Food Truck Tuesday at Shindigz

A food truck from CJ’s Drive-in visited both Shindigz buildings today to celebrate the beginning of Summer. Each Party Host received a free meal compliments of Shindigz. Hundreds of coney dogs were served to some very hungry Party Hosts along with bbq pulled pork sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, chips and soda. Party Host, Shantel Sleighter, said “The variety was amazing and I could eat as much I wanted to, but I workout so I limited my selection to just two coney dogs and chips.” Ironically, the personal trainer was available all day in the fitness room for anyone regretting their food choices today.

This is just the beginning of many fun summer events that the Shindigz Fun Team has planned this year to make life more fun for every employee.

The Green Thumb Committee is Busy at Shindigz Today

 It may have been a cloudy morning, but that did not stop the Green Thumb Committee at Shindigz from starting their summer long project of beautifying the Shindigz facilities. Members of this new committee worked outside for over an hour this morning planting flowers and landscaping around the Shindigz sign. Green Thumb Committee member Shantel Sleighter said “We chose bright colored flower pots to match our confetti colored building! Nothing says “party store” like bright colors.”

The Green Thumb Committee plans on continuing their efforts through out the summer to do their part to enhance their corner of South Whitley which has been their home for the last 87 years.

Paper Airplane Throwing Contest at Shindigz

One of the winners, Jeff Frye, proudly shows off his paper airplane.

Earlier today, Party Hosts gathered in the photo studio and Party Central to compete in a paper airplane throwing contest. Each Party Host was challenged to create a paper airplane and then encouraged to participate in the airplane throwing contest. Some of the more competitive Party Hosts completed research on world record breaking paper airplanes and created replicas while other Party Hosts did their best to remember how to fold their paper to even create an airplane. One Party Host spent more time making her plane pretty with polka dots instead of making sure it could fly. Winners were awarded on each shift. Each winning paper airplane “pilot” won a remote control airplane to take home. The longest distance any of the paper airplanes flew was an amazing 47 feet which is a little shy of the world record of 226 feet. Party Hosts really enjoy these short events provided by the Fun Team to alleviate stress and break up the work day.

Shindigz Party Hosts Participate in Adopt-a-Highway Trash Pick-up

A group of Shindigz Party Hosts spent their morning picking up roadside trash on Indiana State Road 14. Shindigz sponsors a 2.5 mile section of State Road 14 for Indiana’s Adopt a Highway program. This program coordinates with community groups that provide highway trash and litter pick-up in local communities. Indiana Department of Transportation  (INDOT) area coordinators supply safety training, vests, road work signs, and trash bags to help get the job done. Local community organizations provide the manpower. In return, INDOT places a sign on the portion of highway these groups adopt for this worthwhile effort.  Shindigz coordinates a group twice per year to pick up trash in an effort to keep their stretch of the highway litter-free.

Shindigz Party Hosts Celebrate Salad Day

As a part of wellness week, Shindigz employees enjoyed salads for lunch today. Shindigz provided the lettuce and all of the departments were assigned different toppings like veggies, dressing, cheese and meat. Throughout the day, Party Hosts have been spotted chomping on nutritious veggies. Shindigz likes to have Salad Days throughout the spring and summer to promote healthy eating. The wellness program is focused on providing healthy lunch activities like salad day all year long.

For another healthy idea, try the Carrot Zucchini Summer Squash Muffins features on the Shindigz Recipe Blog.

Shindigz April Company Meeting

Shep poses with five new Shindigz Super Stars.

Lori  accepts her 5 year service award and poses for an “awkward photo” with Shep.

The April Company Meeting was held yesterday at Party Central and included guest speaker Shawn Ellis from Whitley County B.A.B.E.  In March, Shindigz raised over $1900 for the non-profit organization. Shawn gave an update on the latest happenings with B.A.B.E. including their new facility and also thanked Shindigz for their continued support and generosity.

Human Resources also collected delight surveys from every Party Host so they can take the necessary steps to improve areas like work environment, training, input for the wellness program and overall employee satisfaction.

A five year service award was given to Lori Groger who has been a part of the IT team for five years. Six Shindigz Superstars were awarded for their team effort in completing a large project. Patti Draper, Kassi Ringler, Christina Brown, Shantel Sleighter, Teresa Byram and Shelly Eads all received $100 and a super star sash for their efforts.

 

Shindigz Hosts Celebrate Get Up and Move Month

The Shindigz Fun and Wellness Team wants everyone to get up, move and be active during the month of April. To encourage activity, the Wellness Team has created an activity log to track your daily activities. Each activity has a point value and a maximum number of times per week the activity can be performed.

The goal for each week is to have a total point value of 1000 or more for all of the activities listed. If a party hosts meets that goal, they are entered for a chance to win a weekly prize of Shindigz Bucks.

For each week of the month that party hosts hit the target 1000 points, they will be entered into a prize drawing on April 29th. Four lucky winners will win Shindigz apparel.

Shindigz offers many wellness programs to promote a healthy lifestyle including an on-site personal trainer in the Shindigz fitness room.  Recently, Shindigz has added two showers to the facility to encourage working out during the workday. Shindigz is a proud participate in getting party hosts healthier!

Shindigz Employees Raise Over $1900 for Whitley County B.A.B.E.

Christy Phend and the large amount of baby items collected by Shindigz.

Shindigz Employees, or Party Hosts as they’re often referred to, are always finding new ways to make life more fun and looking for ways to pay it forward. In March, Shindigz raised over $1900 for Whitley County B.A.B.E.  This organization helps hundreds of families in Whitley County. Whitley County B.A.B.E. was established as a coupon incentive program for pregnant women and families to consistently participate in programs and services provided that benefit the health and well being of infants and young children. This ensures that these children are given the best possible start in life. The coupons can be redeemed for diapers, wipes, cribs, high chairs, sippy cups and other infant and toddler related items.

“It goes beyond providing diapers and other items to families that need it. These families are given so much more. By participating in mom’s groups or nutrition classes or even time spent at the library, moms are given the resources and tools they need to bring their baby into this world healthy and happy. Most importantly the people at B.A.B.E. give moms hope. ” says Christy Phend, eCommerce Partnership Coordinator at Shindigz. She continues “I’m so happy that Shindigz can help such a great organization. The response we’ve received in donations exceeded our original goal. Our employees are really passionate about B.A.B.E. and they proved it with the large amount of donations.”

The Shindigz Fun Team printed a large cardboard standee of a baby with the owner’s face on it. The goal was to dress “Baby Shep” as they hit various goals. Half way through the month, Shindigz decided to change the donation drive into a team competition to ramp up donations through the end of the month. The team that brought in the most baby items would win a pizza party provided by Shindigz.

In past years, Shindigz has held lunch fundraisers and hosted a penny wars competition between departments. This year’s fundraiser was the most successful with almost doubling Shindigz’s most successful year in 2011.