Sony Pictures Television annually gets its domestic employees together for a beach day celebration. But instead of limiting the festivities to that group of staffers, this year Sony took advantage of screenings week to bring the international employees into the fold. As a result, the annual appreciation party ballooned to 550 guests and moved to the Sony Pictures Studios lot.
Sony Pictures Television’s Lara Sortomme and Cara Kanemoto tapped Jason Wanderer of the Precision Event Group to produce the event for the first time. To keep the party social, lighthearted, and fresh—not to mention to inject some international flavor in honor of the out-of-towners—Wanderer's group brought in an array of food trucks to handle the catering, from tacos to desserts.
"The idea was to do something different and creative, something that gave an overall feel of uniting the U.S. and international Sony Pictures Television [staffers] as one, while still maintaining gourmet cuisine," said Wanderer, who also acknowledged the choice came from a desire to stay on trend. "It was something interesting and different. As people turned the corner and were expecting to see standard catering, they were surprised to see the trucks."
Menu signage in front of each truck lent a cohesive look and helped keep the lines moving. Guests were also free to snap their mugs in a photo booth, sing karaoke, watch the Lakers game, and listen to music from DJ Aristocat.