In August, Cobalt’s Services Team hosted their first annual picnic. A committee of 25 people, headed by Dealer Advocate Services’ Team Managers Karen Bachmann, Denise Vangeystel and Marie Voetsch, organized a western themed picnic in Carkeek Park, just north of Seattle. The committee “built” an entire town for the event that they named Cobalt Springs, complete with a General Store, Casino, Jail and Sheriff, and Saloon. The day before the event, the committee passed out invitations and cowboy hats, and posted Wanted fliers all around the office to generate excitement.
Funny Money
The day of the event, around 350 Service employees arrived at the park at 1pm where they received raffle tickets, $200 in funny money, and an 
all-you-can-eat barbecue buffet. Throughout the day there were two raffles with 60 types of prizes donated by local businesses. The goal was to have every attendee leave with a prize or a smile (or both).
“We have two floors of staffers that don’t often interact because of our busy work schedules. At the picnic, people cut loose and had such a wonderful time. It really brought the team together,” said Team Manager, Marie Voetsch. “Being a part of organizing such a successful event was incredible. We’ve got a really great environment at Cobalt.”
Water Play
The guests had a choice between blackjack and roulette at the casino to accrue more funds, while the main events centered on the fiercely competitive Tug-of-War tournament and a water balloon toss. Appropriately, the day was as hot and sunny as the Wild West, which resulted in a spontaneous fun-filled water fight.
“Some folks were better armed than others. People began throwing water balloons from the water balloon toss, and the fight escalated to dumping buckets of water on competitors. I felt like a photojournalist in a war zone,” joked Michael Villanueva, Learning and Development Instructor and picnic photographer. “Fortunately, I escaped unscathed.”
Locked Up
Many employees took part in sending coworkers and colleagues off to jail where prisoners were unable to speak for five minutes. Managers and executives were frequently arrested. The only way to free yourself from jail was to either bribe the sheriff or be lucky enough to have a get-out-of-jail-free card given out at the picnic’s Saloon.
“It was a really great interactive time, and I got to hang out with people on different teams that I don’t normally interact with,” stated Karen Bachmann, another Team Manager. “Cobalt is very community focused and has such a warm culture that really makes you want to participate.”
A New Approach to Recruiting?
Other activities included ‘Pin the Hat on Mark Dunn,’ the Vice President of Services, piñatas, and slingshot target practice. The General Store had hats, bandannas, pony sticks and other western related items available for purchase with funny money.
“Because it was a public park, there were other people there. By the end of the day, I had about three people come up to me asking what event this was, and they all said they’d like to work at Cobalt because we were having so much fun,” said Denise Vangeystel.
The unanimous statement among Cobalt employees is “we work hard and play hard,” which could not ring truer than for those who attended this year’s Services Picnic.
Alyse Speyer
Contributing Editor
The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive
Subscribe in a reader
