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Publishers' Special
Feature:
Taking the Company Picnic to New Heights
by
Douglas Forshey
Virginia
Business
April 2003
For
years companies have used a summertime gathering to
foster goodwill among employees. However, the traditional
picnic, where management caters food to a park-like
setting and organizes a softball game, is rapidly becoming
a thing of the past as employers seek a better value
proposition for their goodwill investment. Today, businesses
are looking for something more exciting from their company
outing — something unique, where the employees
and their families feel truly appreciated.
One
alternative that many Virginia businesses are opting
for is a day at a theme park, and our state is fortunate
to have two such venues within easy driving distance
— Paramount’s Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens
Williamsburg. These parks offer a wide range of options
for groups as small as 50 and as large as 15,000, all
at a price well within a corporate budget.
Kings
Dominion, conveniently located off Interstate 95 in
Doswell, has long been a leader in attracting corporate
functions. “We really can offer a wide range of
choices for a company outing,” says Ed Kuhlmann,
vice president of marketing. “The traditional company
picnic is usually centered around the meal, and Kings
Dominion provides a separate pavilion area where we
serve some of the best food in the park.”
The
pavilion area, spread over a 12-acre private section
in the park, offers five individual covered facilities
that can be set up to accommodate groups of various
sizes. All food preparation is done on-site and menu
selections run from basic picnic fare, like hot dogs
and hamburgers, to the more substantial, such as prime
rib. In fact, the park recently completed a million
dollar renovation of its catering facility.
Along
with the separate meeting area, there is the Kingswood
Concert Hall with a stage and complete sound system,
where management can gather the troops for annual awards
and a pep talk, or bring in its own entertainment.
When
the meal and entertainment are finished, employees can
enjoy the numerous amenities the park has to offer,
including this year’s newest ride — The Drop
Zone. If plunging straight down 305 feet at speeds topping
72 miles per hour is your thing, you’re going to
love this ride.
“We
price our company outings on a cost-per-person basis,”
says Kuhlmann. “And the package, which includes
the meal and theme park admission, comes out to be less
expensive than the price of a single admission ticket.
It really is a great value.”
Busch
Gardens can host company outings in a variety of settings
at its sprawling location, just a few miles off Interstate
64 in Williamsburg. Corporate groups are offered a choice
of several meeting areas that include theater settings
for more formal meetings or the Black Forest picnic
area, a more relaxed, family-style venue.
“We try to accommodate groups of all sizes and
have even rented out an entire village, providing meeting
and fine dining space when needed,” says Diane
Centeno, public relations manager at Busch Gardens.
Like Kings Dominion, it offers a package of a catered
meal and admission to the park. “Taking a corporate
group to a theme park for the day is a great way to
say ‘thank you,’’’ says Centeno.
“And through group sales you get a much better
value because you can customize your event.”
In
fact, once you add up the costs of a traditional picnic
with food, entertainment and gifts — at $50 to
$75 per person — you find that a day at a theme
park is a much better value. For example, group outings
at a park such as Kings Dominion are less per person
— including the meal — than the regular daily
admission price of about $40. Weekends and holidays
are the most popular times to book your event, so if
your group is small to mid-size, expect to be sharing
the picnic area with other organizations. However, if
you book a day during the week, you could end up having
the entire group facility to yourself.
For
something completely different bring your group to the
Richmond Raceway Complex, located off Laburnum Avenue
in the state’s capital. The raceway offers corporate
meeting space, a 162,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a
complete media center and luxurious corporate suites.
“We
have positioned Richmond Raceway Complex as a unique
off-site, multi-purpose corporate outing facility by
taking advantage of our diverse meeting facilities such
as the hospitality suites overlooking the start/finish
line, the media center and our 10,000 square feet of
flexible meeting space,” says Louis Gilmore, director
of complex sales. “The raceway also offers a beautifully
landscaped horticulture garden and forestry area with
covered pavilions and gazebos for outdoor receptions
and corporate picnics as well as the infield track area
for larger events. All of our corporate packages can
include pace car rides at high speeds around the ¾-mile
oval and raceway merchandise.”
Race-day
event opportunities include rental of corporate hospitality
suites (which accommodate groups of 30 to 60 people)
and the Pit Stop Club, an all-inclusive package sold
in groups of eight which includes race tickets, company
signage, parking passes, souvenir gifts and food and
beverage.
For
a more unusual outing you might consider a day at the
Virginia Gold Cup in The Plains, Virginia. Located just
45 minutes west of Washington, D.C., at the Great Meadows
Events Center, this twice-a-year event offers a unique
opportunity for outdoor entertaining — for both
employees and clients. Against a backdrop of rolling
green hills and picturesque mountains, you’ll enjoy
an exciting day of steeplechase races in your company’s
private tent. Groups can range from as few as 20 people
to as many as 300. And everything can be taken care
of by the group sales staff, including gourmet catering
and open bar. The Gold Cup is run in the spring and
the fall, with the first event coming up on May 3. The
autumn Gold Cup will be October 18.
If the traditional picnic is more up your alley, take
advantage of two Northern Virginia locations that offer
all the amenities you would expect to find at a company
outing. J.R.’s Festival Lakes in Leesburg and The
Pavilions at Turkey Run in McLean are two properties
managed by the same group that owns J.R.’s Stockyard,
an award-winning steakhouse in McLean. Both locations
offer an ideal setting for company picnics, meetings,
conventions, outings, or just a great outdoor party.
Catering to groups of 100 - 6,000, the picnic areas
include covered meeting areas, playing fields for volleyball,
badminton, horseshoes, and softball — plus all
the equipment.
“Our
professional picnic planners make arranging your event
as easy as possible,” says Peggy Jarman, director
of marketing for J.R.’s. “We do all the work,
providing you with one-stop shopping for all your food
and entertainment needs.”
Virginia
is fortunate to have a number of excellent choices nearby
when it comes to planning a company outing. The following
contact information for group sales is provided as a
service to our readers.
Paramount’s
Kings Dominion
(888) 665-7433
Busch
Gardens Williamsburg
(800) 343-7946
Richmond
Raceway Complex
(804) 228-7617
The
Gold Cups
(540) 347-2612
J.R.s
Catering
(703) 821-0545
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to Virginia Business - April 2003
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