Apollo: Mission to the Moon - Coroprate Team Building Activity in Fraiser Valley, BC

This is Kristen with another corporate events update.

Our latest event took us to the Harrison Hot Springs Resort in the Fraser valley of beautiful British Columbia. We executed a small Mission to the Moon event for a group of vision care specialists. This Mission to the Moon event was part of their week long conference. It was really great to see teams working together, communicating and having a great afternoon together. A little bit of a diversion from the conference that they've been in all week. Participants really enjoyed the extra challenges for extra special supplies - decorating and building their rockets. They also enjoyed using their physics skills to protect the precious cargo in their rockets, however the highlight was definitely the launch. Lots of groups launched their rockets high into the sky and all groups protected their precious cargo throughout the blast.

If you’d like to plan a fantastic corporate event for your team, check us out online at www.canadianoutback.com and contact my awesome team.

Check out our Mission to the Moon event video

Double Team Building Event - Double the Fun! - Crime Investigators in Philadelphia

Hi there, Shannon here with another event update from American Outback Adventures & Events.

Today, we had a double header. Our client had 20 managers from different countries flying in for a 4 day training conference. These people had never met before and this was the kick start of 4 different conferences they’ll be having together over the next year. As a way to really launch getting to know one another, they brought us in for an entire day of team building and fun in Philadelphia. I’m gonna tell you a bit about the first half of the day, the Crime Investigators event. Our client wanted to stretch out our typically 3 hour event to try and touch 4 hours, so we added a crime scene and some extra mileage between the scenes. It was truly fascinating to see so many different personalities and cultures unify as teams to solve the crime. Once all the teams returned to headquarters to hand in their evidence for lab results, we had one team using the floor to organize all their evidence and connect the dots like you would see in a whiteboard of a typical cop show and one team just dumped everything in a pile on their table and were picking through to create the story. Every team had their own unique way of organizing and categorizing data. The media briefing of this event were colourfully creative and very entertaining to say the least. Everyone may not have solved the crime perfectly but it was a guaranteed way to break the ice and a wonderful way to start this relationship between these managers.

If you like to plan a fantastic experience for your corporate team, check us out online at americanoutback.net

Check out our Crime Investigators event video

Delicious Darkness

 

You raise the fork to your mouth and close your eyes as a light airy chocolate mousse melts on your tongue bursting with flavour. Bliss! Now imagine spending the entire meal with all that sensory pleasure and focus.

This encounter is usually punctuated with sounds of laughter and appreciation for the gourmet dishes plated before you. Dining companions have the opportunity to reveal what they are experiencing with each other and their knowledgeable host as they try something that is truly incomparable. This two hour culinary adventure provides an entertaining eating encounter that will create a remarkable exotic memory!

An article in February’s edition of Pique News Magazine featured a seniors group in Squamish, B.C. who held their annual charitable dinner and chose this as their event of choice as they believe it emphasized their goal of raising awareness for their featured charitable cause.

A perfect fit as this bonding experience also heightens your own awareness of the food before you!

Our Diningin the Dark team bonding group activity can be customized to suit any need including a charitable venture or simply as a taste of the exotic in the midst of a weekend long conference.

 

Watch the video below for a glimpse of what awaits you in the dark.

 

What has been your best (or worst!) dining experience ever? Go ahead and post below. It’s all about sharing!

Globe Trotting - next stop Barcelona!

Barcelona...ah the laid-back feel of the beach with the pulse of a major city. What better place to stage the Amazing Chase? This customized team building event has all the adrenalin pumping excitement of the famed nine-time Emmy© award winning show on which it is based.

A true test of team work and problem solving skills, this city wide challenge allows your team to hone their ability to communicate while bonding through a remarkable and memorable experience.

Racing past world famous landmarks like the Sagrada Familia cathedral (forever under construction) and up to the fantastical Parc Güell participants experienced one of the most unique ways to sightsee!

Our team set up challenges that took this enthusiastic group all over this famous city that myth says was founded by the legendary figure Hercules. Accomplishing the goals of team building and better communication, this group bonded in an unforgettable way, becoming corporate legends themselves.

