Teambonding - Experience the Power of Play

Ok, so all of this team building inspiration has to come from somewhere right? Back in the day (well a few months ago) I used to start each day and check out all of my different websites. Then I discovered Google Reader which does it all for me, now all I have to do is go to one place, and all of my news is automatically updated. If you are reading this on your reader you know, if not, ask me and I’ll help you set it up. Let me share with you some of my favorite websites.

They sell one product every day, typically at a significant discount and when they sell out, they are done. Check out Woot

Here is a site and a concept that I love, CMarket. This company took the charity auction to a whole new level by bringing it onto the web. Now schools and non-profits can harness the audience of the internet and auction buyers can find great items and donate to a charity. They have helped raise over $42 million for charity. A true win-win. Check out Cmarket

This site calls themselves a directory of wonderful things and I couldn’t agree more. Boing Boing is a fantastic site with all sorts of interesting news, products, gadgets and ideas. Here is BoingBoing

I’m sure you have heard of this one. As an entrepreneur who fully supports other entrepreneurs, I have loaned and been paid back and loaned again to third world entrepreneurs. Check out Kiva

My list would not be complete without my personal inspiration, author Seth Godin. Every day I would click on his head to see what great pearls of wisdom were available to me. He has challenged me, inspired me and honestly, I believe he has saved my business. Read his blog, buy his books, check out: Seth Godin

I have lots of other websites and blogs on my Google Reader and this is what it tells me in what it calls trends. “From your 141 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 2,455 items, starred 2 items, shared 15 items, and emailed 7 items.” All that and working too. It’s a great hobby.

I will share more next month. Have a great day!

When I started writing this blog I hoped to introduce you to what I consider innovation in Teambonding and the team building industry. This week I had an interesting lesson in innovation.

One of my hobbies if you will is to check out what other companies are doing in the team building industry here in the US and abroad. It is amazing how many programs are similar not only from one company to the next but from one country to the next. When we were looking to change the name from our Spy School program, I found not less than 20 other companies world-wide offering spy themed programs including other Spy Schools. I wondered now and then how such similar programs were being developed simultaneously and what truly was innovative.

One of the very interesting parts of this type of business is the respect and catering to our clients, especially our repeat clients. Most want something new and different which is shortly followed up by a request for photos and references. We do our best to stay up with what is new and different in team building while offering the tried and true to be able to satisfy all types of clients.

So what did I learn this week? While searching the web I was a little surprised to find another local team building company had copied the colors of our website, had taken our forms, had created programs similar to ours and was deliberately trying to copy what we had created. I confronted the owner and got an interesting response. Without identifying the source, I would like to share his response. “The reality of business in general is that there’s very little in it that’s 100% original. Innovation is accomplished by making other people’s ideas better.”

That definition of innovation I can agree with. He gave the example of the iPhone and there so many examples in history where the creator of a particular invention didn’t get the fame and fortune. It was often the person or company that came in and made it better. Still, he and I agreed that there is a fine line between innovation and confusing the clients. He agreed to change the colors of his site and remove the items that were directly taken from Teambonding. So, I learned a little more about innovation, negotiation and communication.

Here is what Tom Peters says about Innovation. Maybe my competitor is innovative?

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I always look for a source of inspirational team building quotes for my signature, for my proposals, for my website and often just to see what people have said and are saying about the industry that I love. I thought my blog could be a good resource for you.

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford

Michael, if you can’t pass, you can’t play. - Coach Dean Smith to Michael Jordan in his freshman year

We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately. - Benjamin Franklin

The ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team. - Lewis B. Ergen

A championship team is a team of champions. - Unknown

Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we. - Unknown

Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. - Unknown

Teams share the burden and divide the grief. - Doug Smith

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbor

It is better to have one person working with you than three people working for you. Dwight D. Eisenhower

A major reason capable people fail to advance is that they don’t work well with their colleagues. Lee Iacocca

Light is the task where many share the toil. Homer

No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing. Ralph Waldo Emerson

What we need to do is learn to work in the system, by which I mean that everybody, every team, every platform, every division, every component is there not for individual competitive profit or recognition, but for contribution to the system as a whole on a win-win basis. W. Edward Deming

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime. Babe Ruth

We are most effective as a team when we compliment each other without embarrassment and disagree without fear. - Unknown

A group is a bunch of people in an elevator. A team is also a bunch of people in an elevator, but the elevator is broken! Bonnie Edelstein

A boat doesn’t go forward if each one is rowing their own way. Swahili proverb

Wearing the same shirts doesn’t make a team. - Buchholz and Roth

A team is more than a collection of people. It is a process of give and take. - Barbara Glacel & Emile Robert Jr.

