Corporate Entertainment Orange County California

After seven years operating out of New York City, this summer TrivWorks expanded by opening our new West Coast office in Long Beach, California (read the press release here). We chose Long Beach primarily for its central location in SoCal, seeing how it is conveniently nestled in between Los Angeles and San Diego, both easily accessible by car (notorious freeway traffic notwithstanding). The city also has its own major airport, allowing for easy access to Northern California, surrounding states and in fact the entire Western half of the country.

Located just to the South of where we are, however, before getting to San Diego, is Orange County.

If you’re not originally from the Golden State (like I am not), your direct exposure to this strip of land adjacent to the Pacific Ocean might be limited to that Real Housewives reality TV show. Having come out to visit many times over the years, however, I’ve actually gotten to know this county quite well. It’s absolutely the perfect place for our unique brand of corporate event entertainment for employees and clients using live trivia.

Spend one afternoon or evening in this remarkable region, and it’s impossible to imagine living here without being happy. Many a time during our visits over the years, my wife and I would take the quick trip down to Laguna Beach, and just be awed by everything around us. You’ve never seen mansions like these, up on cliffs overlooking the most perfect, pristine ocean just out of – well, out of the movies. There was a now-closed restaurant which we absolutely loved, Tabu Grill, which was completely on par with any high-end restaurant back in NYC. Probably the most fun, however, was before going to the restaurant, heading across the street to the famous Montage Hotel and enjoying a drink in their luxurious lounge, with easily the most incredible view imaginable.

Not all is easy living and picture-perfect views here, though. People work, and work HARD to enjoy living in a place like this. I have a family member who works in Irvine, and I see what she goes through. It’s tough. The commute alone is brutal, as anyone who has ever lived or worked out here knows. How can driving twenty miles possibly take an hour and a half? But it does, and it’s very draining.

To me, entertaining corporate groups in Orange County is not all that different from other affluent communities outside of the Big Apple I’ve worked in over the years. Westchester, Fairfield County, CT, Bergen County, NJ, Long Island’s “Five Towns” – they all have a similar vibe. But I have to say, there really is something special about this particular stretch of SoCal which I love, and which sets it apart from other similar communities located outside of major metropolitan areas.

The weather alone is so different from what I’m used to back East. There, you’ve got the winter to contend with – I’m not talking about a dip in the mercury below 50, I’m talking WINTER. Snow. Ice. Bitter freezing cold, which makes it impossible to do any kind of corporate event outdoors. And rain – you can count on it raining at least once a week, oftentimes without any warning at all. Not the case here in the OC. You can literally plan an outdoor high-end office party in Orange County at any time of the year, day or night, and with almost 100% certainty Mother Nature will cooperate.

For a community with the means to reward employees and loyal clients with fun activities, just knowing you can do it basically whenever you want is huge.

Next, you’ve got the most gorgeous venues you can imagine, with the most scenic backdrops and views on the entire planet. I’m talking places at the tops of hills and mountains, seaside cliffs, and beachside hotels like my beloved Montage. I’ve produced company parties all over the place, from atop Manhattan skyscrapers to the most drab corporate retreat centers out in the middle of nowhere. Let me tell you, when the environment is gorgeous, it sets the tone right. If we’re talking about a team building event or a holiday party, a summer intern activity or just a few hours of staff bonding, the venue matters. And here, there is no shortage of simply unbelievable options to choose from.

So we’ve got the perfect weather, the perfect venues – what else does this magical land have available to us? How about the people themselves? As I’ve written about previously, the people who live and work here in Southern California are insanely, ridiculously nice. Especially compared to where I’ve just come from, they are polite, patient, courteous, kind and respectful. I’ve thus far found this to be true from LA all the way to the San Diego suburbs, and everywhere in between – including OC.

As a professional entertainment vendor, I couldn’t possibly ask for a better place to set up shop. It’s not New York, that’s for sure – there’s not the energy which I’m used to, the fast pace and feeling like you’re right on the cutting edge of everything all the time. But it’s calm, it’s happy, it’s positive and it’s gorgeous – all things I welcome after fifteen years of the NYC grind.

I’m really looking forward to doing events in this part of the world. Every time I drive South on the 405 I feel it – an excitement, a readiness to bring what I’ve spend so many years developing to new audiences here in the most sun-soaked part of the Golden State. It’s going to be an absolute blast once things start to really take off, and I get to produce my trivia events for audiences down here. I know they will love it, and respond just as well if not better than those whom I have been fortunate enough to work with in other parts of the country.

2016 is really shaping up to be an incredible year – stay tuned right here on the blog, I’m going to have a LOT more to tell you in the weeks and months ahead!