Ideas for a Fun Corporate Event in NYC

October 9, 2020by Live Axe

Team building brings the whole office together. It keeps employees happy and gives them space to socialize and have fun outside work hours. So what should you plan for your team members on your next company event? New York City has plenty to offer, so it can be hard to make the right choice. We’ve...

We’ve gathered unique ideas for fun team-building activities that are sure to be the talk of the office. Get those unique corporate event ideas in NYC in the guide below and plan the perfect activities for your office!

10 Fun Team-Building Activities in New York City

In search of the best venues in New York to host a corporate gathering? Let us help! Check out these exciting and memorable team-building activities for your next corporate event.

1. Plan a Corporate Party at Our Axe-Throwing Bar

Is there any cooler skill to learn than axe throwing? Empower employees in an exhilarating environment that tests their strength and accuracy. It’ll be the most thrilling corporate event your team members have ever attended.

At Live Axe, your group will eat, drink, and throw at our corporate events. Share crowd-pleasing small plates, toast to time spent together, and, of course, throw axes like a true Viking. Your group will work with an experienced axe coach to get a handle on the basics and prepare to throw. Your employees will start their evening with a drink, learn the rules, and get to throwing. At the end, they can enjoy something from our food menu, creating the perfect end to an ideal corporate event.

We have no minimum group sizes for events, and our team will help you make a reservation if your group has over 24 people. Whether you’re a new, small business or a larger corporation, your employees will love this unique spin on team building.

2. Take a Private Museum Tour

Immerse your team in culture within one of the many museums in NYC. A private museum tour shows appreciation for employees and boosts morale. No matter where you plan a company museum tour, it will:

Facilitate conversation among employees.
Let you host a networking event or reception to meet professionals in your field.
Entertain employees and their spouses at an appreciation event.
Inspire employees for projects like marketing and branding campaigns.

While you could plan the private museum tour yourself, working with a group like ART SMART makes planning museum tours easier. When you take a tour with ART SMART, they’ll get the tickets for your group. Skip the lines and head inside for your private tour.

ART SMART specializes in organizing corporate events that will suit your company’s mission and team-building goals. They’ll customize the tour for your group, using museum and art gallery collections throughout the city. And, because ART SMART specializes in private tours, your employees will get personal attention and education on their museum visit.

3. Attend a Murder Mystery Dinner

Boost morale with an entertaining and intriguing murder mystery dinner. The interactive event challenges employees to collaborate with their peers and puts their problem-solving skills to the test. With a variety of theater groups putting on these shows throughout the city, you’re sure to find one that will entertain your crowd.

The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Show can put on a custom show for your event. Their actors will immerse employees in an entertaining event that centers on present-day, real-life cold cases. The evening also includes appetizers, entrees, and desserts, and The Dinner Detective offers a prize package to the guest who cracks the case.

The Dinner Detective hosts private shows at Tribeca’s The Hideout. If you prefer an on-site event, The Dinner Detective will help you host a dinner for 40 to 100 guests. If you don’t have space at your office or have another destination in mind, the group will head with you to other New York venues. Have an event for 30 to 400 guests at the location of your choice, without included catering.

4. Whip up Something at a Corporate Cooking Class

Combine the experiences of a gourmet restaurant, a cocktail party, and a cooking class for your team-building exercise. A corporate cooking class is a fun and educational opportunity for employees to work together in a new environment. They’ll develop a new skill or improve their existing cooking skills, all while collaborating with their peers. Cooking encourages problem-solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration. And at the end of the event, everyone can enjoy tasting the delicious product of their hard work.

The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) hosts cooking classes for corporate events. The hands-on courses are ideal for team building, corporate entertaining, closing dinners, product launches, press events, and other occasions. Depending on your needs, you can customize your time with ICE’s various services, like client parties, mixology lessons, or themed events. Gather your team together and head to the professional kitchen space for a cooking lesson and a unique bonding experience.

5. Attend a Speed Networking Event

Speed networking events either take place within your company or among different businesses. Within your company, speed networking lets teams mingle and allows employees to learn about their peers. They’ll see others’ strengths and get to know colleagues who may work in different departments.

You can also visit a speed networking event with employees to put your company name out there. Interact with other professionals in relevant fields to learn more about your industry or expand your reach. Speed networking with other businesses may lead to partnerships and future collaborations, as well.

SpeedNY Networking organizes speed networking events with a different feel. Instead of the name tags and decor, they focus on creating a comfortable environment for guests to communicate with other professionals. Their events provide structure and mingling opportunities for a constructive mix of socialization. Employees will meet business professionals and exchange information to build professional relationships that can benefit themselves and the entire company.

6. Have a Food Truck Experience

Cater holiday parties and business conventions or treat your employees to a unique corporate lunch with a food truck experience. Hiring a food truck is ideal for company morale and employee appreciation. You can even combine the food truck visit with other fun team-building activities to cater the event.

If you want to organize a food truck experience, but aren’t sure how to handle the logistics, work with the New York Food Truck Association (NYFTA). NYFTA makes it a breeze to book a food truck for your corporate event, coordinating the logistics from start to finish. You’ll have a customized experience based on your needs and whatever you want to serve employees. Whether you only need snacks and small bites, want to finish an event with sweet desserts, or crave filling gourmet meals, NYFTA can provide them.