The basic building block of good teambuilding is for a leader to promote the feeling that every human being is unique and adds value. - Unknown

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. - Michael Jordan

None of us is as smart as all of us. - Ken Blanchard

No man is wise enough by himself. Plautus

Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success. Stephen Covey

If you don’t kick things around with people, you are out of it. Nobody, I always say, can be anybody without somebody being around. John Wheeler

In teamwork, silence isn’t golden, it’s deadly. Mark Sanborn

When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality. - Joe Paterno

A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skill of the others. - Norman S Hidle

All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people. Alexis Carrel, Reflections on Li

The greatest danger a team faces isn’t that it won’t become successful, but that it will, and then cease to improve. Mark Sanborn

We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees. Jason Kidd

Teamwork doesn’t tolerate the inconvenience of distance. - Unknown

A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle. Japanese proverb

It is amazing how much people get done if they do not worry about who gets the credit. Swahili proverb

There is not I in Teamwork. - Unknown

No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it. - H.E. Luccock

You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note. Doug Floyd

Wild ducks make a lot of noise, but they also have the sense to benefit from occasionally flying in formation. - Unknown

It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. - Unknown

Teamwork divides the task and double the success. - Unknown

None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful. Mother Teresa

Overcoming barriers to performance is how groups become teams. - …

Teamplayer: Once who unites others toward a shared destiny through sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust. - Dennis Kinlaw

We trained hard, but it seemed every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization. Petronii Arbitri Satyricon AD 66

There are few, if any, jobs in which ability alone is sufficient. Needed, also, are loyalty, sincerity, enthusiasm and team play. William B. Given, Jr.

Build for your team a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another and of strength to be derived by unity. Vince Lombardi

Individual commitment to a group effort, that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Vince Lombardi

It’s easy to get good players. Getting them to play together, that’s the hard part. Casey Stengel

Go Green Racing

From the first day we launched Teambonding, the discussion began on innovation. My lead facilitator and program creator only wanted to offer one-of-a-kind programs that weren’t offered by anyone else. As the salesperson at the time, I believed that clients wouldn’t trust a new company, with programs that they had never heard of. I proposed and we presented our original team building programs along with programs that clients were familiar with. The idea was that a new client would try our new company with a program that they had heard of and the following year or quarter, after the team building event was successful, they would then trust us and try something new. This was the balance in which Teambonding was created and it is a similar balance in which we now grow and thrive.

Just last week I checked in with my former facilitator, who had since left to start his own new company based on one-of-a-kind team building events that couldn’t be found anywhere else to see how that strategy was working today in a time where team building as an industry is growing and clients are always looking for what’s new and different. Interesting that he has come around to my way of thinking, as he now offers the Charity Bike Build, scavenger hunts and many other programs that can be found here at Teambonding and elsewhere.

Innovation in team building is a delicate balance. Clients trust us with their teams to deliver on our promises and with experience comes innovation. Successful culinary team building programs combined with philanthropic programs will produce a new Teambonding program called “Fare to Share”. A client request to donate to soldiers abroad will help us introduce our “Military Care Package” program and seeing the trend in Poker has inspired us to develop “Team Poker”. These are all great ideas and will be terrific team building programs that without a doubt you will see elsewhere but it is my theory as the industry leader in team building to lead. As the saying goes, lead, follow or get out of the way.

My children are on Facebook and recently I had heard that Facebook can be good for business so I got a Facebook account. I was very excited and found a few friends and one of my daughters agreed to be my friend and the other one, is a little embarrassed that I have my own and she won’t befriend me – teenagers . So after a little while of finding the youngest of my connections, and joining the team building group and the event group and theater and actor groups as a resource for our dinner theaters, I was starting to feel my age. Maybe my daughter was right, I needed to act my age. Then I found Linked In, kind of a Facebook for adults and I have been having great fun.

I am not sure exactly what I will continue to find on Linked In but I do encourage you to join. So far, the free membership has been great and I now have over 80 connections of people my age, in my industry, clients and other colleagues. I have had people write glowing recommendations for me and my team building company and I have also written recommendations for a few others. I have re-discovered former co-workers and an old friend from high school. I have posted a job and received responses and I have just recently written a new bio, joined some groups and I will continue to explore. Just last night I answered a question from a user looking for a culinary team building company. Linked In has me hooked.

