Event Managers or Corporate Communicators
The question as to whether the corporate communications team in organizations has to take on the additional responsibility of organizing events has to be answered in the wider context of the organizations size and the budget that it allocates for this purpose.
Though many multinationals spend lavishly on event management and hire professionals for the purpose, in recent years, the budgets for hosting events (both professional and fun) events has been slashed in many companies because of the recession.
The other factor that is at play (no pun intended) here is that many corporate communication professionals often have degrees in mass communication and have background in advertising. This helps them to fulfill the role of event managers for which they are hired by many mid size and smaller companies. Further, in multinationals it is common for event management professionals to be part of the corporate communications function because these companies have the latitude to spend more.
Role of Corporate Communications Team in Event Management
As can be seen from the discussion above, the line between event management and corporate communications is often blurred in smaller companies where the corporate communications team has to handle events of smaller scale.
For instance, the various Town Hall meetings and other sessions need both the place and the logistics to be arranged. This entails booking an auditorium or a hall and ordering for food and refreshments apart from arranging transport to and from the venue. All these activities are typically handled by event management companies in larger companies that have budgets for the same.
As we discuss below, multinationals have dedicated event management teams within the corporate communications function. However, for many smaller companies, they need to make do with the corporate communications team handling the events themselves.
Some Real World Examples
Companies like Oracle, IBM, and Fidelity have full time event management teams within the corporate communication function. This is because these multinationals organize events periodically and with great frequency. Hence, there is a need for a dedicated event management team within the corporate communications function. Of course, this is not to say that these teams do not take the help of external professionals in organizing the event.
Just that depending on the scale of the event, the in-house event management teams handle the show for smaller events and for events of great magnitude, they outsource the function to professional event management teams.
For instance, whenever the CEO or the President has to address the employees and whenever the annual day is celebrated, the scale of the event is such that professional event management is required. For other events, the in-house event management teams can get the job done.
Closing Thoughts
If you have ever attended an event organized by a multinational or even large cap companies like Infosys, you would be surprised by the degree of professionalism that is displayed. This is partly due to the evolution of these companies into world-class entities and partly due to the fact that these companies are under media glare most of the time and hence, they cannot afford to slip up when they interact with the external world.
Even in-house events are often choreographed and managed by professionals, which shows the extent to which event management has become synonymous with corporate communications.
