Shifting the Pardigm on Zero Sum Games

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 by Dave Blum My wife, Jen, and I were playing the card game, Bohnanza, Saturday night, and there I was losing — badly.  I believe the technical term is “getting whomped.”  The fact that Jen was routing me at a card game is not entirely earth shattering; she’s a…

“Business”…shhhh

Monday, November 24, 2008 by Dave Blum Should we talk about business when conducting off-sites?  During a treasure hunt last week at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, I was confronted with this very same question.  The client, Baxa Corporation, was preparing for an upcoming product launch; their offsite at the…

What’s going on here?

Friday, November 21, 2008 by Dave Blum I first saw the technique used in 2004, at a Dr. Clue hunt in Sacramento, CA.  The facilitator was Christine McHugh, a Dr. Clue veteran. At the time, the group was vehemently discussing the treasure hunt clues after the first stage of their program,…

My Favorite Hunt Locations

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by Dave Blum In my last entry, I suggested that a great hunt location is: 1) Relatively flat in terrain 2) Large enough to get lost in 3) Packed with historic signage and public art I would also add that the hunt area should ideally possess the indefinable quality…

Top three ideas for scouting a treasure hunt

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by Dave Blum There are no rules for scouting out a treasure hunt location, but there are certainly some “recommended guidelines”.  My three top suggestions would be: 1) Choose an interesting, walkable location without too many hills. –Walking (as opposed to driving) hunts allow you to see…

New Dr. Clue Scavenger Hunt

Monday, November 17, 2008 by Dave Blum For years I’ve been a treasure hunt vs. scavenge hunt snob.  Until now. Treasure hunts, as you may recall, generally involve the solving of puzzles that lead to hidden, mystery locations.  Scavenger hunts, by contrast, tend to consist of a list of objects…

Getting people on the same page

Thursday, November 13, 2008 by Dave Blum In Patrick Lencioni’s seminal book of team building ideas, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the author talks about the need for team members to express disagreement openly and to engage, quite frequently, in a passionate debate of ideas. Why is open disagreement…

Three Teambuilding Strategies for Surviving the Downturn

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 by Dave Blum In my last entry, I made three predictions about corporate team building activities in the “new economy”: Prediction 1: Team building budgets will be reduced. Prediction 2: More team building will be done virtually. Prediction 3: Organizations will seek out more “edutainment”. My…

Three Teambuilding Trends in a Down Economy

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 by Dave Blum My wife and I met with our financial planner, Jacques Bolivar, last evening to discuss the economic climate, our finances and the advisability of buying property.  I suspect this kind of conversation is pretty common these days, as people around the world look…

Dubai Snafu–part 2

Monday, November 10, 2008 by Dave Blum So there I was in Dubai, half way through a program, and my bag (with all the treasure hunt clues for stage 2) is in a taxi cab, somewhere in the United Arab Emirates. If I was in a true “developing country”, my…