My Big Day Events Blog: Weddings, Events, Deals, Ideas, Planning, Colorado in the Know!

The Importance of Employee Appreciation Programs- and Some Ideas You Can Use

3/22/2023

Employee appreciation programs are important for a business’s success because they can help create a positive work environment, boost employee morale and motivation, and ultimately increase productivity and retention rates.

Companies that provide quality and worthy employee appreciation programs have the advantage of finding and keeping talent over those that overlook this important part of healthy company culture. These advantages come in the form of:

Improved employee morale: When employees feel appreciated and recognized for their hard work, they are more likely to have a positive attitude toward their job and the company they work for. This can lead to a more enjoyable work environment for everyone.
Increased motivation: Recognizing and appreciating employees can also boost their motivation and encourage them to continue working hard. This can lead to increased productivity, better performance, and improved job satisfaction.
Higher retention rates: Employee appreciation programs can also help reduce turnover rates by showing employees that their hard work and contributions are valued. This helps a stronger commitment to the company to grow!
Enhanced employer brand: A company that values and appreciates its employees is likely to have a stronger employer brand. This ultimately helps to attract top talent and improve the company’s reputation both within and outside of the industry.

What can you do to ensure that your employees are happy and feel appreciated?

While there are many traditional ways to show employees appreciation, the changing work scape has inspired many companies to come up with more effective and creative nontraditional employee appreciation methods.

Here is some creative inspiration for nontraditional appreciation ideas:

Offering flexible work arrangements: Flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting or flexible scheduling can be a great way to show employees that you trust and value them.
Providing opportunities for growth and development: When employees receive opportunities to learn new skills and grow within their roles or the company, they feel supported and appreciated. Consider implementing training programs, mentorships, and opportunities to take on new responsibilities.
Company Wellness Programs: Offering wellness programs, such as gym memberships, meditation classes, or healthy snacks in the office, can show employees that you care about their well-being and want to support their health.
Customized and personal recognition: Personalizing recognition can make employees feel even more valued! For example, you could give them a gift that supports their interests or hobbies. You could also create a custom thank-you note that highlights specific contributions they have made to the company.
Encouraging employee-led initiatives: Allowing employees to lead initiatives, such as organizing charity drives, can be a great way to show that you trust and value their leadership skills.
Offering time off: Giving employees time off, whether it’s a bonus day off or an extended holiday break, can be a great way to show appreciation and give them a chance to recharge!

By thinking creatively and finding ways to show appreciation that goes beyond the traditional gift card or bonus, companies can create a culture of appreciation and recognition that will benefit both employees and the company as a whole.

My Big Day Marketing & Events has a library of creative ideas to help your business develop a successful employee appreciation program. Reach out for a consultation today: [email protected]

For more business success tips and ideas, follow MBD Marketing & Events on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Making Business Personal
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in creativity. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns!

My Big Day makes business personal by bringing JOY to the job in everything we do.

As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority!

Contact MBD Marketing & Events

*** Bringing Joy to the Job ***

Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068
Email Us

How to Host a Company Holiday Party: Do's and Don'ts

10/6/2022

Holiday party season will be here before we know it, which means it’s time to start planning your company holiday party. Read on to find out how to host a company party, with our My Big Day event planning experts’ list of dos and don’ts.

DO

We’ve learned a thing or two after more than 16 years in the events industry. Here are our top 10 DOs for your company holiday party.

Find the right date

The holiday season means travel and a full social calendar for many people, so it’s important to plan early and get input on your event date. Choose several potential dates and poll employees to see which date will have the greatest attendance. Once you’ve chosen a date, book that venue – and we mean, like, yesterday.

Find the right location (not the office)

Since your company probably isn’t the only one throwing a holiday party this year, secure your location ASAP. Even if your office is big enough to host your party, your employees probably spend 40+ hours per week there. Why not switch it up with a fun venue downtown?

Be sure to consider proximity to the office (so the travel time will be similar to the time it takes your employees to get to work), parking space, venue capacity, and amenities like a kitchen, stage, or projector wall. And don’t forget restroom access!

Consider food preferences

Don’t just buy the tray labeled “party food” at the grocery store. Consider your employees’ food preferences. Maybe you have a lot of vegetarians in the office, or sweet treat fanatics. A vote also comes in handy in this situation. Be sure to ask about any food allergies, particularly if that means you’ll need to keep certain foods out of the event space completely.

Hire an event planner

Feeling overwhelmed yet? We recommend hiring a local event planner who already knows where the venues are and what’s available. Event planners can create a timeline for your event, suggest caterers and entertainment, and make suggestions about how much food and alcohol to purchase. Let us do the heavy lifting – the holidays are busy enough.

