At a merger or acquisition, communication is the first thing leadership thinks of. And rightly so. But communication often gets equated with an email from the CEO, a Q&A document and a town hall meeting. That is informing. That is not connecting.

The problem with information alone: people hear the words, but do not feel the change. They understand the strategy, but do not feel part of it.

A company merger event handles this differently. It creates a shared experience: a moment where both organisations come together, not to watch a presentation but to take part in something together. That shared moment becomes an anchor point, the start of a joint story.

Change experts call this a 'transformative moment': an experience so strong that people adjust their behaviour and attitude through it. A good merger event is precisely that: the moment when resistance turns into curiosity and 'them' turns into 'us'.

Not everyone is happy with a merger. For some staff it feels like loss of identity, of autonomy, of the company they once chose. Those feelings are real and deserve recognition, not denial.

A common mistake at merger events is acting as if everyone is enthusiastic. A stage full of leaders telling how brilliant the future will be, while the room is packed with people who feel uncertain about their job or position. That creates distance, not connection.

The better approach: acknowledge the emotions. Do not open the event with the future vision, but with the present. Name that change is unsettling. That candour earns you trust.

Create room for dialogue: small group conversations, joint assignments and informal moments where people discover that the 'other' is also a colleague with the same concerns and ambitions.

A merger event calls for a programme with a deliberate build. You do not start with the finale; you build towards it.

Opening: recognition and context. Start with an open story. Why this merger, what changes and what stays the same? Ideally have someone speak who is credible — not necessarily the CEO, but someone who speaks the language of the shop floor. Keep it short: 10-15 minutes.

Connection: get to know the other side. Design an interactive block where people from both organisations work together. A challenge, a game, a workshop: something that compels collaboration and conversation.

Substance: sketching the future. Only now do strategy, vision and ambition come into play. But do not present this as a dry slide deck. Visualise it. Make it tangible. Let staff fill in for themselves how they contribute to the future.

Close: a shared moment. Close with something everyone does together. Think of a shared meal, a toast or a musical moment. It does not have to be grand; it has to be heartfelt.

The timing of a merger event is strategic. Too early, when nothing is concrete yet, it raises more questions than it answers. Too late, when people have been in uncertainty for months, the effect is gone. The ideal moment: shortly after the official announcement, when the broad outline is clear.

On venue: choose a neutral location on purpose. Not the head office of company A, not the office of company B. An external venue on neutral ground prevents the feeling that one party is 'a guest' of the other.

Budget: expect €100 to €250 per person, depending on venue, programme and size. A merger event for 150 people at an external venue with a full programme quickly costs €20,000-35,000. Allow 6-10 weeks for preparation. Involve a core team from both organisations in the programming.

A merger event is perhaps the hardest type of event to organise in-house. Not because of the logistics, but because of the politics. Who organises it, which company 'leads' and what is the right tone?

An external agency is neutral by definition. We do not belong to company A or to company B. We can ask questions that are too sensitive internally. We can design a programme that does justice to both identities without taking sides.

At Live Impact we have experience with merger events, acquisition gatherings and transformation events. We know these events are different from a staff party or a kick-off. The energy in the room is different. The stakes are higher.

We always start by listening. To leadership, but also to the shop floor. On that basis we build an event that does not run away from the difficult questions, but gives them a place.