tag:odysseyteams.com,2007-08-03://1 2011-10-03T21:56:03Z thoughts and stories from our team to your team Movable Type Publishing Platform 4.0 tag:odysseyteams.com,2011://1.80 2011-10-05T21:34:00Z 2011-10-03T21:56:03Z

Waiting. Plugged into one of the few, coveted outlets at Gate 12. Ready to pierce the night sky at 560 mph, 40,000 feet and 60 below zero - in a coke-bottle-shaped tube with wings. As the earth's most collaborative species,...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com Waiting. Plugged into one of the few, coveted outlets at Gate 12. Ready to pierce the night sky at 560 mph, 40,000 feet and 60 below zero - in a coke-bottle-shaped tube with wings. As the earth's most collaborative species, together, we have made this kind of technologically advanced transportation possible. So many shoulders on which we have stood. Our world is becoming smaller and smaller, faster and faster every day. But with each breakthrough in technology we also galvanize a new level of expectation where we feel justified in complaining that our flight is delayed an hour - or a day, or that "this" airline doesn't have TVs in the back of EVERY seat or that our phone can't make toast. And even though we have Skype to see each other and virtual meetings to conduct online we find that, in many ways, our relationships are getting further and further apart. It is imperative, therefore to create face-to-face opportunities with people on your team to meet and truly connect. Not a modem connection but a connection that science just cannot duplicate through copper wires or fiber optics. Your best shot at building a strong team is to do teambuilding that leverages every sense of your connection...to each other, to your products, to your community and most importantly, to your customers. tag:odysseyteams.com,2011://1.79 2011-10-03T19:16:06Z 2011-10-03T21:15:19Z

I can't take it anymore!!! What is teambuilding? After 20 years of traveling all over the world and working with the top of fortune 100 companies and the bottom of lots of others, I have hit my breaking point. I've...

Lain Hensley, Co-Owner & COO, Odyssey Teams, Inc http://odysseyteams.com/html/lain.php I can't take it anymore!!! What is teambuilding? After 20 years of traveling all over the world and working with the top of fortune 100 companies and the bottom of lots of others, I have hit my breaking point. I've been doing leadership development, communication seminars and "teambuilding" and many of my own clients are still wondering... What is teambuilding? I'm wondering what they really want from me. I'm not sure anybody really knows. I might not even know. But at this point, I'm as big an expert as I can find, so I am going to try and help define this beast for all of us. The definition has become so broad, so overused that some people are beginning to confuse "team hazing" as teambuilding and I don't really want to be a part of that. Do you...? In 2000, we at Odyssey Teams confused the situation even more by introducing the concept of philanthropy into the teambuilding world with the first ever bike building program, (Life Cycles). The amazing success of this program, and its duplication by all our competition, forced us to innovate again and we followed up with the Helping Hands and Playhouse Challenge offerings. They have been very successful, but now our training process is confused with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) teambuilding events with no actual teambuilding result that impacts the performance of the team beyond the activity itself. We are also mixed in with rafting, paint ball, food fights, bike building programs with a focus on building the bikes and racing them around for prizes and a day pulling weeds by the freeway. What have we done? How do I stop it? Ok let's start with the definition... Teambuilding. Is it one word or two? For argument sake, can we just agree it is one word? Somebody get on the phone with the people who create words and my computer dictionary and say we have made a decision. It is one word. Now... what does it mean? . Definition - 'Teambuilding' - the act of building a team as a result of each person on that team doing individual building...together. This is accomplished most often through the combination of information, demonstration, experience and application. For those of you who love acronym's - how's that for an IDEA? Now, lets look even closer. If you search teambuilding on Google alone you get 1,730,000 options. WOW!!! That is a lot of teambuilding. They can't all be the same or equal value to you, can they? How do you decide what to do for your group and will it build your team at all? I say we break it into three parts. Whatever programs you are considering or you have participated in was or will be a combination of these: the activity itself, the quality of the training content, and the skill of the facilitator. When you are considering your options out of the 1.7 million possibilities you should start by giving each of these a value. I like a 1 to 10 scale. 1. The activity itself: Some activities have a certain amount of natural or intrinsic value. Building one of our playhouses and giving it to a children's group will be fun, creative, require teamwork, physically active, and participants will need to interact with each other to get the job done. They will also feel a sense of purpose when they give the Playhouse away and meet the children recipients. I would give this activity a 9 on a 1 to 10 scale of natural value for the team from this activity without training content or facilitation. Pulling weeds along the freeway with your group scattered over a one-mile stretch of road, I would give a 2. The drinking that is sure to take place after the weed pulling work, I would give a 4. Before you make a choice, consider how active you want the group to be, logistics of your site, and how distracted you want them to be with the actual project. If training content is an 8 on your scale the Playhouse Challenge would not be a good option. I would consider, Helping Hands, Life Cycles or another indoor, moderately active option. This will keep the group engaged and focus on the training purpose of the activity and not just the activity. 2. The quality of the training content: We have been working for years to blend the right experience with the training curriculum of our clients. In some cases this has meant months of meetings and in depth dialogue about how the activity is going to bring to life the behavioral virtues necessary to fill any gaps related to results, processes and relationships. Some teams need to use the teambuilding opportunity to purposely move the dial on a specific measurable in the groups performance. In some cases we have eliminated the activity portion from our delivery altogether, so we can focus on our training process exclusively. Other groups have had no interest in pull-through and ROI from the event. Fun was king and activity was the joker. What is your priority here? If you have a group that has a new leader, has been going through a merger, or has been struggling through hard times over the last quarter, you might consider this as the key element to your selection criteria. Activity itself is not enough for them. They want to see the activity as an opportunity to connect with the purpose and values of the organization or the new leader. Don't miss this transformational moment and just give them some busy work. Be sure the teambuilding company you select has the facilitation skills and the ability to blend the right activity with the current state of the team. If you do this, the entire process can become a natural extension of your training curriculum with lasting and powerful results. We know that memory is linked to emotion. If you want them to remember your training message as more than just an intellectual concept, select an activity that will have them feel and experience the information at a level below their shoulders. This can be transformational to human behavior and team performance. If this is not a priority for this meeting, then set your training content score at a 1 to 5. But know what you are looking for and hire for it. 3. Skill of the facilitator: We have all sat in the back of a training or teambuilding session and had the chill go down our spine as the facilitator vacillated between boring and cheesy. A quick glance in the back of the training room can reveal the person who decided to book them as the most uncomfortable person in the room. Ouch... that's a bummer. If you have given the activity itself a high value (7 to 10) for your meeting and the training content is low on your scale (1 to 5), then when the ten uncomfortable minutes are over the activity will begin and by the end of the session the participants are happy and everybody walks out better for it. The Build a Hand Kit is our Helping Hands program in a box without our live facilitation. If the group is easy or small and not going to eat the facilitator alive, why pay to have the experts come in? If you are looking for a powerful activity with the training content your in-house facilitators already know then this kind of do-it-yourself process is a great option. Sometimes, people respond better to an outside facilitator. Other times, you may have complicated logistical challenges with a group from 10 to 1,000. In either case it may be best to bring in the facilitation pros and let them do their thing. If you have a high score on your training content and your group needs a transformational teambuilding session - and you have already paid a lot of money to get them in the room together - then hire the best facilitator you can find who will deliver the program you want and enjoy the recognition you are sure to get afterwards. The Lifecycles bike-building program has been delivered by everyone from beach Olympics companies to motivational speakers and top-level executive coaches. Be sure you are getting what your group needs for the outcomes you have identified. If the facilitation is not appropriate for your group it can distract from the process and you miss out on the possible return on your investment. Caution, pay peanuts and you might get monkeys. I hope this has been helpful. Next time you have 10 or 10,000 people flying in from all over the country and you decide to do a teambuilding program, keep this in mind. Start your planning with a conversation about these three areas and agree on your score for each. If you need help, great, but at least this gets you asking yourself and your team the right questions before you start looking for the event. If you end up working with Odyssey Teams, we'll be able to deliver the ideal balance, hit all your expectations and make us all look good. This formula should lead to an easy decision for your planning team and a relevant experience that actually does build your team. Good luck! Oh and please don't introduce me as the games guy, or bike-building guy to your executive team. Thanks! tag:odysseyteams.com,2010://1.78 2010-10-27T16:28:04Z 2010-10-27T16:38:13Z