Your team will get to live out the dream as we create this custom event just for you. Zip under the Eiffel Tower to your next challenge. Take a lap around the Washington Monument. Beat your opponents to the punch as you speed past them down the river in Chicago ... or Rome.

Where would you like your team to go and which of our amazing events would you like to do there?

Pop onto our website to see what your choices are for events, pick a dream destination and post your comments below!

Corporate Intrigue

 

 

Recently, we spent a day in sunny Palm Springs getting licensed to thrill! We ran our SecretAgent 007 team building event peppered with our philanthropic Apprentice event, taking a feel good day and making it into a feel great occasion!!

SecretAgent 007 transforms a run of the mill day of team building into an exciting adventure of espionage and intrigue. Demonstrating excellent communication skills and exemplary teamwork is the only way to win your “007” status. Solve the challenges and complete the special missions along with your team competing against other covert units.  

As the teams gained vital parts of a puzzle, we added on an element of the Apprentice, as they also received actual bike parts! The team then had to put the bikes together before anyone could be declared the winner. However, everyone was a winner as the bikes were then donated to a local charitable cause, putting smiles on the faces of local kids and leaving the teams with a huge sense of accomplishment!

 

Who is better James Bond or Jason Bourne? Here’s the tricky part WHICH Bond or Bourne would you choose to be?

A Brand Spanking New Team Event This Summer

Have you heard of Koala hugging someone? That is one of the many zany activities you will perform for the crazy Urban Goose Chase taking over America and Canada!

This smartphone-based scavenger hunt, mixed with a dash of Fear Factor, is coming to a city near you. Teams will tackle hilarious challenges against each other to win a prize of $300, and earn massive city-wide bragging rights.

On event day in your city, you'll receive entertaining missions on your smartphone using a cool app. Decide which ones to conquer depending on how many points you want. WARNING: You'll be stretching your boundaries and laughing hysterically in no time!

This event is perfect for anyone looking for a fun bonding or team-building activity. For a company specific scavenger hunt, check out our Wild Goose Chase. This conference activity is super affordable, starting from just $10 per person depending on group size.

Participants can easily download the mobile app and play the game as an ice-breaker or networking activity, during breaks or as part of evening social functions. It is a great way to interact with colleagues and collaborate on fun team challenges.

Can you guess what a Koala hug is? Leave us a comment below!   

Corporate Team Building - Castaway Style

Summer is just around the corner and one way you and your team can enjoy it to the max is by taking part in an amazing office activity that is memorable, promotes unity and camaraderie, and most of all - lots of fun!

So what is the perfect amazing office activity this summer? Corporate Castaways - adapted from the hit TV series "Survivor" and "Castaway", your group will be divided into teams and compete head to head in survivor style challenges. Experience it on a nearby island, on the beach, in an open field or even on your office backyard!

Aside from being fun and entertaining, this event also offers many take away lessons that will help your team bond and increase productivity back in the office. This event brings out the best of each and everyone in your team. And of course, you don't need to be stranded in a remote island in the Pacific or dive into the middle of the Bermuda Triangle to have fun on this event! All you need is to simply give us a call and we’ll take care of the rest.

Here is an event wrap up of one of our Corporate Castaway event for you to check out:


The tribal council have spoken and they want this event for your team! So call us today and let your team experience a memorable and fun event. If you would like to plan a fantastic experience for your corporate team, check us out online at www.canadianoutback.com  for more information about Corporate Castaways or other fun team building activities and contact our awesome team.

Minute to Win It - Fastest Winning Team Building Event

The popular prime time game show is now available as a team building event for you and your team to enjoy! The question is, does your group have what it takes to be the grand winner of "Minute to Win It"?

The exciting and nerve wrecking game show you watch regularly on TV can now be played by your colleagues. Work together as a team in completing each 60 second challenge and compete head to head with other groups. Each challenge will earn your team points and the team with the most points after completing all the challenges will win the event. Sounds simple right?

What seems to be simple tasks with everyday household items may turn out to be a mind boggling puzzle. Most participants think it is easy until they need to work together as a team and put more precision and strategy into each task. Combine these with the element of a ticking clock and what you will get is a fun and exciting team building event!

