Party Guide: St Patricks Day 2012

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Anna

St Patricks Day has been celebrated by the Irish for the past 1,000 years, although modern day celebrations are VERY different from the way it has been celebrated even 100 years ago. Whether you are hosting a party or planning a night or day out here’s your guide to St Patricks Day 2012.

St Patricks Day 2012 Here We Come…But First Some Background:

Just like today in the past the holiday always fell right in the middle of lent but all food and drink prohibitions were lifted to celebrate this special day. By 2012 St Patricks Day has actually become a five day festival hosted in Ireland and attended by more than 1 million people. But of course the festivities are also extended to the rest of the world, although not a national holidays in 2012 St Patricks Day will be celebrated on most continents.

Here are the Essential Components of St Patricks Day:

St Patricks Day Parade – the highlight for most people, lasting for up to 5 hours in NYC. Actually New York was the first city to ever host the St. Patricks Day Parade when Irish soldiers marched through the City in 1762. This year the parades are promising to be bigger and better with lots of music and greenery. Check when a parade is being held near you.

St Patricks Day Food – Can’t wait for your first sip of this year’s green beer? Well if you’re planning a party here are some St Patricks Day Recipes without which I would not dare throw a party. As the old Irish proverb goes “Laughter is brightest where food is best.”

St Patricks Day Games – What’s a St. Paddy’s party without some drinking games? These aren’t hard to come by, however if you want to add some class to your party and make sure the event is fun especially for people who don’t know everyone at the party add a few party games for adults to the mix, if these aren’t enough here are a few more games and St Patricks Day activities for your to consider.

“Ireland is where strange tales begin & happy endings are possible.” Charles Haughey hopefully St Patricks Day 2012 will be a special one for you…and that you remember most of it or at least the milestones and activities you set to do, based on this post of course!

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Pot of Gold: St Patricks Day Recipes

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Anna

St Patricks Day is coming up and what kind of a holiday would it be without some authentic holiday food?! St Paddy’s day reminds me a lot of Halloween because of all the fun you can have with dressing up, partying and of course eating. The main difference however is that St Patricks Day Recipes have a rich history and almost each recipe can stand as a meal on its own.

St Patricks Day Recipes – Private Collection

I’ve collected some of my favorite and actually probably everyone’s favorite St Patricks day recipes that are both simple and delicious. Hope you get to try them all this 2012 St Patricks Day.

St. Patrick’s Day Appetizers

Of course the emphasis of these appetizers and all the recipes here are on food you can serve at a party. Meaning food that you can grab and eat on the go, preferably doing all the eating with one hand. Here you’ll find great Green themed recipes like Hummus, Dip and Nachos.

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Recipes

These recipes have a little more “meat” to them
Corned Beef – I found this great alternative to corned beef, it’s still not steering away from the Irish stream of pies so it works. Here’s a corned beef pie recipe I dare you to try. Or if you want to keep it traditional go for this recipe.

Irish Soda Bread - a recipe from one of the most beautiful food blogs I have to warn you, if you’re in the midst of cooking do not visit the blog because you will be there for hours drooling over these recipes wanting to give every single one a try.

Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie – whatever you call it, it’s relatively simple to make and it’s food that everyone is familiar with and will eat under all circumstances Here’s the recipe.
Colcannon Potatoes – great recipe and can be done in combination or instead of the Shepherd’s Pie.

St. Patrick’s Day Desserts

Finally what St Patricks party would it be if there weren’t a few sugary green deserts? Here are some fun desert ideas. Also check out this link for a Pot o Gold recipe that you can use to decorate any desert you choose, very convenient.

Hope you can try all of these St Patricks Day recipes and turn some of these into your permanent party guests. Feel free to add additional recipes in the comments. Happy St Paddy’s.

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7 Team Building Activities That Will Bulletproof Your Team

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Anna

Any good manager knows that a cohesive team and great people are the secret component of any successful operation. There are hundreds of team building activities that are said to increase productivity and team cohesiveness, but how do choose what’s right for your team?