I thought you would all get great pleasure out of this news - October 2010, which is not quite yet over, represents our biggest month ever in terms of sending out hands - By the end of this month we...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com Helping Hands program. This is truly amazing news on all fronts everyone. More than a philanthropic deed. More than a teambuilding process. More than just good corporate social responsibility. Odyssey Teams' Build-a-Hand teambuilding program is a radical re-examination of what work is and why we do it. Tried and tested by some of the world's largest corporations, this philanthropic corporate training program is now available to companies of any size. It is a teambuilding idea whose time has come. Build a prosthetic limb that will change the life of a land mine victim. Build a team that injects efficiency, innovation and spirit into the workplace. Build a more collaborative, caring and connected company. ]]> tag:odysseyteams.com,2010://1.77 2010-02-10T23:39:10Z 2010-02-10T23:41:44Z

One of the business simulations incorporated in our programs is called 'Pressure Points'. Unwittingly, a barrier is created (raised) by participants in the simulation that negatively impacts communication, problem-solving, and decision-making. The challenge is to lower the barrier to these...

Todd Demorest http://odysseyteams.com/html/todd.php One of the business simulations incorporated in our programs is called 'Pressure Points'. Unwittingly, a barrier is created (raised) by participants in the simulation that negatively impacts communication, problem-solving, and decision-making. The challenge is to lower the barrier to these and the 'Pressure Points' bar will follow. Like life, what seems simple, is at times quite trying. In 'business as usual' the barrier often goes up rather than down. Participants often describe the need for better work/life balance. And it seems one of the current infringements on this alluring 'balance' is the technology that was suppose to help us achieve it - EMAIL Aside from too many emails being 'cc'd' to people who don't really need to know (nor care to know) there is another significant problem - Checking and responding to emails on the weekends and after hours. What was once a fun thing to check on the new 'mobile device' has now turned in to an addiction that is hard to kick. Yes, it's a global economy, but does it have to be a 24/7 economy? Who is making that rule? If you are checking and responding to emails after hours and/or on weekends then you could be-unintentionally. By doing so, you help raise the barrier to work/life balance because whomever you emailed may have felt (out of duty, guilt, fear, brown nose etc.) compelled to reply on the weekend... and so on and so on and the multiplier effect ensues and now people are checking their devices on 'date nights', children's sports events, dinner tables, on the couch. Perhaps you just wake up early or stay up late while others are sleeping. Might you need a good nights sleep too? Will the caffeinated 'energy drink' pull you through and make you present during the rest of your sleepy day? The costs? You know them - less time to exercise, less energy, less quality time with those you care most about, less time for you and more distractions and stress. Are there exceptions and benefits? Of course, such as, closing a deal; use of 'jet lag' time in hotel rooms. Working with a client in India or the Czech Republic requires some odd hours. We know that anything taken to excess has the potential to become our weakness. Thus, it's not all or none, rather, whether out of duty, joy, ambition, or fear we must remain aware of the line to know when we've crossed it. Trust the process (a work week etc.) and people on your teams. The barrier will lower. Things will get handled in a timely, professional, manner. Customers and business will carry on quite well...and you will too. So who is going to go first - and with their seemingly insignificant amount of influence on the barrier of work/life balance in their firm - and NOT do emails on the weekends and such? Will it be you or will you wait to see who goes first? If the later, we'll all be waiting and doing emails ferociously in the meantime. And the priceless non-renewable resource of time for self and those we love is gone. Be aware of the pattern (and what's important to you) and make a choice. tag:odysseyteams.com,2009://1.59 2009-04-10T16:52:37Z 2009-04-10T16:57:34Z

In case you weren't aware...in addition to the engaging, corporate sector of Odyssey, our company boasts a vibrant and valuable youth division! And we are alive and kicking, having worked with more than 15,000 young adults. Our programs are typically...

Anne-Claire Benoit In case you weren't aware...in addition to the engaging, corporate sector of Odyssey, our company boasts a vibrant and valuable youth division! And we are alive and kicking, having worked with more than 15,000 young adults. Our programs are typically half- and full-day events where youth from schools, clubs and other organizations have the opportunity to push their limits. Guided by our philosophy of "Building Confidence and Growing Individuals," we invite our young participants to take positive risks with the support and encouragement of their peers. Our goal is to bring both a physical and mental approach to learning; and our programs serve as a perfect tool! Whether you visit one of our local courses, or our team comes to your campus, the programs will challenge, engage and connect the members of your group. This month's featured event... In March we were fortunate to partake in California's drug and alcohol prevention program known as The Reach Conference. We held a ropes course that provided 700 junior high and high school students the opportunity to climb a 40-foot tower, be lifted over a 14-foot wall, and ride on a massive swing. In addition to being both fun and challenging, the students discovered that the tools needed for success on the ropes course--balance, patience, perseverance and commitment--were the same qualities needed for success in life. To really drive this point home, we included a reflective session where students wrote about what they learned and how they would apply it in the future. I was lucky enough to be leading this reflective session, and to see first hand how these kids were going to change their lives. Many made bold declarations of quitting drugs and alcohol, and some went as far to say that the gang activities they had been involved with, had gone too far, the killing must stop. Hearing what some of these kids had been exposed to, and involved with, made me realize that there's no such thing as a bad kid, they just act-out from the experiences they have become all too familiar with. Giving them the opportunity to participate in a program that doesn't at all resemble their real lives on the surface; allowed them to look from the outside in, and identify which patterns and behaviors contributed or took away from where they wanted to be. It's Odyssey's passion to empower these youth to take ownership of their lives and make more mindful and positive decisions. For more information on Odyssey's programs, contact Anne-Claire Benoit at 530.342.1650 or email at anneclaire@odysseyteams.com tag:odysseyteams.com,2009://1.54 2009-03-04T17:41:37Z 2009-03-04T17:50:37Z