If you are on it, feel free to connect to me and tell me how you’ve benefited from it. If you’re not on it, Link in, I think you’ll enjoy it!

On April 15, 2008, it will be 20 years. The planning started earlier but our first event was on April 15, 1988.

What a ride it has been and today, April 1st, no fooling when I thank the people, my team that have helped us become the company we are today, a company that builds great teams by being a great team. Through these doors have been writers, facilitators, actors, trainers and partners. Of all the people who have come and gone, I want to thank the one who I truly believe I could not have done it without. Our Director of Corporate Events, Jayne Hannah who walked through our doors almost 6 years ago has been the passion behind the programs, the quality, the fun and the connection between what I have created and those clients who enjoy the team building and corporate entertainment we create. I am not much for poetry but in our house, we have three strong women, my wife and two daughters and we have a poem by Suzy Toronto that says it all about them, “She Who Has a Great Attitude”. Today I found one that speaks to me about Jayne. Thanks Jayne!

The Wonder of a Woman

No matter what you ask of her, the answer is always the same

A resounding, “YES!”

And her word is as good as gold.

With her sink-or-swim attitude,

She tackles any assignment,

Jumping in with both feet.

And working like crazy

To learn, implement and complete the task.

It doesn’t matter

That she’s never done it before.

Her motto is “fake it ‘til you make it”

And it appears to everyone

That she can do anything.

She devotes her time and energy

To everyone she meets,

And her talents multiply exponentially.

She is the personification of a “can-do” girl.

The epitome of female power and intelligence

A true Wonder of a Woman!

by Suzy Toronto

This photo is from a TeamProv program for the Boston Chapter for the National Association of Catering Executives. Now that I have a blog, I can say, your turn to “Add the Caption”

Back in 2004 I sat in the office of my friend Gary Marino. Gary was and is one of my favorite people in the world. Gary owned an entertainment and video company and we worked together with many of our corporate clients and he was at a crossroads in his life. He was ready to do something else, something big, something inspiring and he had an idea. Gary you see is a big guy, at one time he weighed 397lbs and had always struggled with his weight. He was a food addict. Gary decided to walk from Florida to Boston to raise awareness to battle America’s obesity epidemic. This was before the Biggest Loser, Gary was the first and he was going to walk 10 miles a day through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, DC, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and through Massachusetts to his hometown of Boston, visiting with weight loss groups, wellness centers, schools, and elected officials along the way.

You see, when he did his walk the first time, he really made it happen. You have to imagine a big guy that is taking time off his successful career for something that he really believes in. Not just taking time off but putting his body through a 1,200 mile walk. He not only had to convince his wife and his friends but he had to raise money to make it happen. At that time, it seemed a little crazy but there was no denying Gary and as one of his friends, I supported his decision and knew his life was about to change, in a way that he could but I couldn’t have imagined.

He really worked hard to get people to see his vision, far ahead of the pack. I am proud to have introduced him to his financial sponsor, Todd Patkin, who financed the crew, the mobile home that followed him. his Gary’s belief in the goal and his creation of the Generation Excel Foundation, a non-profit corporation was as inspiring as the walk.

Gary was on the radio, in newspapers along the way and was followed and appeared live with Kelly and Regis. All along the way he was documenting the experience of the people he met and inspired and who inspired him, and he wrote a book, The Big and Tall Chronicles and produced a documentary, the Million Calorie March, the Movie. I was proud to walk with Gary the 10 miles coming into Richmond, Virginia, seeing him again in Stamford, Connecticut and finally meeting back in Boston for his welcome home party. Gary is one of those guys that you like as soon as you meet him and he is not done.

Gary is on the road again and here is what he just sent me:

“After 2 years off the road producing dozens of events locally with Generation Excel and the “Million Calorie March” movie – I’m pleased to get back to where our passion lies: motivational, educational and inspirational awareness campaigns. We have been working fast and furious in pre-production for the 600 mile, mountains to the sea “Million Step March”. A walking and fitness campaign this time – it is designed to inspire people in North Carolina to build 30 – 60 minutes of walking into their everyday lives and live longer, more productive, healthier, happier lives. To inspire them we’ll be walking 12 miles days through the mountains in Ashville, Charlotte, Winston Salem, Greensboro, Chapel Hill, Raleigh Durham, Greenville, and Fayetteville ending in Wilmington on the seashore this summer.

