All the parties I have attended have always been for adults only. They are pretty simple to set up – just make sure the booze keeps flowing. However, the Microsoft Company Picnic is held for the employees and their families. Most MS employees have kids and finding stuff for the kids to do during the picnic can be tough. Well, it would be tough for me but not for the professional picnic company Microsoft hired to stage the event.
If you were to pluck someone off the street and set them down at the MS picnic, that person would swear to God that he landed right in the middle of a country fair. The list of stuff and rides for the kids of MS employees were endless. There were dozen of inflatable play pens, hay rides, pony rides, train rides, paddle boats, face painting, stage shows, miniature golf, giant basketball, arcade, etc. They even had a ferris wheel! Most of the farm grounds were used for kid activities.
The adults were not left out but the list of stuff for the big kids were limited to rock climbing walls, mechanical bull, volleyball, beer garden, casino, bingo and massage tents. Here’s some pics of the activities you can expect to find at the Microsoft Company Picnic.
Every child must be tagged with an ID before entering the grounds. The ID has the child’s name and the cell number of the parent. If the kid gets lost, they can go to any of the organizers and get them to call mom.
Lost your kids? Pick them up here. Your kids won’t get bore waiting for you to pick them up. The tent is full of toys.
This Place Is Like A Kid’s Dream Come True
I think there is some subliminal message MS is giving off with all these free kid stuff. It tells the kids that their mom or dad works for a really cool company and they’ll want to work for it too when they grow up. What a great way to secure an entire generation of future employees!
Some Stuff For The Big Kids To Do
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More companies (that have the money) should do things like this for their employees… It’s kind of nice to see a company do the extras for their #1 asset, their people.
No kidding, this is just amazing. I especially liked the tent reserved for lost children. Do you think those kids get recruited in to super secret Microsoft training camps if no one picks them up? You never know. Muahahaha…
ROFL!
Hahaha, it’s like the rules you use in college. If anything’s left unclaimed in the living room for more than a few hours, anybody can take it
Yeah, thats certainly a good idea! I think Google does similiar things…
Nice, looks like a good time. Pretty decent scenery too
nice place to be
nice one john..MS rocks ….Google its ur turn come on
lol
The main Google campus is like a company picnic everday! Free food in all their cafeterias, basketball, volleyball, pools, games, etc.
That’s what I’m talking about! Sounds like Microsoft could step up in that department too!
Microsoft and Google on the same “height”? I don’t think Microsoft will get that far-…
wow…thats amazing …
Those rides look like so much fun. As a family man, its nice to include the kids.
Did you bring your kids John? The lost kids place looks empty, guess no one’s lost.
Finally John, we need a picture of you bull riding ASAP!
yep may be we can expect Bill take John evil’s autograph photo here
The kids will never admit to being lost, especially the boys! They will only admit to being geographically-challenged.
I would like to see John’s bull riding picture or video too
Nice….and hope next time i can join….
You and me both!
Pretty cool, but definitely doesn’t seem like 100,000 people!
Indeed, looks like the place isn’t really crowded.
It’s between 30,000 to 40,000 people per day over the 3 day picnic. It doesn’t seem like that many people because that farm is bloody huge!
John I wonder if you’ll get invited if Google will be making something like that
I’m sure my AdSense rep would invite me.
That’s almost like the picknick in my garden last week
Thinking about sending my contacts to Bill now
He’s gonna spam you with endless Microsoft offers! Better luck sending them to Apple instead.
Gave me some nice ideas for my sons birthday.
Looks fantastic. I agree with the previous comment that more employees should do this kind of thing.
i want a giant basketball set!!
John, I don’t know if you’ve answered this question yet, or if everyone else just knows, but how did you get invited to the Microsoft Company picnic?
Like most things in life, it’s more who you know than what you know and I know some people at Microsoft.
Is that Bill Gates on the hay rack ride with you?? Wow, that would be so sweet to go on a hay rack ride with Bill!
I didn’t noticed until you pointed it. But no, it’s not Bill. If Bill does make an appearance at the picnic, he doesn’t stay long.
This the picnic event that anyone would not want to miss…
Anyone not working @ Microsoft. I’m sure after one or two, some of the execs skip out on this type of thing. Still planning how to make Apple a department under Microsoft.
That looked really fun!
Looks like a lot of fun. I love rock climbing.
It’s great to see that Microsoft spared no expenses and had a great event. Personal favorite picture is the kids in those yellow boats in ankle high water
I definitely don’t mean to be negative, but if Microsoft was as giving to the public as it was to its employees (which I do agree with them treating their employees well) than the world would be much better. I don’t dislike Microsoft or Bill Gates, but on the verge of Vista SP1, they have release rumors about not releasing it to the public, but only to a select few in the tech community. I only hope that I misunderstood what I have read.
Also, something I do know, is they are trying to stay away from implementing DirectX 10 into Windows XP. Whats up with that?
But I am glad to see the families of Microsoft are being taken care of.
HardwareBlogPortal.com
Looks like a lot of fun, and tagging the kids was a great idea.
Yeah, I think so, too!
My wife used to work for a major airlines. Their company picnics would rival MS…well…almost…LOL
That’s one thing we both miss about her not working there. But the trade off was worth it!
Oh my God! My parents’ company picnics were always a bunch of splinter-laden picnic tables squished together and a BBQ.
Reminds me of the Googleplex somehow….
It looks like a place for kids from all ages more or less! Cooooooool place!
I would like to go there for fun too
Looks like a great time. And of course, free is always a good thing!
hahaha! i thought john riding the evil bull
wow..everything looks nice….
giant bball looks cool
There’s even a lost-and-found department for children! What did they do with the children that no one claimed? Did they become company property?
WTF? Sorry I didn’t read this post, I just looked at the pictures. Is this your new michael jackson like backyard at your rented mansion?
IBM USED to do this sort of thing. They called it Family Day and it was held at the county fairgrounds. Now somehow, despite that climbing stock price, they can no longer afford to do it. Meanwhile they ask employees for ideas about encouraging young people to go into the math and sciences. I suggested they reinstitute Family Day as a way of doing this “Wow, Mom works for a great place. I’d like to work there some day.” But somehow…. they missed the point. Feel free to send a copy of this to Sam P. maybe you’ll have better luck than I did. Or maybe I’m working for the wrong company.
This looks like tooo much fun!