Corporate Event Planning Chicago
Just4Jumps is ready to help! We can help you with all your corporate event planning needs in Chicago.We are your one stop shop for corporate parties in the Chicagoland area. We carry many of your favorite party items for corporate holiday parties also. We are always looking for ways to help provide inflatable fun and bouncing entertainment to our local Chicago businesses. Call us today to discuss how we can make your next company event a spectacular experience.
Just4Jumps Your Company Picnic Partner
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Planning your Corporate Event in Chicago
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Trust Just 4 Jumps to provide a memorable fun event that will leave your guests happy and increase morale throughout the company.
Just 4 Jumps is a regional leader in creating amazingly successful events for our clients. Our team works with you in a hands-on manner to accomplish two things;
Make your job easier and your events wildly successful. Period.
We do the heavy lifting and take the stress out of event planning. We guarantee you will see a difference in the way we orchestrate events as well as the way your employees and guests respond to it. In short, we create the ultimate guest experience.
Don’t you think it’s worth your time to find out more? Please go to www.just4jumps.com to request further info and get the ball rolling on your best picnic ever!
Secrets to Creating the Perfect Company Picnic
Summer (or fall) is coming soon and it's time to reward your employees and their families with a relaxing company picnic. But a wicker basket full of sandwiches, and potato salad served on a checkered tablecloth just won't cut it.
This guide has been developed for your convenience in the hopes that it will help you save time, energy, and money when planning for your big day.
There are a lot of reasons to have a company picnic.
But the number one reason to have a company picnic is to HAVE FUN!
Of course, having all that fun requires hard work, but if you follow these suggestions, you can save a lot of the headache and time involved.
Step 1: GET ORGANIZED
Start with a notebook divided into sections for Budget, Location, Raffle Items, Party Favors, Food and Beverage, Invitations, Activities, and Games and Entertainment. Even for the smallest picnic, having this notebook will make your job easier and keep all of your important info in one place.
Get your picnic committee together and decide who will cover what duties. It is important to have good communication with all of the committee members, and to have all final decisions go through one key person.
Step 2: CHECK YOUR CALENDAR
• They build company morale.
• They show appreciation for employees and their efforts.
• They show commitment to employees and their families.
• They strengthen teamwork.
If your employees' families are going to be invited, the event will more than likely need to be held on a weekend. Make sure the date you pick isn't a religious holiday, and unless you want to encourage a mutiny, don't plan to hold the picnic on a long weekend or when half your staff is away on vacation.
Step 3: DETERMINE A HEAD COUNT (APPROX.)
Determine who will attend your company picnic and attempt to put together an approximate head count of those that will be involved. While there is no "exact science" to do this we have found that on average about 80% of the people invited will show. Multiply that number by 2.5 to account for spouses and kids, and you should have a number to work with that makes sense.
Limit guests to the immediate family of the employee, or one guest if they are unmarried. This way you don't have every Tom, Dick, and Harry showing up.
Step 4: ESTABLISH A BUDGET
The company will give you limited dollars to spend on your event, and that budget will dictate most of your decisions. Make sure to think of Food, Entertainment, Prizes and Giveaways, Location Fees, etc.
Step 5: PICK A LOCATION
If you have had your picnic at the same spot for more than two or three years in a row, consider moving it. If you do decide to have it in the same
location as before, consider moving it to a different spot on the event site. This will give your employees a refreshingly new feel to the annual event.
Try to find a location that can offer privacy. Many companies are now having the picnic on their own grounds, either in a grassy area or on the parking lot. However, if you do decide to have it off site, you should attempt to find a location that can be reserved. Who wants to police other groups and compete over ball fields and other facilities? Make sure that you have enough room for your group. It's a picnic, so people will want to move around and kids will want to explore and run all over.
If you are having the picnic during a particularly hot month then finding a location with shade trees or large pavilions is ideal. You should also think about room for tents if you don't have sufficient room in the pavilions in case it happens to rain. Canceling a picnic several hours before it starts is bad for morale, especially if your guests have cancelled piano lessons and other family plans to attend.
Make sure to plan ahead. Most public parks require a permit, which start at about $20. The permit will ensure the spot you have in mind is reserved for you along with picnic tables, fire pits or grills, and the like. MAKE SURE TO CONSIDER PARKING. You will want to have enough space for all of your guests' cars and that space should be within a short walking distance. If this is not possible, you may want to consider a shuttle to help transport people to and from the event site.
Some companies choose to have their picnic at an amusement park. These events can be fun, but lose the group feel. It is hard to get everyone together with the large space and all of the activities. Having a smaller site with all of your guests in ear range of the DJ or bull horn creates the unity that these events are planned for in the first place.
We suggest that your entire picnic committee goes to see the event site. This will help establish in everyone's mind a feel for the site and what activities would work with the space. This will also give everyone a chance to help come up with ideas to make the event an exciting one.
Step 6: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
Get the committee together and decide the times of the event. Most picnics last between 3 and 4 hours. If you have people working who have to come in shifts, then make sure you allow the event to be long enough to accommodate these people.