Team Building That Is Right for You
A good team is a living organism. Just like “you are what you eat” a team is just as good to the extent you invest in it. Before you choose the team building exercise you want to begin with consider these 3 important aspects of team building activities:

One Goal – a good team is one that has one goal, where this goal is understood and “visible” by all members of the team. It’s important for all members to have the understanding that they are working towards that one goal even if what they are currently doing in their day to day tasks doesn’t seem to be all that connected to this goal. [To demonstrate this you can use team building games to show how everyone is needed and interconnected to attain a certain goal.]

Two Way Communication – listening is an important quality that all members of the team should develop. Team members need to feel that there is someone who is listening to them and that their feedback is valued not only by the manager but by other team members as well. [Round table discussions, where everyone is given an opportunity to speak and is respected is a great way to hold meetings on a regular basis as well as mediate conflict...a post with rules of the round table is coming soon.]

Three Point Follow Up – team building is a concept that needs to be reinforced time after time to be effective. Follow up should occur right at the end of the team building session to receive feedback, then a week after the event took place and once again a month following the event.

*Ideally team building events should be part of your organizational culture and there shouldn’t be long breaks between team building sessions so that teams can build on previous events and learn from their success and failures. Here’s a great article on team building success that I recommend checking out.

7 Team Building Activities

Disclaimer: for the record, “together” is a keyword for all these activities, I’m a strong advocate of eliminating competition as much as possible from any team building activities. Competition should be done against a third factor, such as time or a previously set record and not set teams up against teach other. This requires a little more skills and organization but will yield greater results in the long run once this become part of the organizational culture.

Building Together: team building games for the workplace are a great team building activity and can easily be organized using just whatever is available in your work environment.

Role Playing: an important part of learning is being able to be able to take on someone else’s role. This enables team members to see themselves from the side as well as being able to view situations from another person’s point of view. “CEO for the day” is an example of a very empowering role playing game.

Team Lunch: food brings people together, whether this happens in a form of a fancy dinner or a potluck it’s very easy to bond over a good meal.

Happy Hour: going for drinks after work is a very popular team building activity, the question is whether it is appropriate for all?! I think that it certainly depends on the culture of the organization and the people in the team. Although it can be a lot of fun I would recommend taking caution with this one.

Partying: taking on the responsibility of organizing a party for the team or department is one of the most simple and beneficial team building activities for the workplace that your team can engage in around the holiday season and to celebrate success.

Volunteering: many charities have group volunteer options; for example you can help run a local event by integrating the team in all the aspects of the event, this will show how well the team works together outside the workplace and in a different.

Fundraising: this can be used to reinforce the concept of having one goal, by fundraising as a team for a local foundation through initiatives such as heart month.  for example.

In conclusion, there are many more team building activities that you can investigate but remember to be different. Did you know that companies like Google and Cisco give their employees time to work on creative projects of their own, during company time. If your main resource are the people that you hire why not give your most valuable resource the time to focus on developing themselves and the work environment they are part of. By making quality team building activities a part of your corporate culture you are in fact increasing your ROI as well as their commitment to their team and the company.

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Grammys 2012 Event Review

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Anna

Recently BizBash did an amazing review of the Grammys. Not of the “who wore what” and “who brought who” but of the more interesting side of the event: the lighting, the stages, the opening acts and location. So here are some points to review and learn from as well as my own observations that can be applied to the next event you’re planning.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good:

  • The Lighting was the big winner at this year’s Grammy awards. What your event looks like and what you’re highlighting has a strong effect on the mood of the attendees. “LED set, LED lighting, LED screens, LED stages, LED backdrops. LED has completely taken over.” Javier Velarde

 

  • Audience interaction and involvement through team building games, singalongs and direct participation engages and catches peoples attention much better that a straight forward lecture or presentation. “The David Guetta, Chris Brown, Foo Fighters, and Deadmau5 mash-up was spontaneous and fun, and you could clearly connect with the live audience’s energy. J. B. Miller

The Bad:

  • Consider your audience carefully, their age, their interests before making decisions about the topics, themes and offers you are preparing for your event. “They try to make things interesting on the show by doing unusual pairings, but they don’t work as often as they should” Paul Creighton

The Ugly

  • Test your entertainment decisions with different people, there’s a chance that that genius performance or funny host you’re planning on hiring is funny…but only to you. “The Nicki Minaj performance was scarier than an actual satanic visitation.” J. B. Miller

These are just some of the highlights from the article, you can check out the entire thing right on BizBash by clicking here.

