For Oak Partners, each season gives the new opportunity to host events that encourage a community atmosphere for employees and clients. With music, food, and beer, the seventh annual Oaktoberfest did just that.
Oak Partners is known for its many customer appreciation events, ranging from garden walks to educational dinners. Oaktoberfest has become a tradition over the years, and the number of attendees has grown.
“Our first year we had 200 people,” said Crystal Dehaven, Director of Client Experience. “I feel like [Oaktoberfest] has expanded in a way that a lot of our clients bring a friend or family member to the event now. It’s always a great introduction to Oak. Everyone has a great time. It’s very relaxed, which is what we love.”
With 430 expected guests, Oak Partners decided to give back to the community through the event’s entry “fee.” Guests were asked to bring a bag of nonperishable items to get into the event. All items collected were donated to the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.
The 400-plus guests were able to mingle with Oak advisers over Wise Guys beer and Hog Haven food.
“The benefit of an event like this is we are trying to create a community within Oak Partners,” said advisor Joe Starkey. “When we can bring all the different teams together and all the different clients together in a community atmosphere where we are enjoying music, relationships, and conversations, it just makes us that much stronger as a whole.
The event was family-friendly, with live music courtesy of Got Issues and a photobooth provided by 219 Productions.
“One of the big reasons we put this on is just as a thank you for our clients,” said advisor Stacey Fargo. “Hopefully, we also get to meet some new people. A lot of our clients have built long-lasting friendships from the people they have met at events like these. It’s a lot of fun. It makes a difference when your clients get to see you on a personal level and get to see you in person. A lot of us will even bring our families around to meet our clients. It’s just to get to know us as a person and not just behind a phone or computer.”
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