Next, decide on any themes you may wish to have. Many people do not take the time to do this, but it
can be a lot of fun. Some popular themes are Western, Mardis Gras, Circus Big Top, Country Fair, Safari, Luau, etc.
You will want to decide on food. Your picnic can be catered, potluck, or have your boss cook hotdogs and burgers on the grill. Remember, your budget will dictate what you can and can't do. If you choose an entertainment company that provides turn-key event planning then they should have you covered on catering, if you so chose.
Step 7: ACTIVITIES AND ENTERTAINMENT
It's a picnic, so every one of all ages should have tons to do! At Just 4 Jumps, this is, of course, our specialty. We look for ways to provide many different "zones of entertainment" for all ages.
Inflatable Games are a huge hit with the toddlers all the way through the college age group. Of course, many adults love to play and have a great time on them as well! We have a huge selection to choose from, so that all age brackets will have a fun and challenging time.
Carnival booths work great, and offer a wide variety of exciting and challenging games. Just like at the fair! Prizes add a nice touch, giving all of your guests something to take home with them.
Ladder golf, basketball, corn hole, and other outdoor style games can be a very popular segment of your picnic.
For the crowd that does not want to actively participate in the more physical games, nothing beats bingo. Prizes are what make this game so exciting, so make sure to pick some great ones.
Wal-Mart, and other stores like it, have a ton of things to choose from that are inexpensive but have a very expensive look to them. These might include camping chairs, sleeping bags, coolers, DVD players, small TV's, dart boards, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.
For that extra spark of "pizzazz," live entertainers can do the trick. This could range from face painters, clowns, magicians, stilt-walkers, and caricature artists to a professional DJ or band. They can also come in handy if there is a delay in food preparation or a lull between door prizes.
Another popular package that many of our clients choose is the classic picnic package. This is a series of old style picnic games like tug-of-war, egg race, water balloon toss, three legged race, centipede skis, and sack races. When we provide these games we also have ribbons and medals for all of the winners.
Step 8: START AN INFORMATION CAMPAIGN
You need to start getting the word out about your picnic beginning approximately one month out. Don't start signing people up too early though. If it is more than a month away, most people will probably just sign up for the heck of it.
There are many great ways that you can let people know about the picnic. Talk it up in meetings, put an article in the company newsletter, attach notes to payroll, or put up posters or flyers in strategic locations all around the building. When you book with us, you receive a FREE Event Promo Kit, which includes lots of full color, customizable posters, prize samples, and your own Event News flyer that has all of your picnic information as well as pictures of the games and activities offered.
Let people know about the prizes you will be giving away. "We are giving away ___ dollars and you must be present to win."
At most corporate events, prizes or gifts are given away to reward employees, boost morale, and show employee appreciation. It is not enough to just have several nice prizes or large cash rewards without announcing in advance what will be given away. The biggest mistake we think that companies can make in planning for an event is spending a ton on prizes, and then not posting what will be given away well in advance of the corporate event.
We have had several clients struggle with attendance, and they usually decide to cut activities for future events (and may end up not having future events at all) because of poor attendance. The ironic thing is that many of these companies have really great prizes but the employees don't know about them.
Likewise, you can also do less on prizes if you really promote the event itself. The games and activities that are great for the whole family, etc.
Raffles are another great way to spark interest in the picnic. Many of our clients ask for donations from other companies and their vendors. It takes time to solicit raffle prizes, so it should be the job of the entire committee, not just a single person!
When you are a week out from the date of the event, do your best to get the word out and stir up interest. It is up to the coordinator, and the picnic committee, to get people to come to the event, and the week before the picnic is the critical time to make the big push announcing the event.
If the event is to be held off grounds, make sure that everyone gets a map to the event site. Send e-mails
that will serve as last minute reminders to every employee.
Step 9: THE BIG DAY
Get lots of sleep the night before the event. Show up to the picnic early, and take care of any payment arrangements with your vendors or Entertainment Company right then. Now, take a deep breath and relax! You have worked hard to make this day special for everyone who attends, and you should enjoy it too.
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INVITING IDEAS:
Since the party starts when the invitation arrives, try some of these ideas to start excitement about the event weeks before the picnic date, and answer any typical questions guests may have.
• For added fun, invite your employees' children and ask them to bring their parents.
• Write the invitation using language that compliments the theme, such as words like "chow" or "vittles" for a western theme.
• Include not only the date, but the day of the week to avoid any confusion.
• Include an RSVP date and reply information.
• Designate it as a "rain or shine event" or if there is a rain date.
• Include the start and stop times of the event.
• When possible, help arrange a car pool service for people with transportation problems.
Above all, make sure that your company picnic is an event that will be looked forward to, not only by your employees' and their families, but also by yourself. After all, don't you deserve a wonderful day in the great outdoors too?
If you have any questions, or ways that we could enhance your event even more, please let us know. If we have the opportunity to work with you this year, we guarantee to make your event Successful, Memorable, and FUN!
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
Many people assume that their business liability insurance will cover them during an off-site party. Depending on your policy, that might not be the case. You should insist that any vendors you have hired for your event are covered with a minimum of a $1 million policy. Your vendors should show their coverage on your copy of their service contract, as well as provide you with a valid certificate that shows this.