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After producing literally hundreds of picnics for every size company, I have found that there are issues any savvy admin must address. Below are some of the most important and often overlooked issues in planning a summer picnic for your group:
1. Cost: If you do not have at least $50 per person to spend for a company picnic (of 75 people or greater) than I strongly suggest putting that money aside for your holiday party and creating something that much nicer. Keep in mind, the sole purpose of a company picnic, or for most other corporate events, is to make your guests walk away with a warm fuzzy about your organization, and hopefully connect having fun with your company.
2. Entertainment at your event: The first question is are you having kids? If you are, you need the staples: A balloon artist and face painter. A balloon artist is entertaining, gives the kids something to play with long after the performer is done with their creation, and adds color to the event. Face painters are, well, face painters. They are a time honored tradition, and as long as you are able to source a good one, your guests will be pleased you brought them. The next question is how many for how long? Other performers that work well for kids and adults that you should consider are caricature artists, chair massage, magic shows, strolling jugglers, stilt walkers, airbrush tattoo artists ( good for groups with a few kids and lots of adults), and company games.
3. Other event elements to bring: Who are your employees? What is their education, ethnicity, age? What is the company culture? Most admins consider a company picnic a boring have to, that they must get out of the way. There is a huge world of amazing elements to bring into your picnic. Consider inflatable’s: Do you want combative ones such as Gladiator joust, bungie run, or Giant boxing? Or do you want more team oriented ones, such as Giant bowling or Giant twister, or a huge obstacle course? How are your people going to interact with each game? Are you going to offer prizes? Are you going to make sure the vendor staffs each game to avoid any liability issues? That will cost more, but is a good idea.
4. Teens: If you have young employees or older employees with teenagers, consider a package for them: foosball, basketball shoot out, air hockey, and /or interactive inflatable’s. Teens often get forgotten at picnics, and you will find the grownups often sneaking over to the teen area to get their game on.
5. Site selection. How do you find a park? Isn’t anything close that has a spot that fits your group size adequate?
6. Fun in the sun: You can’t have too much fun, but you can have too much sun! Make sure the park you select has enough shade so you don’t need big $$ on tents or tables with umbrellas.
7. Choosing your vendors: as with all vendors you have not worked with before, either get 2 to 3 corporate referrals from them, or use an agency that guarantees you won’t look bad when a performer you hired doesn’t show.
8. Why should you do company games? If you can locate a professional, dynamic company games group, they can add immeasurable value to your picnic, helping to cement positive relationships and bring your company together in a way you could never do in the office.
9. Give aways. Consider using promotional, imprinted gifts at the picnic. This is one of the few times you will have access to your employee’s families and can offer good will, and promote your brand and company loyalty throughout the family of your people.
10. Vendor information: Don’t forget to give your vendors detailed directions including the name of your picnic area. Parks can be huge, and you can compromise your event if you do not remember that detail. Make sure you get the cell phone number of both an office staff and the driver. There is no worse feeling than having no one to call when your vendor doesn’t show up on time.
When you partner with Successful Events the planning and implementation become easy for you. Like most of our clients, you already have a plate full of responsibilities. Let the experienced team at Successful Events secure a convenient venue, coordinate registration, catering and concessions, entertainment for children, extreme fun for teens and interactive games for adults. We make all of the arrangements, handle all of the details, coordinate the logistics and are on site to manage your event, allowing you to enjoy a relaxing day at your company picnic! We even clean up! We do all of the work behind the scenes, so you are able to relax and receive the accolades! Just give us a call to learn more and to arrange your complimentary consultation. If you already have some picnic plans in place- that’s great! We supplement and assist in other to make the event planning easy for you. Call today to start planning your next event. (713) 568-9617
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