By Karin Kapsidelis Published: March 3, 2009 The bags of plastic parts and shiny screws might have been many things: something you wear on your head, one student guessed. A pen holder, said another. But the sum of the...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com By Karin Kapsidelis Published: March 3, 2009 The bags of plastic parts and shiny screws might have been many things: something you wear on your head, one student guessed. A pen holder, said another. But the sum of the parts was more than a classroom puzzle for Virginia Commonwealth University graduate students. "You're going to build eight hands that will go on eight different people and change their families," said Todd Demorest, who oversaw a recent team-building lesson for students in the VCU School of Business' fast-track executive program for a master's in information systems. photo by JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH Kimion Walker (left) and Scott Lints participate in a team-building exercise at the VCU School of Business, where they built prosthetic hands for children. The prosthetic hands will help children maimed by land mines -- about 2,000 accidents occur each month from the estimated 100 million devices planted in 60 countries. The idea to help children who have lost hands to land mines came from industrial engineer Ernie Meadows and his wife, Marj, whose daughter Ellen was killed in a car accident. Meadows designed the prosthetic hand as a memorial for his daughter and has turned the project over to Rotary International. Rotary works with Odyssey Teams Inc., a California-based company that offers philanthropic team-building exercises for businesses. Demorest, a facilitator with Odyssey, said that by creating value for others, these workshops develop teamwork and leadership skills in a way that the typical ropes courses and beach volleyball games can't. "This is real," he said. "It's not like a metaphor anymore." The Helping Hands workshop showed the business students that their goals should be "something bigger than just building a product and making a buck," said John Testement, whose Glen Allen-based RoadMaps Consulting helped coordinate the VCU event. He said the workshop also illustrated the need to avoid what can happen within a company when employees get "siloed" working on their own projects and "never look over the cubicle wall to see if they can help others." That was a focus of the workshop. Students were divided into teams, but it wasn't a race to see which one could assemble the hand first. Team members were encouraged to stop and help other groups. "Were we not able to collaborate with others, we would not have been able to put it together correctly," said student Kimion Walker, whose team discovered it was missing a piece. At the start of the event, the teams didn't know their goal, although one student did guess they were building a mechanical hand. When their work was done, the students saw of video of children receiving prosthetic hands. An artificial limb would cost about $3,000, according to Odyssey, but these hands are given to the children for free. The VCU students decorated wooden boxes that will hold the hands they made and posed for pictures that will be given to the children. It was the first time VCU has offered the Helping Hands workshop, said Jean B. Gasen, an associate professor and faculty adviser in the VCU information-systems department. Students have told her the exercise put the challenges they face into a much different perspective, she said, and that the world would be a better place "if people could treat one another with the compassion that they felt on that day." The workshop was part of the orientation for students in the 14-month master's program, and its lesson struck a chord with Walker. "The key to effective leadership is to serve," she said. The current economic crisis shows the need for leaders with a strong sense of values, she added, noting that in the Wall Street meltdown, the nation is seeing how "capability without integrity can be dangerous." Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804-) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com . ]]> tag:odysseyteams.com,2009://1.53 2009-03-01T21:21:07Z 2009-03-01T21:29:27Z

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) seems to be competing with "Green" on the business magazine covers and newspaper headlines. There are many interpretations of CSR, and the intent behind the actions taken and publicized by the organizations─most often either pro or...

Todd Demorest http://odysseyteams.com/html/todd.php prosthetic hands for land mine victims, bicycles for less fortunate youth, playhouses for children hospitals, etc.). These programs provide a visceral experience that anchors the learning points with emotion, which lasts longer than a PowerPoint presentation or a team photo. In addition, the employee has a "face" to the people affected by the company's CSR initiatives and/or the benefits of where the company contributes. And perhaps more important, they, too, will feel as if they are being corporate socially responsible with all the pride, gratitude and humility that comes with it. The cynicism that often goes along with team building events is diminished in these highly developed and relevant training events. The value is discovered at the outset and continues beyond the classroom walls. Those who are cynics have progressed to becoming skeptics; the skeptics to "on the bus"; the others to full-blown players on the team full of ambition. This ambition is fueled by their connection to who they work with; the work they do; and the impact they make internally and externally in this world that needs a little CSR everywhere. When in a conversation that is aimed at team building, target a program that can provide a wide ROI for the employees, their teams, and the internal and external aspects of the business; offer them the opportunity to put their thumbprint on something that touches near and far. Philanthropic team building is a sure way to hit the CSR mark at many levels. About the Author Todd Demorest is the lead facilitator with Odyssey Teams, Inc, a Chico, California-based firm that helps business leaders keep their eye on the prize by building a stronger organization through processes designed to promote team building, innovation, enhanced customer service and greater profitability. Todd can be reached at todd@odysseyteams.com.]]> tag:odysseyteams.com,2009://1.52 2009-02-26T18:23:21Z 2009-02-26T18:29:29Z

Effective teamwork is powerful. We have all seen great sports teams and organizations rise above not because of their individual skills but their ability to align those skills in a direction that is superior to their opponent. Effective teamwork, however,...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com Effective teamwork is powerful. We have all seen great sports teams and organizations rise above not because of their individual skills but their ability to align those skills in a direction that is superior to their opponent. Effective teamwork, however, does not come from 'team building'. In studying the essentials of producing great teams we, have found that great teams do not focus on team building, they focus on individual building...together. There is a difference. A focus on team building usually results in a temporary "feel good" but lacks the individual accountability necessary for synergistic results. A commitment to individual building...together creates longer, more sustainable results. What does this mean? It means that The Chicago Bulls or the Pittsburgh Steelers don't do 'Team building'. They practice the skills that are required for them to be successful...together. That is, each person has a motivation to be their best AND to leverage the best from each other. Team building is a by-product of 'practicing' on and off the field. So what do we need to practice? Achieving great results collectively requires each individual to assess critical skills and then practice like hell. Work out harder on free throws, or tune up your own listening skills, work out harder on self confidence, trust or respect. It is about bringing the whole player to the field. tag:odysseyteams.com,2008://1.51 2008-08-25T17:16:54Z 2008-08-25T17:51:32Z

The idea is that all parts of our life - and management can be seen as pieces of a pie. If you cut a slice out of it you create a void. That void will be filled with something....

Lain Hensley, Co-Owner & COO, Odyssey Teams, Inc http://odysseyteams.com/html/lain.php The idea is that all parts of our life - and management can be seen as pieces of a pie. If you cut a slice out of it you create a void. That void will be filled with something. Look at your personal or work life - if you divide it into pieces you'll always have 100%. People will fill their pie to capacity. 5% love, 15% anger, 5% financial security, 5 % financial worry, 7% crisis, 10% addiction, 15% time with kids and so on. These different pieces of the pie can change both in type and size but together they will still account for 100%. For example: you get a raise. Do you bank the extra cash or buy a new car so you maintain your balance of cash in the bank? You change your schedule to work 4 days a week 10 hour days. Do you spend more time with the kids or fill that time with other work to maintain the balance you have become comfortable with? This is the reason people stop smoking and start drinking or win the lottery and end up broke five years later. Now lets look at leadership and the SPACE model. If you are a strong leader in an intact group they see you as X% of the leadership. If you then try to create space for others to fill the void it creates a temporary imbalance in the pie. People can feel the void and the vaccuum is uncomfortable. If you are not patient you will fill the void with your leadership and the balance is back. This may feel good to everyone because it provides returns them to what is comfortable. The challenge is to wait for someone to fill the space. You might need to wait longer than you expect and that is extremely difficult for most. Tips to making this happen. Remember, If you do not bring out the leadership in them and you become an irreplaceable leader you can never be promoted. I am working on this in my company. Let people know what you are doing. Look for times that you can delegate decisions with constraints and give them a chance to figure things out without your input, but with your guidance or guidelines. Distance yourself from some situations when you might need to be the default leader. Let the team know what needs to be done but that you have a conflict and need to be working on "X" so they will have to figure it out with these guidelines. Trust that they can increase their leadership amount but you will have to be willing to wait through the discomfort and give up an equal amount of leadership. Take a coach of a football team. If they call in the play every time to the quarterback they will not have time to look at the big picture or fill another role during offensive times. If the coach is ejected from the game all is not lost. The QB will call the plays on the field and it will be rough and uncomfortable at first and they might loose the game. But the QB will learn more in that time than simply executing whatever play is sent on the field from the sideline for 10 years. My style is to try and fill as little space as I can during my programs. At first I filled all the space. I did all the talking for the first 30 minutes. I then try to ask more questions and suffer through silence and wait for someone on the team to fill the space. The space will quickly fill and I can then think about the big picture and my next move with the group. By the end I do almost no talking in the last 30 minutes. It is a constant struggle during programs when the group is slow to fill the space or when they do they fill it with sarcasm or idle comments. In those situations I can not give up as much of the leadership space. But I do this out of choice not pattern. I used the environment as well. I start with them all facing me and at the end they are facing each other and I am just part of the team. The leadership space was then shared with all members and bounced around freely without the structure being as obvious as in the beginning when "I was the leader of the session." I am trying not to catch eyes with the person sharing so the focus even less on me as on the group. During our bike building teambuilding program I step out of the room so if people have questions they can not ask me. If I had announced that I was in the front of the room for any questions I might have had a line of people waiting to talk to me. By leaving the room I would guess that people looked for me for a few seconds, felt the void of my leadership and filled it with their own creativity or other resources in the room. I hope this helps. It has been fun thinking about this. tag:odysseyteams.com,2008://1.50 2008-08-13T16:04:45Z 2008-08-13T16:12:42Z

