Sports, entertainment venues offer team building benefits

Listen to this article

There’s no doubt that benefits such as health care insurance and retirement plans are vital parts of what an employer offers an employee.

But there are other benefits that employers can offer their staff that can show appreciation, attract top talent and build comradery, and luckily the Lehigh Valley has plenty of options for such benefits.

The region’s arts, entertainment and sports venues offer an array of events and packages that employers can take advantage of to help bolster team spirit.

ARTSQUEST

At Bethlehem’s ArtsQuest, corporate sponsorships are the lifeblood of the organization and help it organize events like Musikfest and Christkindlmarkt each year.

Many of the sponsorship deals involve access to tickets and events that ArtsQuest puts on throughout the year.

Curt Mosel, COO of ArtsQuest, said corporate sponsors then pass those tickets along to staffers, whether they are Steel Terrace seats at one of the Main Stage acts at Musikfest or any of the Musikfest Cafe shows that are held throughout the year.

They can give them out to high performers as a reward or have a drawing so that employees can win tickets, or discounts to events.

And, Mosel said, it’s not just a benefit to thank existing employees.

“Using benefits through sponsorships is a huge in the attraction of talent to the Lehigh Valley,” he said. “Being able to send someone to Musikfest, or the Musikfest Cafe or even the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema shows that there is much to do in the Lehigh Valley.”

But Mosel also said that it’s not just big corporate sponsors that use ArtQuest events as benefits they offer to employees.

“We offer something for everyone,” he said.

While some companies will regularly buy 100 tickets for Musikfest shows — like they would buy a suite at a baseball game — there are many ways ArtsQuest can create hospitality packages to meet a company of any size’s needs.

ArtsQuest also has offerings such as art classes that companies can sign employees up for. Small glass-blowing classes are a popular team-building experience, but companies also find they benefit from comedy or improve classes.

“It’s great for business professionals who need to think on their feet,” Mosel said.

ZOELLNER ARTS CENTER

Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center also offers creative ways for companies to inspire employees and get them talking and bonding.

Mark Wilson, executive director of Zoellner, said the arts center books activities with corporations all of the time for team-building activities.

From organizations like the United Way to companies like Just Born, employees have participated in events like a recent virtual reality installation.

“We use arts to have conversations,” Wilson said.

He gave the example of B Braun bringing employees in for a pre-concert activity where they had an ancestral communal listening session.

“Afterward they talked about what they heard, how they felt, and it got people to have a conversation,” Wilson said.

He said the arts are a good way to build teams because studies have shown that the CEOs of many major companies were in the band or choir when they were in school.

“It’s where they learned about being part of a whole and working as a team,” he said.

He compared it to the difference between taking a test or participating in a musical performance.

“If you get a 95% in a class that’s an A. But if you only hit 95% of the notes correctly in a concert that would be a mess,” Wilson said.” Understanding how you work together as a whole is important.”

And of course, who thinks about teamwork without thinking about sports teams?

That’s why the region’s minor league sports teams are also a valuable resource for companies to send both leadership and staff.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Lehigh Valley IronPigs both have solid programs to make themselves available for corporate outings and events.

LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS

“It’s one of the best things if you are messaging a family friendly venue, but one of the backbones is team building, employee appreciation and client appreciation,” said Ryan Hines, senior director of group sales for the IronPigs.

While the main offering there is – of course – baseball, the IronPigs also have a variety of options available for companies that want to provide an entertaining outlet for their employees.

Packages run from employee picnics to suites in various sizes that are located throughout the ballpark.

Some companies buy season-long leases of suites or share suite packages with other companies and regularly host events, whether it’s to celebrate a retirement or to reward good work.

The companies can also buy season tickets that can be given to employees as rewards throughout the year, or buy group tickets to take a group of employes out for an outing.

Hines said the staff at the stadium does work with companies to incorporate team-building activities into the outings.

They’ll often help them get tickets on a theme night that might match their company’s culture.

“Each group is different,” Hines said.

LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS

For the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who play out of the PPL Center in Downtown Allentown, working with companies to build events for employees is an important part of their business plan.

Dennis Begley, vice president of partnerships and premium seating for the Phantoms, said companies have many different options based on the size and purpose of the company event.

Club seats, he said, are popular because they are wider, have more leg room and offer upgraded food options over the hot dogs and pizza normally found at sports venues.

“Companies will bring in their whole group and have premium options like lobster, steak and ravioli to buy,” Begley said.

Many companies will have two or three events a year to bring together employees and clients.

“We have a lot of repeat customers every year,” Begley said. “Sponsors can get great deals for party suites.”

But like the other venues, Begley said the Phantoms are flexible with their corporate fans and can come up with employee events of all shapes and sizes.