Need Some Inspiration for Corporate Event Planning?
Corporate events have evolved over the years, and meeting expectations can be daunting. How do you boost morale and engagement while also providing your employees with an environment in which to unwind from work? Corporate events provide an opportunity to make employees feel valued and give them the chance to connect, collaborate, and celebrate. The challenge is to come up with well-crafted events that are creative, fun, and exciting. Fortunately, there are plenty of themes and activities to shake things up and turn your event into a fun, successful experience that will long be remembered and discussed.
Fun and Creative Corporate Event Ideas
What type of party resonates with your corporate culture? Do you want a themed, experiential, immersive event? How about a party heavy on the technology? Does an eco-conscious event sound like something your employees would enjoy? Would a wellness event be in line with your values, or would you prefer to put the focus on inclusivity and celebrating the diverse cultures of your employees? We’ve got some ideas to appeal to just about everyone.
- Experiential Events: Engage your team by immersing them in a fun and intriguing event that isn’t just entertaining but also inspiring. You can use these experiential events to build camaraderie among your employees. Think “theme party,” like Roaring 20s, Murder Mystery, or Tropical Getaway, or go one step further and plan a themed costume party! You can also use modern design and LED lighting, along with virtual reality experiences, space themed movies, and video games, to create a futuristic Sci-Fi Event. Another great way to encourage team bonding is to give them a challenge, like an escape room experience or an outdoor adventure day.
- Tech-Driven Corporate Parties: There are so many ways technology can enhance your corporate events and make a lasting impression on your team. Using a combination of augmented reality, virtual reality, and live streaming, you can create something exciting and new. Offer a variety of VR gaming experiences, at stations where employees can compete with each other. Live stream a concert or movie. Bring keynote speakers to your event and live stream them, so even those who are attending remotely can experience the content. If your team is spread across different locations, hybrid events with virtual participation can give in-person and remote attendees a chance to interact. You can even set up virtual networking lounges, allowing remote employees to connect with their colleagues through video conferencing and virtual breakout rooms.
- Events that are Pure Fun: Sometimes, a party just needs to be a party! If your goal is to promote connection and camaraderie between your employees, create an event that simply shows them a good time, and maybe promotes some friendly competition and teamwork, without pressure. Use a large LED screen to turn your event into a spectacle, by streaming a live concert, a movie, or a big game. You can also use these screens to facilitate interactive games or team trivia. You can also throw back to a simpler era, designing a party that is a themed potluck, or an old school cocktail party. Want some friendly and competitive fun? Have a cupcake decorating contest or host a game show.
- Inclusive Events: Make a point to recognize and celebrate the diversity of your team. This can be done in different ways, highlighting different aspects of diversity. Host a multicultural food festival, with cuisine from around the globe, cooking demonstrations, and tasting sessions. Or you could invite employees to participate in a cultural showcase, sharing their heritage and perhaps their talents, with traditional dance, music, storytelling, and crafts from their cultural heritage. In this way, you are promoting cultural awareness and appreciation within your team. Celebrate the different cultural holidays and traditions of your team members, hosting events for things like Diwali, Lunar New Year, Pride, Hanukkah, and Ramadan. Or simply play up your team members’ personalities and preferences. Set up a karaoke stage with a dance floor, and give everyone a chance to participate. Make sure you have a wide selection of songs and musical styles, so that every person can find the perfect song. It is also important to recognize that some employees are uncomfortable with loud, brightly lit spaces. When you host an event, designate a quiet lounge area, where comfortable seating, soft lighting, relaxing music, and quiet activities are available for your employees to enjoy. Books, magazines, puzzles, and coloring books are all great options for a low-key space like this.
- Parties Focused on Well-Being: Because your employees’ health and wellness is important to you, an event that focuses on well-being is a wonderful idea. Whether it is a daylong event or a weekend retreat, there are plenty of activities you can incorporate that will benefit your employees’ well-being while giving them a relaxing, fun experience. Offer yoga sessions, led by professional instructors, or hire experienced facilitators to guide your employees through a meditation workshop. Set up cooking classes where employees can learn how to make their favorite foods more nutritious. Go on a nature walk together, or arrange seminars on wellness topics, led by experts. Hire professional masseurs to give short massages to attendees, and set up aromatherapy stations where employees can learn to create personalized aromatherapy blends. Designate quiet spaces for meditation and reflection, and offer mindful art activities, in a relaxing environment so that employees can de-stress while expressing themselves creatively.
- Events With a Mindset of Sustainability: Taking care of our planet is on many people’s minds these days, and you can honor this by creating a corporate event that puts sustainability front and center. Plan an event that has zero waste, by using biodegradable or reusable materials, from the invitations to the tableware, and beyond. Set up recycling and composting stations, and encourage guests to bring their own reusable water bottles. Use a local caterer with a focus on providing organic, sustainably sourced food and beverages and seasonal produce. Work with local farmers and artisans to make the event special, and you will have a positive impact on the local economy while ensuring that your event doesn’t have a negative impact on the local ecology. Choose event décor that is eco-friendly, like potted plants, flowers, and wooden features. Once the party is over, save the décor to reuse or donate it. Want to take your event’s good deeds beyond reducing its carbon footprint? Host a silent auction for charity, organize a day of volunteering followed by a celebration, or build your event around a benefit concert with local entertainers, with proceeds going to a charitable organization. You can also combine employee wellness with philanthropic efforts by organizing a charity fun run to raise funds for a worthy cause, then following it with a picnic to celebrate and thank the participants.
Planning Your Next Corporate Event
What goes into planning a corporate event? It starts with defining your objectives. Is this event just for fun, for education, or for team building? Know your why before you start brainstorming party ideas. Once you know your end goals, figure out the logistics, including the venue, the timing, and your budget. Next, curate programming with your goals in mind, and find opportunities to integrate technology in a meaningful way. Consider all the possibilities that could necessitate a contingency plan, and make sure you are prepared for whatever obstacle might arise. Finally, make plans to follow up after the party, touching base, reinforcing concepts, and nurturing relationships.
How a Corporate Event Planner Can Make Your Life Easier
Does all of this seem like a lot? In fact, the ideas are the easy part, and the execution is trickier. Engaging the services of an experienced event planning company is a smart move, because corporate event planners have the tools and connections to turn your ideas into reality. From vendors to entertainers to venues, corporate event planners are connected to everything you need to make your event absolutely perfect. Working with your budget, they can help you craft a corporate event that hits all the right notes and accomplishes your goals, while also being a lot of fun for your employees.
Trust Total Events DFW to Plan Your DFW Events
If you want your event to be truly memorable, look to the company known for elevating events throughout the DFW Metroplex. Total Events DFW was built on decades of experience in the event planning business, when founder Renee Hart decided that she could bring something unique to the Dallas/Fort Worth event scene. No matter the purpose or size of your event, no matter your vision, we can help you make it into something exciting. We offer all-inclusive event planning, with a transparent, responsive team who will listen closely to your ideas, in order to provide guidance and recommendations tailored to meet your needs. If you already have a cohesive plan and just need us to fill in some gaps, we’ve got you covered there, too! Our à La Carte menu includes everything from event planning and coordination to décor and lighting to entertainment to event production to photography and videography and more. Interested in a theme party? We can do that. Our Casino parties bring the excitement of Vegas to your event, and our Texas Experience offers activities that are uniquely Texan in spirit. To learn more about all we have to offer, and start planning your event, contact us through our website.