Incorporate team building

Any time most of your team is in the same place is a great time to do some team-building. Your employees probably don’t want to spend their holiday party watching cheesy videos about teamwork, but there are plenty of creative alternatives. A Secret Santa or White Elephant gift exchange is a popular choice. Here are some others:

Ugly sweater competition
Company trivia with a festive prize for the winner
Gingerbread house decorating competition
Cookie decorating competition
Bake-off
Solving a holiday-themed murder mystery
Office bingo
Seasonal scavenger hunt
Holiday decorating contest
Team cookbook
Team fitness challenge leading up to the event

Consider an off-season party

Two of the major challenges of holiday party planning – guest attendance and securing a venue – can be offset by having a party just before or just after peak holiday season. Beat the crowd with an early November event, or bust the January blues with a post-New Year’s gathering. You’ll have more venue options and fewer scheduling conflicts.

Recognize your employees

A holiday party is a great time to show some employee appreciation after another hectic year. Present a slideshow of accomplishments as a company or present awards to each employee. Bonus: Incorporate team-building by asking colleagues to recommend awards for each other.

Consider an alcohol limit

Alcohol is not uncommon at company parties, but if you’re serving it, consider having a cut-off of two or three drinks per guest. Nobody wants to drink too much, do something embarrassing in front of their colleagues, and then have to see them Monday morning. Having a drink limit allows guests to relax and enjoy themselves without taking things too far.

Give a gift

Gifts are a seasonally-appropriate way to show appreciation for your employees and engage in some team building. Gift exchanges are great for team bonding, and presenting employees with gifts during the holidays boosts morale throughout the year.

Plan entertainment

Your party entertainment may be built-in with planned activities like gift exchanges, rewards ceremonies, and other team-building exercises, but some holiday background music creates a fun ambience. Bluetooth speakers are budget-friendly, while a DJ or live musician is lively and memorable. If you don’t have any activities planned, consider making your holiday party an outing to a play or comedy performance.

DON’TS

Unfortunately, we’ve also learned a thing or two NOT to do when planning a company event after 15 years in the biz. Download the FREE printable below and avoid the top 10 mistakes companies make when planning an event.

Top_10_mistakes_when_hosting_a_company_event.pdf
File Size:	1491 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

When you book with MBD Marketing & Events, we do all the heavy lifting. Our holidays are filling up with contracts, so book ASAP with our team of creative, experienced event planners for an unforgettable company holiday party.

For business and private event tips and ideas, follow My Big Day on Facebook and Instagram. Visit our Venues in Colorado & Wyoming Pinterest board for more location inspiration for your next gathering

Small Business. Big Impact.
As a connected collective of experts, My Big Day specializes in the creative touches so many marketing campaigns & events these days are lacking. With superior organization, marketing experience and original ideas, we pull off amazing events and campaigns!
Allow us to WOW you and your guests!
As purveyors of fun with My Big Day, we support businesses and individuals in the growth of their ideas, events and marketing strategies. Our creative aptitude allows for unique ideas. Our passion for perfection makes every client a priority!

Contact MBD Marketing & Events

Small Business. Big Impact.

Phone: 970-613-1455 or 303-886-3068

Email Us

We serve the entire Front Range; Denver, Southern Wyoming, the CO Mountains, and Northern Colorado: Loveland, Fort Collins, Greeley, Windsor, Berthoud, Estes Park, Lyons, Longmont, Boulder, Wellington, Johnstown, Evans, Severance, Timnath, Mead, Frederick, Firestone, Milliken

Team Building Activities to Foster Healthy Work Relationships

9/26/2022

What is a corporate recipe for success when it comes to building healthy and successful professional (workplace) relationships? A sprinkling of a positive company culture that promotes interaction and connection between coworkers.

How do employers promote these connections? Easily through team-building activities and exercises. Team building exercises or activities are games, meetings, experiences and events that are designed to motivate group members to get to know and respect each other - often times on a different level that what they are used to in the office.

While often silly or far from “work-related”, team-building exercises are activities that are thoughtfully designed to encourage teamwork. They produce a variety of benefits, including - thoughtful communication between participants (coworkers), motivation to try new approaches to problem solving, creative thinking, and building trust.

The 5 main types of corporate team-building

Ultimately, the activities you choose to focus on depend on your goals. Some experiences are strictly designed to foster relationship building, while others focus more on developing specific skills.

There are 5 main types of team-building:

Icebreakers
Communication
Problem-solving
Creative Thinking
Employee Bonding

Icebreakers
Quick games and icebreaker activities are a great way to kick-off a professional gathering. They are often used to motivate employees to participate. Some easy meeting icebreakers are:

The Human Knot: In this activity a group stands in a circle and grabs the hands of someone across from them. Once everyone is connected they must work together to untangle without letting go of their hands.
Two truths and a lie: Each group member van share two facts and one lie about themselves. The rest of the group must guess the lie.

Communication
Activities that focus on healthy and thoughtful communication patterns are a great way to develop strong communication skills in a low-risk environment.

