It’s been either over, or coming up on, a year now for most of us. A year since the pandemic arrived and took our everyday lives as we knew them and forced us into a new normal. And for a huge part of the workforce that meant saying good-bye to the comradery that exists between
employees, co-workers and team members that once spent eight-plus hours a day together, five days a week, in the same building. Remote work – once more of a luxury than a necessity – has now become mandatory in many cities across the globe.
Gone are the days of bonding over cake when someone in the office is celebrating a milestone – a birthday, retirement, promotion – you name it, every event was an excuse for cake. Same with potlucks, Christmas parties and Friday happy hours.
And it’s not just among colleagues but among your clients as well. Taking them out for dinner when they are in town, or to a luxury box at a local sporting venue, or even getting them all together for a partner’s conference or trade show is simply not an option these days.
However, what all of these things have in common is that they can be replicated thanks to that fabulous technology we all got a crash course in this past year – video conferencing. And that common denominator? Food and drink. Yes – thanks to Zoom, The Italian Elixir can recreate a social environment centred around food and drink… and even take it a step further by getting everyone involved in the actual preparation of the food that they are going to eat.
That’s right – you can host a virtual team building or client networking event from the comfort of everyone’s homes while learning how to cook an authentic Italian meal! It’s a fun, safe and delicious way to reunite your valued employees with their team members or perhaps with their clients. So how exactly does a corporation set up a virtual cooking class / team building / networking event?
And how does it work? Well, we’re glad you asked! Keep reading for all the juicy details!
Setting Up Your Virtual Team Building Event
Hosting a virtual event has never been easier – in part because we have all had so much practice doing things virtually the past year. You have two options. If you like you can reach out to them and they will schedule a zoom call with you where you can go over everything, get your
questions answered and set up all the details. Or you can go to The Italian Elixir website and choose a date and time you would like it to be held and book it from there. You also get to decide if you want to receive a shopping list for the meal so that everyone can get the correct ingredients – OR if you would like the ingredients delivered to each participant (at an additional cost of course).
Once you choose your date and time and click book, you will receive a link to an event page set up for your specific cooking class, which you can then forward to those you would like to include. Participants can register themselves on this page, and if you have opted to have ingredients mailed to them, they can also leave their addresses for where the food should be delivered. And if you want to make it even more special, we can also ship some bottles of Italian wines to each participant, to pair well with the meal.
Note - if you are requesting delivery of the ingredients – while it can be done
throughout most of the US and Europe – there are exceptions. Of course, we will let you know when it is not possible, at which time Chef Anthony will actually contact the local markets in your area to see what ingredients they offer so that he can advise you on what to purchase for the class.
What Will We Be Cooking?
You may be wondering about the actual dish you will be cooking. Chef Anthony does have a list of recipes for your team building event which also happen to be the ones that he uses for his private cooking classes, with the most popular one being the homemade gnocchi – yum! That being said, he is totally open to discuss other options that may be more suitable for your particular event. For example, in the past he has made vegetarian meals upon request. The recipes on the site are certainly not set in stone so please do not hesitate to discuss your individual needs with him.
It’s Showtime!
When the day and time arrives, everyone who has registered for the class will simply log into their computers from their own kitchen and then the fun begins! Your class will be led by The Italian Elixir’s Chef Anthony himself and will last for approximately two hours.
During this time,
you will all be introduced to the ingredients in front of you and then led step by step through the preparation of the dish.
The best part – as your participants are learning, prepping and cooking they will also be interacting with each other. They’ll be making game plans over gnocchi, pitching ideas over pasta, brainstorming over Brunello or even just reminiscing over risotto. Food has a unique way of bringing people together and this is certain to be a bonding experience that they’ll never forget.
Of course, as everyone is catching up and collaborating Chef Anthony will be instructing your guests from start to finish. His obvious love of the art of cooking and his patient, fun and easy-going personality are sure to keep everyone attentive and involved. And oh, that end result – the meal itself – is going to be the star of the show!
What a fabulous way to bring everyone together and to show your employees – or clients – how much you value them and want to spend time catching up, in a way that is as close to ‘in person’ as we can get these days. For more details, please click here to be redirected to the Italian Elixir website.
Arrivederci!
Note: Virtual team building / networking events are for up to a maximum of 15 participants.