In 2004 Lain Hensley, co-owner of Odyssey, and I were discussing the notion of blowing out our paradigm of what was possible for us in terms of business success WITH family/health balance. We were playing around with a new training...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com In 2004 Lain Hensley, co-owner of Odyssey, and I were discussing the notion of blowing out our paradigm of what was possible for us in terms of business success WITH family/health balance. We were playing around with a new training concept that would challenge others to be more 'unrealistic' in their pursuits. We called the program/process Unrealistic Leadership™. I decided that if we were going to espouse such ideas that I must be willing to try my/our own medicine.... If we can't produce tremendous results then how can we claim to know anything about it and/or teach others? So, I committed to train for and complete an Ironman traithlon. I had been a runner before but never a swimmer or cyclist. I had also been discouraged by Doctors saying that due to chondromalacia (knee disorder) my knees would progressively get worse/weaker and my running days were over. The question of balance in my life at the time when there was no conceivable way for me to find the time to train for this was a real issue. How could I find the time? And could my knees become stronger, more re-generative? Two boys, age 4 and 6 needing much father time. My wife, ever supportive of my pursuits though a bit worried about this one. The work vacuum pulling me in without enough hours in the day for what we needed to do as a business. Travel to various countries and time zones to deliver Odyssey programs. I spent the next two years carving crazy amounts of hours and places to fit in my training. Getting stronger and fitter over that time eased my mind a little bit but it never erased the main fear that I had of not being able to accomplish this goal. It was so beyond me and any evidence that I had produced - even all the way up to the day of my Ironman - that I could get off my bike after riding 112 miles and swimming 2.4 miles and begin a marathon. Nothing in my training came even close to providing such evidence of possibility or probability. The only thing that I kept hearing from other Ironman finishers was that (you) will be able to tap into something without ever knowing whether you'll be able to tap into it. Hmmmm? How does that work? At the same time of committing to my Ironman, Lain and I had also committed to much bigger financial goals within Odyssey. This multi-pronged 'unrealistic pursuit' meant that Odyssey's global impact needed to have more impact. So while I rode, I thought. While I ran, I thought. While I swam I thought. And there was plenty of time to think with peak training weeks reaching 18 hours. I was learning that some of my greatest breakthroughs for Odyssey came during some of my earliest runs, longest bike rides or hardest training moments. Sometimes really tough trainings were the only way to get out of my head and NOT think about Odyssey. These quiet times of brain and busy times of body were invaluable to freeing up space for something new to arrive in my thinking - later. The toll of my training time impacted the Odyssey team who compensated enormously for my crazy schedule covering me at different times and events so I could squeeze time. Notable training moments on Odyssey trips included falling off the treadmill in Singapore when I was too focussed on looking at myself in the mirror and didn't see that I was running slower than the treadmill. Oops! Falling off an elyptical trainer in Zurich when the handle caught the sleeve of my t-shirt and launched me over the front. Navigating through dozens of kids playing marco polo in an indoor pool in Dublin. Swimming in a roof top pool in Madrid the night the bombs went off in Spain (Al Queada). Long runs in Germany with my Odyssey crew after too much Munich the night before. May 22nd finally arrived. Friends and families of hundreds of wanna-be Ironmen and women finishers cheered with bagpipes blazing and a gunshot that started the final phase of our Ironman journey and my 'unrealistic' pursuit. Eleven and a half hours later I finished. Many obstacles came up during that time as I covered this last 140 miles of my journey. Perhaps all the fear, trepidation, nervousness and anxiety prepared me to have it be 'not as bad as I thought'. Trusting more than my little voice may be telling me not to, believing in something beyond the current body of evidence that I have of what is possible, relying on my team (family, co-workers) and others. These lessons still resonate though I often find myself sliding down the slippery path of more 'realistic' views that the media, economy, doctors and other influences have that my unconscious uses to manipulate into a perspective that is safer, more 'real' and ultimately, less powerful. Odyssey doubled it's revenues over the course of my Ironman pursuit. My knees are still stronger than before (Cross training, religious intake of Glucosomine and still the belief in re-generation of these miracle joints) My kids were fine with Dad training so much and will hopefully remember me crossing the finish line with one of them under each arm. My wife, ever supportive, worries about a sequel though I've committed that IronDad is more important to me now than another Ironman. tag:odysseyteams.com,2008://1.49 2008-06-11T01:06:37Z 2008-12-10T20:03:50Z

Meetings and Conventions Magazine Article http://www.mcmag.com JUNE 2008 This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy. Group team-building options get creative By Hunter R. Slaton Popular wisdom holds that we are living in the age of the niche....

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com http://www.mcmag.com JUNE 2008 This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy. Group team-building options get creative By Hunter R. Slaton Popular wisdom holds that we are living in the age of the niche. Appropriately enough, team-building companies are now offering some out-there activities that depart from tired-and-true trust falls, paintball games and ropes courses of years past. One offbeat option is WhirlyBall, which combines lacrosse, hockey and basketball with bumper cars. The WhirlyBall (www.whirlyball.com) company has three Illinois locations, where bumper car team members work together to score baskets using plastic scoops. Visit whirlyball.org to find other places where the sport is played and watch a game in action. For those who don't enjoy getting knocked about, Canadian Outback Adventures (www.canadianoutback.com) organizes a barbecue challenge where teams battle, Iron Chef-style, with must-use ingredients in an outdoor cooking competition. After the judges choose the winning team, it's time to eat. A do-good way to forge bonds: The Helping Hands program from Odyssey Teams (www.odysseyteams.com) assists groups in building prosthetic hands that are donated to those in need. Since the program began in 2004, a total of 1,200 hands have been assembled, 750 of which have been distributed to amputees in foreign countries including Colombia, India, Jordan and Kenya.]]> tag:odysseyteams.com,2008://1.48 2008-06-09T21:53:08Z 2008-06-09T21:56:52Z

We often add a little Odyssey color/flair to our events with quotes etc. (like the one above from Tommy Protho) placed throughout the training room. This quote usually gets a laugh. It's true isn't it? Every team has it's little...

