CENX Inc., Staff Appreciation Event

This event will always be on my mind when I think about our goals and aspirations for ITM. You never know why someone or something comes into your life. This event started with an email asking if we were available to discuss doing a corporate event for them. It was followed by a teleconference. This is where I had an “Ah-ha!” moment. One of the first things they said to me in the call was that our website is “very pretty” and did I understand that their event wouldn’t be pretty because it was a simple corporate event.

The first thought that went through my mind was that I needed to do some more work on our website. It needed to be “less pretty” and more about all the clients we serve, not just our wedding clients. I went to work right away making changes.

The next thought that went through my mind was that I believe in the work we do and why and how we make corporate events better than what companies may be used to. Even a simple corporate event needs to be something more, something more than what is expected. It doesn’t have to be pretty but it does have to exceptional.

Our event for CENX Inc. was the perfect opportunity to show exactly how we can make a simple corporate event into something more. The client gave us their must haves for this event:

1. The location needed to hold 150-200 people
2. It had to include an activity that they could participate in as a group
3. It had to include food
4. The company band had to be able to play 2 sets

Following our meeting, research and a suggestion of one employee it was decided that the event would take place at House of Targ on Bank Street. House of Targ was a perfect fit for the staff of CENX Inc., they spent the evening playing pinball and other old school video games. At House of Targ their food selection includes 6 varieties of perogies. Yup that’s it. Perogies is their menu.

So with that decision we had met their requirements – activity, food, all one location and their band could play because at House of Targ they have bands regularly and were all set up for it. Perfect!

So, from an event planner’s perspective that was easy. Now comes the hard part and the part that we do incredibly well. How do we make this event more than what the client had requested.

First I started with the food…well simply because that’s my favourite thing at an event. We asked House of Targ to step outside their comfort zone to create perogie food stations with beer pairings. Each station included two different perogie flavours with a specific beer pairing for each. The perogies were served in two with a special sauce made specifically for each flavour.

Next focus was the activity. This took a little more time to perfect. We had to figure out how we were going to get 120 people to participate together in an activity. We went with randomly picked teams and decided to have a gaming tournament. Guests arrived and were given the custom designed score cards that we had made by Luce Ends. Each card had been personalized with their name and their team number. Then all they had to do was spend the time playing the 10 games listed on the card. They kept their scores on the score card and handed them back for us to tally up. Luce Ends also created this incredible score board – I had never seen anything like it before, Meredith never ceases to amaze me. We tallied up the team scores and presented the winning team with a trophy. The trophy, also designed by Meredith, was made of old gaming parts including a joy stick. She pieced it all together and painted it gold. For a little something extra we had small little mini trophies for each player on the team.

The night ended with the company band playing a set they had worked hard on perfecting.

The event was a huge success. We met the client’s list of must haves while being able to bring the event to another level by doing some of what we do best – creating an experience.