Just another health and fitness campaign? Well, try this on for size. I’m on the road with one of the most dynamic teams I’ve ever worked with it. From the CEO to the CMO down to the community relations, corporate communications to the public relations people – Blue Cross Blue Shield is going for it in a way which I’ve never seen. Joining us for this march is a state of the art mobile truck tour complete with lecture stages, multi-media rooms, kitchen demonstration truck (see attached photos) complete with seating for 40 people, an attraction called “The Workplace of the Future” (modern treadmills equipped with hi tech computers linking directly to the Million Step March website). Did I mention the giant inflatable “Shoe Box Theater” (photo attached) for guest speakers and screenings of the “Million Calorie March” documentary? As if that isn’t enough we’re barnstorming the state with 60 interactive live events in a 75 day period. Dr. Howard Rankin, from the MCM movie will be with us for a select number of dates as well. We’re inviting people out via TV commercials, radio ads, an interactive website moving billboards, sponsorships, blogs, you name it.

The new website for his new walk is www.betterhealthNC.com

I am proud to know Gary and if you are in North Carolina, or in need of a motivational speaker who really “walks the walk”. I encourage you to get in touch with Gary. He continues to inspire me.

It seems to be all the rage. It is my job here at TeamBonding in my newly titled position of Director of Business and Concept Development to stay up with the trends. I have always been a trend watcher, although not always a follower and I can remember the first book that I bought on the subject, The Popcorn Report . I was hooked. Trend watching was what helped me create the nation’s original murder mystery dinner theater and then change that to a corporate entertainment business and my corporate entertainment company to a corporate team building company. Following and acting on trends helped me create a team building scavenger hunt division with Scaventures and is helping us lead the way in culinary team building with Recipe for Success. Following trends helped me find and create philanthropic team building programs and most recently, introduce a hybrid in team building, going green and giving back with our new Go Green Racing.

This post is a little more than me following trends, it’s about Going Green as a trend or a way of life. I think that Going Green is more than a trend, it is a movement and an important one. It is something that we all need to care about, learn about and follow through with. Recently I went to the Go Green Expo in Boston to experience hands on the products and services that were being featured in this up and coming industry. After the event, with my Make Your Own Chocolate Kit in hand I talked to my wife about the most amazing exhibit, an open air dryer. She was intrigued, what was that? It was Project Laundry List, a non profit organization promoting the use of a clothes line. The products there were inspiring and the entrepreneurs have embraced this topic, the rest of us will follow This Go Green Expo will be in New York on April 26th combined with a Business Goes Green Expo giving people as they call it “a forum for increasing awareness of environmental challenges, showcasing green products and services and educating the public and corporate world.”

Yes, Going Green is a trend but much more than that, it is a lifestyle change, a world change and one that we need to embrace. It is not something that can be addressed by just creating a Green focused team building event with a focus on recycling and solar energy, but awareness is a start. As we are n the meeting industry, I just got an email inviting me (and you) to a webcast of “Going Green and How to Get Started”. I think we will see in a very short period of time that all businesses will need to be more aware of environmental challenges and as we have in the past, TeamBonding will be aware, get our Green plan in order and lead the way amongst team building companies.

I found an interesting site and thought I would share. It is called Googlism and no, it’s not Google but Googlism.com will find out what Google.com thinks of you, your friends or anything!

“If you want to know if you’re an idiot, geek, moron, stupid, funny, classic, workaholic or rich: Use Googlism.” – Internet-Explained.com

Of course, I chose my favorite key word and I think you’ll find it interesting what Google thinks of Team Building. What do you think team building is?

Googlism for team building:

team building is a popular corporate activity at historic houses

team building is effective management strategy

team building is not enough

team building is an inside job

team building is an intregal part of soccer training in the modern game

team building is an active process by which a group of individuals with a common purpose

team building is an active process by which a group of individuals with a common purpose are focused and aligned to achieve a specific task or set of outcomes

team building is an effort in which a team studies its own process of working together and acts to create a climate that encourages and values

team building is to provide a way whereby individuals or groups can come together in a learning setting to afire interactive skills

team building is like the paperback novels that get new covers and are put back on the shelves again

team building is focus of women’s conference team building

team building is the process of planning

team building is an essential component for organizational success

team building is a ‘process’

team building is clear and when individuals are involved in the decision to proceed

team building is an obsession with management

team building is like coaching but for a group

team building is designed to improve productivity and enjoy doing it

team building is on the family member as a player on the whole army team

team building is not just teaching a group of people to cooperate

team building is an ongoing process that helps a work group evolve into a cohesive unit

team building is an intervention to help a group of people quickly become an effective team and remain effective

team building is an extremely important exercise

team building is not the most difficult process in the world but a correct program is one of the most rewarding