Todd Demorest http://odysseyteams.com/html/todd.php We often add a little Odyssey color/flair to our events with quotes etc. (like the one above from Tommy Protho) placed throughout the training room. This quote usually gets a laugh. It's true isn't it? Every team has it's little blemishes here and there. And on a given day or project it can be anybody's turn to be the 'blemish'. For over 20 years I've had the pleasure to see some of the best aspects of humanity in this work. It seems during our programs people are really challenging themselves, and opening up to be 'good people' to each other. To include, speak positive, and support each other during the task at hand. Should a dysfunctional 'blemish' appear, we all learn from it and move forward without blame, drama, politics etc. In short, people are being socially responsible. While this has been happening at a foundational level for decades with Odyssey's team building programs... Seven years ago we wanted to bring it into the spotlight and well beyond the training room walls. Thus, the inception of our Corporate Social Responsibility - Helping Odyssey programs. Life Cycles, Helping Hands, and Playhouse Project programs give people the opportunity to create tangible results that effect local and global people, families, and communities. It is emotional, and valued by all that are involved. More than a sound bite heard from a CEO, at Helping Odyssey's participants get the unique and compelling satisfaction of 'walking the talk' and giving back, adding to etc. It feels good to make a difference in some ones life. It also feels good to learn something new and relevant about yourself, team, and business - guaranteed to happen at one of our trainings. tag:odysseyteams.com,2008://1.47 2008-06-05T15:35:07Z 2008-06-05T15:39:47Z

by Nathan Gonzalez - Jun. 4, 2008 05:55 PM The Arizona Republic What started as a team-building exercise for a group of Procter & Gamble employees turned into a surprise set of gifts for deserving Valley children. About 135 Procter...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com by Nathan Gonzalez - Jun. 4, 2008 05:55 PM The Arizona Republic What started as a team-building exercise for a group of Procter & Gamble employees turned into a surprise set of gifts for deserving Valley children. About 135 Procter & Gamble employees from throughout the country gathered Tuesday at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, where they assembled the bikes as part of a team-building exercise during a corporate training session. None knew where the bikes would end up, until about 30 children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix were led into the ballroom. Odyssey Teams, which conducts philanthropic workshops. Based in Chico, Calif., Odyssey began using philanthropy as a team-building exercise for companies more than 7 years ago, said Todd Demorest, lead facilitator conducting Tuesday's workshop. Through programs like the Life Cycles seminar, participants learn to work together as they develop a product aimed at a particular client. That's where the bikes come in. "For some people, the exercise is just meant to have fun, but we want to tie it in to what they have been learning," Demorest said. Dave Hughes, senior vice president for Procter & Gamble Prestige, participated in the exercise. It was a first for the company and a pleasant surprise, he said. "It tied in with the theme of the workshop: Respect. These are our future customers and clients," Hughes said of the kids. "I'm really pleased all our work that was done would go to a great cause." Procter & Gamble Prestige Products is the luxury-goods division of the company and includes such products as Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss, Gucci and Escada. But there was only one product the 30 children seemed interested in Tuesday: shiny new bicycles. Seven-year-old Felicity Harper, her twin sister Shaylynn and brother Tony, 8, struggled to hold back their excitement after receiving the bikes. When released, young Felicity quickly found her pink Diamondback bicycle, complete with pink and white streamers, and hopped on. "I can ride!" she said, steering her way through a crowded ballroom filled with equally surprised executives and employees. "I've never had a bike," Felicity said, shortly before scurrying off to give hugs to her brother and sister. "It's nice," Tony said, noting that he had outgrown his old bike.]]> tag:odysseyteams.com,2008://1.46 2008-05-28T17:11:10Z 2008-05-28T17:16:12Z

