Oftentimes, the difference between corporate and public events can be quite vague. But if you learn a bit more about their characteristics, you’ll be able to distinguish them easily.

So, corporative events are held by companies mainly for their employees. This includes networking and team-building meetings, holiday festivals, etc. The setting for each corporate event is different. For example, looking for Christmas Party venues in London would for sure have a different motive than hosting a seminar or an event to market or launch their products. The key point is that these events are more private and closed for the people outside the company. They’re a great way to help increase employee engagement and productivity. The best way to see if you need a motivator for your employees is to take a look at this site https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/employee/employee-engagement-survey/ and learn how to use an employee engagement survey.

Public events on the other hand are open for everyone (or everyone who have purchased a ticket to visit the event or festival). Public events include conventions, music festivals, etc. Let’s look at the differences between these two types of events more closely.

Marketing is Different

Public events need a lot more marketing than corporate ones. The latter may advertise the event within the company or the chain, because their target audience is actually their employees. Plus they may make use of event management software (take a look at https://www.goldcast.io/event-management-platform for an example) that is designed exclusively for corporate and company events, to ensure that the processes are streamlined. These events are often focused on a particular group of people, whether it’s a B2B or a B2C event. Public events, on the other hand, need a lot of coverage and attention, because they have to get through to as many members of their wider target audience as possible.

Financing Sources are Different

Corporate events are usually organized and funded by the company, only sometimes they need additional sponsorship. This usually happens when the event’s scale is bigger than the company’s budget. Public events run totally on sponsorship or the funds derived from ticket sales. This is also why conventions and festivals need so much coverage – they need sponsors (brands, organizations, and the members of public who may purchase tickets)

Planning Time is Different

In corporate events, it’s usually pretty easy to plan the meals, the performances, the speeches, etc., because the organizers have a good idea as to who will attend the event – although companies may still choose to work with one of the top destination management companies around (especially if the event is going to be held abroad) to make it the best event possible. They know who will sit together so there is no friction, they know the preferences of their employees. And even if they don’t, they can always ask and get an answer the same day.

Guest Limit is Different

There are many different types of both corporate and public events, of course. But usually, corporate meetings and parties have fewer guests and in some cases their “plus ones”. If it’s a big company, the number of participants will be larger, of course, but it’s still pretty limited. Public events can also be small, like acoustic concerts at small venues, for example. However, the diversity of the crowd and the number of people there is usually much higher.

As you can see, there are a lot of differences between the events for the public and for a company’s employees and partners. There are details to look into to make sure you understand these differences and the reasons for them.