Corporate party entertainment Southern California

Every time I conduct a customization call with a client for their upcoming company trivia party in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County, San Diego or anywhere else, I always ask the same series of questions. It’s a proven method I’ve developed and refined over the past eight years I’ve been a vendor of corporate event entertainment in Southern California, NYC and everywhere in between. The goal is to learn as much as I can about each specific group of attendees and the event goals/objectives, while keeping the call as short as possible (I aim for no more than 10-15 minutes). I am keenly aware that every question I ask my clients is taking away valuable time of theirs, and as such I only ask what is absolutely essential for me to help make their event a successful, enjoyable experience.

One of the questions I ask is a simple one, but crucial: will they know that they will be having a team trivia contest for the office, or will it be a surprise?

I’ve written before on this blog about how much I love surprises, and about how effective they can be in producing a positive shared experience (follow this link for a related article). If you’re a planner who has decided to make the party activity a surprise, I commend you! I think it’s one of the bolder moves to make, because it’s a lot harder to do, and the payoff is generally a lot greater. You’re working hard on this event, and you want it to go off without a hitch – especially if it’s supposed to be a surprise! Here are five useful tips to make sure that you are able to execute the event as planned, without accidentally spilling the beans:

• 1. Conduct your activity search in secret – I know when a planner is trying to keep their event entertainment under wraps even before they say anything about it, just from our initial phone call. A smart organizer will be talking in an unusually hushed and subdued voice, or right off the bat say something like, “Hang on, let me close the door.” If you truly want to ensure that your group – especially if it’s a large group – doesn’t know what you’ll be doing at the upcoming office party, meeting, conference, convention, retreat or other function, don’t let them know what you’re even CONSIDERING, let alone leaning towards.

• 2. Keep the party planning committee small – Yes, I know this sounds like common sense, but it’s true. Loose lips sink ships, and the fewer lips who are in the know about what’s coming, the greater chance you have of making sure everyone who attends is truly wowed, and hasn’t secretly known what’s been coming for weeks. The ideal committee size for doing something like this is actually just one person – but I know that’s not always feasible. Depending on the number of participants and the size of the production, you may need to let a few more people in on the happenings. But please, try to keep this number to an absolute minimum.

• 3. Run a disinformation campaign – This may sound a little bit sneaky, but if your ultimate goal is to blow the group away with something totally unexpected, then a little misdirection doesn’t hurt. Don’t think of it as “lying” – magicians do it all the time, and it’s called “misdirection.” It’s all for the greater good of achieving the desired outcome: a mega surprise! Play it coy when people ask you what’s up. Maybe hint that you’ll be repeating the activity from last year when you’re totally doing something different, or that you’ll be holding the event onsite at the office when it’s in fact going to be an awesome offsite venue. The key to surprises is to make it unexpected, and there’s no better way to do this than to get them to expect something else.

• 4. Hold it in a multipurpose venue – Speaking of venues, if you’re going to try and keep your people guessing, it’s best not to announce the event site will be a predictable or single-use setting. If you are holding a “Double-Top Secret” activity and the invite says it’s at a bowling alley, well – you’re in for a disappointment. Rather, try to find a spot where you can’t really tell what you’ll be doing just from looking. This could be a professional event space, a theater, a park, or even your onsite multipurpose room. Keep them guessing, right up until they walk in.

• 5. Don’t reveal until the last possible moment – When my wife and I got married six years ago this month, we arranged a special surprise for our out-of-town guests who had arrived the day before the wedding itself. All they were told was to be out in front of the hotel by a certain time. When the group arrived, a coach bus pulled up, and they all went aboard – but didn’t know where they were going, or what they’d be doing. We then broke out customized T-shirts for them to wear, further heightening the sense of suspense and curiosity. At the last possible moment, we announced that they were going to be going on the famous A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour, spending the afternoon on an awesome, pizza-filled jaunt through the Borough of Kings. For corporate events, I’d recommend doing the same if at all possible: delay the reveal until they can’t wait any longer, in order to maximize the effect – and payoff!

I love surprises, both planning and receiving them. When creating surprise experiences for others, particularly corporate groups, I know how much fun and rewarding it can be to see those participating have that rush of shock and enjoyment, followed by the fun which comes after. Not every planner loves to do this, and not every group is into it – but for those who DO appreciate the value of a well-planned, well-executed surprise, I hope that this post has been helpful, and provided you with some practical pointers you can use at your next big to-do!

Here’s another related article on why surprises improve corporate entertainment events in SoCal or anywhere: https://trivworks.com/2014/03/corporate-event-surprises/