Written By Diana Rowe in Insurance and Financial Meetings Management Magazine -May/June 2008 issue full article Teambuilding with a purpose -- corporate sales meeting attendees assemble bicycles for deserving kids. Odyssey Teams' Life Cycles program has donated more than 10,000...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com full article Teambuilding with a purpose -- corporate sales meeting attendees assemble bicycles for deserving kids. Odyssey Teams' Life Cycles program has donated more than 10,000 bikes to children worldwide since 2001. Doing good for others enriches not only receiver and giver, but the corporate culture as well. Photo courtesy of Odyssey Teams first bike ever -- or his first prosthetic hand -- assembled by your team. The same objectives of cooperation and communication are achieved but with the added, profoundly powerful component of doing good for others. "Paying it forward" not only enriches giver and receiver, it extends to the company's bottom line.]]> How many times have meeting planners had to endure groans and eye-rolling when attendees learn that teambuilding is on the agenda? That's because tried-and-true approaches are beginning to lose their luster with overworked attendees who would rather be checking their BlackBerrys than "playing games" to satisfy the corporate mandate of developing motivated, productive employees. To compete for attendees' attention, planners are charged with finding innovative activities that put the BlackBerry on the back burner. Sometimes it's as simple as putting a new twist on traditional teambuilding activities. But now more than ever, what really strikes a cord is teambuilding with a purpose. There is no obstacle course, scavenger hunt or boatbuilding program that compares with the smile on the face of an underprivileged child who gets his bike-builders-240.jpg Teambuilding with a purpose -- corporate sales meeting attendees assemble bicycles for deserving kids. Odyssey Teams' Life Cycles program has donated more than 10,000 bikes to children worldwide since 2001. Doing good for others enriches not only receiver and giver, but the corporate culture as well. Photo courtesy of Odyssey Teams first bike ever -- or his first prosthetic hand -- assembled by your team. The same objectives of cooperation and communication are achieved but with the added, profoundly powerful component of doing good for others. "Paying it forward" not only enriches giver and receiver, it extends to the company's bottom line. "I witnessed firsthand my colleagues' leadership and coaching styles emerge," recalled Joseph Atalig, sales development manager of the Tempe, AZ regional office of Wells Fargo & Company. "Yet the dynamics of working together for something bigger didn't click until the kids came out." Atalig refers to the Life Cycles workshop, facilitated by Odyssey Teams Inc. Each team builds a bicycle. When the bike is completed, the kids enter the ballroom to claim their bikes. This is a program he's participated in four times, each time recording tangible results in the team's success when returning to the office. Just over a year ago, the impact was measured when his Arizona delegates became the number-one team in sales out of 24 districts with one of the lowest employee turnovers in the state. Changing Lives "It might be a simple bicycle-building team event," added Atalig, "but the simplicity is what connects the team members to the local underprivileged youth. We are rewarded by doing something for others, and then witnessing that pure excitement on the kids' faces. In turn, that accomplishment connects back to the team that built that bike. We realized that we're not just selling loans and checking accounts -- we're changing lives. There's a bigger purpose in what we do every day." When planning his teambuilding event with Odyssey, Atalig was asked probing questions in order to customize the events, ranging from the meeting objective to the culture of their region. Life Cycles is just one of several of Odyssey Teams' philanthropic programs and a textbook example of teambuilding for a cause. Lain Hensley, owner and COO of Odyssey Teams, said, "We wanted to create relevant experiences so that people can have transformational moments. Forming an emotional bond, such Brown.jpgas with the bike-building experience, creates an internal pressure to personally sustain change and motivate first." Hensley said that for a team to develop there are four stages: forming, storming, norming and performing. In the first stages of teambuilding, the forming of the team takes place. The team meets and learns about the opportunity and challenges, and then agrees on goals and begins to tackle the tasks. Every group then enters the storming stage in which different ideas compete for consideration, a stage when team members begin to open up to each other. In the norming stage, the team adjusts their behavior with one another, developing work habits conducive to creating a fluid team. The final stage is performing, when team members become interdependent, motivated and knowledgeable. "If teams don't go through these four phases, they won't know where they are," explained Hensley. "The first three stages are accomplished by teambuilding, so we can certainly escalate that time period through specific teambuilding activities." Once Odyssey discovered the bridge between training models and philanthropy, Hensley said he started opening the lens to find activities with more global impact. One of those new inspiring programs Odyssey created is Helping Hands, an exclusive program in cooperation with the Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation. "The program challenges participants to assemble artificial hands for later donation overseas," explained Hensley. "As participants realize what they're building, a profound sense of responsibility emerges, as they are literally giving an amputee a new life. This sense of teamwork brings a new purpose to their life and career." The program includes a video that shows the amputees, tens of thousands of youth and adults maimed as a result of landmine explosions or political violence in developing countries, receiving their new hands. The Impact Of Jazz Your teambuilding activity doesn't need to be philanthropic to be effective. When Michael Gold, principal of Minneapolis-based Jazz-Impact, and his ensemble of jazz musicians take the stage, within minutes the crowd is on their feet. Yet this isn't your typical stage. Gold is presenting an interactive seminar for a group jazz-240.jpg Teambuilding with a purpose -- corporate sales meeting attendees assemble bicycles for deserving kids. Odyssey Teams' Life Cycles program has donated more than 10,000 bikes to children worldwide since 2001. Doing good for others enriches not only receiver and giver, but the corporate culture as well. Photo courtesy of Odyssey Teams of financial managers on corporate teambuilding. His innovative business consultancy links the principles of the jazz music art form -- innovation, experimentation and collaboration -- with business fundamentals. "Jazz is the sound of people negotiating change," said Gold. "I bring both worlds together. Our jazz ensemble is a team, just like any corporation, any department, any group. Jazz is a good model because every voice and instrument is wildly different. When we come together on a shared platform, we interact with each other and bring an enjoyable program (live music) to the audience. "Jazz has been a part of our culture for decades," said Gold, "but many still don't appreciate its evolution in the world of music. During the interactive demonstration, we move between talking about what we are doing on stage to bringing clients' culture into those experiences. We show how personal a team can be and how they resonate when they work together." Dude Ranch Redux For Ramsey Potts, state sales director for AFLAC of West Virginia, his event was successful by structuring the entire meeting, including the teambuilding activity, around Mother Nature. "When I announced to my management team that the annual incentive trip would be to a dude ranch," Potts recalled, "I nearly had mutiny on my ship. Many were disappointed that we weren't going to the beach and felt like a dude ranch was little incentive to perform. I had to assure them frequently that Rancho de los Caballeros was a luxury ranch resort." Just 90 minutes northwest of Phoenix, Rancho de los Caballeros is an historic ranch resort with 79 guest rooms, 8,500 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, 18 holes of golf and 100 horses for exploring trails on 20,000 acres of spectacular Sonoran desert. Planners can offer their attendees an Ramsey-Potts-240.jpg Meeting planner Ramsey Potts, state sales director for AFLAC of West Virginia (far left) along with cowboy coach and attendees participated in a "team penning" event. Teams competed on horseback to herd calves into a framed pen while working