Organising a seminar in Paris

Why organise a seminar?

To work on a common project? To implement a new strategy? To present the company's objectives or vision? Or simply to unite your teams? Organising a seminar allows you to bring together employees, consultants, managers, directors, human resources managers, etc. in an environment different from the traditional professional setting for several days, in Paris, Lyon, Brussels, New York, or anywhere in the world!

Find a short term rental Paris, an holiday rental Paris or an apartment-hotel, a furnished rental to accommodate your employees during your company seminars thanks to MagicStay.

The different types of seminars

Corporate seminars can be organised for several reasons. There are several types, starting with the training seminar. A working seminar, for example to implement a new strategy, is an excellent way to encourage reflection and creativity. Less studious, the integration seminar allows new employees to be welcomed into the company in an original and relaxed way and to encourage exchanges between the different employees. The company can also take advantage of this opportunity to communicate its values to new arrivals. Finally, the seminar can also simply be organised to motivate its teams!

Seminars help to strengthen team cohesion

Whether the aim is to train, welcome, work or motivate, the seminar allows a company's employees to get away from it all and think or communicate together in a different way. These events help to develop and stimulate the performance of teams but also to create links between them. They help to unite employees around a common project or objectives and thus strengthen team cohesion and maintain well-being at work. Indeed, it is an ideal way to discover each other in a different way, in a less codified setting than the office for example. In addition, it is also an opportunity to meet other employees of the company who do not work in the same premises. It can also be a good way to bring together some consultants, sales people, seconded workers, impatriates and why not, expatriates, for a few days.

Before leaving, discover our 10 tips for business travellers!

The keys to successfully organising a company seminar

In addition to strengthening ties between teams, a successful seminar contributes to the company's image. Here are 3 essential criteria to take into account to organise a seminar worthy of the name!

Find the ideal venue

The venue that will host your seminar must be adapted to the theme of your event. It must be able to accommodate all the participants with enough space to move around freely. Think about the equipment and the number of rooms you need to set up all the planned workshops. Finally, in order to avoid travelling as much as possible, it may be a good idea to choose a place where the activities can be organised, for example outside or in annex buildings. Staying on site makes it much easier to organise your stay! The Paris tourist office has some good addresses for organising your seminar.

Offer quality accommodation

As with business trips, accommodation is often a headache for travel managers. In the big cities, quality hotels are often too expensive and do not meet the budget set by the Corporate Travel Policy (CTP). However, providing comfortable accommodation for employees on mission or in a seminar is essential to the success of the event. To do this, holiday apartments Paris or aparthotel Paris is an excellent idea.

Short-term rentals, furnished flats, hotel apartments: they are generally well located in town or near exhibition or seminar venues. They are on average 40% cheaper than a hotel room of the same category and more than double the size! It is ideal for strengthening the links between teams, as employees can share the same accommodation during their stay. They can meet in the living room or in the fully equipped kitchen of the furnished flat and still have privacy in their own rooms. In addition, these accommodations are fully equipped with wi-fi, a printer and all the necessary comforts to meet the needs of professionals on business trips. Find a hotel apartment in Paris or a furnished rental in Paris for your next stay.

Are you still hesitating between hotel apartments and short-term rentals? We explain the differences between these two types of accommodation.

Plan team building activities

As you will have understood, the company seminar is there to create or strengthen the links between your employees. It should be a good balance between work and leisure. Offer fun activities and entertainment that require group participation. Invite employees who do not know each other or are not used to working together to team up. Without offering too wide a choice of activities, try to attract as many of your employees as possible. Sports activities may not appeal to everyone, for example!  Be creative: cooking classes, escape games, yoga classes: your employees should not be bored!

Discover our selection of activities to do during a stay in Paris!

How to organise a seminar in Covid-19 time in complete safety?

It is certain that business meetings will no longer take place as they did before the Covid-19 epidemic, at least not in the immediate future. While business meetings and seminars will probably gradually resume, they will have to be conducted in a safe manner. For this to happen, it is important that strict sanitary measures are put in place.

The number of participants should be limited. Avoiding large gatherings is an important preventive measure to avoid the spread of the virus. In addition, depending on the size of the seminar venue, it is important to assess the number of people present to ensure that safe distances are maintained between them.

To avoid contact as much as possible, forget about paper files and use digital communication instead. In addition, hydroalcoholic gel should be made available to participants throughout the event and the wearing of masks is compulsory. Furthermore, whenever possible, it is preferable to organise activities and entertainment outside. It is also possible to imagine additional measures such as taking the temperature of participants on their arrival at the event. One thing is certain, seminars in the midst of the Covid-19 and post-Covid pandemic will no doubt have to reinvent themselves!

Our recommendations for safe travel in the era of the health crisis.