3 Top Reasons Why You Should hold a Corporate Holiday Party

As the holiday season approaches, you may have been thinking about whether or not to have a holiday party. For many, an office party may be viewed as an unnecessary expense during unsteady financial times. However, a company holiday party offers a few beneficial perks that you may not realize.

Holiday Parties Strengthen Relationships

Hosting a holiday party is a great excuse to network with present and future clients. Making personal connections helps to grow your business. In order to be successful at this, recall names of those you expect to see before the party begins. It’s a simple but powerful way to decrease the number of times you draw a blank and shows clients that you care enough about them to remember them.

In addition to connecting with clients, holiday parties are a great way to connect with employees. It is one of the few times that employees can get together socially. Gathering as a team under the glamour of party games, party foods, and more importantly, party drinks, may be the only time during the year that employees can discuss things other than work. As important as it is for a company to nurture its business relationships, it is equally as important to nurture the relationships with its employees. Happy workers can do wonders for your bottom line.

Increase Morale with Holiday Party Fun

It is super important to ensure a high morale among employees. Evidence of a high morale can be seen through performance. A high morale among employees makes the workplace easier to manage and increases productivity. It attracts new talent and reduces workplace stress, accidents, and the amount of sick days taken. 

Provide your employees with fun activities during the holiday party. Winter related arcade games like a skiing simulator are always a great way for employees to let loose. You can also offer your party guests with a unique keepsake by providing a Green Screen Photo Booth or an Animated Gif Photo Booth.

Promote Positive Public Relations

It should be the priority of every company to show their commitment to the community. A positive public image helps the bottom line through customer and employee loyalty and ensures long-term success. Use your holiday party to build or retain these public relationships. A great way to do this is to promote a charitable activity like holding a raffle to benefit a good cause or by holding a toy drive.

Corporate Holiday Parties are no longer an afterthought. They have become a serious, strategic aspect of business. They are no longer simply a place to drink and flirt with a cute co-worker. Approach your next holiday party as a fundamental ingredient for the health of the enterprise.

5 Things to Look for When Hiring a Company for Your Corporate Holiday Party

The task of throwing a corporate holiday party can seem kind of daunting. There are a lot of decisions to make and a lot of things on the to-do list. You may find yourself stressed out about the kind of food to serve and whether or not to provide an open bar. However, the one thing that you should not be stressed out about it is who you hire to help you with this undertaking. You had better think before you leap!

Do Your Homework

The first thing that you want to do when researching a company to help you with your holiday party plans is to make sure you know what you want. You need to establish a budget. Set aside specific amounts of money for things like your venue, food, entertainment, etc. It’s easier to find a company that is willing to work with your budget if you know what your budget is.

Think about what you are looking for companies to provide you. What are you going to do yourself and what are you going to hire others to do? And of course with anything, shop around! Get quotes. Whether or not a company is willing to work with you based on comparable quotes and your budget is a good sign.

Good References are a Must

You wouldn’t hire a new employee without checking their references so why would you hire a company without checking up on them? Make sure that their list of references includes a variety of people that they have worked with; other companies as well as other vendors. Most companies will only list references that they are sure will give them a good review so make sure that you look beyond their list. Check sites like Yelp or Google Review.

Do you have a Good Rapport?

It is so important to establish a good working relationship with vendors. Good vendors will be eager to build strong relationships for mutual benefit. When you are beginning a new relationship with a new vendor look for open lines of communication. Are they open and available to listen to ideas and instructions? Are they flexible and willing to make special arrangements for you if the need arises? A good rapport with vendor relationships includes respect, trust, and honesty.

Creativity

It can be hard to come up with new aspects of your holiday party especially if these parties are part of a long standing company tradition. Look to your vendors to suggest new and creative things to try. Ideally, the company you hire will have extensive experience so it is reasonable to think they have learned a trick or two. Hire a company who is willing and eager to think out of the box.

Contracts are Important!

It is so important to create a contract with vendors before you begin your holiday party preparations. Putting agreements into writing and clearly stating what the company is responsible for will help to clarify their services and will help to avoid problems in the future. Make sure that the contract includes things like a description of the service they are to provide, a description of the equipment the vendor will be using, a description of the cost and the payment options, and the scheduling information.

Top 5 Entertainment Options for your Corporate Holiday Party

The annual holiday party is about honoring employees for the hard work that they do year-round. Make this party the best one yet with a few unique entertainment ideas.

Exciting Entertainment

Corporate holiday parties are an annual event which means that long time employees have seen the same kinds of entertainment over and over again. This year, look for new and unique ways to entertain your guests.

Give your guests the perfect photo op with a Giant Snow Globe. Standing 15 feet tall, this inflatable snow globe allows guests to enter and experience the magic of the season. The first of its kind in the United States, this inflatable snow globe is perfect for all ages and can be customized. Game Shows are always a big hit at your end of year bash and can be customized as well. Family Feud and Minute to Win it are very popular

Another great photo opportunity that you can give to your guests is Green Screen Photo Favors. Pictures of guests are superimposed onto any background. This unique photo favor is completely customizable and can include your company logo.

Give a Gift from the Company

Corporate gift giving is a great way to show your employees how much they are valued and appreciated. They can improve company morale, be rewarded for hard work and can even be used as an advertisement. Types of corporate gifts can include apparel, wine, or gift certificates.

Unique Holiday Party Themes

If you want a break from the usual corporate holiday shindig, think about offering a unique and exciting theme. What about staging Santa’s Workshop for your employees? Have you ever wanted to feel like an elf? Decorate with huge gift boxes and larger than life toys. Why not invite Santa himself to make an appearance?

Invite the Kids but Keep them Busy

The holiday season is a time when families get together. Make your next corporate holiday party a family affair. However, if you are going to have kids at your event, you are going to need to keep them busy. Think about incorporating holiday themed inflatables like the large Snow Tubing Slide or the Giant Snowman Bounce house. You can also provide your guests with fun food stations like the Mini Donut Machine or a Chocolate Bar.

Offer Fun Activities

Whatever your holiday party has spared no expense or you are on a shoestring budget, you will need activities to entertain your guests. Trivia games, whether its questions focus on common knowledge or the company, are usually a good bet. You can offer prizes like gift certificates as a way to get people involved.

Music is also a must! Whether you hire a band or a DJ, the background hum fuels casual conversation and makes inevitable awkward silences bearable. Think about providing an LED dance floor to entice guests to bust a groove.

@interactiveentertainmentgroup