Cronuts, Swag Bags, Airlines! A Recap of the OfficeNinjas Tech Event in Santa Monica

Well, let’s just say Office Ninjas nailed it once again.

This past Thursday they kicked off their first Santa Monica OfficeNinjas Tech Event. Office Admins of all kinds (from organizations like Assn Celebrity Personal Assistants, IAAP San Fernando Valley Chapter, IAAP Pasadena Chapter, IAAP Citrus Valley Chapter, Estate Managers Coalition) came out to hear first hand from tech vendors showcasing all they got.  Companies included Chewse, CLASH, Crowdtilt, Eventbrite, Felt, Homejoy, IdeaPaint, Poppin, ShipTropolis, Uber and Delta Air Lines.

The event was held at Cross Campus, a coworking space. Trend Alert! Hosting events at coworking spaces is officially in! Spaces like this tend to be more affordable and way less formal, creating a cool trendy vibe. It’s also a great way to give back to your community as these spaces are hosts to hard-working independent professionals, startups and entrepreneurs making their marks in the world.

The event started with office admins scoping the scene, mingling with one another, drinking a glass of wine or two and munching on some Mediterranean hors d’oeuvres. At 7pm, the vendors kicked off their presentations. An hour later, attendees took a stroll down vendor lane (this is where folks got the opportunity to grill vendors on their products/services). Afterwards, the closing came with some swweeet raffle prizes!

The highlights of the night:

MistiLynn Lokken, the fabulous event MC!

Misti, introed the event with a fantastic icebreaker. She asked everyone to introduce themselves to the person sitting next to them and share their favorite tech tools. I especially loved this b/c at events like this it can be intimidating to let loose and chat up the stranger sitting next to you. Having Misti come out strong really set the mood for a fun and interactive event.

Not Your Grandma’s Scavenger Hunt!

CLASH‘s  presentation was absolutely awesome. Joe closed out the evening’s presentations with a mini scavenger hunt. The crowd (in teams of two) were given five minutes to complete ten “simple” tasks, which required teams to use a smartphone to capture things like a photo of someone’s open-toed shoes, a split of some sort, and jumping in the air. Best part? The first team to complete all tasks within the allotted time won a ChubbyChecker Jammypack (a.k.a a florescent colored fanny pack with a built-in jambox). No joke! Needless to say the winners of this hunt were super stoked beyond belief. I was definitely jealous. I seriously need a jammypack in my life.

OfficeNinjas passing out their signature swag bags!

I heard a lady in the crowd say “This is just like being on the Oprah show – you get a bag and you get a bag!”. Too cute! The signature swag bags were filled with goodies from the attending companies plus Knock Knock, KRAVE Jerky, Hello Products, TaskRabbit, Abacus Marketing, CM Events, Postable, Peter’s Kettle Corn and Good Bites. And, if you’ve ever attended an Office Ninja event – you know these bags are legit. P.S. if you’ve never been to an Office Ninjas event, GO!

CRONUTS!!!

Okay – if you have never tried a Cronut (croissant + donut), you are seriously missing out. I heard them being described as being similar to a churro (west coast) and a doughboy (east coast, specially Rhode Island). Cronut shops are popping up everywhere with insanely long lines. They are deliciously unhealthy and worth every calorie. ;)

Delta Air Lines Grand Raffle Prize!

Crowdtilt’s Executive Assistant taking home the grand prize. This was extra special b/c their EA also presented and worked the vendor table! True ninja form! It was so cool to see a fellow EA take up the challenge of presenting on stage and nail it. To top it off, not only did Delta Air Lines give away one round trip ticket to anywhere within the U.S. – they gave away two(!) round trip tickets for the winner to share with whomever she chooses. #winning

For full coverage of the festivities, check out the facebook album here.

So enough about what I thought – what did you think of the event? If you attended, please comment on this post. I’d love to hear your favorite parts of the evening!