Spring’s here, and once again they’re trying to organize a company-sponsored picnic. Usually these things are stunningly dull - we’re a diverse group of people, and normally don’t socialize outside of work. Last year they had a barbecue at a local reservoir, and even with a keg of beer, a volleyball net, and letting us off for the afternoon it was less than exciting.
This year I’m considering volunteering for the activities committee in the hopes I can come up with something that people would actually enjoy. Any ideas anyone? Or is it impossible to make these things fun?
Athena - this is something I organize for our dept. each year. (160 or so people - engineers yet.)
We have done several things - but they are on weekends, not just an afternoon off, and families are invited. Would they be willing to do that with your group?
Also, there’s always sports events, the track, um, here we have Ravinia - let me look through some files. We’ve done six flags, stuff like that…
Spouses & children are invited, but we’re stuck with an afternoon, not a whole day off. Usually they do a barbecue type thing where people stand around looking at each other.
Anything helps - what has your department especially enjoyed? I’m thinking we need some sort of activity to get people talking to each other.
Well, last year, we had a DJ - we held it at a resort nearby. That helped a lot - also, having games and stuff to do (Bingo, stuff like that).
Do you have any sports venues close by? Like we would do a Sox game.
This year, I think it will be horseracing.
Setting up teams in advance helps too if you’re doing a picnic - to team up different depts. against each other - I guess what helped us is getting people psyched before hand.
We also had giveaways, like prizes and stuff.
Hopefully some of this is helping.
Is it just a problem with no one knowing each other?
My husband has always termed this kind of thing “Mandatory Fun”
I, on the other hand, love work-related picnics. But I’m super-outgoing, so don’t go by me. I’ll drink a few beers, talk a bunch of people up, hit on my boss…
Thank goodness my new boss is a woman. Maybe my new career will actually go somewhere.
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Cookouts, picnics, BBQ’s whatever. The key I think is salty food, thirst-quenching beer and some of those goofy games WHERE EVERYONE GETS TO LAUGH AT THE BOSSES. What could be more fun than water balloon fights, pies in the face, three-legged races, whatever as long as the boss looks like an idiot?
On a different note, the one company cookout that really sticks in my deviant mind is when my then GF (now wife) made me go to her company’s event (in the early 90’s). One of the secretaries in their office wore a mid-riff baring tank top and some of those loose fitting black nylon running shorts, which she had the body for. I was sitting across from her as she did the SharonStone/Basic Instinct thing about 10 times in 15 minutes. I suppose it must have been too hot for underpants that day.
Let me just say that any social event involving one’s coworkers outside of the workplace can never be fun.
You have a bunch of people who don’t really know each other, except by name, standing around looking for hot chicks/guys from the other departments, and don’t want to approach them because they are already with their spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, or with their kids.
So it’s not really a “work gathering” but more of a gathering for your family to gather with your coworkers’ families.
Of course, there’s always that annoying hyper enthusiastic person from HR who wants to get everyone together by getting some kind of game going, most likely volleyball, but no one really wants to play because they don’t want to sweat or get dirty.
We have what we call ‘family days’ where we go to the park, there is a BBQ, sleigh rides/wagon rides (depending on the season), there is a huge playground, pool passes, we organize games like baseball, soccer etc. It is a fun time. The only problem is it is always the same people who go to them, it is rare to see any ‘new’ staff at one of these functions.
I have been to a friend’s company picnic. It was held at ‘Magic Mountain’, a local water theme park…this was a really fun day!