Crime Investigators Team Building Activity
from Canadian Outback Adventures & Events
Hi, this is an event post from Marybeth in our Canadian Outback Adventures & Events Toronto Office with another corporate event update. We recently ran a Crime Investigators event for a security company up in North York, Toronto. It was great to have a few ex-police officers as the participants because they brought great expertise to the table. Teams had to go around to the various crime scenes that were setup, collect the evidence, document the scene and ultimately help our CSI team solve the crime. It was an awesome event, people were super excited to get out of their usual work environment and interact with co-workers. There was great enthusiasm, friendly competition and really good sense of humor, which made the afternoon a lot of fun. It was great to see everyone working together in their teams and really coming together to get the best out of everyone. See photos and listen to the post-event wrap up here! If you'd like to plan a fantastic experience for your corporate team, please check us out online at canadianoutback.comand contact my awesome team for more information about CI or other fun team building activities.
Hi, it's Shannen from the Outback Group, and I just finished a fun 5.5km snowshoe race on Grouse Mountain, one of our local mountains in North Vancouver. I love extreme sports and adventure races and I have been competing in snowshoe races for the last 4 years.
Snow-shoeing does not have to be an extreme sport. I started snowshoeing because I wanted to enjoy winter and be active during the cold, dark months. It is a great way to enjoy mountain fresh air and embrace the outdoors (even in the snow) with friends and family.
Canadian Outback Adventures & Events offers great snowshoe tours for all ages and abilities. Snowshoe tours in Whistler range from beginner and family-friendly hikes to full day adventures. While you are out enjoying the scenic mountain trails the guides will teach you about natural medicine and traditional remedies used by the First Nations people.
Snowshoe tours are also available in Jasper, Alberta. The stunning beauty and landscape of the Rocky Mountains provides an amazing backdrop for a fun winter adventure. Grab a friend, grab your family, grab your co-workers and get outside for a snowshoe adventure in Jasper. Try something new, you will be amazed at how easy and enjoyable this winter activity can be.
Last week I gathered my team of 20 together for our annual 'Outback Summit', an opportunity for us to get together as a team and discuss a variety of topics important to our company and our people.
Our team is scattered geographically across the globe. Yes, Skype is a great tool for virtual meetings, and allows us all to see each other every week or so. But seeing each other in person is SO much better. It gives us all a chance to get to know each other far better.
This year we played the "About Us" game. Prior to the Summit we all submitted a list of "5 things you probably don't know about me" to one of the Summit organizers. She then compiled the lists and handed them out to all of us.
We then had 10 minutes to figure out who each person was. It was like speed dating at work! It was fascinating to me how little I really knew about many of my crew. Marybeth has been to Antarctica and gone for a swim there. Philip was a national level trampolinist in the UK. Jules has jumped off well-known bridges in the middle of the night. Who knew?
I walked away from this quick activity with a new appreciation for my team and who they are as individuals. At the office we're all guilty of forming opinions of colleagues based solely on interactions and outputs at work. This activity will break down those characterizations, and be a lot of fun too!
Regardless of your role in your workplace, take 5 minutes today to email your colleagues and ask them for their 'list'. Compile the lists, then at lunch on Friday play the game. Just like me, you'll be glad you did.
There are over 3 million companies registered in California, and it is well known that team building events are extremely helpful for any company, regardless of size and state of the economy, to keep the company intact and reach the goals of its mission and vision. If successful, a team building event can increase individual understanding of company dynamics and improves team work within employees. Most of all, it will help each member realize that generating results are team accountability and not just individual responsibilities. But what activities are considered team building and what are the best team building activities and events that can be done in California?
As simple as hanging out, having a meal and a few drinks together after office hours at a nearby pub can be a team building event, but it will only offer socialization and familiarization between staff. Setting objectives while having fun, like an Iron Chef BBQ challenge on a weekend, will give the same effect, but will also help each member to participate, collaborate and work as a group in order to achieve that goal. Here are some great ideas for an effective team building:
The Amazing Chase
This event is adapted from the famous reality TV series with the mechanics fairly the same. It is a great team building activity in San Diego where a lot of landmarks and monuments are present and can be used as Route Markers, Road Blocks and Detours. Technically, you can choose or create the course for the participating teams and can start or finish wherever you want. It can be done in any type of weather and in case it snows or rains, it will add to the challenge. Many clients say that the elements end up making the bonding experience much more valuable. At the end of the race, during the refreshment or over dinner, a video can be played showing the activities done while medals and trophies can be awarded to the teams. The best twist to this is that, you can make the challenges hilarious or funny. It doesn’t have to be very serious because at the end of the day, win or lose, everybody is a winner!
