It has been a fantastic year with our corporate community, from re-launching both the membership and sponsorship scheme to a plethora of networking events including the ever festive networking lunch! We caught up with Lauren Farley, Business Development & Events Coordinator at Norwich Theatre to take a look back, and also a look forward to the year ahead.
This has been a busy year for the corporate community with a lot going on, was that an active decision on your part?
We wanted to transform how we work with businesses and how we are perceived. We have re-energised the corporate schemes with a whole range of activities, and the community has grown significantly! I think now we have created packages that businesses really feel they are a part of something.
Tell us a bit more about the corporate membership scheme re-launch
The corporate schemes had been incredibly successful before the pandemic and we worked with a significant number of businesses who had supported us both pre-pandemic and throughout.
The changes we made to the membership were designed to bring something fresh and new to the package, while retaining the essence of the benefits businesses had really enjoyed. Adding in elements such as being able to book tickets online became welcome additions to the packages and easy ways to make them more appealing.
What are your highlights of this year?
For me, one of the biggest highlights is getting to meet all the businesses we work with in person whether that be at one of our networking events or over a coffee. It is great to hear from them and find out what they want to get out of being a part of our corporate community and working out how we can help to make that happen, such as hospitality for their clients, or maximizing the ticket discounts for their staff.
The quarterly networking events are a new addition to the packages this year. How have they gone, and how have they grown?
The networking events for our community have been super successful, with a consistent number of people from a really diverse network of the businesses we work with coming through the doors.
This was especially so at our latest festive lunch event, which took place recently. We were lucky enough to be joined by our fantastic panto cast, giving our invited guests a chance to get up close and personal with the stars of the show. It’s opportunities like this where we’re able to say thank you to those we work with, which are integral to the work we can continue to deliver.
Corporate Lounges were another new addition we devised this year, which provides members of the corporate community access to fantastic seats for shows, as well as access to a private lounge with drinks and ice cream throughout the evening, providing them with a package which makes them feel special and looked after.
The lounges have been incredibly successful, especially for the big name comedians we’ve seen on our stage this year, and I can guarantee that when they go on sale, my phone is off the hook with businesses that have really resonated with the concept.
One of the biggest aims we have with all our events and offers is that we try to make our corporate community feel special, creating opportunities that are not available to the general public. It is about saying thank you because without their support, we couldn’t do a lot of our work that goes on behind the scenes.
We have two new sponsors this year tell us about them?
The sponsorship package was a vision that started this year and came out of the idea of being able to offer an enhancement on the membership package. Its main purpose was to provide an alternative offering to the membership, with added benefits and exposure to our audiences. We met Kevin Foley and his wife Nikki very early on in the stages of launching the package, and as keen theatregoers themselves, with a son who is also an aspiring dancer, they loved what the package offered, and they are really supportive of the theatre.
Our newest sponsor, SG Wealth Management, came on board at the start of this month. They are a small team, but the Sponsorship for them provides a way for them specifically to reward their clients and staff and we’re really keen to start working with them as we move into 2023.
We also have a whole host of new members as well!
We have, and it has grown well over the year, as I hope we’ve been able to demonstrate the changes we’ve made to the scheme and its benefits for both staff and business alike. Every member we work with all represent fantastic businesses within the heart of the business community here in Norwich and Norfolk.
What can the members and sponsors look forward to seeing in 2023?
There are loads of exciting opportunities that are coming up next year!
The networking events will continue and we are looking to grow these. The Christmas parties will also be back, and I am sure there will be a few additional surprises along the way.
Our huge thanks to all our corporate members and sponsors, we couldn’t do it without you.