against a clock. Photo by Dennis Hartin authentic dude ranch experience with additional luxuries such as gourmet dining, the award-winning championship Los Caballeros Golf Club and the luxurious Spa at Los Caballeros. Images of "City Slickers" and sleeping under the stars while eating beans and wieners prevailed until the team arrived at the ranch resort, said Potts. Potts and his sales team participated in a popular teambuilding activity offered at the ranch called "team penning," which matches teams with a cowboy coach to compete on horseback. The objective is to herd three calves into a framed pen, while working against a clock. "The horses are so well trained that we just go along for the ride," added Potts. "In fact, several people (including myself) were rather reluctant to get on the back of a horse. However, by the end of the event, the team came together and there was more than a little friendly competition. "From the 'team penning' to the championship golf course, from the trap and skeet shooting to the beautiful horse rides through the desert, from the relaxing spa to the cowboy cookouts, Rancho de los Caballeros is the perfect combination of an incentive trip mixed with a healthy dose of teambuilding." Traditional Teambuilding That Works Nicolette de Guia is a meeting professional for a national personal line insurer's conference planning team who coordinated a very successful Distribution Leadership Forum at the La Quinta Resort & Club, La Quinta, CA. To set the Forum apart from other meetings and to engage the audience in a team event tied to performance, de Guia explored the various venues available both on and offsite. "The theme Accelerate to Win tied in with our company's objectives and NASCAR-sponsored programs," said de Guia, so with that in mind, and with the aid of some very insightful, creative and flexible partner vendors, de Guia found what she wanted. But instead of the group going to the offsite venue, the offsite go-carts-240.jpg Nontraditional teambuilding options are available through the Disney Institute and include go-cart racing, news magazine show production, on-air radio production and more. Photo courtesy of Disney Institute venue came to La Quinta and in the end, was masterful. "We took the concept of the race and made it our own," said de Guia. The teambuilding event included extensive graphic pieces including pit passes, qualifier books, NASCAR-style lanyards, very inventive and creative racing style décor, Breathalyzers and an authentic NASCAR race car along with a special guest NASCAR driver, Kasey Kahne. De Guia enlisted the help of her vendor partners: Access Destination Services-Palm Springs, La Quinta Resort, Eventworks (décor company), and Karting Ventures Inc. to bring racing to life at the resort. The hotel agreed to close down a busy onsite parking lot, and Karting Ventures arranged delivery of 12 go-carts and brought in their whole operation from track to operators. "We had them at 'ladies and gentlemen, start your engines,'?" de Guia reported. "Before the racing experience, our general session was relatively quiet with very little audience participation. It needed some life and excitement. After the teambuilding session, the entire personality of the meeting changed. Everyone seemed to feel like a part of a team, more relaxed, focused and more engaged overall in the meeting content. This teambuilding event was extremely successful and a very effective morale booster. "Our racing theme resonated with everyone," said de Guia. "Name a teambuilding activity from bike building to scavenger hunts, and we've done it. Our goal wasn't to cleverly disguise a teambuilding event. Out of 120 attendees, only two sat out. We needed to get everyone engaged in the meeting, and we wanted them to have fun doing it." Objective, time, budget, corporate social responsibility and diversity of group are just a few topics raised by Beth Daniel, sales manager for Access Destination Services-Palm Springs. "To come up with unique events, I always start by asking the right questions. Maybe there's an upcoming sales pitch, a new product launch, a merger. Teambuilding is a fun and interactive learning experience that brings a group together toward a common goal." Teambuilding isn't without challenges, added Daniel. "You have to work with the variables and logistics: weather, team numbers, theme, etc. Whatever the theme or objective of the meeting, we can uncover or create the perfect teambuilding event." Daniel said traditional teambuilding activities, such as chili cook-offs, build-a-boat, culinary themes and game shows can still be quite effective. However, brainstorming for that "perfect" fit to create something unique is crucial. "With de Guia's event, for example," explained Daniel, "I had originally proposed an offsite racing venue, but the budget brought it back to the hotel and engaging the services of Karting Ventures. Together, we took our vision and tweaked it to fit a hotel location, including closing down the parking lot." The Disney Dynamic There is no shortage of creativity at Disney Parks and Resorts, which provides the expertise needed to execute innovative teambuilding programs. Disney Institute offers a variety of teambuilding and professional development programs proven to drive success. Group experiences are designed to actively develop relationships that lead to strong results. When a group of 20-plus senior officers needed to team up, Jeffrey Brown, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Waterbury, CT-based Webster Financial Corporation, brought them to the Disney Institute. A Disney teambuilding event Pluto's Pursuit kicked off the two-day meeting. In the activity, Scavenger-300.jpg Disney Parks and Resorts organized a teambuilding scavenger hunt for Webster Financial Corporation that took place in the Magic Kingdom. Photo courtesy of Webster Financial Corporation teams band together "in pursuit of the prize" during this one-of-a-kind scavenger hunt throughout a Disney Destination Theme Park. This activity jumped to the top of the list for Brown as the fastest way to throw a group into the "deep end of a pool." "We'd just completed a major restructuring," explained Brown, "merging several different departments. To create a shared services environment, we wanted a means for these 23 senior managers to get to know each other in a short period of time. We also wanted a more relaxed environment before throwing them into a classroom. "A scavenger hunt may seem simple," agreed Brown, "but it's a fun way to introduce a group and get them to work together. It's very easy to discount these sorts of activities, but I find it immensely powerful if done well." For the past seven years on behalf of FirstMerit Bank, Carrie Holet, retail sales and service consultant, and Michele Pfeifer, senior vice president of performance and learning resources, have planned Disney incentive trips that include teambuilding events. Their attendance ranges from 45 to 75 employees from the top-performing branches. FirstMerit Corporation is a $10.4 billion diversified financial services company headquartered in Akron, OH. "We are always interested in ways of enhancing team dynamics," said Pfeifer. "We've done everything from cooking a gourmet lunch to a team Park Challenge. Because they've earned these trips, we already know the teams are competitive and like challenges, so we build on that spirit." Through the Disney experience, Holet and Pfeifer customized their teambuilding experiences, offering attendees glimpses into the theme park that they couldn't get with a general admission ticket. The teams are small, and attendees are grouped with people that they often do not know. "Our gala events are exclusive parties in venues not accessible to the public," explained Holet. "Teambuilding events like Pluto's Pursuit or On Location allow us access to behind-the-scenes areas. We tell attendees all they have to do is pack their bags, and we'll do the rest. Teambuilding events make that experience more intimate. These are all unique encounters that they take back to their branch as a motivator to earn their return trip next year. From college-aged to senior citizen, Disney teambuilding events are flexible for all ages." Holet and Pfeifer are also conscious that many of their attendees are repeat winners, so they work together to create something new that appeals to first-timers and repeat winners. They start by opening up the lines of communication with Disney, passing on details about their current group of winners, and creating a teambuilding event that effectively targets the meeting's objective. Whether launching a new product, building business strategies or cultivating leaders in a recent merger, teambuilding is a proven tool that boosts performance. But perhaps the best programs are those that help to change lives for the better. I&FMM tag:odysseyteams.com,2008://1.45 2008-05-23T00:40:22Z 2008-05-23T00:46:43Z

