Event Ideas

Jon M Stout

Events are an important part of corporate life. A well planned event can forcefully convey a clear corporate message and engage participants in the respective corporate culture.

Most companies and organizations hold events for a number of reasons. Company picnics, holiday parties, new product introductions, sales and planning meetings and annual shareholder’s meetings are but a few of the occasions that mark milestones of the organization. These meetings require detailed planning and resources and many organizations elect to utilize specialists in managing events.

Event planning is a complex undertaking with the coordination of vendor delivery schedules and maintaining critical timeline requirements. In addition to the logistics involved in planning the meeting most planners develop a theme that captures the essence and intent of the meeting. The theme adds continuity and acts as a reminder of the event for the future.

The Value of the Theme

A common theme brings participants together and allows the event organizers to convey a strong message about the event. The theme is usually expressed in communication and promotional material and documents related to the event. Effective communication of the theme is critical to the success of the event. Since there are a variety of themes to choose from for any event, care must be taken to select the best theme for the occasion and to properly communicate the theme to the audience.

Promotional Items and Quality Communication

The theme is an important element of communications. A quality message, consistent with the overall theme message of the company, is required for effective communication. One aspect of communication is the use of personalized promotional items, effective banners and unique giveaways. These items can be designed to impart an effective message and the use of high quality personalized giveaways creates a lasting impression and reinforces the event theme.

Private Label Drinking Water as an Effective Promotional Item

Private label drinking water is an ideal and powerful way to promote an event theme. Essentially private labeling allows businesses to design and develop a label with a custom message and theme and attach that label to a bottle of healthy drinking water. A result of this process is the creation and promotion of a clear message that is tailored to the event

Because of the immediate and permanent nature of the bottled water product, consumable advertising is created that leaves a lasting message in the mind of the event participant.

Some of the benefits of private labeled water include:

• A high-quality, effective and custom message.

• Messages can be modified to reflect events like corporate meetings, new product introductions and promotions.

• Individual users often carry the water with them and the event message is further extended and promoted.

• Pure water is popular and universally accepted as contributing to good health. The message of the private label effectively reaches more prospects as use grows.

• Effective cost is low and response to the event message is immediate.

• Consumable, portable advertising creates a lasting message and impression.

What to Look for in a Private Label Water Supplier

There are a number of private label water suppliers but they vary widely in the quality of their product offerings. There are three areas to investigate when choosing a supplier:

1. Quality of Water

Events with a large number of participants require proper hydration with water of the highest quality. High quality water in terms of health and taste is also critical for the acceptance of the theme and event message. If the water is low quality or tastes bad then the message will fail. The best quality water on the market today is purified using a distillation/ filtration/ oxygenation process that removes all impurities, including all bacteria, and creates a light, refreshing taste.

2. Quality of Label Design and Production

The label is the message part of the product and poor-quality labels send a poor-quality message. Production of a poor-quality label is a waste of money and adversely affects the message and theme.

It is very important to know that the vast majority (almost all) of the private label opportunities in this country come from water resellers (not bottlers) with desktop-model “thermal” (or “thermal wax”) printing devices with a quality level that cannot compare well to even consumer-grade inkjet printing devices widely available for less than $200 at your local electronics store. These label printers are very cheap in both quality and cost, typically ranging from $10-20k depending on configuration, and are widely used throughout the private label water industry because of their low cost.

In sharp contrast, a quality label, i.e., one that looks like a top-shelf brand that you might find in your local gourmet grocery store, needs to be produced with professional-quality equipment using professional-grade printing equipment. There are three types of printing equipment that can produce a high-quality label.

1. Rotary offset lithography;
2. Flexography; and
3. High-quality digital presses.

For most smaller runs (under about 10,000 units), digital equipment offered by Heidelberg or HP is the most cost effective solution, but instead of $10-20k, the minimum equipment costs for these professional solutions range from $750k to $1.25M per station.

These facts are very important to understand when choosing a private label bottler — because those who sell low-quality labels would have you believe that nothing better is available because of the short runs required by private label customers. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In order to succeed, your label must be professionally designed and produced with high-quality materials using a printing process that renders a high-quality result. Waterproof lamination is also required for long lasting labels. This is easily achieved for an affordable unit cost using the right equipment for the job.

3. Quality of Customer Service

The design and production of private labeled drinking water is complex and requires intense interaction between the customer and supplier. Communication and a culture of customer service excellence is a prerequisite to the creation of an effective theme message and a successful event. Without a significant commitment to customer service on the part of the supplier, the impact of the theme message will fail.