Check out one of our event wrap ups here:

Still watching this show at the edge of your seat? Call us today and be part of this amazing event. If you would like to plan a fantastic experience for your corporate team, check us out online at canadianoutback.com for more information about Minute to Win It or other fun team building activities and contact our awesome team.

Crime Investigators in Action!

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.com and contact my awesome team for more information about CI or other fun team building activities.

Team bonding in 30 minutes or less

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.

Corporate Castaways: Games for Staff Unity

With the hectic schedule at work, how can someone go on an adventure, visit an island, and try to survive there at least for a day or two and then get back to the office by Monday? With Corporate Castaways, yes you can!

Invite your colleagues or suggest it to your supervisor to have a company outing or team building - castaway style. With almost the same concept as the famous show, work challenges with your team or co-workers to complete the task and survive (at least for the 3 to 4 hours). Compete with other teams or departments to be the fastest or with the most points and completed challenges. Work in harmony and succeed or face the penalties (pink slip is at the sole discretion of the employer).

For those who are afraid of going far from their city or beloved families, this can be done in a local park, beach or a nearby lake. Teams or tribes will be formed prior or during the start of the event and ceremoniously presented to each other. Wear your best team outfit that would best represent your tribe and accessorize with a common totem to symbolize the unity and pride of your team.

Enjoy games for staff unity and create a unique and memorable day for all of you. This will not only impact your relationship with each other but drive each other towards working excellence.

For more custom team building events, watch a video of a great testimonial of one of the clients how well organized, exciting and great it was. Learn more about it at www.americanoutback.net

This is the transcript from our YouTube video featuring the Corporate Castaways in Costa Rica that can be found at http://youtu.be/q3F0_OkrEy4.

Tiff: You have provided us with some really great feedback about your experience with that event and just with us, American Outback Adventures and Events in general, so you could tell me what it was that made it such a success?

Tracy: Well, I think that the coordination that you guys brought to the table, just in terms of, you know, as an event planner, it’s such a beautiful thing when there’s an event that you can rely on, that has all their experts in line, and you guys got everything so well orchestrated and thought out every little detail so that it made my worrying factor next to nothing. I mean, I had complete confidence that you guys have thought about every little thing and did your homework enough, it’s important to know the nuances of the property and what you weren’t going to have because we were in an international country, just what resources you have to pull up and stuff.   It was so nice to just show up and I just had to focus on everything but that for a change. Knowing that you guys had that detail done was just, that was a relief for me and a big piece of the worrying out of my day to day experience on site. Because that is usually, it is a huge focal point, the team building is always a huge focal point of the week for the company and while we’ve had some great vendors come to the table in the past, none of them are a professional team building company, so you all knew exactly what you’re doing, you knew what staff it took, you knew what resources that you need to pull locally from both the hotel and from a staffing perspective and just even from the props and the organization of it and things you would need each station to make everything flow, and it just all did so well. So, you know it just made us look good, it made my client look good and you know  they just thought you guys are great, so which is why we want to use you guys again.

Tiff: That’s great, I mean Tracy, we really do appreciate your business and working with Helms Briscoe is a pleasure, so I’m glad that it was such a success and I’m glad you’re going to work with us for next year’s program as well.

Great Event and Team Building Venues in Toronto

Looking for venues for your company outing or team building doesn't have to be far, and doesn't have to be the same each year. Lure your employees in joining your company event by holding them in these wonderful spots in Toronto that you might have not heard before, and this is just the venue. We haven't talked about the things we could do on these places!

Sunnyside Pavilion
Water, Beach, fantastic scenery, and more water. Everybody loves holding events near a body of water. Grill and barbecue anytime of the year, hold parties and Picnic, and the atmosphere: Perfect! Any kind of outdoor event works great here, but of course, "Party in the Park" is always top of the list.

Polson Pier
Turn your team building into a concert or a mini-show here and make it a never-to-forget event. It has a big stage with great sound and AV hook ups, great for dancing or singing events. It has great breakout rooms where your group could split into teams and work with "Boat Building Regatta" and see if those boats you've made could float on the Lake Ontario or sink become one of the artifacts underwater.