team building is rally car driving

team building is a tool for improving employee motivation

team building is to allow people to move past the barriers that they hold to

team building is the result of more than twenty years of work directed at the goal of creating conditions which inspire people to do

team building is appropriate now

team building is not a “catch phrase” or another fad by which to raise sales of books

team building is a skill; any skill must be practiced to be mastered

team building is the best way to go

team building is not just a crisis activity but a healthy development tool for good teams

team building is an art that overcomes the differences in style

team building is ideal for people who must work well with others to meet the goals of the organization

team building is to help your team be more effective

team building is a task that does not come easily to all people

team building is to increase the ability of a group to work together as a team by identifying strengths and areas for improvement

team building is not an exact science but a cast of finding the best strategies available to bring out the potential in your team

team building is a process in which a work group examines how it is currently operating

team building is a proven way to help develop or strengthen your biggest asset

team building is an ongoing process

team building is the ability to create a sense of belonging and ownership among team members

team building is an intervention specifically designed to improve a company’s organizational effectiveness

team building is a process that allows team members to begin to understand the nature of group dynamics in regards to effective teamwork

team building is an excellent way of boosting corporate staff morale and improve group dynamics and communication

team building is getting people together in a stimulating learning environment which forces them to communicate team building is an exciting concept because it is the basis of success for organizations

team building is for a leader to promote that every human being is unique and that he or she adds value

team building is exciting and challenging and has almost unlimited possibilities because human potential is almost unlimited

team building is and what factors you should consider before embarking on a team building session

team building is the process of enabling that group of people to reach their goal

team building is a must for every company with a vision to grow

team building is achieved by a variety of methods and approaches

team building is designed by our personnel to compliment the needs of your company

team building is a group process

team building is a good way of creating partnership in small groups; it can take the form of renegotiating the relationship between boss and subordinate

team building is not just a concept

team building is fun

team building is designed to motivate people through shared goals

team building is about synergy

team building is a big subject with more definitions than we have room to list

On the radio this morning, the writer of the Big Bang Theory was talking to the hosts about his Hollywood experience. They talked about what it was like to work one day and have lots of money and the next day, have no work and no money. It seems the work is actually getting the work. It was compared to an addiction, a high risk addiction and the point of this is he said., “I don’t know why I turned out this way, both of my parents had stable jobs”. That brings me to my story.

Yesterday at aftercare, after a challenging day of team building, I went to pick up my 8 year old and was met by the coordinator who gave me “that look”. He said, “I need to to talk to you about your son.” He then held up a $20 bill and smiled. It turns out that my son sold a paper accordion to a classmate for $20. “This can’t happen in school”, said Mr. D. I asked, if he was in trouble and the answer was no. I asked if I was supposed to be upset about it or should I be proud. I was told I could be proud and that he was quite an entrepreneur. My children have two entrepreneurs as parents, and yesterday I was proud that we might be creating another entrepreneur.

I just got this letter today. Made me feel great.

From Cooperstown Central School To: The Team Building Company that put together 6 sparkling bikes

Dear Friends,

Cooperstown Central was contacted in Oct./Nov. that a group working on a team building was putting together several bikes for children. Our Chamber of Commerce stepped in to connect the school with these beautiful bicycles. I thought you might want to know where these pieces of hard work went. All 6 bicycles were given to children that ranged from 5 – 8 as part of our Angel Network as Christmas gifts. These bicycles were provided to families who had little means to provide gifts for their children this year. None of the children who ever received bicycles had ever had one of their own (one shared a bike with 5 other siblings) So, your hard work brought so many smiles. As our snow melts away I am starting to hear some of their stories about their adventures of the bike “excursions”. Thank you for your generosity!

CBH K-5 School Counselor

Is there a better way to start off my blog or my day? I love what I do and our new philanthropic programs has stepped that up a bit!

Creating treasure hunts around conference centers, resorts and destinations is one of our favorite things to do. It promotes team building, working together and Banker and Tradesman featured the MIT Endicott House, in Dedham, MA

Continue reading Banker and Tradesman

Back in 1986 we had our biggest limousine scavenger hunt with 40 stretch limousines, and the top ad agencies, radio stations and local Boston celebrities. We even named a show after it as it looked like a Mafia Funeral.

Continue reading Boston Business Journal

New England Corporate Events asked us to write an article about how scavenger hunts can be used as a team building event. At the time, before we developed cooperative hunts, we called it “Team Building by Accident”.

Continue reading New England Corporate Events