Three reasons to choose a Wacky Races event for your company

At TAG Events, we often encourage clients to think outside the box when it comes to planning corporate activities. Quiz nights, paintballing or dinner events are fantastic, but there are other options you may not have considered - and Wacky Races are the perfect example. Here’s what they involve, and why you might want to take a look at them for your next company event.

Everyone can get involved

 Our team arrive a couple of hours before the event start time to set up a gazebo with a table for each participating team as the team base for the activity. Each team is supplied with a blank pedal kart and basic equipment such as scissors and tape. We also set up a stall where you’ll get cardboard, crepe paper, rope, string, tinsel, ribbons, balloons and more (we’ll come back to that later!).

 There’ll be a meet and greet followed by an ice breaker activity, and your group will be divided into teams - either preselected by you, or randomly selected by us on the day. Once you’ve been briefed by our host as to the format and objectives of the activity, it’s time to get started on your Wacky Races event, which has four stages: Design. Build. Present. Race.

 As these stages suggest, no matter what your team members’ strengths, there will be an area to suit them - quieter colleagues might excel at the designing stage, for example, while more extroverted colleagues will enjoy the presenting stage. There really is something for everyone to enjoy and to showcase their skills.

It’s more relevant to your corporate work than you might expect

 You’ll have the option to choose a particular theme for participants to build the karts around, or you can choose to leave it to your colleagues’ imaginations. This is a great opportunity to tailor the event to your company, or depending on your business, a chance to see what exciting innovations your team can come up with!

The teams are given 10 minutes or so to design their kart, using a 6ft length of paper to doodle ideas and designs. Now, remember the stall we mentioned? Here’s where that comes in, when one member of each team is invited to collect materials to build the kart. The teams then have 40 minutes or so for the building stage, and during this time they will also prepare a presentation. When build time is concluded, there’s a parade of all the karts and each team is invited to do a one-minute pitch about the design and build of their kart.

It’s clear to see the valuable skills that can be developed in an event like this - team-building, time management, communication. Where a Wacky Races activity is such a unique choice, though, is in the use and development of talents that can be taken straight back to the corporate environment and have an immediate benefit - such as preparing and presenting a pithy, effective presentation with impact.

It’s not just about who can be the fastest

Teams then take the karts to the race track, where we’ll have set up pit stops using various cones, and black and white checked bunting, for the full race-day effect!

Three or four karts race at a time in heats, kicking off with a Le Mans start - drivers run to their pit stop, jump in their car and pedal onto the track. After completing one lap, they return to their pitstop and change drivers (there are usually four driver changeovers).

 A nail-biting final takes place between the winners from each heat, but throughout the activity, points have been awarded for the design and the pitch, so when it comes to the racing, it’s not always the fastest team who wins overall! This means that everyone’s contribution throughout the event has truly made a difference - and that can be the best motivating factor of all.

 The day ends with a celebratory TAG medal presentation, and your colleagues will leave having enjoyed themselves, shared and developed their skills, and made a real contribution to their team - doesn’t sound too wacky after all, does it?

 Please contact us for more information and to book.