[megroos]

I need to come up with a couple themes or ideas for our yearly off-site meeting. Anyone have any ideas or themes you have used in the past? Thanks!

[NicoleMiller]

Great question! The theme is typically driven by the purpose of the meeting and the context. What is the goal of the meeting? To set long range plans? To build camaraderie among the team?

The theme will then tie into the goals and set the stage for the meeting.

-Nicole

[Toni Breeden]

If it is the kind of event you can have a little fun with, look for a unique venue instead of going for the same 'ole hotel conference room. I once planned an annual event that was held at our city zoo. It was in the evening and was outdoors, although it was setup to be black tie event - complete with live jazz and a martini bar constructed of ice. I totally ran with the zoo theme on everything from the invitations to the cuisine and you will know which theme will work best for your event.

It was truly an event to remember and I received so many compliments from attendees at the end of the evening. They all appreciated participating in something different and fun. I realize you cannot quite push the limits if it is an "all-business" type of event but you can still seek out a unique venue to attain a sense of refreshment and excitement. Once you select a venue, you will be more equipped to select a theme.

I hope this helps!

[megroos]

The themes last year were "Helping Find Solutions to everyday job challenges" and "Identifying Best Practices" - The goal of the meeting is to come out of it with ideas turned into a "to do" list and for everyone to be able to participate. We will split everyone into groups of 8 or so.

[NicoleMiller]

You could do a sports bracket theme. For example, if you want 8 actionable items from the meeting you could go with "The Elite Eight" theme or if you want sixteen it could be "The Sweet Sixteen". The number in the theme would reference the number of actionable items you want to come out of the meeting. Then you could tie the giveaways, etc into the sports theme.

Just a thought I had

[megroos]

What I really need is ideas for what we are going to talk about. At the end of the meeting I want to have new ideas to implement into the office - better ways of doing things that we are already doing.

[Karen Loughman]

Another idea might be a circus theme. You could do a lot with that. Maybe the office could be envisioned as the circus tent and the various processes could be different acts like the tightrope walkers, jugglers, etc.