At Chicago’s Windy City Fieldhouse, summer outings are a specialty, having hosted more than 2,000 for clients ranging from Kraft to GlaxoSmithKline to HP. Since facilities like this fill up quickly, the time to plan and book a summer event is right now.
The following tips will help you get started:
1) Define the key mission and objectives for the day. Is the focus to build camaraderie and goodwill among employees and/or employees and their families? What about younger employees? How will you address the needs of the different groups?
2) Determine if the event is to occur on a weekday or weekend. If you’re looking to provide an entertaining event for employees and their families, a weekend event allows all family members to attend. If your focus is on building relationships among employees, choose a weekday event.
3) Choose the best time of day to hold the event. Traditionally, summer picnics are held in the afternoon to take advantage of the warm weather, and to give employees some time off work during the week. However, a recent trend toward evening picnics held from 5 to 9 p.m. is a good choice for a variety of reasons, including cooler weather and lower costs.
4) Decide if you prefer an exclusive interactive event or a general admission event. Private summer picnics or company softball tournaments provide a great environment for internal networking and enhance relationships between the company, the employees and their families. General admission events take place in public environments such as amusement parks and zoos, providing free admission to a destination.
5) Book early. Certainly one of the key ingredients to a great event is booking the location and date of your choice. The earlier the better is the rule.
Windy City Fieldhouse is located just 10 minutes north of the Loop. For more information, visit windycityfieldhouse.com/
