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Planning Holiday Events - September 2008

If you’re entrusted with planning the annual holiday fête year after year, coming up with new ways to generate excitement and vary the program can be a big challenge. Following are suggestions for some fresh approaches and spirited ideas to help you rise to the occasion.                                                                       

 Choose a Different Venue

It’s almost a no-brainer, but holding the event at a different location is one way to generate excitement. And even though crimped budgets have forced many organizations to scale back this year, and/or postpone locking in a site til the last minute, a creative look at the many possibilities available can yield excellent results in the long run. If you can’t get your number one choice of location for one reason or another, a less-than-perfect one can still work with the right food, décor, entertainment and attitude.

 Reframe the Concept

Especially if you’re on a tight budget it pays to investigate a variety of different spaces, and think a bit outside the box—not every place has to cost an arm and a leg. Maybe a bowling party for the office crowd is the way to go, or take the group to a local ice-rink then treat them to a casual après-skate meal. Or, hold the get-together at a candy shop, chocolate bar, pizza parlor, or retro diner. Simone Mets, founder of Impressive Events, says the secret to choosing a different location is flexibility and the ability to broaden your idea of what a venue is. “The more you start thinking in terms of what can be an event space the better,” she advises. "I did an event in a shoe store that had just gone under,” she recounts. “It cost literally pennies to do it. You see so many of these kinds of spaces. Find out who the landlord is and start the dialogue. Going to a hotel certainly is convenient, but another location might be more economical and more interesting.”

                                                                                                                             

After several years of serving the same basic menu at the annual holiday party, Terry McKay who plans events at her company, Flack and Kurtz, sat down with her catering sales manager to design a new menu that relied on international stations that better reflected their employees’ backgrounds and food savvy. It was a big hit. So, even if you have booked the same venue you used in the past, talk with your catering manager or site contact about the successful events that have been held there in the past and generate some fresh menu and beverage ideas. Challenge the chef to show you where the kitchen excels, rather than imposing your preconceived notions on them. Or, think about how to appeal to the kid in people. Incorporate a made-to-order grilled-cheese station into the menu, for instance, including some “adult” options like fontina with mushrooms and truffle oil, as well as more traditional versions like cheddar with bacon or toasted onion. Serve tomato soup shooters at the same station. "Consider doing a candy buffet, beloved by kids of all ages (read grown-ups, too) suggests Hillary Harris, Director of Special Events at Warner Bros. “Go online to find great deals on bulk candy, fun containers, cello bags, and scoops.”
“Theming the menu to include holiday song titles or even powered sugar as "snow" can facilitate food fun without breaking the budget," says Christy Bareijsza, CMM, CMP, of The Red Carpet Events.

                                                                                                                           

Instead of a boozy evening cocktail party this year, change the time of the event and the concept. Depending on the crowd, maybe your attendees would appreciate unwinding at a relaxing afternoon tea party or even a cheerful holiday breakfast event might work if it’s well executed.
Mets advocates doing something different to help ease that end-of-the-year holiday-time stress, like an afternoon at the movies. Watch a film then “buy out the theater and have a reception in the lobby.“ She has even taken groups to a mall to shop: “We did a luncheon afterwards. While they ate, their gifts were professionally wrapped.”

                                                                                                                           

 Play Up the Theme

“Approach holiday entertaining the way we do for studio premieres,” advises Warner Bros.’ Harris. “Start with a theme and make the party part of a theatrical experience.”
Even if you are restricted to staying on-site this year, consider how the location can be transformed to feel like a totally different environment.
Harris stresses the importance of engaging the senses. “Simmer some cinnamon sticks and cloves to infuse the room with a holiday scent….Take a trip to a discount fabric store to procure bolts of cloth for your buffet table, and use extra fabric generously to drape and cover,” she suggests for planners on a tight budget to generate visual appeal.
Use black-out curtains, colored lights, whatever it takes to make the work space look completely un-officelike. If access to part of the premises can be restricted and decorated behind closed doors, the unexpected transformation when it’s finally revealed will be an exciting surprise.
Miche Griffin, Creative Director of Griffin Events, who is being asked to do many more in-house events this year, is going in a completely opposite direction from the traditional holiday scheme and designing parties around one dominant theme, such as Indian or Moroccan. The concept transforms the event from a holiday party to an annual celebration. At an Indian theme party, for example, the buffet might include both traditional Indian food and variations on the cuisine, such as split pea and lentil hummus. The bar can offer themed drinks like a Blood Orange Madras and Mango Bellini.

                                                                                                                             

As part of the show, Griffin likes to integrate the staff into the theme by dressing the women in bindis and saris, sourced inexpensively from local shops specializing in Indian goods. Tea-leaf readers replace the more typical palm readers found at many events.
Another idea is to treat employees to the services of a make-up artist, manicurist or massage therapist you bring on-site for the event.
Or interject some humor by asking employees to submit letters to Santa prior to the party, stating their (tongue-in-cheek) holiday wishes. There are bound to be some laughs when the CEO or another designated employee reads them aloud.Mets suggests having one company department plan another department’s party. “Think of the TV show Trading Spaces,” she says. “The spirit of competition and the idea of trying to do something special for colleagues will add to the end result. It makes the planning experience part of the event itself.”

                                                                                                                             

 

Bring in Fresh Entertainment

Patrick Sullivan, President of PRA New York, has begun to source his own options for entertainment, frequently relying on Craig’s List to find new, and many cases, more budget friendly ways to liven up his clients’ events. He cites the example of one of his clients, an insurance company, which holds its annual employee party in the afternoon. In addition to the employees, spouses and children are included, which calls for varied types of entertainment to appeal to all of the party-goers. He engages more DJ’s than live groups these days, and for the children, he searches out interactive attractions like sketch artists. He does the legwork to audition the entertainment himself, which does take time, but quite often saves his client money. 

                                                                                                                           

Recruit In-House Talent

Are you blessed with talented colleagues? Terry McKay is, and every year an employee band provides a portion of the evening’s entertainment and one of the company VPs pens humorous songs about happenings at the firm during the past year.When Miche Griffen plans in-office parties she solicits play lists from employees’ iPods and needs only a sound system to provide uninterrupted entertainment for the evening. Ask around—maybe someone in the company moonlights as a DJ or has other hidden talents waiting to be discovered.

Are your event attendees expecting an email with time and date details, an email that may get lost in an overloaded inbox? Terry McKay designs an invitation and has them hand delivered to her co-workers, an invitation that reflects her excitement about the party. This year, she has already sent a save-the-date email, but has not revealed the new location of this year’s party in order to boost her co-workers’ anticipation. Consider making the announcement interactive by asking the employees to vote on a signature drink for the bar, or for the most notable employee accomplishment of the year. The results can be revealed and celebrated at the holiday event.