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Corky Dinner Party Idea

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Anna

Recently conventional dinner parties that I’ve been attending are taking a turn for the better as they become more fun and engaging. Recent dinner party ideas that I’ve come across range from sit down games to trivia and even incorporating Karaoke. But yesterday I came across (through a very creative friend) a great new gadget that can be used as a giveaway, a centerpiece, a decorative item and you can even bring this over to your boss’s next dinner party (if he/she are somewhat open-minded)

A Corky Dinner Party Idea

image via www.monkeybusiness.co.il

An original addition to the wine bottle you bring to dinner‭. “A design collaboration between Oded Friedland and Reddish Studio. Bring your dinner party and your bottle corks to life with these cute‭, ‬collectable animal parts‭. ‬ ‬Each pack includes the body parts required for one Corker‭.‬ Available in 6‭ ‬designs‭: ‬Monkey‭, ‬Deer‭, ‬Buffalo‭, ‬Bear‭, ‬Bunny‭ ‬&‭ ‬Crow. Cork not included.” From their website Monkey Business. They go for 8$ each and can be re-used from dinner to dinner. You can get a set or two on their website for about 8$ + shipping.

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February Is National Heart Month

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Anna

February is national heart month. You might be hearing about it for the first time now but it’s actually been celebrated across North America for a number of years and its popularity is increasing as more and more people and organizations are becoming concerned with the health of their employees. Heart disease is a serious matter however with education and a few fun fund-raising ideas you can make it an important and valuable tradition for the office and your family and friends.

Ideas for National Heart Month
Corporate responsibility means that a company is responsible to the environment in which it operates but it also means that it’s responsible to its employees. This is why holding one or more corporate events to recognize the importance of the health of employees and to show support for national heart month is a great opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. Here are a few events that you can organize easily during National Heart Month.

Lunch and Learn – Here’s a great idea, organize a heart healthy lunch and learn that will educate people on what they are eating and give them ideas for what they can prepare at home to stay heart healthy. Incorporate a presentation about the risks of heart attack and information on prevention. You can also invite a heart attack survivor to tell his or her story. Make sure to choose someone who your audience will be able to relate to. If most of your company consists of young females, invite a young female to speak. Here are a few survivor stories to give you a better understanding of what you can expect to hear. Speak to your HR department to see if anyone in the company is a heart health activist and is willing to speak. Tip: speak to the survivor and listen to their story before the event to make sure that it’s appropriate for your work environment.

Wear Red Day- February 3rd marks wear red day, a flagship day for national heart month. This is a great and easy initiative to organize at work. Get everyone to wear red on this day, ask everyone to take lots of pictures because you can upload them to the the Go Red facebook page and win some cool prizes. You don’t have to hold your Wear Red Day on Feb 3rd, it can take place during the month of February on any other day. You can also visit American Heart Association’s (AHA) website for other Wear Red event listings.

Go Red for Women - this is an opportunity focused on women’s health and awareness, there are lots of events taking place around the US as part of the Go Red for Women movement which you can take part in as an individual or an organization. Here’s all the info you need on Go Red for Women 2012.

Corporate CPR training – arrange a CPR workshop for the entire company, or for those who want to participate, group sessions like this are a lot of fun especially if you bring in passionate volunteers who facilitate the training with enthusiasm. Click here for more info about CPR training. You can also hold a CPR session in a public space during lunch hour and encourage participation from onlookers and get great positive exposure for your company and set a great example for other companies.

National heart month events are taking place all over the country throughout February, all you have to do is a little bit of research or even contact your local AHA office to find out what events are taking place near you and get your company, family and friends on board. Have a healthy and active national heart month.

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Go Red for Women 2012

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Anna

February is national heart month and there are lots of event that you can either organize or take part in to celebrate heart health. One of these event is Go Red for Women 2012.

Everything you need to know about Go Red for Women 2012

  • What is it? Go Red for Women is a special initiative by the American Heart Association that’s meant to educate and empower women about heart health.
  • When is it? Most Go Red for Women 2012 events will be taking place during national heart month, which is February. For example February 3rd is national wear red day, although wear red events can take place on other days throughout the month as well.
  • What events can I participate in? there are a number of Go Red events that you can either organize yourself or participate in. The following are a few official events that I recommend.