Choose a quality supplier to help develop and communicate your message and to create success for the corporate event.

Angela Cahill

Thinking about sponsoring an event to raise money for your favorite non-profit charity? It’s important to consider ideas that will generate as much profit as possible with minimal expense. There are many ways to go about doing this. Having corporate sponsors or individuals willing to donate their time, money, or supplies will make your job even easier and more successful. Here are just three ideas; with a little creative thinking, you can come up with more of your own.

Movies

Hosting a movie premiere can generate a large amount of money in a single evening. You may be able to convince a movie theater to donate the space and movie, with all profits going to your non-profit. Alternately, you might be able to charge a ‘surcharge’ on ticket prices, with the extra money donated to a worthy cause. Perhaps you can share in the concession stand profits for the night or offer a special combo or item, with all proceeds from it going to your charity. An alternate to a movie premiere is having a special night where you screen several movies related to your cause. For instance, show several documentaries showing cancer survivors to raise fund for medical research. You could combine such a night with short presentations by people helped by the charity to reinforce the good donations to the cause will do. You could also have a yard sale with donated movies and related memorabilia to raise even more money.

Auctions

Auctions and raffles, whether live or online, are another great way to raise funds. Typically, you can get individuals and organizations to donate a variety of items or experiences (such as a sailing trip or special dinner), so that all funds go to your non-profit charity. With just a few special, valuable items, you can generate lots of interest and raise significant money. Having the auction online adds an interesting twist and can save you the time and expense of finding an auctioneer and auction hall and setting up the space. Auctions also offer a simple, fun, way to raise funds in your workplace. You can set up a silent auction in a meeting room, with items donated by employees or local businesses. Employees can then decide which charity or charities to donate the funds to.

Casual Day – or Dress Up Day

An innovate fundraiser – and one that’s quite simple to organize – involves having a special attire day at work. If you normally dress in suits and dresses, have a special day where people can where jeans and t-shirts. If you normally dress casually, encourage everyone to wear fancy formal wear. The catch is that everyone who participates by wearing special clothing must donate a small amount of money to charity. To encourage participation, consider ‘fining’ those who don’t dress up or down. Alternately, have a contest with special prizes for best dressed, cleanest jeans, or other categories. This will create a fun atmosphere and encourage people to raise money for their favorite charities.

Proper Tie-Ins

Whatever sort of event you choose to sponsor, make sure it has an obvious connection to the charity you are raising funds for. For instance, a gym membership could be auctioned off to support a cause promoting good health, but a big box of candy would be a bad fit. Make sure any materials promoting the event and anything handed out or said at the fundraiser reflects positively on the charity and gets out the right message. Also, be considerate to those who are affected (both by the charity and the event) and consider their feelings when planning the event.

With a little planning, you can organize a fun, entertaining event that people will want to participate in. You’ll raise funds for a good cause and maybe even entice new volunteers or donors to provide long-term support.

Donatas Svetaka

Whether it is a party or formal ceremony, it would take some effort to imagine a corporate event without the element of entertainment. An entire corporate event in its broad sense (including corporate retreats, corporate Christmas parties and non-cash incentives), may seem nothing more than entertainment. The element of entertainment is also present in the schedules of such events as corporate meetings, sales conferences, product launches, trade shows and so on (why not start a conference with a stunning lights show?). In any case, entertaining programmes are far more than just having fun.

Corporate events make people come together; meanwhile an entertaining programme may bring great benefits for the company. To be more precise, corporate entertainment is a powerful tool to create and sustain the desired relationships among the employees or between the company and its clients or business associates and other groups of people depending on the purpose of the event.

For instance, non-cash incentives or corporate retreats are ideal to enhance relationships between the company and its staff. Moreover, as these are often given for groups, communication among the participants is thus inspired. Group retreats afford more time for personal interaction, so employees can to get to know one another as human beings and not just as co-workers. This ‘human factor’ is vital in corporate environment that can otherwise appear utilitarian.

Similarly, entertaining team building events, such as canoeing, sailing, karting, snowmobiling, and other team activities help to forge the spirit of community. Team building activities challenge teamwork skills needed to accomplish common goals and teach ways of co-operation, which can prove a useful experience back at work.

In the case of business meetings, an entertaining programme is a way to build business relationships. As a shared experience, it allows for a relaxed atmosphere during negotiations and increases the probability of a beneficial agreement.

