Organise a party in the office

With limited resources and budget, your office premises may be a good alternative to have a party, save some costs and invest them in other resources for the event…

The challenge is to transform a workspace into something a festive venue… Partying at the office can be exciting and creative… Hereás how to make the event memorable even though you may not have all the frills.

Transforming the office
– Explore all space available. Try to be far from the attendeesá desks. Try moving the meeting to a different floor… you donát want people looking for the messenger or listening for their phones, like they do everyday.

– Eat well. Compensate the venue with great food and beverages. This is not the time to have pizzas brought in. If you have space for a sit-down dinner, transform the room to give it more grandeur. If it has to be a buffet due to lack of space, make the dining experience exciting: set up food stations where the attendees can graze their way through a meal, from the lobby to the different areas of the offices, discovering different cuisine as they explore the transformed office.

– Make a grand entrance. Use the element of surprise to add pizzazz to an evening event that will be held on-site. Make an impact right from the arrival.

– Decorate the place. Rent furniture such as plush sofas to replace the everyday office furnishings to give a cosy ambience. Use mood lighting, floral decorations with candlelight, bright carpets with interesting motifs to jazz up bare office floorings, drapings and video projections to create a certain theme…Make the ambience different from the daily office.

– For sure there will be things you want to hide (printer and computers…). For that, you can hide them (under the tables, in a corner, at least for the screens which are the most visible items) or use large pieces of cloth to cover them (and give bright visual identity to the decoration!).

Getting themes
Thinking of a theme for the event, hereás some tips to begin.
– Work with the location. Stretch your creativity. Are you once of those lucky ones that has an office with a character? Use it as inspiration for your theme.

– Pick a colour. Take inspiration from the colour of the office… Utilise it as the colour of the event too… (if your office is yellow: yellow drape tables, yellow dessert, yellow candles, get everyone to dress in yellow…). You can also do the contrast… Capture attention by putting in contrasting colours. This can gives the impression of a different venue that has nothing to do with the daily office!

Advices
While most offices are not made for special events, check the following to ensure a smooth running of your event.
· Does the facility have enough power to handle special lighting and sound systems? If not, you will need generators.

· Do you need permission from the building manager or developer to hold an after-hours or unusual event? Unless the firm is the owner or sole occupant, you probably need an official OK.

· Are carpeting or floors light coloured? You may want to think of alternative coverings avoid staining the floors.

· Hire a professional cleaning company to do a thorough cleaning and manpower to help you transform the office back to its usual setting to avoid interruptions when the staff comes back to work.