Maybe your idea of a great way to play hooky is lining up a tee shot over a water hazard. The lady in the next cubicle over might opt for getting behind the wheel of a speedy go-cart on a dusty track.
Then again, the guy you just hounded for that report might just want to spend the day soaking you both with water balloons.
In offices across Fairfield County, secretive and sometimes self-appointed ad hoc committees are shifting into gear with plans for their corporate summer outing.
For some, it is as simple as picking up a telephone, calling a venue and saying, “Remember us?”
Others see the opportunity as a blank canvas to surprise their colleagues and create water cooler fodder with a shelf life through the holidays.
Norwalk-based Arch Chemicals Inc. goes with the traditional, waterside picnic ”“ each summer, employees spend a “wet and wild” day feasting on steamed clams and shrimp cocktail at Candlewood Lake Inn north of Danbury, company spokesman Dale Walter said.
If the venue is predictable year in and year out, the day is not without drama and surprises.
“They even provide us with water balloons for use in pelting each other,” Walter said.
The day wraps up with a prize raffle that includes a chauffeured trip to Broadway for dinner and a show.
In an impromptu survey of Fairfield County businesses, several small firms composed mostly of principals indicated they skip any kind of a formal summer outing; although the December holiday party appears to remain a fixture on the corporate calendar regardless of the size of a company. Instead, such firms take any company-sponsored rest and relaxation through client entertainment in the course of doing business.
“We never have time for a companywide outing,” said Kathleen Williams, executive vice president of Wittek Development L.L.C. in Westport. “Our client outings are usually all about golf.”
With several small companies scattered throughout its seven-building campus in Norwalk, Merritt 7 Corporate Park puts on a summer barbecue in its central courtyard each September, attended by between 2,500 and 3,000 people who work there.
“This is a great time for tenants to network with the other companies in the park,” said Jo Ann Brennan McGrath, director of leasing for Merritt 7 owner Albert D. Phelps Inc. “Last year, we had Fairfield Motors here and they held a raffle of a sports car for one week.”
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Merritt 7 tenants like Arch, General Electric Co. and the Financial Accounting Standards Board also hold socials and picnics in the courtyard throughout the summer, she said. For smaller tenants, Albert D. Phelps Inc. hosts five golf outings each year at a country club.
While many outing organizers plan events through a mix of Web surfing, hearsay and avoidance of past mistakes, there are at least a few Web sites offering help. A Michigan company called Ryder Golf Events offers a free, online “wizard” that walks planners through each step of planning a golf outing, linking to courses and hole-in-one-prize insurance firms.
Even as self-appointed committees at area companies finalize venues, menus, prizes and surprises for their summer outing, many will leave the last detail for last ”“ a backup plan.
With 800 employees in Stamford alone, Pitney Bowes Inc. lets individual corporate departments plan their own outings.
“We were supposed to do something outdoors, but ended up at some god-forsaken bowling alley in Norwalk due to a vicious thunderstorm,” said Matt Broder, vice president of external communications at Pitney Bowes. “Oh well.”
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