The brief
After a difficult 18 months, we wanted to get the whole team together for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic for our H2 kick-off and summer party.
Like many companies we were itching to get back together but did not have the office space to accommodate everyone after a year of remote working. So we needed a large meeting space for the first half of the day with presentation facilities followed by a venue for the party element. It was really important to us that the venue was outside so we could enjoy the great British sunshine, but also somewhere we could get involved in some activities to get different teams mingling, and of course, enjoy some food and drink throughout the day.
To get the team excited we built a Summer Party microsite to build a sense of FOMO and to get RSVP’s and dietaries.
The event
We kicked off the morning at The Argyll Club in Bank for an inspiring few hours of sessions from CEO, Andrew Needham where he drew upon Gareth Southgate’s rousing open letter to his team before the Euros. The Squad Leads also set out our OKRs detailing the focus for the business for the next six months.
We reflected on what we’ve achieved already after a challenging start to the year, having continued our focus on disrupting the industry’s old guard with our software products. In doing so we had secured some huge new clients and were better placed than ever, with our super-charged product offering, to change the events industry for the better!
Fizzed up after a morning of strategy and successes, we then headed to Jimmy Garcia’s London Bridge pop-up, Piazza on the Pier. Positioned on the banks of the river Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, the pop-up has plenty of covered seating, a bar serving up summer cocktails and most importantly a station to create your very own pizzas.
The team were treated to a spritz on arrival and a chance to mingle before we split off into groups to make our sourdough pizzas. With some expert guidance and some top tips from our host we all managed to produce some pretty delicious creations (if we do say so ourselves).
The sun shone all day so we enjoyed a few more cocktails, lots of chatting and eventually a bit of dancing (it wouldn’t be a HeadBox party without it!).
The outcome
The main objective of this year’s Summer Party was to bring everyone back together following a really tough 18 months, to inspire, have some fun and relax. Seeing colleagues IRL rather than through a computer screen and introducing new starters to the team gave everyone a boost and the whole event gave us an opportunity to refocus on our goals for the year.
Feedback from the team has been overwhelmingly positive, we can’t wait for the next one!
If you’d like HeadBox to help with your next event, click the big red button below.
