September 2012

Looking for ideas of what to do at your next staff party?  Below I'm going to share what activities we did at ours, hopefully inspiring you to host an event for your organization.

Monday night was Trophies2Go's  party celebrating our 100, 000th order and it was a blast.  Here’s a recap of our night....

Trophies2Go staff shows off the new t-shirts!

Our new Trophies2Go t-shirts were unveiled.  Back in June, we had a staff t-shirt contest, with Laurie's design being chosen as the overall winner.  Check out how great we look in our new shirts!  The back says "We Deliver Smiles" which is what we strive to do each day!

The venue for our party was Uptown Glassworks in Renton, WA, near our Awards Factory.  Each of us  got to make something special out of glass – a pumpkin, ball, small plate, etc.  Glass blowers Tom & Kyle created our pieces with a little 'blowing' help from us.  What a fun experience with a beautiful memento to bring home afterwards!

Mika watches her glass creation being made.

For food, we got takeout Stan’s BBQ in Issaquah and it was a hit with our group.  Food is always a good thing.

For a mixer, we divided our group into two teams – 'Team Trophy' vs.' Team Ribbon'.  Then each team picked a player to compete in a round of ‘Minute to Win It’.  After 6 rounds, Team Trophy Cup was the ultimate winner!  It was hilarious – lots of laughs.

We also celebrated one of our own during the evening.  Margene has worked for Trophies2Go for the past 10 years, and Jeff honored her with a 10-year Service Award.  It was nice to see our company practice what we preach – recognizing our own staff for hard work and years of dedication.

Team Trophy shows off their prizes for winning 'Minute to Win It".

Overall, the evening was a successful event and I’m looking forward to the next one.  I love my co-workers and the fun they bring to our work!

Cheers, Jessica

Kids love participation trophies! They've earned them!

If, as the team parent, you have chosen participation trophies for your child’s sports team, you may find that not all parents agree.  Another parent may say to you, “When I was a kid, I had to EARN my trophies. They weren’t just handed to us at the end of the season.” So why do we give our children trophies for participating in sports?

Celebration Trophies

Show your team they did a great job and put in an effort worthy of a celebration!  Participation trophies are celebration trophies.  We should not be giving trophies for showing up and breathing and staying upright.  We should be rewarding and celebrating the accomplishments of each player.  Even if they didn't score the most goals, did they learn new skills?  Or improve their sportsmanship?  Or focus more on teamwork?  Award them with a Celebration Trophy.

Recognition: Kids care about recognition. They want validation from their coach and parents for a job well done.  They deserve kuddos even if they didn't win every game of the season or out-perform the rest of the league. Over the course of a season, each child on the team has done something that they feel proud of.  They've improved their game. Awarding them a trophy gives them the praise that they deserve, and is a tangible item to remind them of that accomplishment.  The best way to do this is to have the coach present the trophy to each player individually.  He or she should take the time to prepare some words of praise for each player, being specific on what new skills they learned or how their game has improved or how valuable they were to the team.

Commitment: Most of all, participation trophies are a way to reinforce commitment. If a child signs up to play a sport and stays with it until the end of the season, that accomplishment deserves recognition. He or she made a commitment to join the team and stuck it out until the end. This is a life skill.  In the future, they won't get a trophy for showing up everyday for a job.  No one would expect that.  But rewarding commitment at a young age will reinforce the importance of sticking with a task or job until completed in the future.

The children on your team have accomplished the goals of trying something new, learning about a new sport, working together, making new friends, and more. If you feel like this is your definition of success, then your players deserve meaningful recognition.

Participation trophies are a symbol of this accomplishment – and they’ll love them now and for years to come!

Cheers! Jessica