Wear Red Day 2012
You can organize a fun fundraiser and wear red on Feb 3rd, here’s  a detailed guide and details on where to get more info.

Go Red Luncheon
These are running throughout the year all around the country and are a great way to learn about heart health and contribute to this amazing cause. Find an event near you here.

A Go Red Get Together
You can also organize your own initiative, like a get together with a few friends, girlfriends or family and use the event to educate everyone about heart health. Here’s more info about what you can do.

Whichever way you choose to celebrate national heart month have a camera ready especially if you will be participating in any Go Red for Women events, take lots of pictures and use them to win prizes and promote your event next year and years to come, this is a great tradition to start or continue with your family, co-workers and friends. Have a heart healthy month.

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3 Gorgeous Event Checklist Templates

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Anna

Yes I just called an event checklist template “gorgeous” and that’s because you want to download, save and use these gorgeous event checklists, that is if you’re a list lover like me of course.

Making Lists
Lists and more specifically checklists are a great tool to stay organized an to organize meetings, events, workshops and in general to organize your day. Great checklists have a few things in common. They are:

  • Brief: each point of your checklist should be short and “to the point” this isn’t the place to write paragraph long explanations of what you’re trying to say, instead you can refer to a separate document which will document this point OR break it down to compose additional steps of your event checklist template.
  • Important: each point should list the most important items or items that tend to be forgotten during the event, you can include time frames and dates as well.
  • Precise: the event checklist template should not be theoretical, if needed it should include names and phone numbers of contacts for easy access.
  • Practical: a checklist should be a list of tasks and not goals, goals are really important to have for every event, however this isn’t the place for them. Take a look at this event proposal template to help you develop your event goals correctly.
  • Additional Resources: before you get started with your event checklist template make sure to read this post to get the most out of your list making.

Which Event Checklist Template Is Right for Me?
There are different event checklists that you will see online and in books/magazines. They vary based on the event type (a wedding checklist for example will differ greatly from a trade-show).
There are a couple of things you can do:
a. create a “universal event checklist template” which you can re-use before and during every event you organize, here you’ll have a lot of empty slots since some events won’t use the resources that other event will almost entirely be based on.
b. you can create a few different event checklist templates that will focus on the area of the even you are organizing. For example a marketing event checklist template, a food & beverage event checklist etc.

  1. Gorgeous template #1 This is a free event checklist template from a University, I like it because it covers essentials such as brainstorming before the event and evaluation after the event. It’s a simple tool that you can use if you’re organizing a medium size event.
  2. Gorgeous template #2 This one is a comprehensive event checklist template that covers every possible area of an event, it’s very detailed but you can removed and add sections as needed.
  3. Gorgeous template #3 A great event checklist template with a timeline heading up to the event, an important aspect to consider when making your checklist, a timeline. Also check out this guide on how to find the perfect event planning template .


As you can see an event checklist template can be created quite easily if you have the right templates to choose from, what’s more tricky is knowing which checklist to use when and to build a proper timeline building up to your event, more about that soon.

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What to Do for Valentines Day 2012

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Anna

What are your plans for Valentines day 2012? Is it a day that you hold dear and celebrate or a day that you try to avoid…which you gotta admit can be hard with all the pink and red themes everywhere you turn. The big question for me every year is what to do for Valentines day?! This year I put together a couple of things that worked great in the past and will certainly give you a few ideas that you can try, these are great because they are relevant if you are single, in a relationship or in a “it’s complicated” state.

Anti Valentine’s Day Party
Anti Valentines Day parties are something you can organize, actually think about it as a theme for any party you throw. Anything from anti Christmas parties to anti Birthday parties are now the norm and it’s not surprising since celebrations like Valentines day are becoming more and more commercialized. If you’re wondering what to do for Valentines day 2012 and you want to spend it with a dozen of your closest friends then pick a theme from this anti love site, be careful if you’re in love it’s pretty dark. Also check out these funny “things we hate about vday” to get some more ideas to incorporate into your anti Vday party. If you’re holding a party in the office I suggest staying far away from any Anti Valentine’s day themes and instead keeping it civil and fun with these office party ideas.

