Organise an event at your own location

Look at your company as if you have never seen it before

Anyone who walks through the same entrance every day mainly sees an office, workshop or warehouse. An event organiser looks differently. They might see a stage against the loading wall. A courtyard that could become a festival square. A long production space where lighting can create completely different worlds. Or a lawn that is perfect for activities, catering and an evening programme. Sometimes that takes a little imagination.

A place does not need to look like an event venue yet in order to become one. In fact, the transformation itself can be part of the surprise.

Employees know their working environment inside out. When they suddenly enter the same place through a different entrance, with different lighting, music, scents and furnishings, that familiar environment can feel completely different.

That moment is priceless. "Is this really our warehouse?" That is exactly the reaction you want.

First, one important question: why here?

Organising an event on your own premises simply because it saves the cost of hiring an external venue is, in our view, not a particularly strong reason.

It can absolutely be financially attractive. But the real strength lies elsewhere. Your own location has meaning.

It is the place where the company happens every day. Where products are made, customers are helped, ideas are developed and employees work together. For an anniversary, that can be especially powerful.

You are not celebrating somewhere else what the company has achieved, but exactly where it happened. For an opening, family day, client event or staff party, your own location can also become part of the story.

Visitors literally get a look inside the organisation. That makes the event personal.

Read more about the possibilities for a corporate party at your own location.

Above all, make sure it does not feel like a normal working day

This is probably the biggest challenge.

If employees eat lunch in the same staff canteen every day, simply placing a DJ there on Friday evening and switching off the fluorescent lights is not enough.

You need to be willing to transform the environment. That can start with the route into the building. For example, do not use the normal staff entrance, but create a temporary entrance on another side of the building.

Use lighting along the route. Create a reception area. Hide parts of the building that do not belong in the experience. And change the layout. Where desks normally stand, a lounge can suddenly appear. A loading dock can become a stage. With tents, lighting, plants, decoration and furniture, a car park can become a festival site.

It is not only about decoration. It is about changing perspective. Let people rediscover their own working environment for a moment.

An empty hall is fantastic. Until you start talking in it.

Warehouses often look fantastic in photos of events. High ceilings. Plenty of space. Industrial character. Until somebody switches on a microphone.

Hello... hello... hello...

Acoustics are one of the things that can easily be underestimated when using your own premises. A warehouse is designed for work, not for speeches, live music or dinner for 600 people. Large hard surfaces often create a lot of echo. Fortunately, there is plenty you can do about that.

Decoration, drapes, temporary walls, flooring, furnishings and professional sound technology can transform the space completely.

The position of the stage matters too. You do not automatically have to place it against the far wall simply because there happens to be the most room there. Sometimes a stage in the middle of the space works much better.

That is why we prefer to look at the location first as a blank canvas. What do we have? What are we missing? And how can we use the characteristics of the space to our advantage?

A car park is not an event site. Not yet.

A large car park can look ideal. Lots of space, and nobody has to worry about the carpet. But as soon as you want to welcome hundreds of people there, other questions arise.

• Where do guests park if the car park itself is part of the event?
• Where does the power come from?
• Is there enough lighting after dark?
• How level is the surface?
• Where can suppliers load and unload?
• Where will the toilets be?
• And what happens if it rains for three hours that afternoon?

Not exactly the questions you want to start a creative brainstorm with. But they are the questions that ultimately determine whether the event works. The same applies to a lawn or courtyard.

A great outdoor space gives you enormous freedom, but often requires temporary facilities.

Think about:

• power and power distribution;
• toilets;
• water;
• tents or covered areas;
• lighting;
• heating or cooling;
• waste facilities;
• catering facilities;
• supplier routes;
• and a solid weather plan.

An empty site gives you freedom. But freedom also means that sometimes you literally have to create everything yourself.

Think in zones, not one huge space

One of the easiest ways to make a business location feel atmospheric is to dare to make it smaller. That may sound strange. You finally have a huge hall available, and then we start creating smaller areas inside it.

Yet that often works very well. One enormous empty space can feel impersonal. Create different zones and you create places with their own function and atmosphere.

For example:

Reception
A clear entrance where guests immediately understand that their workplace is something different today.

Central square
The place where everyone meets, perhaps with a bar or food concept.

Stage
For the opening, entertainment, a band or presentations.

Food zone
Not hidden at the back, but deliberately made part of the experience.

Activities
A space where something is genuinely happening.

Lounge
A quieter place where colleagues can simply talk.

One warehouse can suddenly feel like several different venues.

This also works extremely well for a corporate festival.

Use what is already there

Not everything needs to be hidden. In fact, sometimes the existing elements are the most interesting part.

• Does the company have large machines?
• An unusual production line?
• Containers?
• Industrial structures?
• An impressive warehouse?
• A courtyard?
• A striking staircase or mezzanine?

Use them.

A production machine that is purely functional during the day can become almost a piece of scenery at night with the right lighting. Pallets can become part of the furniture. A loading dock can form a stage. And a high racking wall can suddenly look incredibly impressive when lit properly. The identity of the location does not need to be erased.

You can hire a generic party venue anywhere.

