Fun Ways to Make Your Employees Happy With Special Events

It’s important to keep employees engaged in their work, but it’s also critical to keep them happy. There is more to a happy team than just casual Fridays and occasional bagels in the break room! It’s always fun to plan special events for employees and their families. Local creative producer, Josh Busche, shares some fun ideas that we’ve discovered by helping some of our clients at their company events:

1. Live Music – People really love live music. Adding a band to an outdoor event is like adding a barbecue to a backyard birthday party — it’s pretty much a necessity. Live music makes people feel good and puts people in a great mood! Consider adding live music — like a local band — as a top choice for entertainment at your next company event.

2. Jumbotron Video Games – The only thing better than beating a coworker at Fortnite, Pong, or Mario Kart is doing it in front of the rest of your coworkers! Putting video games on the big screen at the office is for adults. Bouncy houses are old and busted. Jumbotron video games are the new hotness.

3. Outdoor Movie Screenings – It’s been a long day and you want your kids to sit still so you can finally relax. A late night movie can be just what the doctor ordered! It’s nice having a movie at the end of a company party or event to incentivize your kids to behave — even after their third snow cone. A movie at the end of the day is the icing on the cake! (Unless you served cake at your event, of course, then the icing on the cake was the icing on the cake…but you know what I mean.)

And don’t think that an outdoor movie has to be a huge production. Any company can purchase a large screen or put up a white sheet outside the back of their office building, set up lawn chairs, a projector, pick a family-friendly movie — and you’re good to go! Make it a monthly event to get your employees and their families together — it helps people get to know each other better and create stronger bonds and builds friendships.

4. Slow-Mo Video Booth –  A slow-mo video booth is such a win/win/win. These unique video booths give your guests something to participate in, something hilarious to watch and then it gives you amazing footage for your company’s website and YouTube channel to show just what amazing employees you have! It’s the triple threat of event entertainment. If you’re not into it, you need to stop what you’re doing and reassess your life!

If you do a search online for “slow motion photo booths,” you’re sure to find some booths you can rent OR you can even create your own slow-mo photo booth if you’re feeling extra ambitious.

5. Scavenger Hunt Social Wall – Scavenger hunts are awesome for team building, for morale and for some good old fashioned fun. Hide things around the event location, give your guests a list of the things, and off they go! As they’re on the hunt, ask them to post pictures of the fun they’re having and the items they’ve discovered. They will post the photos on the social media channel of choice with the special event hashtag (be unique with your hashtag!). Then put the photos up on a Social Wall big screen for everyone to see. This type of fun brings it all together as they watch the photos roll in.

6. Photo Booth – The best part about a photo booth is putting your photo on the fridge and showing your kids that you know how to have fun, too. Unlike the slow-motion video booth, the photo booth allows you to show off the fun on your refrigerator. Be sure to include props that people can use to make the photos extra fun and engaging.

7. Talent Show – A talent show is the thing that people really remember and will talk about around the water cooler for years. Planning a talent show requires a little more forethought, but the payoff is huge. Get a group of employees together to plan the day and time of the event, select “judges” for the talent show (if you want to have a winner) and send out invitation to your employees and ask them to sign up with what talent they will be showing off. Promote this company event to all of your employees and encourage everyone to attend — whether they’re showing off their talent or not. Not only do talent shows allow you to learn more about the fun things your colleagues know how to do, but it’s also a great way to get your team together for lots of fun!

8. Event Highlight Video – A highlight video is a perfect light moment to end an event. You’ve got a real person there shooting video from start to finish to catch all the fun moments. It’s edited on-site to be shown during the last moments of the event. The final product is fun, it’s got rockin’ music and everyone gets to see themselves on the big screen. When the event comes full circle, guests have proof that a good time was had by all and it’s time to get excited for the next event.

BONUS IDEA TO INCORPORATE INTO YOUR EVENT: Snapchat filter – The custom Snapchat filter is such an easy way to show the millennials, “Hey! We’re hip, too! See?!” It’s easy. It’s inexpensive. People love it. Happy Snapping!

Hopefully these ideas spark some great ideas to help make your next company event extra fun for your employees! Let us know what you think.