Employee Appreciation

Match the format to where people actually sit. Fully remote teams should go virtual: a live chef and an engaging host run it over Zoom and every person gets ingredients delivered to their door with free US shipping, so nobody is watching someone else cook. If everyone shares an office, in-person brings the best energy — we handle chef, ingredients, setup and facilitation, and leadership just shows up. Mixed arrangements work best as hybrid, where in-office and remote teammates join the same event on one screen so the remote half isn't an audience. Not sure which you are? Tell your planner the split and they'll recommend it.

No. Zoom is the default, but events also run on Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and WebEx — tell your planner which one your company lives in and the event gets built there. Raise it when you book rather than the week of, so it's settled before anything goes into people's calendars.

The reason to name it early on this page in particular is the agenda. An appreciation event isn't only cooking: the sample 90-minute run of show opens with a warm-up game and a leadership thank-you, then hands about fifteen minutes near the end to a recognition spotlight, awards and team shout-outs. Someone has to pass the room to your exec at the right moment, and on a hybrid event that same link is carrying the people at home into the room with the people in the office. Settle the platform and who's hosting when you book, and the run of show gets built around it instead of improvised in the last five minutes.

Yes, and the design costs nothing. The sample 90-minute agenda opens with a warm-up game and a leadership thank-you, then hands about fifteen minutes near the end to a recognition spotlight, awards and team shout-outs, once the group has cooked together and the room has warmed up. You can add your logo and a message, name specific honorees, and send gift add-ons or awards to them. Most of the emotional weight lands in that spotlight precisely because it comes after the shared activity rather than before it. People are relaxed and paying attention, not sitting through a slide.

Look at the word. A companion is, literally, someone you share bread with, from the Latin com, with, and panis, bread. The same root runs through the languages: a Spanish compañero, an Italian compagno, and the English company, which is why a business is called one. Long before it meant a colleague, it meant the person on the other side of the loaf. That's the whole argument for an appreciation event where people make and eat something together instead of receiving a code by email. The gift card is forgotten by March. The evening the team cooked together is still a story a year later.

It's built for exactly that. The chef teaches from zero, demonstrating every step live and setting the pace for the person who has never diced an onion rather than the one who watches cooking shows. Nobody is graded and there's no elimination round. The built-in team-building games — trivia and a mini scavenger hunt — give quieter teammates a way in without having to perform. If cooking genuinely isn't your group, the same appreciation structure works as a paint and sip, a wine tasting, a happy hour or a murder mystery happy hour. On virtual events, family or partners can join free on the same screen, which shifts the mood more than you'd expect.

Appreciation experiences are priced per participant, with the rate depending on the activity, group size and any add-ons. Virtual sits at the lower end and includes ingredients with free US shipping; in-person and hybrid are quoted on location and headcount. The per-person rate covers:

• A live chef and an engaging host running the session.
• A dedicated event planner, from the first call through the post-event recap.
• All ingredients delivered, with free US shipping on virtual events.
• Free customization of the agenda, branding and recognition moment.
• Free dietary adjustments — vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, no alcohol.
• Built-in team-building games, plus gratuities on virtual events.

Recurring or multi-event programs qualify for volume pricing, and teams who want appreciation handled all year can roll it into the Culture Subscription for bonus credits and priority booking. Send your group size and goals through the form on this page for a tailored quote.

Plan about three weeks for a cooking event and four for a happy hour. Most of that is kit shipping and chef scheduling, not paperwork, and rush dates are sometimes possible depending on chef availability, so ask rather than assume. Regular appreciation beats one big annual gesture, and plenty of teams run a standing cadence: quarterly milestones, anniversary months, or an event after each major launch. Recurring programs qualify for volume pricing, or you can bundle the year into a Culture Subscription and draw from a credit wallet. You also get a simple recap after each event — attendance, satisfaction survey results, photos and quotes, plus engagement trends across recurring events — so you can show leadership what it did.

Send the form on this page with your headcount, date range and what you're celebrating, and a planner replies with options and a quote, no obligation. If you'd rather talk it through, call (617) 939-9732 or email events@rockoly.com. When you're ready to hold a date, a $250 deposit reserves it and is applied in full to your event total. Payment can be credit card, ACH bank transfer or check. Every event is covered by the Love Your Event Guarantee: your team should have an amazing experience, and if your Rockoly event doesn't live up to expectations, we'll make it right.