Corporate Outing

J

jbmcgee1

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We had a corporate holiday outing last week (Whirlyball, not pool unfortunately), and it got me thinking how a place could organize a corporate outing/tournament that would add some friendly competition to the mix. I’m curious what the community thinks of the following:

1) Teams of 5 players are assembled on the spot via random draw. This ensures a good mix of folks, no stacking of teams, and a good chance to get to know your co-workers and form some bonds.
2) Tournament progresses in a round-robin fashion. Ideally there would be one table for every 2 teams so that nobody is standing/waiting.
3) Before play begins the team assigns a number of points per player 1 through 5, much like is done with bar trivia. The more confident you feel that someone will come out a winner, the higher the points you put on them/their match. These points can be modified before each round.
4) Coin toss determines which team posts first and posting is then alternated for the remaining matches.
5) Matches are single game, most likely 8-ball.
6) If a team wins, they get the points associated with their player.
7) Team with the most points after specified number of rounds wins corporate fame/fortune/bragging rights.
 
I am working on a similar idea for my company. We are a small group of 16 to 20 people so I may run it as a as a doubles tournament with 8 to 10 teams on a round robin format. Two additional ideas you may want to consider:

1. Have it a sports club with at least 8 - 10 tables so there is additional stimuli and background excitement (and food).

2. I am thinking of hiring one of the local pool hall Pros to come in and give beginners a half hour lesson as a group before the tournament and then have him run the tournament. If you can get one with a great personality I think it would really add to overall experience. Maybe each team could use him for one or two shots per game as a "wild card" shot just to keep the field more level. Think of the strategy, do you use your Pro to break or do you hope to have first crack at the 8 ball and have him sink it for you?

Just some thoughts. Hope they help.
 
The Illinois Billiard Club hosts (small to medium corp) events just like this on a regular basis. You might want to contact Jim Parker (the owner) with any questions you have. He's a great guy and will help any way he can.
 
Personally, I think it's a lot to expect of people who have never played pool before. Some people just have no hand-eye coordination or ablility/interest in learning rules of a game.

I love pool as much as the next guy, but I'd go for darts, beanbag...something that's easy to grasp and understand.

Have fun.
 
We have a pool tourney twice a year for the Health District employees and friends.

Its a mixture of people, some who seldom play and some that are pretty good players.

Scotch doubles, blind draw for your partner and round robin format.
 
Wild Card

Love the wild card shot idea... I've joked about having something similar in APA. 2s/3s get two timeouts per game, why not give them the option of calling for a DH in a game?

If it were easy to implement, you could also offer a mulligan! Scratch on the hanging 8-ball? Take a mulligan! Miss that kick shot by just a hair? Take a mulligan!
 
Corporate Outings

I do these events all the time at Slate. Here is a synopsis of my experience running these events.

The tournament starts 30 minutes after the start of the party. This gives people a chance to get a drink, grab a snack, call the baby sitter. I do the beginner lesson 15 minutes before the start of the tournament.

Round robins are too hard to manage, so I make sure we have teams of two people and a bracket with multiples of 8. Make sure you send the rules for the tournament before hand. It also helps if they build the brackets before the event. Realize of course you will have changes and problems, and I let them happen until the last two rounds. For planning purposes, one game takes about a half hour.

One of the hard things is keeping the brackets moving and finding the people that are supposed to be playing. A loud speaker helps, but with loud music, drinks, bathroom breaks, smoke breaks and phone calls, keeping things going is always a challenge.

I have a copy of the rules I use if anyone wants them. They are designed to make things go a little quicker.

I've found that building teams is best left to the party coordinator. We usually try to mix a more skillful player with a less skillful one, but this isn't always possible.

Also, the tournament director has to make sure that after the matches, the winners report who won the match. A lot of people just assume the tournament director knows!

After the tournament you can do challenge matches or do some trick shots. Then you can award the prizes and call it a night.

Make sure you have someone taking pictures as there are a lot of really funny things that will happen.

Hope the helps.
 
I too have done many corporate events around the country. IMO the 'tournament' option is too complicated. When I do events like this, people just jump up and play one another, or play partners. I usually act as a 'coach' for all players (keeping 'instruction' extremely simple), and move around the room so that everyone who wants to, gets some side help. I also will do a few trick shots, and have some of the people at the event do some simple shots too. Everyone likes to see a novice make a trick shot! Just another viewpoint...:D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
 
Blind draw scotch doubles, round robin with a ball count,one game and top 3 teams make the playoffs with one other team being drawn out of a hat to fill the playoffs and have some prizes that you draw for through out the tournament and at least one that is better then the winning prize winning prize so even the poor players have a chance. This keeps things more fun for everyone and not that competitive.
 
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