A mayor’s New Year reception is an important occasion for a municipality or local authority. Elected officials, institutional representatives, association leaders, businesses and local partners: preparing the event involves many contacts and several teams.
Before invitations are sent, one question matters: do you have an up-to-date, organized protocol contact database that the relevant teams can use?
Combox, Digitalebox’s public communication and protocol management solution, helps mayor’s offices, communications teams and protocol staff organize their contacts and prepare official events.
A protocol contact database for maintaining relationships with local stakeholders
A protocol contact database brings together the dignitaries and stakeholders with whom the local authority maintains institutional relationships. Its purpose extends well beyond preparing a single ceremony.
A change of role, a new association chair or an updated business address: these changes need to be recorded so communications reach the right people.
The aim is to maintain a shared, regularly updated database rather than rebuild a guest list for each event from files scattered across departments.
Software for the mayor’s office, communications and protocol teams
Preparing a New Year reception brings together the mayor’s office, communications staff and protocol teams. They need current contact details and guest lists suited to each event.
Combox helps these teams manage their contacts and communications. The protocol database provides a working resource for preparing invitations, maintaining institutional relationships and organizing key occasions in the local authority’s calendar.
Preparing the mayor’s or local authority leader’s New Year reception
A New Year reception offers a practical opportunity to organize this work. The following steps help teams prepare their invitations:
- Update contact details and job titles.
- Identify recipient groups: institutions, elected officials, associations, businesses and partners.
- Build lists suited to the format of the event.
- Prepare invitations and choose the communication channels.
- Check recipients before sending.
Digitalebox enables teams to prepare communications using an organized contact database. They can select the relevant stakeholders and tailor their messages to each audience.
This approach helps reduce omissions and duplicate invitations while making future events easier to prepare.
Building guest lists for a New Year reception
Receptions for business leaders, associations, institutional partners or residents each call for a specific selection of recipients.
To prepare these lists, it is useful to organize contacts by role, organization and relationship with the local authority. This makes it easier to build mailing lists and prepare invitations by mail, email or SMS with Digitalebox.
Teams can review the relevance of their recipients and the practical information to include ahead of time.
Sending invitations by mail, email or SMS
Different invitations call for different approaches. A mailed invitation may be preferred for some dignitaries, while email can deliver the invitation and practical details. SMS can complement these channels with a reminder to the relevant recipients.
With Digitalebox, local authorities prepare postal, email and SMS communications using their contacts.
Whether for a New Year reception, an opening ceremony, a commemoration or an institutional meeting, the objective remains the same: send the right message to the right people.
Distinguishing contact management from ceremonial protocol
A well-maintained database makes invitation preparation easier. Organizing ceremonial protocol also requires checking guests’ official roles, applicable precedence rules and reception arrangements.
The software supports teams in their preparations. It does not replace the protocol team’s judgment or the checks required for each ceremony.
From a New Year guest list to ongoing relationships throughout the term
A New Year guest list should not be a document opened only once a year. The contacts brought together for this occasion also contribute to community life through public projects, neighborhood meetings, opening ceremonies and discussions with elected officials.
Keeping the database up to date throughout the term makes future communications easier to prepare and helps maintain continuity in relationships with local stakeholders.
It also supports regular communications: institutional updates, newsletters and invitations focused on specific topics. The protocol database becomes a daily working resource for the mayor’s office and other departments.
Prepare your next New Year reception with Digitalebox
Would you like to organize your protocol contact database, prepare your local authority’s New Year reception or simplify invitation management?
Discover Combox, our public communication and protocol management software.
Book a demo with our team to discuss your existing contact files, your organization and your upcoming events.