CI: The Crime Investigator
Everybody loves suspense and everybody loves to do some crime solving, whether CSI style or Sherlock Holmes style. A great team building event in Los Angeles would be CI: The Crime Investigator. Imagine working on an intriguing case (no matter how fictional it is) related to a Hollywood star or perhaps a famous celebrity visiting sunset boulevard. Like the famous franchise of CSI, investigative works cannot be done alone. A team with individual expertise must work hand in hand, gathering evidence, processing it and working to find out who did what, when and why. The great thing about it is that the event can be staged in multiple locations and each location can provide evidences or statements and teams can search for clues, preserve the documents and solve the case. A crime investigating team is not complete without a lab, so an on-site lab can be made for anyone to use and process evidence. Solving a crime can be frustrating, especially if different individuals have different interpretation of the clues and statement. This will test the teams with their trust with one another, cooperation and how to make collective decisions as a group.
Wild Goose Chase
Every little boys and girls love to play scavenger hunt. The feeling of excitement in finding the items on the list and the sense of adventure as they go along trail are what thrills them. They even imagine going through the jungle, over the mountains and into volcanoes. They end up trusting their friends more, work better with their comrades and enforce unity as a group (whether they are group of pirates or team of Anthropologists). How can we use this activity for adults and how can we arrive with the same effect? Through a digital, state of the art, scavenger hunt called – Wild Goose Chase, or simply, Urban Goose Chase. Each team is equipped with a smartphone to take pictures of the items listed on the scavenger hunt list and must work together to accomplish multiple tasks and challenges. The pictures may include the whole team in it, a few with strangers, or just several members. The best thing about this is that each task or picture corresponds to a certain point, and the team with the most points (most number of tasks accomplished) by the end of the game wins. The intensity increases as different teams arrive or meet at the same time on a certain challenge. Each would try their best to finish the challenge fast and proceed with the next one. By the end of the game, you will be surprised when all the pictures taken are flashed in front of everybody because sometimes some teams would hilariously do anything just to complete the task. This great team building activity is best done in the sunny, dessert – resort city of Palm Springs, where the sun is shining and the light is great. Every shot is perfect and taking pictures is very easy, even without a flash.
Boat Building Regatta
The most wonderful thing about the state of California is that it has a long coastline. This would mean miles and miles of beaches, swimming and most of all – boating. Take advantage of this by having your teams build boats – out of cardboard. This is just half of the challenge because each team needs to have a member ride the boat and compete on the water in a navigational challenge. This will not just bring out the creativity in each member but also cooperation, critical thinking and flexibility to arrive with a common solution that will keep the boat afloat and bring your member across and back from the waters. Since there are different phases in the boat creation and the race, each member gets a chance to be a leader and brings out the true essence of team building. Philanthropic Team Building
Wouldn’t it be nice to hold an event that promotes staff unity and productivity, and at the same time charitable? That would be heart warming and awesome! Now you can do that, by doing a cake making team building event or toy building activity, The Apprentice style. Form your teams, include or increase the challenge by judging who bakes the best cake or who makes bikes fastest, and then by the end of the day give these creations to those less unfortunate like the kids suffering cancer or people without health care. There are about 439 hospitals in California and more than 12,000 orphans all over the state. Just choose what you want to make, add the challenge and give joy to another human being on this planet.
There are tons of team building ideas you could choose from and it doesn’t really matter whether you want a preset event or something new. All of these events are fully customizable and organizers like us would love to hear your ideas. What is important is that your teams will enjoy and learn what it truly means to be a team.
Call our Event Solutions Representative today at 1-800-713-7238 or e-mail at info@americanoutback.net and let us help you create the best team building event for your company.
The city of San Diego is one of the cities with the best weather in the world. Virtually any team building events and activities can be done all throughout the year, making it difficult to choose which one is the best event for your group. Here are a few of the “top choice” activities most companies and had a wonderful experience and showed positive responses in their teams.
The Amazing Chase
This event is based on a popular TV show which was already featured on several cities around the world. Like the show, it will lead the teams around the city following specific markers, work their way through challenges and enjoy fun detour. Aside from practicing communication skills, strategy and team work, the teams can enjoy San Diego’s famous landmarks and sightseeing spots. This can be enjoyed by either someone born and raised in San Diego, or someone who is fairly new in the city.