Cook (a Romantic) Dinner
This is one of my favorite things to do for Valentine’s day and this year I’m going to perfect it with a new book I just got. Many people choose to stay in and cook together or for their partner/date for Valentine’s day, to avoid the craziness that takes place in most restaurants. This awesome e-book I found has all the recipes you need from some of my favorite restaurants. Actually what I like about this book is that with it I can re-create great times I’ve had with friends and family eating out, usually that happens in less fancy places like Lone Star and involves simple items like Subway’s bread…I know! It might be unconventional but I also think that this is a great Vday present so if you’re looking for what to do for Valentines day and what to give for Valentines day this book will cover both grounds. You can purchase a copy here>>

Throw a Singles Mingle
Whether you are in a relationship or single throwing a singles mingle is a great thing to do for Valentines day because people will always appreciate an opportunity to meet someone new and potentially find love, also if they do fall in love they will be forever grateful to you for organizing the event and bringing them together .
A great idea for a singles mingle is a Lock and Key party. Every man get a key and every woman gets a lock, the goal is to find your match by the end of the party and win prizes by entering into a draw with every lock you unlock. This is a great theme because your guests will end up talking to more than one or two people throughout the night which means that they’ll meet tons of new people, probably spending a couple of minutes speaking with each. Another great way to get your party going is to incorporate party games for adults into your party, this will lighten the atmosphere and put everyone in good spirits.

Now that you have some ideas for what to do for Valentines 2012 day remember this, unless your heart is in the right place it’s not worth the effort. So whether you are hosting a party, going away, cooking dinner or simply saying I love you, make sure you really mean it.

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Meeting Notes Template

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Anna

Taking meeting notes during a meeting is one of the key elements of being able to affect meeting outcomes. This reason alone should encourage you to developing your own meeting notes template which you can use meeting after meeting. If that doesn’t sound convincing enough read on! Also read on to learn how to create your own meeting notes template quickly and painlessly.

Why Hold A Meeting?
Meetings are actually one of the most expensive uses of people’s time and are far too often deemed a ‘waist of time’ by meeting attendees. This doesn’t have to be the case as there are a number of proven methods on how to conduct a meeting to to ensure its success. In fact meetings that are well organized encourage constructive decision making and participation.  These meeting are viewed as more beneficial than “report style” meetings-where all decisions have been made and the meeting is being held to inform others of the decision-and result in greater accountability and pro-activity by meeting participants.

A Great Meeting Notes Template
SHOULD NOT:

  • Make things personal – don’t include names or personal descriptions of the person making the point (especially if you have a personal opinion about them and the point they are making.)
  • Reflect the mood of the meeting – if the meeting is a screaming fest there’s no need to reflect this in the meeting notes, states within an organizational change quickly however once things have been written down all participants might be effected by the meeting notes in the future.
  • Express your opinions – meeting notes are taken to record facts and decisions that have been made, don’t express your own opinion especially if it can influence the outcomes of the meeting.
  1. There are a number of meeting notes templates like this one that you can copy or check out this meeting minutes sample to help you create your own meeting notes template that will incorporate all the areas you need to cover in your meeting.
  2. Here are 7 more points to remember when arranging your meeting notes template.

Why Is It Important To Take Meeting Notes?
Unless you are in a structured meeting, for example a board meeting, where a secretary has been delegated to take the meeting minutes or if you are presenting something to the meeting attendees, you should always use your own meeting notes template to take your own meeting minutes and you can volunteer to send out the minutes to everyone else. This is so important because no matter how you put it, the one who takes the meeting minutes is the one who is in command. They manage the outcomes and action items of the meeting.

  • Do you type or write your meeting notes? See this post on meeting notes format you might be surprised by what you read.

 

The Meeting Agenda and a Corporate Tip
Each and every meeting you attend should begin with an agenda. The meeting agenda format that you follow isn’t critical, but it is critical to have one because your meeting notes template should always follow the meeting agenda, this will cover all areas and will help set up the agenda for the following meeting. Finally here are a couple of note taking tips and best practices that are definitely worth reading and executing before your next meeting.

There will always be factors that affect the meeting you are attending; from the atmosphere and location of the meeting to the team and the goals of the meeting, a good meeting notes template is an important anchor to maintain a level of professionalism and leadership and to be able to keep your eye on the goals, agreements and action items of any meeting you attend or lead.

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