Team Scavenger Hunt: Teams can be on the hunt for a predetermined list of objects or locations to find.

My Big Day Marketing & Events has developed a variety of scavenger hunts for corporate clients – some focusing on the communication part, some focusing on fun.

Escape Rooms:

Escape rooms are the ultimate exercise in healthy communication! Teams must work together to solve clues and complete challenges before their time in the room runs out. Groups that focus on good listening and transparent communication usually find success!

Take a Cooking Class together: Divide into pairs or teams for some culinary fun! A successful and tasty dish will require open communication!

Problem Solving
Activities that focus on creative problem solving often lead to better results in the workplace. Escape Rooms could again be used to hone these skills, but here are a few other activities that will help your group find creative solutions to challenges:

Board Games: Games that require bartering or trading are great for boosting problem solving and communication skills. Think Settlers of Catan and the like.
Water Balloon Toss: In this activity, employees are divided into pairs. These pairs must toss a water balloon back and forth, taking a step further back between each toss. Sometimes this can be done with two pairs of employees who catch and throw the balloon using a beach towel.

Creative Thinking
Encouraging creativity in play often translates to success in the board room!

Pictionary: Another party/board game, this one really gets the creativity flowing. Divide into teams. Ask the teams to draw a series of random objects, people, events, or phrases for their teammates to guess. The team with the most correct guesses wins.

Employee Bonding
Happy people produce good work! You can encourage relationship building outside of the office with these suggestions:

Group volunteering experiences: Find a cause that aligns with your organization and gather your group together to help out.
Karaoke night: A great and fun out-of-office experience. Who knows - you might have a singing superstar on staff

My Big Day Marketing and Events has a team of professional planners and facilitators who can help you plan engaging activities for your team. We can develop an itinerary that will help you reach your team-bonding goals, which in turn will help you find success - both in and out of the office!

For more inspiration, you can check out these curated Pinterest Boards dedicated to Company Retreats and Adult Party Games. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for updates and tips.

Planning a Business Retreat with My Big Day

9/15/2022

Company retreats are often the easiest way to bring team members together and focused on a specific cause. They are also often the best way to strengthen team bonding.

Well-planned and organized company or board retreats can help boost camaraderie and communication between members, and they often provide an increase in productivity.

The My Big Day Marketing & Events team can help you plan and execute the perfect retreat or team-building experience from beginning to end!

How My Big Day Can Help Your Team Connect

As your retreat planning partner, My Big Day can help with everything from venue location to itinerary planning. Here is what we can offer:

Our team knows the best hotels and venue locations in Northern Colorado from top to bottom. We will help you find the perfect location to fit your needs. We will work with the onsite coordinators to ensure that all of your requirements are met. While we pride ourselves on having the most extensive list of venues and contacts in Northern Colorado, we are versatile enough to also help you find locations anywhere in the United States, should your team want a destination retreat.
We can also assist with travel logistics. We can acquire car service for your team and help with estimating your flight costs if you are traveling from outside of Northern Colorado.
We will work with your chosen location to find the best options for catering and meeting room stocking. My Big Day partners with many restaurants and catering companies in Northern Colorado, and can help find the best dining options for your team. If you want dining experiences, we can offer a list of the best and most popular restaurants for you to choose from.
Our team will serve as retreat concierges for your group. Whether you’re looking to go white water rafting along the Poudre River or want to enjoy an evening at the dinner theater, our team of event planning professionals will help you create the perfect entertainment experiences and itinerary that will allow your team to bond while having fun!

We have trained business and life coaches on staff who can help facilitate team break-out sessions.
We can assist with budgeting and expense tracking.
You can relax with the knowledge that there will always be a dedicated My Big Day team member available to help with any questions or issues that may arise during your event.
We design a custom experience with all the little details that makes your time feel extra special.

There is a lot that goes into planning a successful company retreat - logistics, travel, transportation, activities, and itinerary. Let our team help you build lasting relationships and success. We will help you with all of the details so you can focus on the purpose of your gathering and what your company is trying to achieve by bringing people together.

Follow My Big Day on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about our services. You can also find retreat planning inspiration on our dedicated and curated Pinterest page.

Company Retreat & Team Building in Colorado

8/10/2022

My Big Day was ecstatic to be enlisted as the 'fun makers' for Slate360, an event company based out of Nevada/Boston. The team at Slate360 asked us to plan a packed itinerary filled with experiences and excursions in Colorado.

From booking car services to/from the hotel and out and about, to meals, to team-building activities, we had a blast putting together tons of fun for this client!

Our new friends know how to make all of their team members feel welcome. Fantastic lodging at The Elizabeth Hotel in Old Town Fort Collins, a custom candy bar, packed fridge, every supply that could make one feel comfortable when traveling, and monogramed gifts for all!