Last but not least, an entertaining programme arranged for clients is a powerful tool of motivation. Feeling appreciated, customers will repay with loyalty.

Thus, the element of fun facilitates communication and tightens bonds among people, which is very important for a company who wants to maintain a positive, upbeat atmosphere at work and smooth relationships with the people outside the company: business partners, customers as well as the public.

Donatas Svetaka

It is not easy to organize a successful party. Food, drinks and recorded music are fun, but since there are quite a lot of occasions to celebrate throughout the year, thrown repeatedly such parties soon get boring.

Why not – at least once or twice in the year, as, for example, on the occasion of Christmas, New Year Day or corporate anniversary – have a party a bit different from an ordinary drinking spree, a party to be original and remembered long afterwards.

So what makes a party successful? Is it possible to organize an unforgettable, smooth-running event on your own?

The most important thing is the theme, the idea. But it is not always easy to invent a theme. And it is even more complicated to realize it. Usually, it requires much effort. When choosing a theme, it is advisable to pay attention to several criteria.

First of all, you should have in mind that the aim of a corporate party is not only relaxation, but also getting to know one another better through interaction, revealing personal qualities, etc. That is, the point of a party is team building. Therefore, it is especially important that all the staff members could participate. Here “participate” means far more than remaining passive watchers because active participation is one of the keys of a successful party. The role of a watcher (if it can be called a role at all) is simply boring. Let your employees feel that they are important and strong as personalities by giving them a chance to express themselves or accomplish certain tasks. A theme party is an ideal time to do it.

An inseparable part of a holiday party is humor. A light or sharper touch of humor should dominate in every theme.

It is also very important that the theme should be chosen considering the company’s sphere of activity and the specialties of the people involved – the theme should be something out of the ordinary, maybe something exotic or lightly shocking. Unrealized childhood dreams may be a good idea when choosing a theme. Maybe your boss wanted to become a fireman as a child? Why not put a fire-fighter costume on him and make him sit into a fire truck on boss day or his birthday? Or why not get serious gentlemen immersed in a pool of coloured balls? It’s so nice when people free their true selves, stepping over the line of everyday routine.

It is also important to take into account the occasion on which the party is organized. Surely, if it is a or New Year party, you won’t do without the usual attributes such as Santa Claus, Christmas tree, gifts and fire-works, and somehow or other the theme of the party will have to match the occasion. In case of many other events, the freedom of choice is greater, there is space for infinite interpretations.

If it is a corporate outing, the theme should allow time for activity: tasks to be carried out, games and so on.

Still lacking ideas? Here are several themes:
- Cowboy party (country music and dance, rodeo, whiskey, cigars);
- Knightly tournaments (show fights with thorny knob-sticks (fake ones) followed by the same sort of fights involving the participants, horses, ladies);
- Japanese samurai (fighting with kendo swards, calligraphy, tea ceremony);
- Fire-fighters (fire-engines, helmets, staged fire scene);
- Travel in time;
- UFO (flying saucer, aliens, other planets);
- Beer festival (beer pavilion, the German „Oktober Fest” mood);
- alternative sport championship (paintball, electronic basketball, curling, quad-bike race, running with five-man skis (a pair of skis for five persons), sumo, pillow battle);
- tracing classical literature (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Don Quixote, etc.)

Once the theme is selected, it needs proper implementation. The costumes are not enough. The success of the party also depends on the choice of decorations, music, shows, tasks prepared for the participants, food and drinks.

Moreover, a party must have a culmination point. Be it travel in time or a medieval knight tournament, there has to be something to surprise or amaze the participants. It may be a flying saucer landing, an enemy attack or whatever: it depends on your imagination and possibilities.

Meanwhile fire-works, hot-air balloons, a ball-pool, trampoline, soap bubbles and the like may serve to create a festive atmosphere and complement the theme. An inseparable attribute of a fun party is photos.

Now, should companies organize corporate parties on their own, or maybe it is better to ask for professional help? Choosing the people to entrust your event to depends not only on the budget but also on your expectations, the time foreseen for preparation, the needed equipment and many other factors.

