10 Steps to Hosting Your Open House or Grand Opening
If your office has just moved, expanded or been updated, a great way to showcase your new address is with an Open House or Grand Opening. It’s a great way to be able to personally interact with your customers and vendors and provide a thank you for the support they’ve shown you. You really can only host this type of event once, so if you have a new address…show it off and have a party! Here are 10 steps to planning your special event!
1. Contact Chambers of Commerce and Visitors Bureaus
Find out how they can help you plan and promote your Grand Opening. Consider including a charity group you support now or find a new one to support. Community involvement is mutually beneficial to all – the charity, the community and you.
2. Determine Your Guest list which could include:
Clients, Customers and Prospects
Local dignitaries and VIP Guests
Media Contacts
Chamber and Bureaus members
Employees and their families
Vendors and supplies
Ask them if they can contribute something to this event. They, too, depend on you being successful in your business. Suggest they provide you with promotional items to give to your guests; maybe your printer will print the invitations at a reduced rate or free; maybe another vendor(s) will supply the catering or some of the catering. Ask what they can do or offer and try to incorporate that into your plan.
3. Determine Your Budget:
Getting quotes and vendor donations will help you learn how much this will cost for things like:
Invitations and Postage
Food and Beverage Catering
Entertainment
Photographer or Videographer
Gifts or promotional pieces for guests
Decorations – could be flower arrangements, balloons, or a decorated table with promotional items for your guests with take-away gifts.
4. Write Your Grand Opening Activities Schedule
Write down all the things you want to accomplish along with the time it takes to do each one. Then, organize these in the order in which these will be conducted to calculate how long your event will be. Include things like:
Is there a ribbon cutting?
Will you have a tour of your facility?
Will there be speakers? If so who are they, what will they talk about and how much time will they need?
Will there be drawings for prizes?
5. Schedule Your Grand Opening
Consult with your Chambers and Bureaus about the time of day and what day of the week to actually have this event. The list of scheduled activities might also help to decide the best date and time of this event.
