and install up-lighters with dramatic colors on ceilings and walls. Also, you can install mood-enhancing LED-colored lighting throughout the hallways and main hall.

8. Gift Your Guests with Free Branded Awards

Lastly, you can give guests free custom-shaped awards to develop personal relationships with them. Besides, this is an excellent way to popularize your brand or product. Moreover, offering gifts or prizes to attendees makes your annual business awards banquet memorable.