You will want to make this particular event as collaborative as possible. Give everybody something different to do and to dress up as, in that way you will find yourself more involved with the fun aspects of the day and not so much with the planning of it.
The first problem you will have contend with, when suggesting this to a group of diverse people, is that not everyone will be comfortable with dressing up as a supernatural character. You will have to be mindful that belief factors may hamper your plans and you may need a secondary plan or theme that make people feel comfortable in their own skin at your event.
Our resolution was too include Guy Fawkes into the theme as well; which here in South Africa means whatever you can make of it. And was I surprised everyone made of the event despite the never-ending complaints that went on for months, and months about it.
Once you have given everybody their costumes ideas and 'To Do' checklists, as well as places they can go to acquire these things, you will find the complaints will get a little less loud.
No one in an office environment really wants to be a Debbie Downer, but I understand how tiresome it can be getting a project that might take money from your pocket or doing office related work in your own time. I needed implement another mechanism in place besides emotional blackmail, to enable active collaboration and generate hype.
One of the easiest ways was to create competitions and a trick or treat (without the trick) session after the event takes place. In that everyone walks away with something from their coworkers, even though they may not win any of the prizes in the competitions.
There were 5 competitions I ran for our Halloween party.
I bought a huge amount of sweets and created prizes based on these categories, it will probably be a good idea for everyone to actually see the prizes so they know what they will be getting out of the event if they are willing to invest into it.
Rewarding Collaboration and Generating Hype
No one in an office environment really wants to be a Debbie Downer, but I understand how tiresome it can be getting a project that might take money from your pocket or doing office related work in your own time. I needed implement another mechanism in place besides emotional blackmail, to enable active collaboration and generate hype.
One of the easiest ways was to create competitions and a trick or treat (without the trick) session after the event takes place. In that everyone walks away with something from their coworkers, even though they may not win any of the prizes in the competitions.
The Competitions
There were 5 competitions I ran for our Halloween party.
- Best Decor
- Scariest Costume
- Funniest Costume
- Most Original Costume
- Best Overall Costume
I bought a huge amount of sweets and created prizes based on these categories, it will probably be a good idea for everyone to actually see the prizes so they know what they will be getting out of the event if they are willing to invest into it.
If you are planning to take part any of the competitions you might want to forfeit the chance to win at best decor. Don't wait for your coworkers to put up their decorations first, it won't get done. So start hanging up your decor to start creating the right kind of atmosphere you want for the event.
It might also be a good team building exercise to divide coworkers into groups for the decor and give them a bigger prize; that way they will be able to split the expenses and work load.
If cooking is your thing this is probably where you can get this most creative. I, most definitely, am not a cook. I hate it and do it just to survive, so we decided that a braai would do for this occasion.
I did, however, find a tasty alcoholic/non-alcohol Witch's Brew online, that we made on the day.
It was was fact supposed to be green, but apparently 'feeling jelly wobble in your tummy' is a real concern for people, and we ended up omitting the jelly from the recipe. Probably not the greatest idea given what the brew ended up looking like without the green colour.
The Witch's Brew Recipe is available by clicking to this site.
Despite the hurdles I had to jump over to get this event going, I considered it a great success. My coworkers made the day for themselves, playing Clue, taking part in the competitions and they it remember it to this day. I think the most important thing you will need to foster in anything that takes people from their everyday, is to make them feel that it is okay to do so.
Stay tuned for the Budget Breakdown of my Mavis Dracula Costume in my next blog.
It might also be a good team building exercise to divide coworkers into groups for the decor and give them a bigger prize; that way they will be able to split the expenses and work load.
The Food
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| Er...Witch''s Brew |
I did, however, find a tasty alcoholic/non-alcohol Witch's Brew online, that we made on the day.
It was was fact supposed to be green, but apparently 'feeling jelly wobble in your tummy' is a real concern for people, and we ended up omitting the jelly from the recipe. Probably not the greatest idea given what the brew ended up looking like without the green colour.
The Witch's Brew Recipe is available by clicking to this site.
Despite the hurdles I had to jump over to get this event going, I considered it a great success. My coworkers made the day for themselves, playing Clue, taking part in the competitions and they it remember it to this day. I think the most important thing you will need to foster in anything that takes people from their everyday, is to make them feel that it is okay to do so.
Stay tuned for the Budget Breakdown of my Mavis Dracula Costume in my next blog.
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