Corporate theme parties trivia

Today is my daughter’s fifth birthday. Eagle-eyed readers of this blog will notice that exactly five years ago this month, I also took the plunge of taking TrivWorks, my trivia company for corporate events, from a part-time side gig to my full-time job (read more here).

Needless to say, I’ve had a lot of change happen starting five years ago.

From a professional standpoint, I am no longer an employee, but a self-employed entrepreneur. Gone are the days when money would magically appear every two weeks in my bank account; it is now completely on me to find that dollar, in order to fill my coffers and pay my bills. What’s more, I am doing something of which there is little to no precedent. It’s not as though I were a lawyer working at a big firm, who has decided to now hang out his own shingle; as an employee team building and corporate event entertainer specializing in a highly niche area – trivia – I don’t  have the benefit of a traditional career path, professional organizations and associations, experienced mentors, or any other similar resources I could draw upon to help guide me along the way. No, for this journey I’m pretty much trailblazing the path on my own.

As far as personally, the transition from husband/employee to father/entrepreneur also packed in quite a few major adjustments. It’s been five years now that my wife and I have been playing the nightly game of Sleep Roulette: will we get any uninterrupted slumber tonight? Until I had kids, I had no idea just how precious a commodity sleep is: deep, restful, consistent sleep. I suppose it’s like oxygen, in that you don’t realize how much you need it until you suddenly don’t have it.

The demands on my time have also profoundly affected what it is I can and can’t do during the day. My wife and I need to coordinate and balance the need for child care coverage 100% of the time, even though we both work. Between this and the sleep thing mentioned above, our energy levels are also pretty sapped by the end of the day. What this has meant for me is that for the past five years, I haven’t been able to do many of the things I used to do back when I had the luxury of “free time.” I miss going to the gym – something I was fiercely committed to, and which gave me great satisfaction. I also miss reading. I used to read a lot – like, a LOT, any chance I could get, and pretty much anything. I loved enriching myself with all types of nonfiction, personal growth and business development publications, while also nourishing my imagination with great works of fiction. The trouble is, in order to go to the gym and read on a regular basis, you need long stretches of uninterrupted “alone time” – something which has been quite elusive since this day five years ago.

Of course, there are upsides to these major changes as well. My wife and I have two beautiful, fantastic kids who have enriched our lives and the lives of our families in ways we couldn’t have imagined. And I truly love being my own boss – in fact, I can’t even fathom what it would be like at this point to go back to where I was before. I’ve grown personally and professionally in ways I never would have, and the good most definitely outweighs the bad.

And so, speaking of capabilities – what I can and can’t do – how is TrivWorks looking as we eye 2017 and beyond? As written about in previous posts, there have been many changes in recent years in what I have to offer my clients, both incremental and seismic. Whereas it used to be just me producing and hosting virtually every gig, I now work with a tremendous roster of highly experienced emcees for corporate trivia parties, both professional event hosts as well as “Special Talent” hosts including celebrities, comedians, a magician and even an improv troupe. I work with a fantastic DJ who can enhance company trivia parties by laying down some great beats, a seasoned trainer to offer trivia-based skills development programs, and even unique experiences like trivia/karaoke and social good offerings. I’ve also relocated to Southern California, opening an office in Long Beach in order to offer company trivia events in Los Angeles, San Diego, and everywhere in between. With hosting talent based on both coasts, we can now easily deliver our unique services to companies nationwide.

But what else can be expected of us as we enter the New Year?

As outlined in my previous blog post (which you can read here), TrivWorks now has a new mission statement, the purpose of which is to clearly define just what we are, what it is we do, and why we are doing it. To me, the heart of this declaration of intent is to focus laser-like on the quality of the experience we are delivering, and to guarantee that we are providing excellence in both service and product. I want to be without question the go-to vendor for trivia for corporate groups, anywhere in the country. What this means for our clients is even greater attention and care, going even further to guarantee our events are enjoyable, impactful and memorable. We will push the boundaries of what we can deliver – with me in particular exiting my comfort zones as far as what I feel I can and cannot achieve – so that whereas we may have previously had to say “no,” we will now be able to say “yes.”

And that’s a big deal!

And so for my first “yes,” I would like to state here, clearly and unequivocally, that TrivWorks clients old and new will soon have a lot more to choose from: new offerings, new experiences, new capabilities. In 2017, you can expect an even broader range of service options, of price points, of production levels. And you can expect even more professionalism and excellence, resulting in even more enjoyable experiences for your audiences.

It’s an exciting time – and I can’t wait to work with you in 2017 and the coming years!