Local Wally's Napa Valley Group Event Planning Made Easy (and Cheap)
Local Wally
Did you just get saddled with planning your company corporate event in Napa Valley? Maybe you’ve even dived in and already found out that most of the Napa wineries are turning you down or that the costs are higher than buying your own winery. It’s OK, Local Wally can help! Use my connections to help make corporate event planning as easy as Sunday Morning. And yes, just like all of my advice my services are free and honest.
The Basics of Setting up a Cheap Corporate Event in Napa
Pick the right season: Have you ever been to Napa when it’s raining? Sure, it’s romantic but that’s not what you want for a corporate event. From the end of October until May most wineries will turn you down because they don’t have the indoor facilities. There are a few wineries, a very small handful, that have large enough indoor facilities. So Summer is best, Winter no bueno.
Transportation: If you are coming from San Francisco or the bay area you’ll want to provide transportation. I’ve been working with a number of transportation companies that can pick up your guests and get them there and back safely. This is often a big chunk of the budget so get with me to use my contacts. I can connect you with companies that can pick up a party of 8 at the airport or charter buses for groups of 200. And yes, if you are just providing a day of wine tasting around Napa for the day you will need transportation - No DUI’s when on company time.
Group Size: Most wineries cannot handle large groups due to parking and other regulations. Groups of 8 or less are fine, groups up to 20 are hard but OK, anything over 20 will require some serious planning. Groups of 100 or more are severely limited to a couple of wineries (unless you have a huge google-like budget). If you have 50 or more people don’t panic! But don’t wait, either. With so few wineries that can take big groups it’s never too early to start planning.
Food: You’ll want food and that means catering. I like to work with wineries who have their own catering connections so you have one less thing to worry about.
Music, sound system, etc: You don’t want to be renting equipment - you want a winery that already has this or can rent it for you to use.
Hotels and Meeting Space: If your corporate event isn’t all fun and games and you need help with a hotel and setting up meeting space (and other activities at the hotel) then lean on me - I can introduce you to people I know in the hotel industry in Napa who will give you great service and special rates since I sent you.
Other Stuff: Bike rentals, wine blending, cave tours - Let me know if you want to do something really special and we can brainstorm some ideas.
How to Put It All Together
This is the easy part. Just email me with your dates, the number in your party, and if you have it, your budget. The best way to start the ballpark of the budget is to provide a “per person” price. Be realistic - a hotel alone is probably going to be $500 a night per person in Napa, a bit less in Sonoma. And wine tasting is easily $50 per person at the low end, and that does not include food. If you are just plain stumped and trying to figure out a budget just contact me and I’ll help you connect with professionals at the wineries and hotels who do this stuff all the time.
So. you are probably wondering by now what I charge? How about nothing? That’s right, I don’t mind sharing my contacts with you and helping you get to the right people. The companies and wineries I refer you to will offer you lower rates than you could get yourself and give me a small referral fee out of their net. So yes, I do get paid but you will never get a bill from me. And my advice is always free and honest. I’ll never recommend a dumpy hotel or crummy winery just because they paid me a few bucks. That’s not the Wally way!
Ready??? Then click the button below to email me and let’s get this party started!har