Interrupting the Storyline
Monday, February 9, 2009 by Dave Blum When I’m not leading scavenger hunts and other team building activities, I’m generally in Golden Gate Park, playing volleyball. So there I was in the park, yesterday, playing ball, thinking I was far away from the “swelter” of my busy work life when, despite the cold, rainy San Francisco weather, things on the […]
Paper Airplanes for Teambuilding
Thursday, February 5, 2009 by Dave Blum One of my favorite corporate team building activities is a quick icebreaker involving paper airplanes. It’s fun and high energy, as well as a great way to generate team building ideas and discussion. Here’s how it works: Take some masking tape and create a large “X” on one wall of your meeting […]
Team Efficiency
Thursday, February 5, 2009 by Dave Blum I’m delighted to say that Monday’s Dr. Clue “Team Efficiency” program in Sacramento was a knockout! The team, a group of 12 business analysts from Wells Fargo, was at a critical juncture in its development. Their old business model consisted primarily of taking phone orders; by contrast, their […]
Valentine’s Day Treasure Hunts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 by Dave Blum With February 14th still a couple of weeks out, it’s not too late to create a Valentine’s Day treasure hunt for your sweetheart. There are lots of possibilities: Concoct treasure hunt clues that lead to his/her favorite haunts…or better yet, to the favorite places you’ve discovered together, as a […]
Perfectionists
Friday, January 30, 2009 by Dave Blum Whether you’re a manager, a parent, or the leader of corporate team building exercises, if you’re successful, you’re likely to possess some element of “perfectionism”. Come on, perfectionists, you know what I’m talking about — that awful, recurring feeling that your work product hasn’t turned ideally and it’s killing you! I certainly have the perfectionist in […]
More Do-it-Yourself Scavenger Hunts
Friday, January 30, 2009 by Dave Blum In light of the budget limitations inherent in this tough economy, my staff and I have been working diligently these last few months creating an array of low-cost team building activities. Since the fall, we’ve come up with three non-facilitated, DIY (do-it-yourself) team building exercises that we’re extremely proud of: […]
The Meaning of Winning
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 by Dave Blum Yesterday’s treasure hunt at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was cancelled, alas: the first time one of our indoor scavenger hunts has been canceled due to bad weather. (The client, it seems, was worried about the safety of busing their group frm Virginia to D.C. on the snowy/icy […]
Treasure Hunt Scouting
Monday, January 26, 2009 by Dave Blum Scouting treasure hunt clues is a bit of an art. Some key factors to take into account when casting around for treasure hunt ideas include: 1) Is your prospective location a little-known or well-known site? 2) Will this clue be part a driving or walking hunt? 3) How are you going to […]
Whitehouse Scavenger Hunt
Friday, January 23, 2009 by Dave Blum Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to create scavenger hunts in some of the world’s most interesting places: the Louvre in Paris, the streets of Dubai, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the historic Districts of Madrid, Geneva and Bologna., etc. But never in the White […]
Great New Collaborative Game
Thursday, January 22, 2009 by Dave Blum Okay, I’ll admit it, I have a weakness for game shops — and it’s not simply because I make a living running corporate team building activities and scavenger hunts. I simply can’t help myself. My local establishment here in San Francisco, Gamescape, is particularly tempting; not only do they […]