Corporate trivia party Los Angeles

I attended a bar mitzvah recently. I hadn’t been to one in years – in fact, I can probably count on one hand the number I’ve attended over the past two decades. So I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I got there.

It was absolutely amazing.

I mean, awesome. My mind was blown – and I’m a professional corporate event entertainer in Los Angeles! The party organizers truly spared no detail: from the moment guests arrived until the last one left, there was entertainment. Zero downtime. An insane amount of fun! There was great food in copious amounts, a dedicated tequila bar, high-energy music, lights, screens, photo booth, and dancing – even a wandering trivia guy (no, not me – but he was good!). For the kids, there was a whole designated area adjoining the main party space, complete with a “lounge” of sofas, tons of candy, a karaoke booth, and I’m sure a whole bunch of other stuff I missed.

Oh, and halfway through the party, a full-size robot made a surprise appearance, bearing a blaster which sprayed thick clouds of fog over the entire space.

It was nuts – we had a total blast, and it was definitely the most memorable bar mitzvah I’ve ever attended! I was so impressed with how much thought had obviously gone into not only every square inch of the space, but also every moment of the available time. It truly was a home run.

But of course, me being who I am, it got me thinking: how close did this experience get to being TOO much? For there being TOO many demands for the guests’ attention, to the point where it tipped from being festive to offensive? I think they had a perfect balance here, judging not only by my interpretation, but by the looks of all of the other smiling guests. But what if there were just one more surprise, one more activity, once more flashy object? At what point would it just be over the top?

Being in event entertainment, I think about this kind of stuff all the time. It was good for me to see such a well-produced function up-close, because it showed me not only some cool new stuff that’s out there (they had instantaneous, real-time audience engagement, with guests shooting texts and photos directly to massive mounted LED screens), but also showed me how close you can actually push the limits, without stepping over.

My business is in creating interactive corporate party entertainment in Southern California (click here to learn more). Over the past decade I’ve been producing trivia events for office groups, I’ve spared no effort to make the experience as engaging and fast-paced as possible, while also allowing for them to be social. Over the past couple of years, I’ve expanded my core offerings considerably. Whereas it used to be just a customized party with a professional trivia host for corporate events I was offering – later to include the premium hosting option of Pat Kiernan, a local NYC media celebrity and professional game show host – TrivWorks clients can now combine raucous team trivia with a wide range of other forms of entertainment, in order to enhance the attendee experience.

I’ve established hosting partnerships with nationally-recognized talent, including comedian Christian Finnegan (VH1’s Best Week Ever, Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show and more), magician Ryan Oakes (called “the hottest corporate magician working today” by Forbes), MAC Award-winning musical improv comedy troupe Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, and internationally recognized DJ BayBFace to help produce hybrid trivia/dance parties. I’ve also rolled out a trivia/karaoke offering, as well as a social good offering. Each and every event I’ve produced with the above talent has been a smashing success, with the client and attendees thoroughly enjoying themselves. This makes me so happy – and quite proud, honestly!

And yet still, I wondered…what would happen if we combined this already top-notch interactive entertainment not just with trivia, but with each other?

I tried it. This past spring, we created an event with Christian Finnegan, AND had DJ BayBFace there spinning the music. The result? Awesome! We’re going to do it again with Pat Kiernan at an event in January.

But should we stop there?

Something is telling me that yes, perhaps we should. While we can certainly get away with adding the DJ to enhance the celebrity emcee experience, do we REALLY need him for when the magician or improv troupe is performing, WITH a trivia contest as well? I’m sure we could pull it off, but really, don’t you think that’s a bit too much? I mean, if I were in the audience of a team trivia party, AND there was a DJ, AND there was other interactive entertainment, well…I might find myself on sensory overload. That’s just me – I’m not saying we can’t do it, but I don’t know if it would add to the experience, or take away from it.

It’s all about the attendee experience, after all. Remember, I ran this business just swimmingly, offering ONLY live trivia contests! This world is distracting enough as it is, what with our ubiquitous mobile devices, Emails, texts, beeps, buzzes, tweets, posts and two-screen multitasking. At a company entertainment event, you really want to just…well, enjoy it! Relax, take a load off, and focus on one or two things going on. I think that’s plenty.

Is that to say that employees and clients wouldn’t enjoy the bar mitzvah experience I described above? Of course not! It’s all about context. At that event, it was a celebration – it was a party atmosphere, a family function intended to be high-energy and nonstop. With company holiday parties, corporate outings, meeting entertainment and other forms of “professional” events, whether here in Los Angeles or anywhere else, the expectation is a little different. People want to have fun, yes, but they also want to mingle, network, and get to know their colleagues a little better.

And so, I’d like to part with this: don’t overdo it. Even though you can push the limits, especially at an office event, resist the temptation to do so. Whether you are rewarding hard-working employees or loyal clients, you want the experience to be enjoyable and memorable above all else. The very last thing you want happening is for you to put so much time, thought and effort into the event, only to have people walking away saying, “that was too much.”

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I’m not equating your event with “hell” – but just be absolutely sure that your road is heading in the opposite direction!

To learn more about company trivia events in Los Angeles, visit https://trivworks.com/corporate-entertainment-southern-california/