Picture: Jorge Gordo / Unsplash
An award night or award ceremony is a special occasion to present deserving candidates with awards they’ve earned. The awards are usually presented before their peers, followed by a meal, drinks, and other entertainment.
While planning a successful award night can be a time-consuming and often stressful task, you may improve your chances of success by ensuring it has these elements:
Thoughtful Gifts
Gifts and gestures of appreciation are a significant part of the average award ceremony. To make your recipients feel valued, prioritize impressive branded corporate gifts and high-quality award certificates.
You can buy quality frames for your certificates and invest in practical yet thoughtful corporate gifts like compendiums, travel wallets, and bar and wine accessories.
A Suitable Venue
Award nights are quite glamorous events where attendees are encouraged to dress up and look fabulous. Make sure your chosen venue matches the theme and your expectations. It should be in a convenient location with a suitable capacity for the number of people invited. It should also have amenities like bathrooms and the right ambiance for the award night theme.
A Theme
Decorating for an awards night can sometimes be challenging without a theme. You may see the value in setting a theme early on so you can plan venue decorations and ensure guests have plenty of time to decide what to wear.
Ensure the theme reflects the event’s purpose and coordinate the lighting, signage, and decorations.
Adequate Promotion and Marketing
Award nights aren’t just special occasions for people getting awards. They can also be memorable for their peers and anyone wishing to celebrate in style. Ensure everyone who would want to be involved in the award ceremony is aware of it. That can require promotion and marketing. Market your upcoming award ceremony in places where interested parties are present, such as business platforms, business intranets, and email newsletters.
Entertainment
Deserving people receiving awards is, of course, the standout form of entertainment at an award ceremony. However, it doesn’t have to be the only form of entertainment. Plan something else to take place before or after the award presentation, such as live music or interactive activities. Aim for high energy to help the night go off without a hitch.
Structured Format
Guests at an award evening shouldn’t be confused about what is happening at what times. Ensure you plan your evening’s format before the night begins. For example, you might dedicate an hour to entertainment before the awards and follow a set award presentation structure of announcing nominees, revealing winners, and delivering acceptance speeches. The more formatting you have, the more seamless your evening can be.
Catering
Most award evenings aren’t just about presenting awards. They are also about delicious food. Investing in quality catering services ensures that your attendees will remember the food for all the right reasons.
Choose a food option that suits your award ceremony theme, such as a sit-down meal with table service, a buffet, or canapes.
Photos and Videos
Award ceremonies are special events where people are recognized for their outstanding contributions. Hire a photographer and videographer to capture all the special moments. Attendees can then have something tangible to remember the night by for years to come.
A successful award night is never guaranteed. However, having these essential elements above may improve your chances of success. Thoughtful awards, catering, a standout venue, and entertainment are just some of the many standout attributes of a successful ceremony that attendees remember for the right reasons.
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