Put Your I-Pod Down and Step Away From That Tech

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 by Dave Blum In an Associated Press article yesterday titled, “Search for Human Bonds, Google CEO Urges Grads“, Eric Schmidt (Google’s chairman and CEO) delivered a speech at the University of Pennsylvania’s commencement ceremony, with the following admonition: “Turn off your computer.  You’re actually going to have…

The Ties That Bind

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 by Dave Blum It’s October of 1987 and I’m waiting anxiously in the poste restante line of the Singapore post office — two months into my worldwide backpacking trip and starving for word from home. Back then — well before email, texting and twittering — the best way to receive correspondence while…

Taking the stress out of training

Friday, May 15, 2009 by Dave Blum Hey folks, I wanted to tell you about a great service out there for organizations that have their employees delivering the training.  It’s called “Training-Modules.com, run by my friend, Susan Otto.  Susan creates generic, customized training modules and seminars that provide employee trainers…

An Exercise in Serendipity: The Puzzling Networking Game

Friday, May 15, 2009 by Dave Blum For a team building facilitator like me, one of the biggest pleasures of running a program (whether it’s corporate team building Atlanta or Dallas, or one of our social scavenger hunts here in San Francisco) is the “serendipity aspect“.  Quite simply, you just never know what’s going to…

Emergency: Scavenger Hunt Needed!

Thursday, May 14, 2009 by Dave Blum I received the following amusing email yesterday: “My idiot brother-in-law ‘forgot’ to plan his brother’s bachelor party! We will shortly have 6 guys coming from around the country to Boston with no itinerary. We are looking for a fun way to spend an…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…