Corporate Anniversary Party Ideas

What an amazing accomplishment these days to have a corporate Anniversary party to mark a milestone in a company’s history.

I’ve seen some smaller businesses around town recently put up a banner in the window announcing their one year anniversary and having a sort of “open house” for folks to drop in to offer congratulations and maybe even leave with a small trinket marking the occasion. On a larger scale a burger place in my neighborhood recently celebrated 50 years in business and rolled back their prices for the day to what they were 50 years ago. The place was mobbed. For anyone who perhaps didn’t frequent that establishment before, it was a chance to sample the food, but I think it was more a sense of community and pride. Even a way to say “thanks” to the people who made that burger place the success it was for 50 years. They even had anniversary cards that they gave to all the employees as thanks for their hard work.

Anniversary_Party_Ideas

My favorite corporate anniversary party idea is to put up pictures that tell the story of a company’s past. It’s always fun to see the products that started it all or pictures of the founding fathers (and mothers). What a special treat it would be to have some of those folks on hand. Maybe, as in the case of the company where I work, the business is in the hands of the son of the founder. In that case, you can sense and even feel the pride of being a part of that company’s history, and future.

Most time, corporate anniversary parties fill in the blanks for folks too. Maybe there is something you never knew about a company. An anniversary celebration is the perfect way to share that with everyone. After all, the success a company realizes should be shared with those responsible for it. Employees and customers alike can all celebrate the success. For employees it’s a chance to know more about the place and people that are your second family. For customers it’s a way to know that you are appreciated for your loyalty.

It’s a chance to celebrate the past and look to the promise of the future.

Simple But Fun Office Party Games

For a successful office party, you definitely want to get people mingling and excited to ensure a good time. A great way to get things started is with a fun game for everyone to participate in! This creates time away from work to get to know each other a bit better and bond as a team. Here are four suggestions for simple, but fun office party games.

Office party

1. Who Am I? Couples  –

This game is fun to play to break the ice and get people talking to fellow employees they may not know very well. The party planner should write down names of well-known celebrities or characters on index cards. Each card should match up with another card to form the couple. Some examples would be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Rhett Butler and Scarlet O’Hara, and Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.

For each person playing, a card should be taped to their back without them seeing who it is. They should go around the room and engage in conversation with others who will look at the card on their back and treat them accordingly. If the person you are talking to has Brad Pitt on their back, you might ask how he feels about his zombie movie doing so poorly or how all of those children are doing. The person wearing the card may also ask questions to try to guess who is on their back.

Once they have guessed who they are, they must find their partner who matches the other half of their couple. First couple to be united wins the game, but it should continue until everyone has found their pairs. Those who have already completed the game should go around and assist in giving clues to those who haven’t guessed yet.

2. Pass the Bowl –

When people arrive to the party, have them write down names of well-known celebrities or characters (e.g. Harry Potter, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Clinton) on small slips of paper. These papers should be folded in half and placed into a large bowl. When the bowl is full of names, divide the group into two teams and have everyone sit down in a circle with the teams seated together.

If Team A is first, Team B will be responsible for timing the round. When the timer begins, the first person who begins with the bowl will draw a name. They will then give their team clues to get them to guess the person or character. They may not say any part of the name or say “it rhymes with _____.” They may describe the movie the person acted in, or what book the character is from, who the person is married to, etc. The rest of the team should shout out guesses and once the name is guessed, the first person should pass the bowl to the person beside them. Each team will try to guess as many names as possible over the course of 1 minute. Once time is called, count how many names were correctly guessed and mark down the score. Then it will be Team B’s turn while Team A times them.

If a person draws a name that they do not know, they can put the paper back and draw a different one – this may only be done one time! Once the second name is drawn, they are stuck with it and may have to get creative for their team to guess.  For example, get them to guess a different person or character who has the same first or last name as the person on their slip. Just make sure that successfully guessed papers do not go back in the bowl! There may be duplicates since everyone is contributing names.

To end the game, you may set a point goal such as first team to 50 points will win.

3. Paper Airplane Contest

Each person will be given a piece of paper to create a paper airplane. Once their planes are created, everyone will pair off and two at a time, the paper airplanes will be thrown. Whichever person’s plane travels the farthest will stay in the game for the next round. Once all couples have faced off, the winners will pair off to go again, and so on until there are only two people left. The last two will face off and the farthest airplane throw will win. You may want to choose one person to be the judge.

4. White Elephant Gift Exchange

This is a great game to play at a holiday party or an “Everybody’s Birthday” party. Set a budget (e.g  $5-$10 or $10-$15) and have everyone who wishes to play bring in a wrapped gift. Ideally, have everyone sit in a circle with the gifts in the center or a similar set up so everyone can be seen. Everyone should draw a number out of a hat to decide the order. The person who draws the number 1 is first and should choose one of the gifts.

Once their gift is chosen they should return to their seat and either unwrap the gift, unwrap it partway, or leave it wrapped. It will then be the second person’s turn. This person will have the choice of choosing a gift from the pile or taking the first person’s gift and again either unwrapping it, unwrapping it partway, or leaving it wrapped. If the first person’s gift is taken, they should choose another from the pile.

This will continue down the line with each person taking a gift from someone else or from the pile. Each person who has a gift taken from them should either take a new one from the pile or take someone else’s gift. At the end when everyone has a gift, all of the gifts should be unwrapped and shown off!

The most important thing at a party is to let loose. Talk to people you don’t usually get a chance to see at work and be willing to be a little silly and have fun with these games or whatever else you come up with! Enthusiasm, competition, and silliness are contagious and will always make for a fun party atmosphere.