The character of your own company is something you cannot get anywhere else.

Do not make employees move the desks first

We understand the thought. "We are doing it at our own office, so we can probably organise a lot ourselves."

And yes, you can. But be clear about where the line is. If employees first have to dismantle their own workstations, carry chairs and fill fridges on Friday afternoon before the staff party starts, the event quickly feels less like a gesture of appreciation.

A staff event should begin for guests the moment they arrive. Not after they have rolled out the extension leads themselves. That does not mean the internal organising team has nothing to do. Quite the opposite. Nobody knows the location better than the people who work there.

But let employees mainly advise on what matters, which spaces are available and what absolutely cannot be moved. The actual transformation is better organised properly in advance.

That way, the event remains an event for the internal organising team too.

What happens to normal business operations?

This is an interesting issue that hardly arises at an external venue. Does the company need to keep operating during the build? If the first pieces of decor arrive on Thursday afternoon while forklifts are still driving through the same hall, good planning becomes essential. Perhaps a room cannot be built until 4 p.m.

Maybe a production line has to remain accessible. Or suppliers can only enter through one specific entrance. That is why setup and breakdown are often an important part of the run sheet when holding an event on your own premises.

Not only:

"When does the party start?"

But also:

"When can we start building?"

A four-hour event can easily require a full day or more of on-site preparation. And if everyone needs to be back at work at 8 a.m. on Monday, the space obviously has to be restored afterwards. Preferably without anyone finding a disco ball above their desk on Monday morning. Although personally, we can still see the benefit of that.

Power: the least glamorous but very important guest

A band. Lighting. Sound system. Refrigeration. Food trucks. Coffee machines. Patio heaters. Decorative lighting...

It all seems perfectly straightforward until a group of appliances is switched on at the same time.

That is why we check the available power supply and what the event actually requires well in advance. A standard socket in the canteen is not automatically suitable for all the temporary equipment involved in a large event. Sometimes the existing infrastructure is sufficient. Sometimes additional distribution boards or temporary facilities are needed. And if external power supplies are used, they need to be positioned in the right place without inconveniencing guests.

These are typical things visitors never see. But they are exactly the things you want sorted out in advance.

Make sure suppliers understand the location too

At a permanent event venue, suppliers usually know exactly where they need to be. On a company site, they do not.

"Report to reception" sounds simple until a truck carrying stage equipment, a caterer, a decorator and a performer all arrive at the same time.

• Where can they unload?
• Which door should they use?
• What time can they arrive?
• Who will meet them?
• Can the truck remain on site?
• Will the truck even fit through the gate?

This may sound like detail work. But during setup, small uncertainties can cost a lot of time. A good production plan prevents everyone from getting in one another's way while the clock keeps ticking.

Outdoors? Then we are really organising two events

The Netherlands. That almost explains this section by itself. But still: an outdoor event on your own premises can be fantastic.

• Long tables
• Food trucks
• Music
• Activities
• Sunshine

Strings of lights when it gets dark. Exactly as you picture it. But the programme also needs to work if the sun decides not to appear.

A good bad-weather plan is therefore more than:

"We will put up a tent somewhere just in case."

• Can everyone actually fit under that tent?
• Can the programme take place there too?
• What happens to the activities?
• Can guests move from one area to another without getting wet?
• What does wind do to the decoration?
• Is heating required?
• And what happens in extreme heat?

The best plan B does not feel like a disappointing emergency solution. It should still be a good event. Then you can check the weather forecast a few days beforehand without the entire organising team becoming instantly nervous.

Do not forget the surroundings

An event does not automatically stop at the company gate. Music may also be heard outside the site. Extra traffic can affect the surrounding area. Guests need somewhere to park. And depending on the location and event, rules, notifications or permits may apply.

That is why it is wise to check this early and coordinate where necessary with the municipality, site manager, landlord or local surroundings. Especially when there is music, a large number of visitors, temporary structures or an event continuing late into the evening. It may not be the most exciting part of event organisation.

But it is definitely something you would rather investigate in advance than on the day itself.

The location can become part of the story

This is where an event at your own location can become genuinely stronger than one at an external venue. Use the company itself. Not just as an address, but as part of the content.

At an anniversary, you can literally take guests through the history of the organisation. At a family day, employees can show where they work. At a client event, demonstrations can become part of the programme.

At an opening, the new building itself can take centre stage. And during a staff event, you can use spaces colleagues normally know in a completely different way. This creates an experience that is difficult to recreate at an external venue.

You are not only telling people about the organisation.

Guests are standing right in the middle of it.

And on Monday, everything returns to normal

Perhaps that is the best thing about an event on your own premises. On Friday afternoon, it is still an ordinary warehouse. On Friday evening, there is a stage, hundreds of lights are glowing, people are eating, dancing and laughing, and the original space seems to have disappeared completely. Then on Monday morning, the pallets are moving again.

• The desks are back
• The machines start again
• And work continues as though nothing happened.

Except everyone knows what was there two days earlier. That temporary transformation is what makes an event at your own location special. You do not always need to go somewhere else to take people out of their normal environment.

Sometimes you simply need to show them their normal environment in a completely different way.