November 17, 2014

The holiday season is just around the corner and you want to do something for employees to show appreciation and honor for their hard work. You want to show that all of the efforts, long hours, sacrifice, and contributions to success have not gone unnoticed.

Shiloh Event Management, a bay area event planning company, presents 5 event-planning ideas to show appreciation and celebrate the dedicated and loyal team of your organization at this year’s corporate holiday party. Why? Because they deserve a little more than just a pat on the back! They are the hands and feet of the organizations, and they are worth it!

1. Throw a Party!
This may sound cliché, but corporate holiday parties are not a thing of the past – Take the time and energy to produce one! Close the chapter on the previous year and start the new one with a bang! Celebrate all the accomplishments within the year and make fun of the mistakes. This is an opportunity for employees and managers to view each other beyond the lenses of the office atmosphere and see one another as human beings, all with a purpose and a destiny. Also, who can reject an opportunity to have some fun? In the recent years, it’s now so easy to create online invitations for the guest list, to collect RSVP, and provide event information. Let the “end of the year party” be a night to remember, a night to cherish, a night to be proud of where you work. To get started on the event logistics, the Shiloh Team recommends securing a venue as one the top priority item. When selecting a venue for the event, keep your attendee count and the evening’s activities in mind. Once you’ve got your venue then you can begin laying out the program, activities, and food and beverages.

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2. Make it a toy drive
To ensure the minds and hearts of current employees that they are working for a successful yet empathetic company, why not include a toy drive within this year’s holiday party. By giving back to the community, you are giving everyone the opportunity to be socially responsible. On the event invitations, include that admittance into the doors will require a donation of an unwrapped toy. The toy could be donated to a charity that your company already supports. This may require more planning in event logistics. For example, where should the toys be dropped off at the event and how should the toys be delivered to the benefiting organization? The thought behind the event production strategy is what event-planning specialists are there for! At Shiloh Event Management, we put our best effort to make our client’s vision come true, regardless of how much event planning, production, and logistics it takes.

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3. Give specialized gifts for each employee
Rather than doing the same white elephant or secret Santa gift exchanges that are done every year, managers should put more effort into thoughtful and individualized gifts. The gift can be as simple as a handwritten note expressing gratitude for each employee, including specific successes that they have accomplished or an acknowledgement of character and zeal. If you want to go above and beyond to give an actual gift, the gift should show that the manager paid attention to vocalized needs of their subordinates. For example, the manager could give a scarf to someone who previously shared how they need to get a scarf for the office because the AC is always on blast (We all know how cold the office can be sometimes.) Shiloh Event Management recommends visiting Things Remembered, a great store to turn to when looking to get items engraved and/or specialized.

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4. Create a slide show
#TBT, #Throwback photos are always fun to reflect on. To look back on all that was accomplished this year, gather pictures and video clips to showcase bloopers, outings, candidness, and successes that reflect the DNA of your team. This may not happen to everyone but what we’ve noticed is that photos bring forth feelings of nostalgia and belonging. Create a sense of connection, meaning, excitement, and pride for the organization at this year’s holiday party. A slideshow can simply be created using photo tools already on your computer. All you need is add music and transitions to make it automatically loop. For the day of the event, set up your computer, projector, and sound, and make sure it is projecting in a location visible to all guests. The Shiloh Team recommends a day of rehearsal to test all technical elements to prevent glitches and technical difficulties the day of the event.

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5. Have a trivia challenge
You can definitely get creative with this one because trivia challenge can be utilized for so many topics! Here’s an idea. Have a trivia challenge based on employees’ fun facts! Employees can compete against one another answering trivia questions and completing tasks that pertain to their fun preferences like favorite places to eat, names of children and spouses, where they travelled in the past year, etc. Make it competitive by playing in rounds and keeping score along the way. To execute properly execute the trivia challenge, the Shiloh Team recommend the event planning specialist put deep consideration into the layout of guest flow during the game. How would guests write down their answers? What would they write it on? Should guests answer questions on a tablet or on paper? Will there be a timer? These are a few event logistic questions to keep in mind. As one of the best event planning company in the bay area, Shiloh Event Management makes it a priority to view the event in the perspective of the attendee and imagine what their onsite experience will be like for every event planning aspect. The attendees should serve as the main focal point of all event planning strategies.

The Shiloh Event Management team encourages people to throw creative and memorable events. We hope that after reading this that you feel enlightened with ideas for 2014 upcoming holiday season. Have fun planning! Contact us to learn more about how Shiloh Event Management could serve you this year.

Shiloh Event Management, Inc., is a full-service event management, event planning, and event production company located in the bay area of California.

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