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Teambuilding: Extreme or Not So Extreme

It's time to breakout of the uncomfortable, clichéd icebreakers-human pretzel, anyone?-or dreaded office outings. From the crafty to the extreme, here's a look teambuilding at its best.

E11568balloons Stand
Courtesy of Thompson Aire
BLOW 'EM AWAY At Orlando's Thompson Aire, groups of as many as 50 are broken into teams of two to four and put to the challenge of trying to plan a hot air balloon flight, from launch to landing. Noting that hot air balloons fly only with the wind, each team is provided with the latest weather information, as well as identical area maps of launch and landing areas. Using the information provided, it's up to the individual teams to choose launch and landing sites for that morning's flight in a briefing and planning session with a Thompson Aire pilot-who accompanies teams on every flight and evaluates the wind layers to better determine the most effective direction and speed to the chosen landing target. The winning team is determined by whoever lands at, or closest, to the target field and has the closest flight time to one hour.

Once landed, groups are treated to a champagne toast and breakfast in a private room at the Black Angus Steakhouse and given 10 minutes each to present their views, flight plans, and strategies to the opposing team before the pilots choose the winner. All participants are given a Thompson Aire T-shirt as a memento of their adventure, with the winning team also receiving a keepsake photograph of its balloon in a presentation folder with their flight certificate!MAKE 'EM LAUGH A corporate training and teambuilding offshoot of Improv! Comedy Troup, Improv! Corporate Workshops of Jacksonville is great for groups of as many as 600. Led by industry veterans John Brian and Scott Abrams-who pride themselves in first getting a sense for a group's corporate culture before working with them-this two- to four-hour program consists of teambuilding and skills training, and can be used as a reward or incentive for your group. Appropriate for any industry, the program is comprised of several different games, each one progressively more involved and including a debriefing or reflection time upon completion.

"Gradually, we ease people into playing wild games," says Brian, managing partner of the company. "In this environment, it is safe to make mistakes, and participants leave not only with new skills, but a different sense for the people they work with."

Programs can be customized to enhance skills needed by different groups such as networking tools, corporate sales, customer service, and communication. The workshops are also flexible enough to accommodate groups in any setting, from meeting rooms to open spaces to the outdoors.

LET 'EM CREATE Pensacola's Belmont Arts & Cultural Center is a great choice for groups looking to explore their creative rather than extreme sides. With little to no experience required, intimate groups-usually of about 10-can participate in activities such as glassblowing, yarn spinning, pottery, and mosaic making, or to collaboratively make a one-of-a-kind piece. Individuals can each blow their own unique glass creation, and then as a team work together to sort out colors, shapes, and sizes to mold the individual pieces into one large creation such as a mobile. Not only is this activity safe for almost all groups, it's a great way to foster creativity, perhaps before a brainstorming session or focus group. The facility is also available for rental to experienced artists, and on-site demonstrations from artists are also available at an hourly rate.
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