Where the Fun Starts!! - The BobbyK BLOG

Outdoor Fun with Bobby K

We've had an early Spring in Upstate New York and Summer is not far behind. With all the nice weather, who wants to play indoors anymore? Bobby K offers a variety of inflatables and games that are great for company picnics, graduation parties, and outdoor fundraisers. Check out this list of our Top 5 Outdoor Activities:

1. Water Balloon Wars
   From an inflatable fort, you and your teammate launch water balloons across an open field at your opponents. Built-in slingshots make it fun to spread out across long distances!
2. Human Foosball
   Five people per team are strapped to poles that allow them to move side-to-side but NOT forward or backward. Play ten minute games with a soft soccer ball and see who scores the highest!
3. Tiki Wall Climb
   We have several wall-climbing (or sticky wall) challenges, but none that represent 'fun in the sun' like our Tiki Wall Climb. Check it out!
4. Drive In Movies
   Our giant inflated drive in movie screen comes with rear projection and a great quality sound system. It measures 24 feet wide, 12 feet deep, and 20 feet high - and the actual screen is 18 feet in diameter. Invite your friends to set up blankets and lawn chairs to add enjoyment to a warm summer evening.
5. Tiki Bar and Mocktails
   Our Tiki Bar, complete with umbrella, is the perfect place to walk up and order a non-alcoholic Pina Colada or Strawberry Daiquiri Mocktail garnished with fruit and a tiny umbrella. It's also the perfect addition to your summer-themed party!

Project Graduations - making that last high school party the best yet

At the end of every school year, many parents groups decide to host one last party for graduating seniors to encourage them to celebrate their graduation safely and together.  These types of events have certainly decreased incidences of injuries and fatalities from drugs, alcohol and reckless behavior by graduates and their friends.

Parents spend an entire year planning and fundraising for this special celebration and it is interesting to note how different each event may be.  Some groups seem to find the perfect mix of entertainment and repeat it each year (after all, the graduates are always changing so they don’t know what to expect) while other groups feel a need to change every year.

These events can be very expensive – you need to rent venues, arrange for bus transportation, provide food throughout the night, giveaways and entertainment.  Typically students get right on a bus from the graduation ceremony and end their party with a breakfast early the next morning.

Some components to make sure you include in your entertainment:

• Music – not necessarily a DJ but some sort of ambiance.  Karaoke goes over VERY well or you can really step it up with a Foam Dance Party or Video Dance, something the graduates may never have experienced.
• Physical Activities – whether inflatable competitions like obstacle courses, mechanical bulls or sumo wrestling or an open gym with basketball, volleyball and swimming, you need something to keep the kids going.
• Mementoes – Make sure you have some sort of photo memory for the kids to take home.  This can include Old Fashioned Photos, Photo Booths, Green Screen or a unique and new idea, Flip Book Photos (insert link)
• Something for the non-physical – You can choose an art type activity but the most popular by far is fantasy casino where kids play with fake money to win prizes.  Even better is having parents dealing for the kids and interacting with them.

Bobby K Entertainment has performed for hundreds of project graduations over the years and can create a custom plan whatever your budget and is happy to provide free consultation on these very worthwhile projects.

Photo Booths are for every party

As a kid visiting the five and dime store or any amusement park, you always grabbed your best friend and a couple of quarters and entered the photo booth for a strip of four goofy poses.  We’ve all still got copies of these pictures somewhere in our photo albums.

Photo booths have become the rage of wedding receptions. Not only can participants take their photos with their dates, family and friends, but they can also have a copy to give to the bride and groom as a keepsake. Some brides set out “wedding memory” books with pages for guests to glue their pictures in and write special messages to the wedding couple. The second set of pictures is taken home as a memento of the reception.

But weddings aren’t the only place for photo booths!  Since the pictures can be “branded” with logos and dates and sayings, the list of events goes on and on.  Photo Booths are perfect for Bar & Bat Mitzvahs, company picnics or holiday parties, Grand Openings, Fundraisers, School Proms, College events and more! The combination of the number of pictures, the number of copies and the speed at which pictures are produced makes the Photo Booth a perfect choice for any party!

Get photo booths at www.southerntierphotobooth.com.

Flip Books are all the rage

Remember those days as a kid when you would doodle for hours on sheets of paper creating cartoons that, when stapled together, showed a stick figure moving or a car racing down a street? We called those flip books, a small advancement from the early crank-em movie reels.

Well, they are back in a truly innovative form! Flip books allow guests at any event to have a truly memorable experience that they then take home as a souvenir.  

The process is simple: Grab your friends and some props and maybe some signs (remember flip books don’t have audio). Then, act out your “skit” in six seconds for the video camera. Those six seconds are converted into 72 business-card-sized pages that are stapled into a customized cover so you can take your flip book video home with you immediately.

Now, when you want an “action” video of your last performance at a party, just take a flip book with you. No need to setup the DVD or Video player. These unique party favors are great for bar & bat mitzvahs, weddings, or corporate events. The speed at which they are produced allows every participant to get their own copy.

Insurance - Party for Wellness Part 3

At Bobby K, we get many requests from families who want to inflate a bounce house or something similar in their backyard. But those families are often turned off by our prices for those smaller functions.

The reason we may seem expensive for birthday parties and family reunions is because we send our own staff members with the products. For insurance reasons, it's impossible for us to drop off a bounce house and pick it up hours later. The inherent risks are not worth the rewards.

However, our strict insurance and rental policies are just some of the reasons why Bobby K Entertainment is the leader in events like company picnics, college campus parties, and high school post-prom parties in the Northeast. These businesses love that we can bring the most fun and the safety to go with it.

Whether you're a single family or a large corporation, we're always here to answer your questions. Feel free to browse our website and contact us today for more information: www.BobbyK.com. 

Creating Friendships that Last - Party for Wellness Part 1

Graduating, retiring, moving away, starting a new career... all these things give us a bittersweet feeling. But instead of getting all sappy and sad and focusing on the "bitter," why not turn your attention to the "sweet?"

In the last post, I talked about Project Graduation - what a great way for high school students to relax after working so hard for 4 years! It's also a perfect ending to the time spent together. The last thing they'll remember about high school is the fun they had at Project Graduation. It's all about 'leaving on a high note.'

So why not take that philosophy and use it for your other bittersweet parties? Your co-workers would love to say their good-byes over a Fantasy Casino poker table rather than the office vending machine. Your neighbors will want to follow you out of town if your moving away party has an inflatable obstacle course instead of a sprinkler to run through. And imagine if everyone left with a strip of pictures from a Photo Fun picture booth!

The point is you can create friendships that last if you leave a lasting impression. Don't settle for what your school, your business, your organization, or your neighborhood has always done... suggest something different for the next bittersweet party and everyone will forget about that "bitter" part!