Artigo3 - EN

The Role of Events in
Corporate Communication / Brand Engagement

Isabel Amaral

“When an entrepreneur decides to publicly celebrate the company’s birthday, the inauguration of a facility or the launch of a product, what it intends, in essence, is to communicate the solidity of the company and the prestige of its leaders. “

Isabel Amaral, specialist in intercultural communication and protocol.

The professional organization of events is therefore of increasing importance for large companies. These events are a privileged instrument of business communication, as long as they are not flawed and reach all the intended audiences. The day after the event, the press clippings should highlight what was meant to convey and not a gaffe or detail that distorted the essentials.

When organizing an event, it is essential, in the first stage, to have an idea of what it is intended to convey and only then define the place, date, time and program, according to this idea. Having chosen the place where the meeting will take place and the program is defined, the list of invited guests will be elaborated. Once the availability of the site has been assured, the organization phase itself is entered, a task list is drawn up and appointments are made for each one of them, with well defined deadlines, in a constantly updated schedule.

It is at this stage that protocol issues arise, whether in the preparation of the calls, in the forms of treatment or in the order of the interventions. When it comes to the design of the room and the stage, having protocol knowledge is critical to set the seating of hosts and guests.

When one opts for a presidential desk on the stage, the question arises as to who should preside. What is the presidency in fact? According to the dictionary, presidency is the act of presiding, which in turn means occupying the first place or place of honor at the table of a banquet. But chairing is also to direct, oversee and regulate the agenda of a conference, for example.

In order to define who presides over an event, there are aspects of the official legislation whose philosophy can be adapted to the case of private entities. For example, you should be aware that you preside over who organizes the ceremony. That is, the central place should be occupied by the maximum representative of the company or institution, placing the most important guest sitting to his right.

Since it is established that the host, the owner of the house, occupies the central place, it is from this place that other people are ordered. However, such ordering must comply with criteria that are understandable and can be accepted by all stakeholders. The most popular criteria for sorting people are the hierarchy. Among hierarchically similar people, the criterion of seniority applies. The third criterion is the alphabetical order, which is widely used, for example, to order flags from different countries.

In relation to the assignment of the presidency in unofficial ceremonies, the host should only yield, by courtesy, the presidency to the President of the Republic, the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the Prime Minister. In this case, the host sits to the right of the high authority to which he has ceded the presidency, becoming the first guest or, if present, in addition to the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, it is better that the host left wing of the President of the Republic.

In the event that many high-ranking entities are present, they should go to the front rank, taking care not to go against what is established in the law, namely in article 5 of Law nº40 / 2006, of August 25: “For high public authorities, the list of precedents contained in this law always prevails, even in unofficial ceremonies. “That is, if several authorities coincide, the order of precedence established in article 7 of this law must be respected.

The protocol may not be a discipline within everyone’s reach and its concepts may seem complicated to lay people in the field. But in reality, it simplifies the lives of those who have to organize business events and is a guarantee that your event will convey the intended message.

Source: https://linktoleaders.com/servem-os-eventos-empresariais/