Organising a corporate party yourself is cheaper. But there is some risk in doing so since even the smallest details may spoil a seemingly successful event; thus, lack of professionalism may be a spoke in the wheel. Besides, it may cost a lot of time and nerves for the staff members responsible for such events as they may lack experience. Let alone the responsibility which will not let you relax and fully enjoy the celebration. Even if you have decided to organize a party yourself, you can still ask for professional assistance. Currently there is a wide range of such services in Lithuania, from party ideas to equipment rent. Among them, there are indeed original things for parties: the biggest grill in Lithuania, a submarine towed on the snow, hot-air balloons, bubble machines, etc. In the global context, event planning professionals in Lithuania can offer high-level services. Choosing professional help in planning an event is a way to avoid repetition. It may happen that some of your guests have already taken part in a similar party, so a good event planning company will never organize the same event a second time. Moreover, experienced event planners will always find a way out when unforeseen difficulties arise. However, it is also important to remember that an event starts from the dialogue. Clients are welcome with their thoughts, ideas and wishes so that professionals could offer the most suitable solution.

Discussing all the details and nuances before the event is just vital. Some more tips when planning an event

To ensure a smooth and truly memorable party, it is advisable to start preparing at least before 2 months, even though it would actually take shorter.

It is also advisable to hold corporate parties on weekdays rather then on weekends, so you will have a greater choice of venues and entertainments.

Keith Sinclair

Awards parties are becoming increasingly popular and the theme is easily modified to suit your own party requirements. The theme has the advantage of having easily freely party decoration, party costumes and readily fits any buffet style.

Here are a few fun ideas to make your party a truly memorable event;

Firstly, choose a date. This is key; as it will allow you to determine whether you will need to find a venue or that it will be possible to hold it at home and make use of the garden or yard. There are benefits of choosing to hold your ‘awards party’ in a separate venue as it will be easier to decorate as normally the wall will be plain and ceiling will be higher allowing greater scope.

The next most important consideration is cost. For grand corporate events there will be more off budget for decoration. This does not mean that this theme cannot be used for a private party, it simply means that a little more imagination will be required.

Wall Decoration Treatments The walls of the event location will benefit from some decoration treatment. Party professionals will have available to them nighttime skylines complete with twinkling stars and these will be used to line at least part of the room. If you don’t have these available and hiring them in for the event is not possible you could paint your own on sheets of hardboard and integrate twinkling white fairy lights to represent the stars. Make sure that these are rated for outdoor use as applicable. Alternatively you could just paint the boards black and use the same light treatment.

One of the latest party decoration techniques is to use ‘wall grabbers’ or ‘wall scenes’. These are pre-printed large scene backdrops which are printed on clear plastic and have ‘non sticky’ glue applied allowing them to be positioned on the wall and then removed as required. These should be reusable and can easily be integrated with the first effect. There should be a wide range of these available for Hollywood Awards theme parties.

Use ‘shimmer curtains’ to cover large areas of the wall for little cost. If the lights in the room catch these curtains, they will be reflected back into the room adding to the overall magic. As they are lightweight, they are susceptible to the wind movement so this should be considered when positioning them.

Balloons If you are having balloons, black and gold or black and silver always add the maximum glitz to any event or celebration. If the budget allows, balloons can be professionally arranged and bouquets flown from purpose designed table centers. If the decoration budget doesn’t allow for this, balloons can be air-filled and used to create columns (held upright by lightweight electrical conduit – there goes another trade secret), which can be positioned around the room.

Floor Treatment What could be better than a red carpet leading into the venue’s main room..? If the budget can’t stretch to a compete line of carpet, perhaps a couple of red doormats to make the impression, but make sure that these are either fixed securely or are non slip.

The use of a low-level ‘fog machine’ will add significantly to the atmosphere and can be used to hide the floor, but this is only important whilst the room fills up with guests.

Ceiling Treatment To compliment the twinkling stars in the wall treatment, not use silver stars to continue the night time theme across the ceiling. Again, these will also catch the lights in the room. Alternatively there is a variety of Hollywood ceiling hangers which can be used.

Guest Greeters What could be better than being greeted at the event by a couple of famous celebrities? If the budget allows, these can be hired in for the night – see event management. Alternatively some good fancy dress, makeup, wigs and perhaps masks can be used to transform anyone’s appearance. Greeters should ‘greet’ the guest and have a couple of words with each.

Here’s a twist to this, why not film the greeting and beam’ it into the main room for the guests who have already arrived to watch whilst the main body of the guests arrive. Nice touch would be to enclose the video recorder in a ‘mock-up’ of a TV News style camera. If there is a screen and video available in the room, it would be possible to use this imaginatively or during any real awards if any.

