How to Plan a Company All-Hands Without an Events Background

Your CEO wants to bring everyone together for an all-hands. You've never planned one. Here's the no-events-background-required playbook — agenda, venue, AV, hybrid handling, budget — so you don't burn out and the event lands.

What an all-hands actually is (and isn't)

An all-hands is a 90-180 minute company-wide meeting where leadership presents updates, key teams share progress, and there's Q&A. NOT a workshop, NOT a training, NOT a celebration (though there's often celebratory framing).

Format: typically quarterly. Either fully-in-person (one office), fully-remote (Zoom for everyone), or hybrid (HQ in-person + remote dial-ins).

Step 1: Get the brief from leadership

Before booking anything, ask:

• Format: in-person, hybrid, or fully remote?
• Attendee count: total + how many in-person + how many remote
• Duration: 90 min (light), 120 min (standard), 180 min (heavy with awards)
• Speakers: who presents? CEO + which functional leads? Get the list.
• Agenda direction: any specific topics they want covered? Q4 results? New product launch?
• Date: exact date, time zone, time of day
• Recording: record for absent employees?

Step 2: Design the agenda (90-min standard)

Step 3: Pick the venue

In-person only: your office (if it has a 100+ space) or rent a hotel meeting room. Theatre-style for 50+, U-shape for 25-40, classroom for 15-25.

Hybrid: hotel meeting room with PROFESSIONAL AV — a single laptop on Zoom won't cut it. You need: a stage camera (people on stage), a wide-angle audience camera (so remote attendees see in-person reactions), 2-3 mics (presenter + roving audience mic + backup), Zoom or Teams operator dedicated.

Fully remote: the easiest — Zoom Webinar with practice run.

For hybrid: hotels with professional AV setups quote €1,200-2,500 for the AV package alone. Included if you're staying at a 4-5 star property; extra if you're booking just the meeting room. Full AV checklist.

Step 4: Manage the speakers

Send a 1-page speaker brief 7 days before:

• Slot time + hard limit (e.g., "0:25-0:30 — 5 minutes max")
• Format expected: speaking only? Slides? Live demo?
• Tech: send slides 24h ahead, walk-on order, mic type (handheld vs lapel)
• Q&A handling: take live questions or defer?
• Practice run: Zoom rehearsal 2-3 days before

Underrated: the rehearsal is essential. First-time presenters always run over. You need to see them speak, then coach gently to fit time.

Step 5: Run the show on the day

• Start 90 min early with AV team — test EVERYTHING (mic battery, camera angles, stream test on Zoom, slides projecting cleanly)
• 30 min before: brief the speakers, walk them through walk-on flow, confirm handhelds vs lapels
• Start on time. 1-2 min late max for stragglers. People notice when an event runs over because the start was delayed.
• Have a stage manager (could be you) with a printed agenda + watch + laptop. You signal the next presenter, monitor remote questions, manage Zoom side.
• Keep the Q&A short and curated. Pre-collect 3-5 great questions; ad-hoc questions only fill remaining time. This avoids awkward silence and keeps the show on rails.

Step 6: Capture and follow up

• Record the session (Zoom recording for hybrid; AV team's master record for in-person)
• Post to internal portal within 24h with timestamps for each section
• Send 1-page recap email: 5 bullet-point highlights, link to full recording, "ask follow-ups in #all-hands-questions Slack channel"
• Survey for the next one — what worked, what didn't (5-question form)

Budget benchmarks (Europe)

Recurring quarterly all-hands? Lock in the venue/AV provider with an annual contract for a 15-20% discount.

Bottom line

An all-hands is high-stakes (everyone watches) but low-difficulty (mostly content + AV). Get the agenda right, brief speakers ruthlessly, run AV checks early. Easy RFP handles the venue + AV sourcing in one brief — perfect for quarterly cadence with the same template.