Creative Ideas for Office Events Around the Holidays

At AIFP, we take great pride in our company culture. Around the holidays, this usually means decorating the office, volunteering together, having a big company Christmas party, and flying in Santa for a visit. While celebrating in 2020 will look a little different than how we usually celebrate the holidays at AIFP, there are still plenty of creative ideas for office events around the holidays for your company to try.

Throw a Virtual Christmas Party

Just because you can’t get the whole team together for an office Christmas party doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate at all. Try throwing a virtual Christmas party so everyone gets a chance to celebrate. At AIFP, we’re throwing our own version of a Zoom Christmas Call on Friday, December 11. Not sure how to fill the time? Here are some of our favorite virtual holiday party ideas:

• Holiday Happy Hour: Send your employees travel-sized bottles of everything they’ll need to create a signature cocktail for your virtual holiday happy hour.
• Holiday Trivia: Choose a host and create breakout rooms for teams to go head-to-head in a holiday trivia competition.
• Secret Santa Gift Exchange: Draw names and have people send their Secret Santa gifts directly to their teammates so they can open them on the video call.

Create a Holiday Recipe Book

Holiday parties aren’t the only way to bring your team closer together during the holidays. In fact, one of our favorite corporate Christmas event ideas is making your own holiday recipe book. To get started, have everyone at the company send in a recipe or two. It could be something new they’ve tried during the pandemic or something that’s been passed down from their family. Then, on the designated night, everyone can get together on a video call and show off their delicious treats, tell the story behind their recipe, or try making someone else’s recipe from the cookbook.

Participate in a Charity Gift Drive

Corporate responsibility is incredibly important to us at AIFP, and while finding ways to volunteer together during the COVID-19 pandemic can be tricky, participating in a charity gift drive is a great way to do some good without putting yourself in danger. Once you find your charity, find some way to make the gift giving a bit more interactive. That could mean holding a competition to see who can make the biggest donation or showcasing some of your presents and talking about why you chose them. If you hold a children’s book drive, for example, you can come together on Zoom and give your employees a chance to explain why they chose their specific books. You could even have a few people read their books aloud. At AIFP, we’re collecting presents for the residents at St. Mary’s Home for Boys and fundraising for Oregon Food Bank during the month of December.

Looking for a career at one of the best places to work in Portland, Oregon? AIFP is hiring lumber traders. In fact, we offer a 2-year paid internship program to help you develop the sales skills you need to succeed in the commodity trading business. Apply today! In the meantime, check out our blog, where we cover everything from employee appreciation ideas to try during the COVID-19 pandemic to the best tips for working from home.