A corporate picnic is no easy feat to plan. You need to work with multiple stakeholders, get everything approved, and make sure everyone in the company has a good time. So, you should put in considerable effort from the get-go. This starts with your planning. This is where you can make or break the success of your corporate picnic. So, it is a crucial first step.
In addition, you can’t just plan your picnic and not promote it properly. If no one is really hyped up for the picnic, they won’t show up and enjoy themselves. Therefore, you should work on marketing your event, and getting more people to sign up. This marketing will, of course, be different from customer-centric marketing. You’ll be promoting the picnic internally, and you need to keep that in mind. Here are a few ideas to help you plan the best corporate picnic you can.
Determine your budget
Before anything, you need to determine your budget. Talk to the relevant departments to figure out what budget is possible for your event. Also ask for complete clarity on what sorts of activities and entertainment will be allowed.
Then, divide this budget into planning expenses, vendor expenses, day-of expenses, as well as marketing expenses. Make sure you keep these categories separate from the very beginning, so that one category doesn’t get overlooked at the other’s expense.
Send out email invites
Now, you should send out email invites with the date, venue, time, and all other relevant details. Use the corporate email templates on PosterMyWall to create these invites and send them out internally. Use the integrated email lists on the platform for this purpose.
When it comes to design, make sure your invite is attractive and has all the details needed. Also add whether this picnic is a family event. In addition, make it clear if there is a pool or other activities which will require a change of clothes. Remind people to bring one if that’s the case. Also share the menu and hype up your activities and entertainment in this email.
Take polls to decide menu and activities
Incorporate employee feedback and make sure your team members feel like they’re part of the planning. Run polls on Slack or whatever internal communication platforms you use. These polls should include menu options, activity options, and theme options.
This will help your teams get more excited about the picnic. They’ll have had their say in the picnic, and will feel valued. Run these polls well before you have to finalize things with your vendors. You should also send around polls about dietary restrictions or allergies, so that you can choose the menu options accordingly.
Create attractive visuals
Attractive visuals should be there across all your marketing platforms. So, you should decide on a color scheme, and a general tone to work around. Then, you can incorporate these into your marketing templates.
Take attractive pictures of your venue and also create appealing mockups of the activities which will take place. Photos tell a thousand words, so make sure you hire professional photographers to cover the day of the event as well. Then, you can use these photos to promote your company culture, and also share them with your employees to showcase their fun memories.
Work around a theme
Nothing gets people more hyped up than a fun theme to work with. Make sure you go for a theme which is easy to emulate for everyone involved. Intricate themes will make employees feel like they’ll have to put in too much effort for a work event.
So, keep things simple by going for general themes. Consider what season you’re hosting the picnic in. For example, if you’re having it at the end of June or early July, you can run it as a Fourth of July picnic. Similarly, a spring picnic can have a floral theme. This will get people to make an effort, but not feel pressured to do too much.
Market your entertainment
A good corporate event should also have good entertainment. Whether it’s a music act, stand-up comedy, or anything else, you need to promote it in advance. Talk about your main event in your internal communications channel.
Also make sure you put up a schedule of when the entertainment will be performing, so that attendees can plan their day accordingly. You can also have the acts themselves make short videos about how happy they are to perform for your employees.
Promote the team-building aspects
Talk about the team-building aspects of your picnic in your internal marketing. Let people know it’s a great opportunity to connect with each other in an informal environment. Also run team activities and games like baseball or something similar.
This will help you get all your activities approved with the higher-ups as well. Make sure your picnic offers a relaxed environment for employees to socialize and get to know one another, rather than turning it into a forced company retreat. Balance is the key for you to achieve this.
To sum up, a corporate picnic is a lot of effort, but is a great way to promote your company. It will also help team members unwind, and make them feel valued. So, you should definitely make it an annual event.