Mariposa Cruises
It's in everyone's bucket list to join a cruise at least once in their lifetime, and Mariposa Cruise lines is here to make that dream come true. They are very accommodating with the options on what entertainment you can do on board. You can do a "Vegas Casino Night" like what every luxury cruise liners have or turn the evening ball room dance into a challenging "So You Think You Can Dance" event.

Berkeley Church
This is an old church built in the year 1871 turned into a beautiful and versatile event venue. The best thing about this place aside from the spacious courtyard, is that they have an in-house catering service - making it a full service event venue. You can do a wide variety of activities here like "The Aprentice" or "Cake Creators" events inside or do Barbecue "Iron Chef Challenge" and "Party in the Park" outdoors.

Westin Harbour Castle
Very accessible and centrally located with lots of downtown attractions nearby, The Westin Harbour Castle hotel is the best for a starting and ending point when making an adventure race event for your group like "Wild Goose Chase", "Amazing Chase", or even the now popular "CI: Crime Investigators".

The Carlu
This is a very elegant place to do your events, with 4 distinct rooms, you will never run out of possible activities you could hold here. The Sky and Round Room is absolutely wonderful for Christmas Parties and the Clipper Room looks good for small group karaoke.

Event Venues in Toronto offers endless possibilities of activities, all you have to do is try one out.

Watch this video to know more about the best venues to hold events in Toronto or visit http://www.canadianoutback.com for more information:

This is the transcript from our YouTube video featuring the Corporate Event Venues in Toronto that can be found at http://youtu.be/zEd1qsqh1Po.

Shannen: Canadian Outback Group of companies and today I’m talking with Natania , our Operations Manager, and we’ve got a core operation center located in Toronto, and I know that we’ve established some really great relationship with a lot of venues out there. These venues are really great to provide unique location for a lot of our corporate team building event. Tell me about some of our favourites?

Natania: Thanks Shannen! Toronto has great unique opportunity for us to do a lot of different indoor/outdoor, off season activities for corporate clients. So to start off, Sunnyside Pavilion is one of our favourites for our summer Party in the Park event. We’ve run into a bit of a challenge with the city of Toronto when clients want alcohol at their events, and so, the Sunnyside Pavilion is a great private venue that allows us to have beachfront, water access as well as some great green park space for us to be able to do our Party in the Park event. We do a big barbecue and we can get their catering team to setup a bar, and we can setup some of our interactive summer picnic games. So the Pavilion is a really good location with beach access and it’s kind of got this rustic pavilion feel to it, and they do a really tasty barbecue menu, we even have an ice cream cart setup there so it’s a great venue for kind of indoor - outdoor location with alcohol, so that’s a bonus.

Shannen: You know, Party in the Parks are really great for social – corporate environment, aren’t they?

Natania: Yeah, it’s kind of taking the standard corporate barbecue and stepping it up a level where we get our host to really interact with the participants and get some competition going, we’ll setup beach volleyball and have bocce going and crocket, and we try really encourage “team competitive nature” with some of the games and interaction that our team brings to the event.

Shannen: Awesome! Alright, what’s another venue that we have out there?

Natania: Another venue where we’ve done some fun event is the Polson Pier. The Polson Pier is in a bit of a unique location so it’s unfortunately not transit accessible, butut they’ve got a very large parking lot right in front of the building. So for groups who are arranging their own transportation or carpooling and such, it’s really a neat location to get to. We’ve actually had a really fun experience there doing our “So You Think You Can Dance” event, the Polson Pier holds concert and private entertainment venue, so they got a big stage with great sound, an AV hooked up there and they’ve got lots of different breakout rooms where we can have our choreographers come and have the teams break up and practice their routines and then perform on the stage. They also have an upstairs space that has its own big private patio and bar as well, so it’s a versatile location for us to do large scale, more entertainment focused events as well as taking advantage of more summer time focused activities, especially our Iron Chef. They’ve got great big patio there where overlooks their playground. They also got a beach flared feeling to it in the summer time, so it’s a good winter and summer location for us to do all types of different interactive events. We’ve offered them The Apprentice there which is our Philanthropic bike build event, so clients who wanted again just an indoor activity with a lot of place, it poses to be a good location for that.

