HP Latex Printing: Make Your Next Office Event Feel Like a Trade Show

If you work in an office, you’ve been to a boring office event. Droning on during birthday songs, counting the minutes through boring games, plastering on a smile while you force small talk—we’ve all been there. Forced fun among staff seems to be a part of corporate culture. But what if there was a better way to engage coworkers? What if you could also display some awesome new printing capabilities and captivate your team members at the same time? The answer lies in treating your next workplace event like a trade show.

I don’t mean forcing the business development and human relations department to have a booth-decorating competition; I don’t mean break-out sessions where you make people sit through lectures; and I don’t even mean filling up a fishbowl with business cards to win free products. What am I talking about? Decor and branding. Not just your usual swag, however. Brochures and leave-behinds have their place, but if you want to have a memorable office event, you need to take printing into the 21st century in a big way. An immersive experience of color and texture where employees forget they’re in an office, so they remember how to have fun.

I know what you’re thinking, “Sounds great. How do I manage that with a printer? This is going to look like an 8-year-old’s birthday party, and I’m going to waste so much ink and paper. I’m not Martha Stewart.” Luckily, there are printing options out there that can help even the most craft-deficient of us produce something that would make Bobby Berk proud.

The HP Latex technology solutions has an extensive range of applications to make your next office event feel so fresh and fun—your affair will be the standard of comparison for all future functions. So, what are some party applications you can facilitate with a latex printer? I’m glad you asked.

1. Banners

Not posters—banners. I’m talking about billboard-sized banners and building covers. Don’t need something quite that large? That’s okay—the HP Latex line can print any size you need. Banners can be displayed indoors or outdoors, meaning if you want to advertise for your company casino night, outdoors, day or night, for a week straight, rain or shine, these banners will actually hold up.

2. Promo posters

Really, posters of any size for any purpose. Yes, you can do this with a traditional printer, but you won’t get the style consistency across your branding when you consider the other points on this list. Also, the capability of the new latex printers allows for both rigid and flexible applications. Want 11 x 14s that stand up on a tripod? How about flexible wall or ceiling applications? What about card stock customized with coworkers’ faces on them? Yes, yes, and yes.

3. Backlits

You’ve seen backlit posters and displays on the subway, at the movie theater, or at the bus stop. But what about a more elegant office application? Having an evening cocktail soiree? How about we turn down the lights and just pretend? Turn your daytime cube land into evening to set the mood on a themed event, lit only by custom-created backlits. Streaming, subtle colors filter through the work space, washing over everyone like a stained-glass window. A catered boxed lunch turns into something extra special.

4. Textiles

Everyone has the same corporate-themed swag. Pens, stress balls, travel cups. Chances are, you’ve got boxes of it in a storage closet somewhere. The worst part about those boxes in the storage closet is that you’re stuck with the contents until you run out and finally get to order more. And then, the cycle repeats. What if you could print custom textiles for events? Uniforms for corporate teams? Think how coveted swag would be if it were a canvas print of the company logo redrawn in the style of Andy Warhol? How about a mural series hanging in the hallway to commemorate all the amazing events you’ve thrown? That’s quite the conversation starter for potential new clients as they tour your offices as well.

5. Print and cut graphics

The HP Latex printers can do print and cuts in any size; you can custom color match your event’s theme; and you can put them on just about anything. Create a floor decal for an entry piece. Design small pieces to put on swag, making them unique per event, per company, or per theme. Cover everything from the ceiling to the window blinds. Wrap cars and delivery vehicles. Brand everything imaginable.

Let’s pretend you’re throwing a team-building luncheon. Typically, you’d take orders, set up food in a conference room, and maybe put up a poster or banner if you were feeling fun. Now, your conference room can be the picnic scene from The Sound of Music. Banners printed on textile matching the Von Trapp family’s curtain clothes proclaim, “You make working here a drop of golden sun!” or “Our team do-re-mis it right!” Place mats with a name-that-tune game are ready for post-lunch ice breaking, and there’s a branded bottle of water for your team to take back to their desks. A backlit movie poster for The Sound of Music hangs over a window; it’s been photoshopped with your team members’ faces and the title has been changed to read The Sound of “Your Company.”

Yes, it’s a bit of a cheesy scenario, but it’s also very fun, facilitates conversation, and is more memorable than the last boring team lunch you attended. With only 34% of employees reporting that they feel engaged at work, a little silly can go a long way.

With all this in mind, start brainstorming ways you can innovate and develop creative ways to use the HP Latex printers to make your next office event more than memorable. If you’re in need of some additional inspiration, here are other applications to think about. Videos featuring a hospital and a school in France that are creating beautiful applications with these printers bring up thoughts of company philanthropy—putting smiles on children’s faces through the power of color and texture. Something else to note, water-based HP Latex inks are safe for children, animals, and the environment. They’re also uniquely safe to new spaces, like healthcare environments.

There aren’t many opportunities for coworkers to get together in a fun way where they can leave the stress of work behind and connect as friends. Surrounding them in a delightful feast for the senses is the perfect way to build teams, create synergy, and drive creativity and innovation.

Get started planning your best corporate event yet by talking with our large format experts today.