 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
|
|
|
|
Tips for Retirement and Awards Events Contents:
Introduction. When it's time to celebrate a long-term employee's accomplishments with a retirement or awards party that signifies unique contributions and special relationships of the honoree, prepare your toast, raise your glass and prepare to send your co-worker off in style. Now, raise you glass a few more times, have a few more glasses of, um, tea, and think seriously about how to plan the retirement event! This page is oriented towards the retirement party, but there are many tips here that may be useful for awards ceremonies and other types of business events. Decide on the style of the event. By style, I mean the overall feel of the event. Will the honoree be happier with a formal dinner or an informal get-together? Will the guest of honor be more impressed by a big bash or a cozier event with a few friends? Personally, I think this is the most important decision you will make. This one decision will help you determine the type of venue, the menu, the entertainment schedule, and what sort of budget you will need. It will also inflence the way in which people will socialize. At an informal buffet event people will be more inclined to mill about and chat with others than they would at a more formal sit down dinner. At a picnic or sporting event, people will be more inclined to cut loose. While formal events allow for a lot more structure, and, perhaps, more control over the event, and informal event can be much less expensive, and in some cases less time consuming, to create. Create a budget. If you choose a formal event, you will generally need a much larger budget, Estimate costs for the venue, food and drinks, and entertainment. If you want good entertainment, You will need an adequate budget to get good quality. A professional presenter, roastmistress, or entertainer can liven up an event and provide a professional touch to your dinner, party, or other event. Decide early in your planning whether or not you want to hire an entertainer or other professional. Many good local entertainers also have a little or a lot of experience in event planning and can help you out with good ideas for your retirement party planning. Choose a theme (or themes) that highlights the retiree's interests, including career, hobbies, activities, and passions. For example, if he or she likes antique cars, sewing, theater, and baseball, you could decorate each table reflecting a part of the retirees interests and past work. Put up decorations that highlight the Guest of Honor's life and accomplishments. Display awards, trophies and photos. . Now that you know what sort of event you would like to have choose a venue that will fit your chosen style of event, budget, and theme. Keep the retiree's preferences in mind when making this and all other choices. Would he or she prefer a small or large affair, a traditional evening or a unique celebration? Some possible locations include hotels, art galleries, restaurants, country clubs, yacht clubs, American Legion halls, an historic mansion, a park, or a casino. For small groups of close friends or family, a sunset cocktail cruise may be ideal. When an executive celebrity leaves a company the farewell roast often includes an audio-visual retrospective – with a roastmistress or roastmaster presenting the introduction and transitions. Consider the honoree's preferences. Does he or she prefer not to be singled out? Then something low-key and elegant might be appropriate. People who love to be the center of attention are perfect candidates for a roast. For someone who is very shy, perhaps some form of entertainment where the spotlight is not fixed quite so intensely on the honoree would be better. Keep in mind that simply offering heartfelt appreciation for someone may be the best accolade of all. Start a round of toasts where guests can tell the honoree what he or she did that changed their life. Planning a roast. Meet with other co-workers and brainstorm jokes and comments on the office politics. The key to a successful roast is selecting the master/mistress of ceremonies. He or she must be comfortable working a crowd--and articulate. A roast may not be not tightly scripted, so the emcee must be adept at ad-libbing. For a formal roast, a huge amount of organizational and rehearsal effort must be expended. You will need a professional Mistress or Master of Ceremonies and a Roast Master to organize the roast. A panel of presenters needs to be chosen. Each should be willing to commit at least 25 hours of their time in preparation for this event. Their involvement will include planning, research, coordinating and rehearsing. For losee formal events, somewhat less time may be needed, but the more effort put into a roast, the better the results will be. PSSSSTT... IT'S A SECRET!! If you are planning an event of any complexity greater than a small group going our for pizza, expect that the honoree will find out about the event. I think it is best to not force the guest of honor to pretend to be surprised. Let the honoree know that he or she will be the center of attention at the event and may be asked to say a few words at the closing of the event. Your guest of honor will appreciate this