A lot is riding on your company picnic: employee morale, your manager’s approval, your company’s reputation. Don’t bank on a successful company picnic just randomly happening; make your company a success with these company picnic planning tips and ideas:
- Set your budget first to ensure your funds are allocated where you need it and you still have funds for decor and entertainment.
- Consider using a theme (we’ve suggested some top company picnic theme ideas here) to tie your invitations, decorations, food, and other company picnic details together.
- Choose a cool company picnic venue that ties into your theme (i.e. baseball diamond for Take Me Out to the Ballgame theme).
Set the scene and theme of your company picnic by setting up decorations outside the entrance and at the registration table.- Use free-standing decorations, such as balloon archways and columns or elaborate centerpieces, for a huge impact and minimal risk of damage to your venue (some venues even prohibit decorations that attach to the venue-ask your decor vendor for ideas in this situation).
- Take your audience into account when choosing company picnic entertainment (does your guest list include kids and adults or adults only?).
- Make your company picnic fun with interactive activities and games.
- If a program is part of your festivities, do a run-through so your program goes smooth and has few problems.
- Mix up your guests to give them more chance to network with associates from other departments or locations.
- Don’t be afraid to ask your vendors for ideas. They can recommend awesome ideas that they’ve seen work in the past and customize it to your unique company picnic (such as giving your balloon decoration company your chosen theme and asking them for company picnic décor ideas).