7. Have a Wine-and-Paint Night

Whether or not the work you do is in an artistic or creative field, a painting night makes a fun corporate outing. It encourages socializing and creativity, boosting team morale. Having a wine-and-paint night also shows employees the different abilities and perspectives of everyone on their team. While everyone will paint the same picture, the results will vary widely, reflecting how no two team members work or think in the same ways.

Instead of gathering supplies yourself, visit a studio for a less stressful experience. Paint ‘N Pour makes it a snap to host a corporate drink-and-paint night. You must have at least 20 guests to visit Paint ‘N Pour for a corporate event. Once you book, all you need to do is show up with your group. Paint ‘N Pour provides snacks, drinks, music, and creative inspiration. They’ll also supply the paint, easels, and aprons everyone in your group needs to get artistic.

The entertaining instructors at Paint ‘N Pour then walk your group through creating their innovative artworks. Not only will team members leave with a fun experience, but they’ll also get to take their paintings home as a memento of the occasion.

8. Give Back at a Corporate Volunteering Event

Bring people together with volunteering opportunities throughout NYC. Give back to the community your business and employees call home. When your corporate outings contribute to the greater good, you give employees and your company an experience that will:

Teach new skills.
Build problem-solving skills.
Promote togetherness among co-workers and the community.
Provide a sense of accomplishment.
Create memories and a bonding experience.
Demonstrate corporate social responsibility.

For corporate volunteering opportunities in NYC, consider working with GrowNYC. The organization aims to improve the city block by block with environmental programs. Help support their goal of creating a cleaner and greener New York for generations of today and tomorrow. Not only will employees feel a sense of pride for participating, but you can use the volunteer work to support and promote your company’s sustainability goals.

9. Participate in an NYC Team-Based Scavenger Hunt

Foster teamwork and healthy competition with an NYC scavenger hunt. A scavenger hunt for team building in NYC is more enriching than a tour. Co-workers will interact with the city as they use and improve their problem-solving and communication skills. A scavenger hunt in the city will also encourage creativity, strategic thinking, and resourcefulness — all useful qualities that employees will bring back to the office.

Luckily, you don’t have to organize one of these scavenger hunts yourself. Secret City operates corporate, team-based scavenger hunts in the city. Their pen-and-paper approach has an old-school feel and encourages teamwork as co-workers examine physical clues together. New York natives and visiting employees alike will appreciate the chance to explore the Big Apple from a different angle. Split into teams and get ready for a fun and unique competition throughout the city.

10. Take a Personalized Fitness Class

Want to get everyone in the office moving in your corporate outings? Check out personalized fitness classes throughout New York City. Workouts can help make your team feel good, giving them a morale boost back at the office.

Ask around to see what your team members would like to do for a workout, or exercise with a fitness center that offers different options. M Dance in New York teaches a variety of dance and cardio courses and hosts corporate classes. Choose from fitness classes with pop, hip-hop, or throwback music and get everyone moving with:

Circuit training
Core workouts
Pilates
Zumba

Use an open space at your office and have an audio setup, and M Dance will bring the workout to you. If you don’t have enough space, you can always rent one of their studio spaces.

The instructors at M Dance make the experience of taking a fitness class with co-workers more comfortable while creating a professional environment. Classes at your business last an hour and can host up to 20. If your office is outside Manhattan, M Dance may charge you travel fees for your class as instructors come to you.

Why Is Axe Throwing Perfect for Company Events?

Axe throwing is the perfect activity for your company, no matter everyone’s skill levels. It’s an exhilarating and unique experience that’s sure to have everyone in the office talking on Monday morning. Other than boosting morale, axe throwing is perfect for company events because it lets team members do the following.

Participate in a team-building activity: Axe throwing combines participation and independent achievement for an ideal team-building event. Employees will motivate their peers to succeed and get inspired to achieve more.
Have friendly competition: Have groups or individuals compete against each other for an even more entertaining axe-throwing experience. Splitting into groups for your axe-throwing company event is perfect for large parties, but smaller groups can have some friendly competition, too.
Engage with the activity: Axe throwing gets team members more involved than other events. They’re enjoying hands-on participation, instead of passively watching a performance or exercise.
Exercise: Axe throwing burns calories and elevates heart rates without having employees work out in front of each other. While a dance or fitness class would be enjoyable for some, not every team member will want to get their sweat on around others. Axe throwing contributes to physical fitness, but it’s so fun that no one will notice they’re getting a workout.
Socialize: Give co-worker friends a space to chat in that won’t disrupt the workday. Axe throwing also lets new hires ease themselves into your company and meet peers outside the office.
Relieve stress: Axe throwing is an excellent way to unwind from a stressful workweek. Let employees unleash their frustrations or relieve their nerves about upcoming presentations, meetings, and projects.
Show employee appreciation: Express appreciation for employees by covering the cost of an axe-throwing event. Going axe throwing shows that your company acknowledges the hard work your team does and that they need time to de-stress.
Build confidence: Employees who go axe throwing will build confidence as they master a new skill or unleash their inner Viking. That confidence will stay with them back at the office. They’ll feel ready for meetings, presentations, and working with clients, all thanks to an axe-throwing session.

Contact Us Today to Plan Your Corporate Event in NYC

Plan a unique and exhilarating corporate event with Live Axe. Everyone in the office will appreciate the unique and thrilling experience that breaks the mold of traditional company activities. Whether employees participate in the axe-throwing fun or grab a drink and watch the action, they’re sure to have a memorable and morale-boosting time.