consideration. However, make sure that the Roastee does not know the details of the presentations, or any of the little suprises you may have in store for him or her. These little surprises add to the fun, and that type of secret is much easier to keep than trying to hide an entire event. Getting Started (Turn on the Oven, and Get Out Your Cooking Utensils.) First, assemble your team. You will need people willing to research Company archives, associates, personal memoirs, and memorabilia. Select presenters who can speak well, and have the time available to write and rehearse their speeches, unless someone is willing to write the speeches for the presenters. While it is normally best for the same people to be researchers, writers and presenters, each for their own portion of the program, it is possible to split up and delegate these tasks in some instances so that the time demands are not too awful for the presenters. Choose a leader. This can be a professional RoastMistress or RoastMaster, Presenter, other Entertainer, or it can be somone within the company with truly outstanding organizational and leadership abilities. It's Impossible to Roast a Stranger! If you hire a professional to lead your roasting efforts, bear in mind that the professional will need to be well supported by your assembled panel of researchers, writers and presenters. If your Roast Mistress or other rooasting and basting specialist is to be effective, she must become intimately familiar with the details of the candidates professional and personal life. This is obviously a huge task to be acomplished in what is, perhaps, only a few days, weeks or months, depending upon your budget and time constraints. The support you give will help the professional you hire to make your event most memorable. Researching Your Guest to be Cooked. Be prepared to research Company documentation including newsletters, annual reports, photos, slides, films and videos. Former clients and business associates family, friends, office associates, spouse, relatives, board of directors, first boss, former teachers and classmates and any others who may provide some good nostalgia should be interviewed and, as appropriate, asked to speak a few words. Personal memoir's: photo albums, high school and college yearbooks, hobbies and trophies are all wonderful items that can add a personal touch to the presentations. If you're responsible for collecting phtographs or other memorabilia, be careful and don't lose any. You are responsible for their prized memorabila that must not be lost or damaged. A well designed roast will often cover early jobs, promotions, and other career highlights, with a focus on outstanding achievements. Charities, volunteer work, contributions, and other notable outside activites should be included. The Roast should be punctuated with scenes and remebrances from the private life of the honoree. Short presentations from family and friends make a great touch. Stories about the hobbies of the roastee and his or her plans for the future can make your roast much more personal. A Few Ideas For Your Roast. Usually people have lots of ideas for a roast once they find the time to commit to the research and planning. However, if you need some help getting started, here are a few ideas:
Have Fun, but Watch Your Budget! Creating a memorable roast is an enormous effort and can become very expensive. If you do your research well, you will be overwhelmed with reference materials and options for your roast. Try to be realistic with your planning and expectations and you will succeed in getting the results you desire. A Bit More Seasoning. Punctuate your event with some emotional and nostalgic moments. Lots of humor is expected in a good roast, but some sentiment will make the comedy more meaningful and appreciated. Your roast should last long enough to be memorable but not long enough to induce yawns. Allow 20 to 30 minutes for a video presentation, then about 20 minutes for speeches. Then, let your Guest of Honor make some closing remarks. Showtime! You will probably need three or four hours you need to setup equipment and rehearse presentation cues. Make sure that your room is available several hours in advance of the event. Also, if an AV tech will not be present at your event, make sure you have the keys to the AV closet in case the sound system malfunctions. Memorable Gifts The Roasted One will appreciate receving keepsake of the event. Possible keepsakes can include an album holding photos used in the presentation, the video, guest book signatures,a plaque, a framed graphic showing logos of projects on which he or she has worked and signatures of guests, or other memorabila of your guest's career. Other Ideas Hire a videographer or photographer to record the festivities. Encourage guests to toast the retiree on camera (even a wave and a smile from each guest will do) and present the video to the retiree at the evening's end. Caution: Try to avoid having a videographer run the whole event. People will want time to socialize, so their every move should not be dictated by the one behind the camera. Getting Help with Your Event. Entertainment is my business. Please feel free to contact me with questions or for asistance with your event. Happy Roasting! |
||
|
|
|
 |
||
|
|
|