The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Makes Springfield Unique for Team Building - 15 Team Building Activities Springfield MO Groups Love - Springfield Team Building at a Glance - Common Questions - Bringing a Tasting Competition to Your Springfield Team - Further Reading Springfield doesn't get talked about as a corporate events destination the way Kansas City or St. Louis do, and that's exactly the opening for planners who actually know the market. This is Bass Pro Shops' hometown, the unofficial capital of the Ozarks, and a city with a surprisingly deep bench of healthcare and higher-ed employers — Mercy, CoxHealth, Missouri State — packed into a metro that's easy to move around and doesn't come with big-city venue pricing. I've worked with Springfield-based teams — healthcare administrators, insurance groups, a couple of logistics companies drawn by the city's spot on I-44 — and the thing that surprises people who've never planned an event here is how...

Table of Contents - Why Most End of Year Parties Fall Flat - 1. Blind Wine Tasting Competition - 2. Tequila & Mezcal Experience - 3. Wine Blending Competition - 4. Progressive Dinner - 5. Murder Mystery Dinner - 6. Cooking Class with a Theme - 7. Awards Ceremony Done Right - 8. Art Class or Creative Workshop - 9. Custom Trivia Night - 10. Volunteer Day First, Party Second - 11. Craft Cocktail-Making Class - 12. Game Show Night - 13. Spirits Tasting Flight — Self-Directed - 14. Spa or Wellness Experience - 15. The Classic Dinner — Done Really Well - How to Choose the Right End of Year Party Idea for Your Team - A Note on Timing - Further Reading I've produced hundreds of year-end events over 15 years in corporate event production, and I'll tell you what I've learned: the ones people still talk about in March were never the ones with the fanciest venues or the biggest budgets. They were the ones where something happened — a moment, a shared experience, a memory that stuck...

Table of Contents - Why Most End of Year Parties Fall Flat - 1. Blind Wine Tasting Competition - 2. Tequila & Mezcal Experience - 3. Wine Blending Competition - 4. Progressive Dinner - 5. Murder Mystery Dinner - 6. Cooking Class with a Theme - 7. Awards Ceremony Done Right - 8. Art Class or Creative Workshop - 9. Custom Trivia Night - 10. Volunteer Day First, Party Second - 11. Craft Cocktail-Making Class - 12. Game Show Night - 13. Spirits Tasting Flight — Self-Directed - 14. Spa or Wellness Experience - 15. The Classic Dinner — Done Really Well - How to Choose the Right End of Year Party Idea for Your Team - A Note on Timing - Further Reading I've produced hundreds of year-end events over 15 years in corporate event production, and I'll tell you what I've learned: the ones people still talk about in March were never the ones with the fanciest venues or the biggest budgets. They were the ones where something happened — a moment, a shared experience, a memory that stuck...

Table of Contents - The Problem With Most Corporate Dinners - What Makes a Corporate Dinner Successful - 15 Corporate Dinner Ideas That Work - Planning Your Corporate Dinner: A Quick Framework - Common Corporate Dinner Mistakes - How The Wine Voyage Designs Corporate Dinners - Further Reading The Problem With Most Corporate Dinners I've produced a lot of corporate dinners. Sit-down affairs at nice restaurants, buffet receptions in hotel ballrooms, cocktail parties at rooftop bars. Most of them were fine. A few were great. And the difference between fine and great almost never came down to the food. The best corporate dinners I've been part of had a structure — some kind of thread running through the evening that gave people a reason to talk to each other. The worst ones were expensive meals where people sat with whoever they already knew and left without having learned a single new thing about a single colleague. Corporate dinner ideas are everywhere online. Most of them just t...

Table of Contents - The Problem With Most Corporate Dinners - What Makes a Corporate Dinner Successful - 15 Corporate Dinner Ideas That Work - Planning Your Corporate Dinner: A Quick Framework - Common Corporate Dinner Mistakes - How The Wine Voyage Designs Corporate Dinners - Further Reading The Problem With Most Corporate Dinners I've produced a lot of corporate dinners. Sit-down affairs at nice restaurants, buffet receptions in hotel ballrooms, cocktail parties at rooftop bars. Most of them were fine. A few were great. And the difference between fine and great almost never came down to the food. The best corporate dinners I've been part of had a structure — some kind of thread running through the evening that gave people a reason to talk to each other. The worst ones were expensive meals where people sat with whoever they already knew and left without having learned a single new thing about a single colleague. Corporate dinner ideas are everywhere online. Most of them just t...

Table of Contents - What Makes a Private Wine Tasting Event Work - Choosing a Theme for Your Private Wine Tasting Event - How Many Wines to Include - Wine Selection and Ordering - Food Pairing for Private Tastings - Glassware and Equipment - Setting Up the Room - When to Hire a Professional Host - Virtual Private Wine Tasting Events - How Much Does a Private Wine Tasting Event Cost? - Common Mistakes to Avoid - Further Reading I've hosted hundreds of private wine tasting events over the years — small dinner parties, corporate buyouts, milestone celebrations, bachelorette weekends — and the ones people remember aren't the ones with the most expensive bottles. They're the ones with the clearest story. A private wine tasting event is different from a wine tasting party in one key way: it's curated. Someone made deliberate choices about what you're tasting and why. The bottles aren't random. The progression means something. And a good host — or a good self-guided st...