You’ve probably been to at least a few company picnics in the past, perhaps even this year. A company picnic can be a great way to strengthen working relationships, boost morale and show appreciation to employees.
According to many a blog post on the subject, the main tips for a successful company picnic are:
1. Don’t take “picnic” too literally with potluck participation.
2. Be mindful of special dietary needs.
3. Make the day interactive.
4. Level the playing field for everyone.
5. Create a memento of the day.
We recently hosted our own company picnic this past Friday.
Spoiler Alert: We dutifully followed the above advice.
Double Spoiler Alert: We’re going to break down how we did it–especially Tip #5 because, Printspiration.
A Twist to Tradition
We skipped the checkered-clad accessories and all-hands-on-deck potluck style approach. Instead, we hired a pre-paid food truck and kept things simple for employees to enjoy a break in their day.
Employees begin to line up for BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, street tacos, veggie caprese wraps, roasted corn salad and homemade potato chips from Matty’s Catering.
However, we did make one amendment to that rule. We happen to have a couple of employees who are well-known at Delzer for their culinary creations. The desserts they make have become part of our culture here, so we asked them to help us out. They graciously took on the task of whipping up enough dessert bars to feed an army. (It only took us all of two days to completely wipe out the supplies, though.)
One of our digital press operators also makes home-brewed beer and root beer and offered to share some of his stash. While we couldn’t serve alcohol because it was a workday, we did tap out his root beer supply in less than an hour.
Food isn’t the Only Thing We Interacted With
What picnic would be complete without outdoors games? Bean bag toss, tic tac toe, and a giant Jenga board were available for anyone brave enough to challenge their coworkers.
Delzer-fied tic tac toe with company-colored letters on ultra board from our wide-format inventory.
A few of the guys from the digital department play bean bag toss on Delzer branded boards.
A daring Jenga move…
…and it’s down.
Ready, Aim, Fire!
We also did a paint-filled balloon dart activity. (Psst…this is that Printspiration part mentioned earlier.)
We use what’s called ultra board as part of our wide-format print process. This is a heavy-duty plastic material with a litho-grade, high impact polystyrene surface. It’s perfect for digital print – and, coincidentally, paint-filled balloons.
Nothing to see here, folks. Just some water balloons casually pinned to a board minding their own business.
The dart-throwing strategies begin.
Hmm…we need more balloons (not cowbell).
Coooooool.
But Wait – There’s More
One thing that [most] employees didn’t notice was that prior to setting up the balloons, we designed and cut out letters on matte white removable vinyl sheets and adhered them to the board. Once the paint dried, we removed the letters to reveal our company mantra in the board’s negative space.
To top it off, everyone at Delzer signed it. We’ll be hanging it up in the shop shortly as a memento of the day.
If this looks like something you’d be interested in trying out for your next team-building activity, let us know how we can make it just right for you! Whether you’ve got a design in mind, or need some help getting started, we’ve got you covered.
Ready to Get Started?
Julie Olivas
Communications Manager
262.522.2617
