“A teambuilding company I used to work for booked a golf cart polo match for a group of lawyers. It was the scariest event I have ever worked. Imagine one person driving, the other leaning out trying to hit the ball. Carts whizzing in every direction. I swore never to work or plan anything like that. It was a risk management nightmare.”
James Bennett, president and owner, FireFly Team Events, Huntington Beach, California
“Let's Dish for executives—a great teambuilding activity where you can cook meals. You must follow directions and work together, and at the end, you come away with meals to take home for your family.”
Raquel Shutt, owner, Wedding Savvy, Edgewater, Maryland
“Building robots for Gates Corporation executives as part of an initiative we branded ‘Destination Beyond.’”
Doug Chorpenning, C.E.O. and founder, Wet Paint Creative Group, Centennial, Colorado
“One of the most interesting teambuilding events we've done was after hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Museum Hack. Their team put together a tech-theme tour highlighting specific pieces that were traced to modern-day technology. There was a scavenger hunt, and we even took time to reflect and write out a postcard that Museum Hack sent out on our behalf.”
Monica Wolyniec, digital media and branding, Boomset, New York
“We gave each team a product or two and props galore and had them write a TV commercial. The teams became advertising agencies. We had cameras, cue cards, and TV monitors. Each team member got a DVD of all the final commercials, including the outtakes.”
Larry Rodkin, owner, Lawrence of Florida Entertainment & Events, Coral Springs, Florida
“We recently took part in our first ‘Bullets & BBQ’ teambuilding event. We spent half of the day getting lunch at a great local barbecue joint and shooting some rounds at the gun range. It proved to be a really great time and built a lot of camaraderie for our team.”
Jason Baumann, founder and chief social strategist, Boxless Media, Chicago
“A teambuilding activity that one of our groups loved was a good old-fashioned scavenger hunt of downtown Toronto. We made sure to include locations that helped showcase Toronto as well as to provide a bit of history. The venues that we included loved the exposure and it was reflected in their attitude and approach with the group's attendees.”
Andrew Maxwell, co-owner, PlanAnEvent.org, Toronto
“We split into teams and decorated a collection of Tom's shoes. Then there was a competition to present on your collection and the aesthetic behind it.”
Melissa Meulenberg, national sales manager, Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, Traverse City, Michigan
“We had a corporate group of 700 attendees transform red wagons into robots, dragons, and more. They then competed in challenges that brought back childhood memories. For each challenge, teams won toys, which were piled high in their wagons and donated to kids in need.”
McKenzie Kaufeld, manager of making it happen, Wildly Different, Orlando
“When I worked for Travelocity, I created a ‘Camp Roaming Gnome’ campaign one summer complete with full office decorations, movie days, tents to meet in, camp T-shirts, and drink tumblers. In the middle of July—in 100 degree Texas heat—I turned the camp into Frozen and had the employee kids come up and watch the movie followed by snow cones and a real snowball fight.”
Elizabeth Neff, executive assistant, Blackbaud, Austin, Texas
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