The Wild Goose Chase
Scavenger hunt got even better – and more high tech! This is the best way to integrate effective use of technology for communications between staff and departments. All it takes is for the teams to download an app in their smartphones and access a list of tasks for them to accomplish. Once a task is complete, a photo must be taken and then uploaded to our online server. Each tasks or missions corresponds to a specific point and the team with the most point, wins. At the end of the day, everyone can get to see the photos made by each teams, and surprisingly, some really looks wacky and funny!
The Great Camera Caper
This is another digital scavenger hunt that brings team building to a whole new experience like being a tourist in your own city. Get to know more about each other as you explore the city, find secret locations, see local landmarks differently and complete tasks and challenges as you stroll along the way.
It is not difficult to hold Team building events in San Diego, all you need to do is choose which event you want, have all the members of the group present, and most of all, enjoy the adventure as you go through the challenges.
If you are looking for something different or something unique, we could customize how your team building event the way you imagine it. Call our Event Solutions Representative today at 1-800-713-7238 or e-mail info@americanoutback.net and let us help you create the best team building event for your company.
One of the best recreational outdoor adventure activities on a river is
white water rafting, and the best place to do this is in Cheakamus River. Found
in the magnificent and Scenic Squamish Valley, it offers the best white water
to raft on to, with just a short drive from Vancouver and Whistler, this could
be the best river rafting adventure your family could enjoy. Rafting brings out
a thrill and excitement no theme park could provide. As its name implies, it is
usually done across a body of water, usually a river, with varying degree of
roughness. You will then negotiate and manoeuvrer through the water current,
big exposed rocks and small river bedrocks and then you will feel the wind on
your face, the splash of water on your hair, your adrenalin pumping with the
excitement with the ride and a satisfaction of getting from start to end of the
raft trail. Immersing yourself in nature through rafting can help you
become fit as well, know more about the environment and learn how to protect
our rivers and mountains.
Depending on the roughness of the water, rafting can be considered a leisure
ride or an extreme sport. With the Cheakamus splash adventure, families with
kids as young as 6 years old can enjoy by using a wide inflatable boat and
paddle through waters with small rough areas, maybe some rocks and may only require
little manoeuvring. This is a great way for children, and adults alike,
to boost their confidence joining intensity ride, reconnect with the family, experience
something that is not done everyday, and interact with nature. For those who will
help paddling across the river, this is a great way to exercise. It strengthens
the upper body and can burn 100 to 200 calories in 30 minutes and may reach to
up to 500 calories on high intensity.
Rafting is environment friendly and requires no motor to run it. It also
lets you see the beautiful scenery, especially the Rocky Mountains of Alberta,
including other surprises you might see along the riverbank. With the river
rafting expert with you, learn more about the area and know more about the
magnificence of the valley you are rafting on. By being educated how the river
flows and what fauna and flora are present there, we will know how human
interaction can affect the place and how we could help save it.
Spelunking is perhaps one of the most exciting outdoor adventures in the whole world, each cave offers unique experiences each day even if you've explored them several times already. It offers a magnificent view, an extra ordinary challenge and a sense of fulfillment once you've completed the tour of the cave.
One exceptional place to go caving is in Banff. The surrounding mountains and parks contain hundreds of cave systems which are now the home of some rats, snails, bats and other animals, especially during winter where they hibernate. Depending on the season you will see, along the way during your trek towards the cave entrances, some elks, moose and different goats and sheep. As soon as you enter the cave, signs of bigger lives diminishes with the light but signs of smaller animals and insects start to appear.
Despite the darkness upon entering the cave and as you slowly climb into the depths of the system, the lamps will light series of Stalactites and Stalagmites along the way. You will be thrilled by the tight squeezes and drops that would make you feel excited to move along and push further forward until you reach a main hall. In the case of Rat's Nest Cave, it will be the Grand Gallery and the Grotto.
This is one of the best eco-adventure you could experience which the whole family would truly love. Whether it would be a Banff Cave Tour or a Cannmore Cave Tour, you will surely enjoy and appreciate nature at its best.
This is the transcript from our
YouTube video featuring Banff Cave Tours with Canadian Outback that can be found at
http://youtu.be/Zb2mxNrv9ng.