Shannen: Yeah, sounds like a great venue, definitely a really versatile for a lot of the different events that we can run there. What’s the next one on your list?

Natania: The next one is a little bit more unique, it’s actually is on the water, so we’ve talked about some of these venues that overlook the water but the next one would be Mariposa Cruises. They have a fleet of private charter boats where we can do events on board. We’ve hosted Casino Party nights there, James Bond Theme 007 nights there and they are really good partners to work with. They take off right from Queens Quey right downtown, and they work with us on menu selection, bar selection, they’re open to all sorts of different entertainment that we can bring onboard whether it be bands, magicians, casino like I said, so it’s kind of a fun, unique, different version of a venue for an event. We could definitely be really creative and do our other teambuilding focus interactive activities. We could do a crime investigator on board as well and setup our crime scene around the vessel so it’s just a bit of unique option, if clients are looking to get away from the city, and of you have fantastic views, looking back on the city from the boat itself.

Shannen: That sounds awesome! Now I know last we ran a couple of familiarization events and we used the Berkeley church, is that one on your list as well?

Natania: Oh yes, the Berkeley church, we have done a few really successful familiarization events. Our Cake Decoration Competition at the Berkeley Church and they’ve been wonderful partners. The Berkeley church is, I think prior, hidden gem in Toronto that a lot of people don’t know about. It’s a old church converted into a venue, so it’s got this real, rustic feel to it and there’s two main areas: their main old setting and then they have a courtyard area that has a covered patio and some greenery which is really pretty. The venue itself can accommodate closer to about 200 people and their courtyard lower level area is about a hundred people. They have their own in-house catering team as well and they produce tasty culinary treats for us and can customize any type of menu for the group and have two versatile spaces. So if it’s a group who is a little bit smaller we can use their downstairs room with their courtyard. They also have access to the outdoor space so if we want to setup a barbecue or do our Iron Chef competition there, we could do so. But is just a unique beautiful brick building right on Queen street, so again very accessible to the city and just a versatile space for any of our indoor program and they’re very flexible and easy to work with.

Shannen: Yeah, I like the idea that a lot of these venues that you mentioned really provide multiple options so that they can usually provide something that would work with one of our indoor events or one of our outdoor events. That make them great partners to have, sounds good! Alright, what’s next up on your list?

Natania: So also on our top venue list is the Westin Harbour Castle. The Westin is a really popular chain of hotel and we’ve worked very closely with them across Canada but specifically in Toronto, they are always really open to having our groups on site. They started and finished a lot of our different events in the lobby or in the restaurant of the hotel, and they’ve got some great meeting room spaces as well. Your typical ballroom setting style hotel but they are very accommodating, and again, really great access to transit or just within walking distance to some major attractions downtown as well as being close to the waterfront, and having those great view of the city. This is a really great hotel partner we have with, lots of versatile space to view and many activities to do, whether we’re doing strictly indoor entertainment focus activity or wanting to do one of our amazing chase activities where the teams are meeting a start and a finish wrap up location.

Shannen: Yeah, hotels are always really so versatile for being able to provide either those starting or stopping points / finishing points or the great meeting place they offer there. Okay, what else we have on our list?

Natania: And last on our top list here is the Carlu. The Carlu is the unique venue with having multiple different spaces within it, so again, another one of those very versatile venue where we can partner with to accommodate lots of different groups sizes. Great again, downtown location, direct access to the subway. It’s a really beautiful multi-functional space, it has 4 distinct rooms, there’s a concert hall, and the round room, the sky room, and those rooms open up into the grand foyer. So the unique, sexy kind of romantic space they have access to different types of décor as well so if we wanted to create more of a theme for a type of activity that we are doing, we have access to all of that. It can accommodate smaller groups  but then also be a great location for the larger five hundred, eight hundred person activities, and where sometimes corporate clients need space accommodating those big, big groups.

Shannen: and of course. We always love working with great venues and hotel partners throughout all of our regions. So, thanks very much Natania and we will talk to you again.

Natania: Thanks for your time Shannen! Bye bye!