More (and inspiring) Team Building Ideas
Adding to the Team Building Idea Library
In keeping with our Mission…to share cool stuff in every aspect of All Things Meetings (and events and conferences and incentives, trade shows and other appropriate words)… here are a few more Team Building ideas to add to our Library. Whenever you need some inspiration for your next “thing”… check them out. (link to library)
First up… i.Art Fitness www.iartfitness.com
I used to take reasonably good care of myself, but now that I am north of 60-ish I figured it is time to relax and let things slide. The hope is that by the time I am done I will still have enough range of motion to be able to reach the TV remote. The jury is still out on my decision… fingers crossed (and so far, I can still cross my fingers). Anyway… for people who think that is a bad idea and that practicing wellness makes you (and/or your team) happier, smarter, and more productive, then here is an outfit that can definitely help…
The core value of their business: The belief lies in the notion that the sum of many personally “well” individuals equates to a healthy team and in turn a vigorous business culture. This, it appears, is a trend that’s here to stay. I suspect this is true because while I am sitting outside my favorite San Francisco café sipping a small triple-shot soy latte with just two pumps of vanilla, I notice that about every third person is carrying a yoga mat and doing something on a smart phone (which I assume is related to their very successful (and vigorous) career as a something).
Consequently, your team members will more than appreciate… a “they bring it to you” Spin Class. i.Art Fitness rolls in their stationary bikes, the sound equipment, fitness towels, water and staging. Sure, it can be done in your meeting room, but the class can also be outside: ocean side, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, at a winery vineyard paired with a lunch and wine tasting, and an infinite number of other cool and/or iconic locations. Best part, i.Art fitness will plan it all — permits, catering, transportation… and all of that meeting planning stuff.
But wellness is not just about the body. It’s also about the Mind and Soul. Personal note… Presumably, if I have a Soul, it is already well and doesn’t need me to make it “well-er”. On the other hand, I whole-heartedly admit I know absolutely nothing about pretty much everything.
I tend to believe that rather than a Soul, I am just an emergent quality of a complex system (and maybe that’s the same thing) and will dissipate when the system “un-systems”. Kind of like an ant colony. But that’s just me. I also don’t think I have chakras, chi or karma. It seems other people do and they enjoy having them.
I also sometimes think that The Matrix (Part One) is a true story and when the Powers That Be realized that too much information had been disclosed, they purposefully made Matrix Two and Three so bad that everyone just dismissed all of them as nonsense. So don’t let me stop the illusion of you from experiencing the illusion of experience. Or, as my seven-year old tells his friends, ”That’s my Dad. Just ignore him”. I digress.
With i.Art Fitness, meeting planners can easily build a wellness track and incorporate it into their meeting agenda, be it a 4 day conference or a 1 day planning session. Every service or event they create is customizable. For example, a “wellness for the body” spin class can become a glow in the dark spin class with a live D.J; a “wellness for the Soul” build-a-bike program can become a Gilligan Island theme party, etc. If you have a meeting theme or fun idea and want to play — -i.Art Fitness will do it. Check out their web site for the details. www.iartfitness.com
After your team is all sweated up, they may appreciate the next idea courtesy of ID Events, Australia… http://www.ideventsaustralia.com
Essence of Excellence
The success of a “Signature Scent” depends on chemistry and marketing. Behind the scenes are teams of professional chemists experimenting with all manner of exotic extracts to capture the essence of their celebrity endorsers. Next comes an army of marketers convincing consumers they need to smell that way. Weird but true.
Essence of Excellence places teams in both of these demanding roles, presenting a challenge to create and blend an individual fragrance that appeals to a given target market.
Teams carefully choose their ingredients paired with a range of moods and character traits. Successful teams understand the world from their customer’s perspective, aiming to produce both a new fragrance and an associated targeted marketing campaign within a tight deadline.
Having learnt the basic techniques of perfumery, teams blend base, mid and top ‘notes’ to create a ready-to-wear fragrance. Essence of Excellence is by no means restricted to female fragrances; some teams will be working with unisex and male customer profiles.
ID Events provides all of the “stuff” your teams need to get it done, and their consultants/facilitators are standing by to help with the chemistry and the presentations… but it’s up to your teams to find the proper leadership, inspiration, imagination, cooperation and discipline to create both the product and the campaign, and then present it to the group.
If you like smelling things, it sounds like fun. http://www.ideventsaustralia.com
Speaking of fun… if you happen to be in Cleveland (assuming it is still there after the Republican convention), and you want to do something cool that you can only do in Cleveland, then you must go to the…
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Yes, I have written before about Scavenger Hunts and Theme Parties, but here is a great place to put them together. You can pick a decade or musical style… tell your attendees in advance to dress the part… they enter the world’s only Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Soaring up to 160 feet, this glass monument to the history of Rock and Roll presents (what they describe as) a stunning sweep of Downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie.
OK — for those of you Coast chauvinists who are thinking, “stunning sweep of downtown Cleveland”? Stop thinking that (if you can).
Anyway, back to the party… everyone comes in to this incredible museum and they are separated into teams and given i-pads, and the DJ pushes clues through the ipads tied to your particular chosen theme and the teams scurry around the museum looking for answers… and yes they have the whole “selfie” thing going on as they run (wander) around… and there is food, drink, laughter, fun, music… and they can all get together in one of the many galleries for dinner and awards… or maybe into the theater for a show.. or if you have the budget you can get some famous (or once famous or soon to be famous) performer and although the museum kind of frowns on karaoke I guess you could do that too. As I like to say… anyway…check it out and talk to them about creating a unique experience Thing. Details and inquiry.
That’s all for today. Again… please check out our Libraries for ideas on everything to do with Meetings and Events and stuff… and please… if you have any ideas about any of the different areas, send them to me, I will check them out, and if I can, include them in the next blog update.
AND ONE MORE QUESTION… One of my blog themes is “What is The Most Difficult Part Of Your Job?” I want to hear from everyone from all sides of the biz… full-time planners, third-party planners, the “It’s just a part of my job” kind of Executive Assistant planners, PLUS.. all types of vendor/suppliers… convention hotels, boutique hotels, resorts, DMCs, CVBs, Venues, team-builders, meeting technology providers… everyone. Email Me
I add them all together so we can all see the issues that our business partners face and maybe it will help us all get along. :)
And I am not sure how this works at all, but someone told me it would be good if you could like my blogs, or share them with someone… or in general make me famous so I can just sit all day outside my favorite café thinking about stuff. Thanks.
