A corporate dinner in Abuja is rarely just dinner. There may be a minister, a commissioner or a board chair with a security detail, a strict programme and a room full of people who notice where they are seated. Here is what we sort first.
1. Protocol before decor
Get the guest of honour's office on the phone early. Ask about arrival time, route, how many security and aides, dietary needs and whether they will speak. Everything else in the room is built around those answers.
the seating plan is the most political document of the night.
2. Seating
Draft the high table and the first three rows with your management, then lock it. Print name cards and keep a printed plan at the accreditation desk. Late changes go through one person only.
3. Power
Two generators, synchronised, with a technician who stays sober and awake. Test the LED wall and microphones on generator power, not on the grid, the afternoon before.
4. Accreditation
A desk at the entrance with the printed guest list, tags by colour for VIP, guest, press and staff, and an usher for every 40 guests to walk people to their table.
5. Finish on time
Agree a hard finish with the client. Announce the last speech, give the band a forty minute set after, and have drivers called fifteen minutes before the end.
