A complete guide to organising a professional seminar

Do you want to organise a professional seminar? Let Kinepolis Business, which offers rooms and/or reception spaces for hire, guide you through the process.

Define your objectives

When it comes to organising a professional seminar, you must define your goals.

What is the aim of your event? To promote a new service or a new product, to strengthen the bonds between colleagues, to develop the skills of your company’s staff… Defining your objectives clearly and precisely is an essential step.

There are several different kinds of seminars: corporate ones, motivational ones, leadership ones… Whatever type of professional seminar you wish to put in place, you can be sure that Kinepolis Business will propose an event to remember.

Calculate your budget

Is your budget a tight one, about average, big or unlimited? To organise a professional seminar you’ll need to calculate your budget. To do this, you must take various considerations into account:

• your goals;
• your target audience;
• the type of seminar;
• the service providers;
• the contributors…

Take note of the expected costs and see whether your wishes match up to the budget you are able to set aside for your professional event.

Select the date and the venue

When deciding on the date of your event, take account of the attendees’ availability. Think about the availability of the speaker(s) too (if there are any).

Certain times of year should be avoided, including the summer when a lot of people enjoy some well-earned time off.

You should also consider choosing a venue that is well-suited to the professional seminar you wish to arrange.

The Kinepolis Business cinema auditoriums are perfect for your various events! Spacious, modern and comfortable, they have features such as a big screen, an ideal way to get the attendees’ attention. What’s more, they are perfectly situated (with good transport links and hotels nearby) and allow you to offer a range of activities (such as role-play games, for instance).

Draw up a ‘reverse schedule’

Draw up a detailed reverse schedule for your professional seminar setting out the times, the length of the talks and other useful information.

Don’t forget to include some breaks, which allow guests to discuss things with one another, do some networking or enjoy a fortifying cup of coffee and/or a biscuit.

Finally, allow some wriggle-room by leaving a margin for error and having some back-up solutions at the ready.

Send out your invitations

All set? All you need to do now is send out your invitations. Use the good old, trusty postal service or send them by email: it’s up to you to decide which option suits you best.

Your invitations must include all the essential information: date, venue, timings, event schedule… You can also ask your guests to confirm whether or not they’re coming using an online form.

Don’t send the invitations out too early or too late, and consider promoting your event on social media.

Don’t forget…

A few days before your seminar, make sure everything is going to be ready to run like clockwork on the big day.  

Contact the speakers and service providers to confirm they will be there, and other details. If need be, double-check any hotel room bookings. The logistical details should be dealt with as early as possible, so that you avoid any stressful last-minute panics.

On the big day, meet and greet your guests, be on hand for them, and check that everything’s going well.

After the event, thank all the attendees and contributors. You could send out an email with a few photos of the event, put a post on social media, or give the attendees a gift as a souvenir… Post-event communication is important.

When you organise a professional seminar, you can also ask for feedback from your attendees, to find out what they thought of it.

Kinepolis Business rooms: from the smallest event to the biggest

The Kinepolis Business cinema auditoriums can be adapted to suit all your events and feature reception spaces where your guests can enjoy some refreshments between two round tables, for instance.  

What’s more, Kinepolis Business has a diverse network of service providers who can meet all your needs, including highly regarded caterers. Do you have a favourite service provider you like to use? Not a problem! You are more than welcome to hire them for your seminar. We will be only too happy to put our reception spaces at their disposal, for your event.

Note, too, that we work with agencies who offer speakers for events, so don’t hesitate to ask our teams about this.

Finally, if you would like to come and take a look at our rooms and reception spaces, please get in touch. You can also use the ‘virtual visit’ feature offered on our website.

To organise a professional seminar, put your trust in Kinepolis Business and enjoy the flexibility we offer. Our cinema auditoriums and reception spaces are perfect for all events, from the most unassuming to the most spectacular!