Shannen: This is
Shannon from Canadian Outback Adventures & Events and today I’m talking
with Carla, our Alberta Adventure Expert. I know you book a lot of tours and
you get to experience a lot of different adventures, what is your favourite
adventure and what do you recommend most to our guest in Banff, Carla?
Carla: That’s a
good question and what I definitely get asked a lot. Working in the tourism
industry, it has its perks and I have gotten the pleasure of experiencing quite
different tours but I still always say “without a doubt, the coolest outdoor
activity I’ve ever done, the most unique, fascinating adventure has been
caving”.
Shannen: Where
about do you go caving?
Carla: The caving
tours that we offer take place at Rat’s Nest Cave, which is in Grotto Mountain,
and that’s just outside of Canmore. Canmore is about a 20 minute drive from
Banff so really accessible for anybody who is staying in Canmore, driving in
from Calgary or staying in Banff and Lake Louise.
Shannen: That
sounds pretty amazing! Tell me a little bit more about this caving experience,
what happens? How do you go about exploring these sites?
Carla: Definitely
in caving, it’s a very wild, adventurous activity so it is always best to go
with trained professional guides. The tours that we offer, they actually start
with about a 20 to 30 minute hike up of a mountain trail and that really is to
get us out and up towards the cave actually entrances. Once we enter inside
that cave, you really do enter a whole nether world, it’s completely pitched
black and it is a world of ancient tunnels, formations, everything is just
thousands of years old once you enter into the cave system.
Shannen: Now I
always think of caves when I think of bats. I’m sure you get that question all
the time, are there bats in these caves?
Carla: There are
no bats and I know even if it’s called Rat’s Nest Cave, there are no rats
either. There are some old fossils but when you are actually in the cave, you
don’t really come into contact with any type of wild animals. But that being
said, the cave is completely wild and undeveloped – there’s no electricity, there’s
no boardwalk, there’s no handrails, there’s no bathrooms, it really is a
completely wild world.
Shannen: Do you
have to have a certain physical fitness in order to do this adventure and or
are kids allowed to experience this tour?
Carla: Good
question! The tour itself, there is obviously the 30 minute walk first to get
to the entrance and then once you are inside, there is quite a bit of climbing
and crawling and some squeezing so we do suggest that everybody have a base
level of physicality. Anybody who’s fairly adventurous, who snow shoes, skis or
climbs and hikes, bikes, these are all people that caving would definitely be
accessible for. So we just say you should have a bit of base physicality, in
terms of the minimum age, it does vary. We offer 2 different tours: the
explorer tour is our basic introduction to caving and it’s about 4 and a half
hours roundtrip and that is great for anybody who might be a bit hesitant as
well as children as young as 10 years old. Next up we have the Adventure Tour,
this one is very similar, it’s a longer tour though, its 6 hours roundtrip, and
it also includes a 60 foot rappel. Obviously you’re rappelling in the dark
which is a really exciting experience to just descent to a dark abyss. For that
one, we do suggest that kids do need to be 12 years or older but you don’t need
to have any prior experience or rappelling experience, our trained guides will
go over everything on how to work that and operate it with you.
Shannen: Do you
need to have any special equipment when you go on a tour like this?
Carla: Good
question! No, we provide you with everything you need so in terms of what you
need to do, you just need to show up. We actually ask that everybody meet at
Soby’s in the heart of Canmore, that’s one of the grocery store chains. While
we get you to meet there, we will suggest: even if you brought your camera, go
in and buy yourself a disposable camera with a flash, because it is going to be
muddy in the cave and you are going to be in tight squeezes. Definitely you
don’t want to hurt your own camera. In terms of what to wear, just your basic
outdoor clothing even as if you’re out gardening for the day. You might get a
little bit of mud soak through but we do actually provide all participants with
coveralls which are going to cover your arms and legs, your whole body, so
that’s going to protect your clothing from the mud and silt. We are also going
to provide everybody with a harness, a helmet, a headlamp, kneepads, gloves and
backpack.
Shannen: That
sounds pretty amazing! How would somebody go about booking one of these tours
or getting more information from you about it?
Carla: Yes, we’re
always happy to speak with guests about the experiences; we have done them
first hand so it’s always good to ask if any questions. In terms of getting a
hold of us, our phone number is 1-800-565-8735 Extension 2. You can also e-mail
us as well at reservations@candianoutback.com
Shannen: Sounds
great! Looking forward to another conversation with you, talk to you again.
