Problem Solving
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by Dave Blum Last fall, Jen and I were driving along the Northern California coast on our way back from Monterey and discovered a sign advertising Arata’s Farm and their amazing “Hay Bale Maze”. As a team building consultant who loves scavenger hunts and corporate team challenges, how could I resist a little […]
Problem-Solving with Grandpa Blum
Monday, May 11, 2009 by Dave Blum My grandpa was a quiet man. Born and raised in Romania, he arrived in New York City in the early 1900’s and made a nice career for himself as a Manhattan dentist. But he didn’t talk much — except for when he was playing gin rummy. With his […]
Seeing the Situation Clearly
Friday, May 8, 2009 by Dave Blum Where were you back in the fall of 1987? Me, I was 24 years old, nearing the end of my 2-year ESL teaching gig in Japan, and afraid that I was going a little bit crazy. Standing up in front of class everyday, I’d get this recurrent dizziness. […]
The Art of Story Telling: Set the Scene
Thursday, May 7, 2009 by Dave Blum My favorite movie reviewer is a guy named James Berardinelli, who writes at http://www.reelviews.net/movies.php. In a current review, he wrote: “It has been argued that for characters to be three-dimensional, they must have a past, a present, and a future, not to mention an arc.” As a team […]
Scavenger Hunts without Adrenaline
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 by Dave Blum Although my business is creating business team building games and corporate scavenger hunts, my wife, Jen, and I have a private passion for treasure hunts as well. One of our most cherished traditions — on a date roughly equidistant between our two birthdays — is to hold a do-it-yourself treasure hunt in San […]
Business Team building Games: Should We Award Prizes?
Monday, May 4, 2009 by Dave Blum It seems like whenever I’m talking on the phone with prospective client about my company’s corporate scavenger hunts, the same question inevitably arises: “Should we give prizes and awards?” I think the better question should be: “Should we encourage or dis-encourage the release of adrenaline?” Because the scarcity […]
Managing Conflict: Feeling Emotions in Your Body
Friday, May 1, 2009 by Dave Blum There’s an icebreaker I like in a book called “The Conflict and Communication Activity Book”, by Bill Withers and Keami D. Lewis. The game is called “Energy Jump” and it works like this: Tell the group that you want them to jump up out of their chairs every […]
Troubles in Teambuilding: Why Team Members Cheat
Thursday, April 30, 2009 by Dave Blum Some time back, while leading a corporate scavenger hunt in Ventura, CA, I was required to put up a sign on a wall, down along the beach-side promenade. No big deal. Treasure hunt clues often require the placing of a sign of some sort. I took great care […]
Team building online–Smart Mobs
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 by Dave Blum In case you somehow missed it, I want to urge you to go out to your nearest newstand and pick up a copy of this month’s Wired Magazine. It’s called “The Mystery Issue” and includes article after article about puzzles, magic, clues, codes–you name it. I read the magazine […]
Treasure Hunt Scouting: What do you do when there’s just nothing there?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by Dave Blum A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to create one of my scavenger hunts at the Grand Del Mar Resort, just north of San Diego. Now, the Grand Del Mar is a *beautiful* property, with two pools, a golf course, a world-class gourmet restaurant, you name it: everything you’d […]