inVia’s Casino Company Cookout

Game Tables

Hours of Competitions

Delicious Foods

300

Minutes of Fun

A Summer Picnic for Employees

Summer in California is famous (or infamous) across the country. This July was no exception. It was sunny, warm, and a little sticky when we received a call from a company looking to plan their next big staff outing.

The company we received a call from was inVia Robotics. They’ve made a name for themselves designing robotics for use in warehouses across the globe for seven years.

In that short a time, they’ve taken the industry by storm.

They’re on a mission to help companies big and small out with engineering innovations to help them keep up with orders and stock. So, too, were they on a mission to give back to their creative and treasured team.

Giving Back to Their Team

InVia wanted an employee appreciation day to remember, and together we landed on a Casino theme. That wasn’t all we had in store, though. Since inVia wanted to invite not only staff but their families, we decided to bring in game tables the kids could enjoy as well. All in all, it quickly shaped up to be a family day full of fun and excitement. When discussing a location, inVia proposed it be close to their Westlake Village headquarters. Together, we decided on Malibu Bluffs Park in nearby Malibu.

Malibu Bluffs Park is a gorgeous six-acre park befitting any company cookout. Its manicured lawns are the ideal place to set up all the game tables we planned to bring. All that was left was to set a date. We and inVia decided for the event to be on an afternoon the following month. We didn’t mind the date being close at all. In fact, we were pretty excited for it to be so soon. We were aware that we’d need to hurry getting permissions and planning everything out, but we’d worked with the park plenty of times, so we knew there wouldn’t be any trouble.

A Day of Fun

It was 7:00 that August morning when we arrived at the park. The sun was making its first ascent, casting the landscape in a beautiful reddish hue. It was warm and the breeze was still as we began to get everything ready for the big day.

InVia wanted this staff barbeque to be intimate and laidback. They asked us to provide entertainment at which their guests could mingle and chat. So, for today, we brought with us a bunch of one-on-one activities. We began our setup in Malibu Bluff’s popular, fenced-in baseball diamond, where the ground was level and perfect for the game tables we’d brought. On one side, we arranged an air hockey table, a foosball table, and a ping pong table. Beside this, we set up a craps table and a blackjack table.

We’d also brought in plenty of other fun for the guests to enjoy. We had a mechanical surfing game as well as a mechanical banana ride. Think a mechanical bull ride but replace the bull with a gigantic banana. It’s absolutely charming, and we hoped today’s guests would have loads of fun giving it a whirl at the competition later that day.

Food and Festivities

We set up a few carnival booths decked out in bright colors, as well as picnic tables for our guests to eat at. On the topic of food, our vendors arrived that morning shortly after we did to begin their preparations for the day.

InVia decided on a classic grill out menu for that day, and our caterers wasted no time firing up their grills and getting started. Soon, the air was filled with the smell of woodsmoke mingled with mouthwatering food. They busied themselves preparing burgers, grilled tri-tip, hot dogs, barbeque chicken, and the most perfect golden dinner rolls we’d ever seen. The sides for the afternoon were honey baked beans, fruit salad, and a fresh garden salad. All in all, it was a perfect meal for any employee picnic.

We’d brought in a staffed beverage station with a variety of drinks for the day, including beer and wine for the adults. Meanwhile, other vendors brought in some delicious fresh-baked cookies. We provided a variety of them, and our eyes kept darting over to the cookies as we worked. It can be pretty hard to resist the cookies, and very hard to resist that melt-in-your-mouth barbeque.

The Guests Arrive

The morning passed quickly, a flurry of action and anticipation. By noon, the wind had picked up just enough to create a breeze. It was more than welcome, cooling us off, seeing as the sun had reached its zenith.

The guests arrived at 12:00 sharp, their voices carrying on that breeze, mingling with the scents of lunch and the sounds of nature.

Our DJ turned on the music as the guests arrived, and the scene was set for a wonderful day. Our buffet was open and ready to serve, and our entertainment for the picnic was all ready to go.

We had a lot of excitement in store for the day, and our game leader took the stage to greet everyone and give them a rundown of the day’s events. For the first few hours, though, our guests were free to mix and mingle and try out whatever they pleased.

Something for Everyone

Some guests gravitated towards the game tables, while others visited the carnival booths. Still others found their way to our Human Billiards game, in which the players must kick the balls into the holes in a giant inflatable setup. The air was full of conversation and laughter; children ran and played while their parents sparked up chats amongst themselves. A crowd gathered around the craps table, some playing and some watching. Others mingled at the blackjack table, where they seemed to be having a ball. We watched on, pleased that everything had come together just the way inVia and we had hoped it would.

Company picnics can be exciting no matter what form they take. An excursion to a unique place, an exciting team building field day, or something like this— laidback, interpersonal, and relaxed. We were glad to see the attendants mingling and getting to know one another, bonding the way the head of their company had hoped they would. We knew things were all turning out the way inVia had hoped for, and we were happy to help bring it to fruition.

Friendly Competition

At 2:30 that afternoon, the competitions began. InVia wanted plenty of fun games, a raffle, and lots of prizes for their guests. First on the schedule was that majestic mechanical banana. Whoever could stick it out the longest through the banana’s bucking would win a prize. The crowd gathered to watch, cheer, and try their hand at it. Next up, just after, was our mechanical surfboard. Following that, we had a high roller competition. At the end of the day, our raffle was drawn.

The guests seemed to be having a blast. Cheers and laughter had filled the park and brought smiles to our faces. At that moment, we felt sure the day had been a perfect success. It’s a beautiful thing, to watch people have fun together, enjoying one another’s company. It’s what our client had wanted, and it’s what we always wish to bring out in any event. Human connection, and plenty of joy and fun for all. It’s our goal for each staff picnic, to bring a team closer and give them a day of fun.

All in a Day’s Work

After the raffle was drawn, the day began to wind to a close. We could see the happiness in the faces of everyone there. They were still mingling, still talking, even as they made their ways out of the venue.

The head of inVia pulled us aside to tell us that the day had gone exactly how he’d wanted it to. His team had gotten to bond over good food and fun, and everyone had had an amazing time.

Once the park had emptied out, we set back to work cleaning up. It had been a great afternoon, and we felt we had really succeeded. It’s a good feeling, having your heart still full of happiness from a day like that, and knowing you’d done a good job.

It means the world to us, seeing guests and clients have such a great day. As we left the park, we knew our guests had the perfect day. And that is all we ever truly want.