Costumes Two real alternatives exist. Firstly and most simply, it would be formal dress with Suits for the gentlemen and long dresses for the ladies. The second alternative is to either set the theme based on one film or genre of film, or allow the guests to come as any film star or film character. The latter is easiest and allows guests to express their own persona through their costume selection.

Invitations Make sure that the theme of the event is fully explained in the invites you send out and keep a list of fancy dress costume ideas by the phone so that when confused guests ring, you can offer advise and ideas on the spot.

Appreciate their Efforts Before the event either hand everyone a ballot paper or put them out by the buffet or refreshments on which all of your guests can nominate other guests costumes in any number of categories.

Ali Kidd

The possibilities for corporate event ideas are as wide as the imagination, and the benefits offered by a well-planned event are innumerable. Corporate events may include fun activities to break up the monotony of long meetings, act as icebreakers for team members who don’t know one another well, or unify and rejuvenate a company of any size. With the daily business of work providing little opportunity for social interaction, events you attend as a company should maximize the chance to foster good relationships and offer a break from the usual.

Corporate event activities could include any number of team building exercises designed to promote interaction, creative thinking, problem solving, relaxation, and so on. There are many fun ways to encourage individuals to participate in a group project that requires everyone’s contribution in order to be truly successful. Some methods of demonstrating this may use music and movement, team sports, or other challenges that require many hands or minds to address. Group activities can help promote trust and teamwork, help overcome personality based issues, work towards creating better communication, and much more.

There are many business consultants today specializing in organizational development, team building and so on, who can help customize activities for your next corporate function. Bringing in an expert from outside the company can help provide an unbiased, objective approach to improving your team’s productivity, as long as they are well-informed ahead of time in terms of what you hope to accomplish, the general corporate culture they will be dealing with, as well as any underlying issues, and so on.

Corporate events can be as simple or elaborate as you see fit, and may incorporate humor, creativity, and physical activity as part of an effort to lighten up the everyday atmosphere, keep people engaged and entertained, and encourage the open exchange of ideas. Helping people enjoy their work and attain an ongoing sense of satisfaction and fulfillment is an important means of maintaining productivity, reducing staff turnover and burnout, and making the workplace a more enjoyable environment for everyone. Each of these elements is enhanced by well-chosen corporate activities that help team members appreciate one another, and remind them of the unique roles they each play towards a unified purpose.

There are many ideas for corporate events available online, through consultants, and a number of very popular books and programs. In a highly competitive and often stressful corporate world, it is becoming increasingly common for companies to utilize these tools in order to maintain harmonious work environments, retain valued staff, and make the most of their resources. Boosting productivity requires more than just a group of qualified individuals – it sometimes takes additional time and effort to make those individuals into a team. Make the necessary investments to ensure ongoing success for everyone.

Tony Fox

A Murder Mystery dinner is a great night’s entertainment for a corporate event, as they can be hosted in restaurants, hotels, boats for parties, castles and within the workplace.

Murder mysteries are an interactive clue game, where you the guests become the detectives in a murder and must figure out who among the suspects has committed the unspeakable crime. Every suspect in the murder mystery game has a motive and the means but during the three course murder mystery meal, everyone tries to find out who is the murderer, while the murderer tries to avoid detection. You must use your sleuthing skills to find the real villain.

Knights Templar Events MURDER MYSTERY DINNER involves teams of detectives who attempt to solve a deadly who-dunn’it! The challenge is to answer three questions:

• Who committed the murder [ Murderer ]
• How [ Method ]
• Why [ Motive ]

It begins with a pre-dinner drinks reception whereby the characters meet and greet your guests, setting the scene. Once all your guests have arrived, they will be seated for dinner.

Guests will be seated into equal team tables but no larger than groups of 10 for dinner. Each team table will play the inter-active part of team detectives. Working together in their individual team tables, they will compete against the other detective groups over dinner.

The audience then witnesses scripted scenes featuring events that took place before the murder was committed. These scenes introduce the audience to the Victim, the Suspects and present many vital clues.

The members of the audience, in their team tables, then meet each of the Suspects and the Victim who all join them at their tables during dinner and desert, for INTERROGATION. The purpose of this is that the Suspects and Victim will be marking the guest detectives on their performance as a team of super sleuths.

To conclude the event we have a presentation of the audiences dénouement and a performance of the dastardly deed itself. The declared winners will be the detective team who solves the dastardly deed by correctly answering the 3 ‘M’s and scoring the most points. Certificates are then awarded for the ‘Super Sleuths’ [ Winning Team ] and to the ‘Most Defective Detectives’ [ Losing Team].