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Company Anniversary

Company Anniversary — the checklist

A company anniversary is staged, not catered. The event is a presentation about the company, and every guest will see it on a screen or hear it through speakers the crew installs that morning. The production timeline drives the rest, because the film, the speech, the founders on stage cannot be rehearsed until the rig is in and working.

This checklist groups decisions by phase. Some items are yes or no. Others name the question you settle before you call anyone.

Before you book anything

  • Have you agreed the guest count? The number sets the venue shortlist and half the production budget.
  • Do you have a date, or two options? Availability narrows quickly for milestone years that half your industry shares.
  • Who signs off the budget, and is that person in the room when you plan?
  • Is there a programme already—speeches, a film, awards—or is that still open?
  • Will any of the programme happen on a stage, and does the venue need one built?

The venue

  • Does the room have rigging points, or does the lighting grid stand on the floor?
  • Where does load-in happen, and can a three-tonne truck reverse to it?
  • Is there parking for the crew, separate from guest parking?
  • Who holds the keys, and are they there at seven when the truck arrives?
  • Is there a noise curfew, and who speaks to the venue if you run past it?
  • If the plan includes outdoor space, what happens if it rains?

The programme

  • Is there a running order on paper, and who holds it on the day?
  • Have the speakers sent their slides, and in what format?
  • Does the anniversary film exist, or is it being made, and when is the final file delivered?
  • If there are awards or presentations, where on stage does the recipient stand and who hands them the object?
  • Is there a rehearsal, and if so, when? The room must be rigged and working before anyone can rehearse in it.
  • Who introduces each section, and have they been told?

The technical side

  • Does the stage need a backdrop, and if so, does the content exist or are you commissioning it?
  • How large is the largest screen the room allows, and is that large enough for the back row to read text?
  • Is there a live feed—to another room, to a screen outside, to partners joining remotely?
  • Who mixes the sound during speeches, and are they in the room or in a separate control position?
  • Is there a microphone for Q&A, and if so, is it handheld or passed on a stand?
  • Where does the crew eat, and when?

Food and drink

  • Is the caterer in-house or external, and if external, have they worked in this venue before?
  • Is there a seated dinner, a standing reception, or both?
  • Does the timeline allow guests to finish eating before the programme begins, or is the programme during the meal?
  • Are there dietary requirements you know about already, and how are you collecting the rest?
  • Is there a bar, and if so, is it open or limited?

Guests and transport

  • Have you sent the invitations, and does the RSVP deadline leave you time to adjust the booking?
  • Is parking adequate, or do you need shuttle transport?
  • If the venue is outside the city, does the crew know, and has that travel time been added to the load-in schedule?
  • Are there guests who need access arrangements, and has the venue confirmed those are possible?

The last week

  • Has the final guest count been confirmed with the venue and the caterer?
  • Have the speakers done a technical check—file format, aspect ratio, fonts embedded?
  • Does someone have the running order, the crew contact numbers and the venue contact on a single printed page?
  • If there is printed material—a programme, a timeline, place cards—has someone checked it?
  • Is there a plan for photographs, and if so, who is briefing the photographer?

The day

  • The crew arrives hours before guests do. Have they been told where to park and who meets them?
  • Is there a site contact who stays until the last case is packed, or does someone from your team hold that role?
  • If something breaks or fails—a projector, a microphone—who decides whether to proceed or pause?
  • Are the speakers in the building an hour before they speak, or are they coming from offices nearby?
  • Who thanks the crew, and when?

After

  • Does the photographer send files within a week, or a month, and to whom?
  • Is there a debrief, and if so, is the venue in it?
  • Who writes to the guests, and does that message include photographs?

Two kinds of agency handle company anniversaries. One plans the event and forwards the brief to subcontractors. The other's own crew quotes it, rigs it, and runs the evening. The difference is not philosophical. It is whether the person on the phone has installed a lighting grid in that room before, and whether the sound engineer works for the same company as the person who took your deposit.

This guide was written by After 5 Events, the production side of the company. The decision now is how much of this you are handling yourself and at what point you need people who have done it many times. Settle the guest count, the venue and whether the programme is built or still open before you call anyone. Everything else follows from those three.

Who is writing this

A crew, not a middleman

These guides are written by After 5 Events — the team that grew out of the After 5 band and DJ roster and has stood on the stage itself. We are not an agency that forwards your brief to subcontractors and takes a commission on every line: the people who plan your evening build the stage, run the sound and light, and are in the room when the doors open.

When you get to booking

The pages this guide has probably made you want to ask about.

The same reader, other occasions
The same occasion, another topic
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