Have you ever found yourself wondering what kind of gift to give the participants at your motivational events in Italy?
In these cases, depending on the budget, you could give anything from a simple gadget to more valuable gifts. However, hunting down the right idea can become a long and complicated search.
Try reading some of these ideas, and you might find what you have been looking for or, at the very least, some inspiration.
Table of Contents
Pillow gifts
Let us start with pillow gifts, small welcome tokens to be found on the participants’ beds on top of their pillows.
These small gifts do not require a considerable budget. Even if there is not really a price limit: you could quite easily decide to leave a diamond on every pillow!
Better to think about the weight and size limits for gifts that have to be packed into suitcases and taken onto planes.
If the budget is more modest, rather than a small gift in and of itself, focus more on the presentation, the surprise factor, and the care that has gone into the details. Even a simple biscuit or chocolate typical of the region can spark joy!
Amaretti, baci di dama, cantuccini, pevarini, chocolate-coated orange peel, chinotti canditi, almond paste, brigidini, hazelnut pralines, cremini, boeri… There are so many regional specialties to place in the participants’ bedrooms to welcome them to the event or at the end of the day.
Wrap the small gifts carefully, thinking about the event you are organorganizing aim, and the values you are trying to convey.
Choose to wrap in your company colors, seal them with your logo, but make sure not to use too much plastic or paper. We all pay particular attention to this today.
Therefore, better to opt for eco-friendly wrapping, a square of cloth that can be recycled, or a metal box that can then be used as a small container or holder.
Add a warm welcome, but also with
- a message that relates to the event that is about to begin
- a sentence reminding them what happened during the day
- a quote that summarises what was said by a speaker or expert that contributed to the activity.
Gifts related to team activities
If the event includes a team-building event, an orienteering race, or maybe a treasure hunt in the city, some hats, K-ways, or sunglasses could be helpful to gifts. To pique their anticipation and curiosity, try leaving a small, personalized compass and a teaser message or motivating phrase in their rooms for the particular upcoming activity.
This is made all the more exciting if the guests do not know what is on the agenda.
If the event includes the use of Vespas or race cars but also bikes, scooters, go-karts, and quads, a pair of driving gloves, fingerless gloves, or half gloves could be a fun gift idea, and a little different from the traditional plastic water bottle or, better, glass bottle.
These gloves are also handy for using smartphones to post photos of the event on social media!
If you are thinking of doing a team-building activity based on cooking challenges, the most obvious gifts are a chef’s hat, apron, or recipe book. Why not consider a set of aromatic herbs to use back home all year round?
Finally, what was once a traditional gift but has since become a rarity: a printed photo! Yes, a nice group photo, but even better: a more personalized photo. For example, the participant is on their own or with their team during the event, while doing something fun or unique.
Old instant-print Polaroid cameras are back in fashion, even among the younger generation today. So even an instantly printed photo could be a little gift with a vintage touch, a nice pillow gift to find in your bedroom before leaving.
Memories of the event
If you want the participants to have a gift that also serves as a memento of the event, you need to give it some extra thought, particularly when the motivational event is linked to a recurring event, for example, the company’s anniversary.
If you are thinking of personalizing the gift with the company’s logo, make sure to choose something that the guests will actually use. Something that they will want to take home and display.
How many beautiful and expensive photo albums have been left in hotel rooms – too heavy to put in a suitcase?
And how many paperweights bearing the company logo have ended up in the cellar? (Not to mention the fact that nowadays most people have gone paperless…)
Let us go over some of the great classics. For example, if you are in Venice, you have probably thought of a small Murano crystal object. If you were trying to choose what to put your logo on, choose a pair of drinking glasses, as they are more valuable than a crystal paperweight.
For a motivational event in the Tuscan countryside, you could substitute gifts that usually revolve around wine or olive oil and instead try adopting an olive tree for a year.
An adoption on behalf of your company to be done even before the participants arrive. You could then have an immersive experience by seeing the tree in person, visiting the olive oil mill, and – in Autumn, participating in the harvest of olives and tasting oil on bruschetta. You could even seal the experience with a labeled bottle of virgin olive oil. A small bottle, mind, which can be taken on the plane like a small perfume bottle, but it will be an oil with a special meaning.
The most traditional gifts for events taking place in Milan are usually related to fashion and design. You could undoubtedly choose famous Italian design objects for the kitchen and homeware, which you could even personalize with the logo.
If you want to try reversing stereotypes, you could even do a revisited version of the traditional schiscietta, the old metal lunchbox that Milanese workers used to use that we call a “lunchbox” in Italian nowadays.
To conclude, you could say that all gifts are options, even a pen, a scarf, or a keyring. The most important thing is that you can connect the participant with the event, paying as much attention to the gift as to all the other organizational aspects.