Awards Ceremony Sites and Tips

Deciding Where to Hold Your Occasion for Awards

So you want to present awards to your employees, team members, supporters, volunteers, or any group of people who, well…deserve an award! Ok, so you have the awards, of course provided by Trophies2Go; but do you want to just hand them out in the office (anti-climactic, lack-luster, and just plain boring)? Or do you hold a nice awards ceremony event somewhere?

Holding an awards ceremony doesn’t necessarily mean extravaganza, but it will be nice to make the occasion memorable as you hand out that special award from Trophies2Go. There are ways to hold an awards ceremony and venues for awards parties, that can garner praises from your group without breaking the bank. Here are some ideas and tips for award presentations and events:

• A low-key awards event: Park pavilions make great venues. They are cheap to rent or sometimes free. People can hang streamers and balloons, plus rent or buy an $80 Karaoke machine to make announcements on. Have 6-foot subs or barbecue buffet delivered and let everyone chow down. This is good food that isn’t expensive. Give prizes and be creative with awards from our joke and gag trophies section.  Be creative with your engraving like; ‘the person who has the oldest coin in their pocket’ or ‘the person with the brightest colored socks’. Have each recipient of an award or Trophies 2 Go trophy say any one thing they’d like to say to the group. Courtyards in office buildings or attached to restaurants work well, too. Adding Tiki torches or candles in vases is a nice touch to keep it classy, yet affordable. The nice thing about pavilions is that rain won’t deter your event.

• A mid-range awards party: A step up from the park idea is to rent a trolley or limo to transport people. Better yet, if you surprise the award party guests / award recipients by having them meet somewhere. Many fine restaurants offer function rooms / meeting rooms to rent that are large enough for your entire party – from 30 to 300. Depending on the size of the crowd, you may be able to speak without a microphone. Pass the trophies and awards around, and do some networking. Not to mention, pop the champagne that goes with the award celebration!

Bonus: To jazz it up, pull up to a jazz club or lounge, and have a surprise cake or dessert feast delivered to the group. Everyone loves dessert and an award ceremony is a great way to expose that “sweet side”.

• An upscale ceremony: Choose a really hotel for an award presentation party. Here’s a tip. Don’t call and say, “How much per person for a group of 25 to come in and eat dinner?” Instead, say “I’m inquiring with a few local restaurants and hotels to get recommendations for a large group of people (give estimate of how many people). What do you have to offer for a group like this? What specials can you offer?”

Let the restaurant or hotel earn your business with a discounted price or by throwing in a couple of freebies, like the first drink free or free dessert. If you speak like you have already chosen and want their venue, the site will charge you the max. Also, don’t hesitate to ask that they decorate for your event by putting out some candles and/or fresh flowers. If they won’t, they should be willing to let you come by and do some light decorating yourself. If not – make another choice.

No matter how large or how small your awards ceremony may be, the main goal is for it to feel celebrational and special. And remember, Trophies2go.com has the right award item for your needs!

Introducing a Revolutionary Line of Eco-Friendly Plaques

As 2009 is well under way, our environmental changes are starting to take a new twist. If you recall from previous posts, we made great strides in 2008 to reduce our environmental impact. We retrofitted our lighting system, reduced our heating/cooling usage and greatly improved our recycling system. Although these changes are to be celebrated, it is not enough.

I am frustrated by the awards industry’s lack of sensitivity when it comes to the products that are sold and the way they are packaged. Changing this will be a major focus for Trophies2go.com in the coming year. Look for us to be a leader in locating and supporting suppliers that care about the impact that we make on earth.

To start this quest, I am proud to announce a new exclusive partnership between Trophies2go.com and Strasser Woodenworks of Woodinville, Washington. Our partnership will enable us to sell environmentally friendly plaques through our retail channels as well as the possibility of distributing these plaques to other awards distributors and retailers. I am extremely excited about this line of plaques for several reasons including; their superior quality, amazing colors, and most importantly the sustainable source they come from. The American Cherry used in these plaques comes from forest certified sources and meets the standards of the sustainable forest initiative.

In producing the wood plaques, Strasser adheres to a lean manufacturing concept that minimizes production time and eliminates the need for excess warehouse storage. They are also located very close to the Trophies2go.com production facility. All of these factors combine to help minimize the carbon footprint caused by these plaques. Additional environmental benefits from these plaques include; no Formaldehyde added, high-efficiency staining process, 100% recyclable, and made in the USA.

We are proud to be a leader in environmental change in the awards industry. This is one additional step in our quest to be the national leader of meaningful recognition.

If you are interested in viewing this new line of eco-friendly plaques, please visit trophies2go.com/eco-plaques.

If you are an awards retailer or distributor, please don’t hesitate to email me at jeff@trophies2go.com for more information and pricing.