One of the pitfalls of corporate party planning and one of the most common mistakes made when planning a corporate party is to focus primarily on the food.  Many people who plan a corporate party put most of their energy into selecting and preparing the food, whether it is a buffet or a sit-down dinner.  However, the truth is that food alone does not a party make.  Think back to the social gatherings that you have enjoyed the most.  Chances are, you are more likely to fondly remember a night of take-out pizza when you had a great time and played a fun game than you are to remember a catered affair when you had no fun and stood around awkwardly.  Great food can be a huge asset to a corporate party, but it is not the make or break element of a corporate party.  There are lots of other corporate party ideas which can have a much bigger pay off, so consider the other corporate party ideas which you can try besides just keeping your employees happy by keeping their mouths full.

One thing that can kill the energy of any corporate party is if everybody doesn't know each other well.  This is not because employees don't like to get to know new people-almost everybody welcomes the chance to expand their social circle.  However, one problem that a lot of corporate party planners never consider is introduction overload.

When most people at a corporate party don't know each other, there will be a lot of introductions and introductory handshakes.  Most people know from experience that there is only a limited amount of information that you can absorb in a discrete period of time before you stop being able to process new facts because you are overloaded with new information.  We've all had that experience the night before a big exam in school, when we stayed up late and tried to read a lot but when the sun rose and we grabbed our number two pencil, we only could remember a portion of what we learned.  This has to do with the way that short-term memory processing works, and it is not a sign of how intelligent you are, or how good your memory is.  At a corporate party, after a dozen introductions, almost everybody will stop being able to remember any new names or faces, and will feel awkward and embarrassed when they have to be re-introduced to people who they have just met a few moments earlier.  This introduction overload can make any corporate party feel stiff and forced.

Luckily, it is easy to overcome this problem at your corporate party.  Nametags are the simplest solution, and while they may not seem like the most elegant answer to your quandary, providing nametags is definitely better than allowing your guests to surrender to introduction overload.  There are many other ways to get everybody acquainted, such as playing some icebreaker games that will help everybody learn about each other.  When we know more about our comrades than a name, it is a lot easier to remember everybody. 

This is one reason why icebreakers can set the stage for lively conversations later in the party.  Even if the icebreaker game itself feels forced and isn't a lot of fun, at least everybody will know who each other are by the end.  This can make it a good investment in the future of the party.