1. Pack It Up
Keep the picnic fun going by giving everyone a backpack stuffed with the essentials. Blumberg Marketing can customize the piece—filled with plates, flatware, glasses, and such—with your logo or party theme. The pack can also arrive with an invitation to get people in the mood.
2. Offer Second Helpings
New catering company Savor suggests a summer menu that includes marinated grilled steak, grilled portobello mushrooms stuffed with mozzarella, and an heirloom tomato salad with basil and olives. Or you might opt for a touch of soul food, with Southern-fried chicken with bourbon mustard sauce and everyone’s favorite: macaroni and cheese (they make theirs with a blend of sharp cheddar, Gruyere, and Parmesan). And don’t forget about dessert: peach roulade, profiteroles, and fruit cobblers are excellent summer dishes.
3. Put Your Face on a Stamp
Have guests pose for the camera and take home a cool memento. Interactive Entertainment Concepts photographs people in front of a white backdrop and uses the images to create self-inking rubber stamps for each guest. The service costs $1,500 for four hours.
4. Surprise Them With a Magic Show
Enjoy the mystifying talents of the Mentalizer, aka Ehud Segev. He has performed for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is the star of his own Mentalizer show Off Broadway, and cooks up supernatural acts for corporate events. His best bit: He asks a participant to think of a song, and then he guesses it and plays it on the piano. He also bends metal, and incorporates elements of mind control, telepathy, and hypnosis into his act. Rates begin at $2,500, and performances generally last between 30 and 75 minutes.
5. Snap Away With Style
The new disposable Lomolito camera from the Lomographic Society USA allows you to spread artistic fun without purchasing the company’s larger, more costly apparatuses. Each camera has a colored filter—models come with yellow, blue, red, or green filters, which can be turned on or off. Resulting images are infused with blasts of wild color. Just like a regular 35-millimeter disposable, the entire camera can be dropped off at any photofinisher. Basic cameras retail for $12.99; inquire about customizing camera colors and the sticker that wraps around the body.
6. Clown Around
Transform your office team into a three-ring circus and get them involved in a festive show. Bongarbiz Acts & Artists Network brings circus performers to your outing who teach juggling, plate spinning, trapeze moves, and magic tricks. Attendees have different roles, everyone learning a specific skill—at the end of the sessions, everyone puts on a show. The activity can be scaled down to fit in a ballroom or take over a larger space—and Bongarbiz can even bring an elephant.
7. Take Them Out to (Their Own) Ball Game
At the Parade Ground in Prospect Park you can romp amid history: baseball legends Sandy Koufax and Joe Torre played on these fields. The park recently completed a multimillion dollar reconstruction project, so the facilities are top-notch. The spaces include Field 3—a regulation baseball diamond with dugouts and bleachers, and enough room to seat 270. Adjacent is Field 4, an unmarked football field with nearby basketball and volleyball courts; this portion of the ground can be tented for catered events. Other spaces include the Bowling Green Cottage and its lawn, and Field 7—another baseball field.
—Mark Mavrigian
Posted 06.06.05
Photo: Prospect Park Archives (parade ground)
This story originally appeared in the April/May 2005 issue of the BiZBash Event Style Reporter.
Keep the picnic fun going by giving everyone a backpack stuffed with the essentials. Blumberg Marketing can customize the piece—filled with plates, flatware, glasses, and such—with your logo or party theme. The pack can also arrive with an invitation to get people in the mood.
2. Offer Second Helpings
New catering company Savor suggests a summer menu that includes marinated grilled steak, grilled portobello mushrooms stuffed with mozzarella, and an heirloom tomato salad with basil and olives. Or you might opt for a touch of soul food, with Southern-fried chicken with bourbon mustard sauce and everyone’s favorite: macaroni and cheese (they make theirs with a blend of sharp cheddar, Gruyere, and Parmesan). And don’t forget about dessert: peach roulade, profiteroles, and fruit cobblers are excellent summer dishes.
3. Put Your Face on a Stamp
Have guests pose for the camera and take home a cool memento. Interactive Entertainment Concepts photographs people in front of a white backdrop and uses the images to create self-inking rubber stamps for each guest. The service costs $1,500 for four hours.
4. Surprise Them With a Magic Show
Enjoy the mystifying talents of the Mentalizer, aka Ehud Segev. He has performed for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is the star of his own Mentalizer show Off Broadway, and cooks up supernatural acts for corporate events. His best bit: He asks a participant to think of a song, and then he guesses it and plays it on the piano. He also bends metal, and incorporates elements of mind control, telepathy, and hypnosis into his act. Rates begin at $2,500, and performances generally last between 30 and 75 minutes.
5. Snap Away With Style
The new disposable Lomolito camera from the Lomographic Society USA allows you to spread artistic fun without purchasing the company’s larger, more costly apparatuses. Each camera has a colored filter—models come with yellow, blue, red, or green filters, which can be turned on or off. Resulting images are infused with blasts of wild color. Just like a regular 35-millimeter disposable, the entire camera can be dropped off at any photofinisher. Basic cameras retail for $12.99; inquire about customizing camera colors and the sticker that wraps around the body.
6. Clown Around
Transform your office team into a three-ring circus and get them involved in a festive show. Bongarbiz Acts & Artists Network brings circus performers to your outing who teach juggling, plate spinning, trapeze moves, and magic tricks. Attendees have different roles, everyone learning a specific skill—at the end of the sessions, everyone puts on a show. The activity can be scaled down to fit in a ballroom or take over a larger space—and Bongarbiz can even bring an elephant.
7. Take Them Out to (Their Own) Ball Game
At the Parade Ground in Prospect Park you can romp amid history: baseball legends Sandy Koufax and Joe Torre played on these fields. The park recently completed a multimillion dollar reconstruction project, so the facilities are top-notch. The spaces include Field 3—a regulation baseball diamond with dugouts and bleachers, and enough room to seat 270. Adjacent is Field 4, an unmarked football field with nearby basketball and volleyball courts; this portion of the ground can be tented for catered events. Other spaces include the Bowling Green Cottage and its lawn, and Field 7—another baseball field.
—Mark Mavrigian
Posted 06.06.05
Photo: Prospect Park Archives (parade ground)
This story originally appeared in the April/May 2005 issue of the BiZBash Event Style Reporter.