Company/Revenue/Sales Kickoff events are the ultimate program management challenge. Pulling off an event of this scale takes at least a quarter and ideally discussions should be started 6 months ahead of the event. Steps include:
- Working with leadership to define a theme for the year ahead and outline an agenda – this includes defining the duration, attendees and level of complexity to plan for (breakouts, interactive sessions, exercises and assessments)
- Once the agenda is set, working with product, marketing, executives, partners and customers to build out the content and align it to the theme. This is a content development program that needs to be managed and coordinated with internal and external resources and kept on track with deliverable deadlines to ensure time to assess overlaps and thematic consistency
- Identifying the facility and production resources. Coordinating room and equipment rental, travel and accommodations for attendees and presenters.
- For the sessions, ensuring that materials, printables and prizes are ordered well ahead of time
- Directing the show in real-time, coordinating speakers, running workshops and managing multiple breakouts for different teams