Article written by Maria Lenhart Meetings West, June 2008 ''The only reason to hold a meeting is to save the world." That was the audacious gauntlet thrown down by Tim Sanders at the end of his keynote address at MPI's...

Bill John, President & CEO, Odyssey Teams, inc http://www.odysseyteams.com Meetings West, June 2008 ''The only reason to hold a meeting is to save the world." That was the audacious gauntlet thrown down by Tim Sanders at the end of his keynote address at MPI's Professional Education Conference-North America in Houston last February. The former Yahoo! executive, now a motivational speaker, author and CSR (corporate social responsibility) advocate, challenged the audience to start taking a leadership role in their organizations by initiating platforms for social and environmental change. Similarly, CSR has been a hot topic at other industry conferences, including the recent SITE Executive Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where 143 incentive professionals gathered to discuss global trends. "CSR is like the ROI of 2008--everyone is focused on it," commented SITE President Padraic Gilligan after the summit. "While it has been a growing item of discussion for the past few years, it has moved to a point where you can't be willing to take a risk and not have a company position on it." At PCMA's annual meeting in Seattle last January, the Convention Industry Council (CIC) Task Force on Sustainability and Responsibility convened for the first time to determine how CIC member organizations can serve as resources on issues concerning the environment and social responsibility. Shortly afterward, MPI created its own task force comprised of CSR experts who will help the organization develop resources for members over the coming year. Defining CSR So what is CSR all about and why is it gathering so much momentum in the meetings industry? Although it includes environmental issues, green initiatives are only one aspect of CSR. According to its "CSR: Where We Stand" statement, MPI defines it as encompassing a "triple bottom line" of "people, planet and profit," a broad spectrum of social, economic and environmental concerns. "The triple bottom line behind CSR also looks at social responsibility--the economic and social equity of business choices," says Marge Anderson, assistant director of the Energy Center of Wisconsin and head of MPI's CSR Task Force. "Meetings are perfectly positioned to contribute to social responsibility by integrating community service projects into their programming so the impact they leave behind is positive. We can also have a positive impact by contributing to the local economy." While CSR may seem to be most relevant to corporate meeting planners, Elizabeth Henderson, CMM, MPI's director of Canadian development and staff liaison for the CSR Task Force, says it has significance for all meeting planners. "Associations, including MPI, are very concerned with CSR," she says. "And independent planners are working with both association and corporate clients who have an increasing CSR focus. It's important for them to know how to fit in with this." For Sanders, author of Saving the World at Work, which will be published by Doubleday in September, CSR is no mere fad, but a "revolution" that is not going to go away. "CSR is the biggest social trend of my lifetime and it will continue to be important," he says. "After all, you're never going to see headlines that say "Eco concerns are dead" or "Communities no longer need help." Sanders believes it is the emergence of a new generation of corporate employees that is making it essential for companies to have CSR policies and practices. He also maintains that companies who don't have acceptable CSR practices will not be able to attract top talent. "This is very important to young people and it strongly influences where they want to work," he says. "Research shows that compensation is no longer the biggest factor--a company's social commitment has more impact than anything else. This generation, the children of the Baby Boomers, has been strongly influenced by horrific events such as Hurricane Katrina and the media coverage, and corporate scandals such as Enron have also had an impact." According to Sanders, there are three main criteria that determine whether or not a company is being a good corporate citizen: how it treats its employees, how it gives back to the community and its ecological and sustainability practices. "The first is the most important," he says. "You can be as green as you want, but if you're not good to your employees, it doesn't matter." Sanders is optimistic that corporations have the ability and even the will to have a positive impact on issues such as global warming and poverty. "I've always believed that companies can change the world for good, even though a lot of environmentalists believe that corporations are evil," he says. "I don't. Corporations are made up of people and people want to do good." Not everyone in the meetings industry is as optimistic, including longtime educator, consultant and independent planner Joan Eisenstodt, CMM, head of Washington, D.C.-based Eisenstodt & Associates. "I do not agree with Tim Sanders on this one--because I do not think that most companies and organizations are embracing the deed versus the words of CSR, and because customers and staff and members are not shouting for it," she says. "Moreover, when it is shouted out, most organization find a way around the actions." The Planner's Role Where Eisenstodt, Sanders and others do agree is that meeting planners can and should play a crucial role in influencing their companies to implement CSR practices. "Meeting planners have a lot of power for change," Sanders says. "They are the ones who pick the sites, the vendors, the speakers. They are the movie producers of their companies. Meetings are the only time in which people sit and think about the company's goals and objectives--so they are the time when the message can be delivered." Angie Pfeifer, CMM, MPI's chairwoman of the board, advocates that planners take the initiative on CSR matters in their companies, something she says she has done in her role as vice president-corporate meetings, travel and incentives for Investors Group Financial Services in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "I heard from my boss that we were starting a CSR task force and I said that I wanted to get involved," she says. "Since I manage both meetings and travel at the company, I knew there was a lot I could do. My team and I took a lot of time to research how we could implement CSR. It's not easy and it takes time." The results soon paid off, however, with the company able to save many thousands of dollars by taking such steps as not supplying bottled water at meetings, but reusable bottles instead. "The myth is that CSR is costly, but it's not," Pfeifer says. "It was very emotional for me to see how we'd saved by doing the right thing. And, of course, CSR is not just about green meetings. I'm at the table at my company in regards to all sorts of CSR." Even companies that already have extensive CSR policies and practices in place may still need action on the part of planners to make sure these extend to meetings. Such was the case at Timberland, a Stratham, N.H.-based shoe manufacturer whose CSR practices include giving each employee 40 paid time-off hours a year to do volunteer work. "When I joined Timberland a few years ago they had not yet integrated their CSR practices into meetings," says Michelle Johnson, a former in-house planner for Timberland who is now a partner in a planning firm, Creative Community Communications, whose clients include Timberland. She says the chief reason behind this is that Timberland did not have a centralized meetings policy, something she recommends to all corporate clients who want to implement CSR meetings practices. "We had many different departments doing things, so we put together a meetings policy that reflected Timberland's CSR focus," she says. "A centralized policy allows you to look at where you are spending the money. Then you can look at what should be asked for in every hotel contract in regards to CSR." Community Giving One of the most visible ways that planners are implementing CSR is by scheduling a day or partial day devoted to a community project, endeavors that range from rebuilding hurricane-ravaged structures in New Orleans to assembling bicycles for needy children and other projects that can take place in a hotel ballroom. Just as green practices can be good for a company's bottom line, community volunteer efforts have type of locale also has its fair share of attractive, meetings-friendly sites with reasonable prices. Oceanside Oases While everyone appreciates a day at the beach, fewer and fewer companies are able to afford coastal prices and are now looking for alternative locales with affordable price tags that still provide a fun-in-the-sun atmosphere. Enter Ventura, Calif. Located about 28 miles south of Santa Barbara, Ventura is an idyllically beautiful seaside community with a good deal of history, even housing one of California's nine remaining missions: the San Buenaventura Mission. "It is an old-fashioned California beach town," says Kathleen Fitzgerald, director of sales for the Ventura CVB. "We have a self-contained little Main Street area that has some significant architecture and wonderful restaurants and boutique shops." Nature-loving groups can visit the breathtaking Channel Islands, just off the coast. They can also go whale watching or take a sunset cruise with companies such as the Island Packers. "Another fun thing to do is have a meeting on the beach," Fitzgerald says, adding that The Yellow Umbrella Company regularly sets up such gatherings. Ventura also has plenty of places for groups to stay, Fitzgerald says, adding that its average daily rates during peak season (July-August) can hover around just $139-$149, and off-peak (December) at around $99 per night, and many accommodation offerings are situated close to the water. "Every room has an ocean view" at the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach, she says, adding that the Ventura Beach Marriott and Four Points by Sheraton Ventura Harbor are also a popular group choices. Jessica Wimer, vice president-president elect for the Southern California Association of Law Libraries, regularly rotates her group between high-end coastal destinations and recently decided to bring a group to Ventura, thoroughly enjoying the experience. "It was excellent. There was something for everyone. Ventura is really quaint and has an adorable Main Street with shops and museums and easy access to the water," she says, adding that the price point was spot-on. "Value-wise, the hotel was reasonably priced, so that was great. Moving north up the coast into the Pacific Northwest is Astoria, Ore., located on the Columbia River and just a few miles from the ocean. Not only is the destination close to water, offering fun group activities such as oyster shucking and fishing, Astoria is also a historic destination with a funky flair. "Astoria isn't cookie-cutter," says Donna Quinn, director of sales and marketing for Astoria's Cannery Pier Hotel, adding that Lewis and Clark wintered there and it is also the site of the first post office west of the Rockies. "There is definitely a sense of character here and groups can sense that, whether they are meeting in an old Victorian house or a renovated building on the coast." The town of less than 10,000 residents is a true value to planners, with a variety of unique meeting venues available at prices much less than larger beachside destinations. Quinn says many visiting groups like to take a ride on the city's Riverfront Trolley for just $1 per person. Groups can also reserve the trolley for events or even head over to the Columbia River Maritime Museum for a tour. Although it may be small in size, Astoria is far from a sleepy coastal town, Quinn says that "in the last five years there has been a renaissance of energy and vitality" in the destination, starting with a surge of restaurants and new venues such as The Loft at the Red Building, a popular meetings site. The Loft, which overlooks the Columbia River, offers on-site catering for banquets, receptions and awards banquets. Just next door is the Cannery Pier Hotel, located on a pier over the river, offering several spaces for meetings and events. Just down the road are two other convention hotels: the 32-room Hotel Elliott with more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space and the 78-room Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Astoria with 2,000 square feet of meeting space. Mountain Tops Groups looking for a beautiful yet thrifty location in the mountains needn't look to high-end ski destinations, but can instead consider places such as Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. "I think we are kind of undiscovered at this point, and because of that hotel costs have remained consistently affordable," says Dani Zibell-Wolfe, vice president of tourism for the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce. Sitting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Coeur d'Alene not only offers 15 blocks of boutique shopping and a variety of group-friendly restaurants with outdoor seating in its downtown district, but the community is also located right on Lake Coeur d'Alene, offering a plethora of activities at reasonable prices. "When you add the lake into the equation, it creates so much value," Zibell-Wolfe says. "Not only dollar-wise--but the activities we have create a wonderful value." Available water activities range from parasailing on the lake to organizing a dinner cruise for visiting delegates with companies such as Lake Coeur d'Alene Cruises. Surrounded by mountains, groups are never far away from land-based adventures as well. "You can walk out of your hotel and generally be within a half-mile of a paved, non-motorized bike trail," Zibell-Wolfe says, adding that during the winter groups can also enjoy skiing nearby. "We have two ski resorts, Schweitzer Mountain Resort and Silver Mountain Resort, within an hour's drive." With a vibe that Zibell-Wolfe calls "small town boutiquey," she says oftentimes groups who visit the destination have an inkling to stay permanently. "People come here for a convention or meeting and they end up buying homes," she says. "It happens every year. We have a convention coming in June and one of the things they want to set up is a real estate tour." As far as meeting space goes, Zibell-Wolfe says the destination is known for the Coeur d'Alene Golf & Spa Resort, which while consistently rated a four-star property, is still affordable for groups. Other meeting hot spots include the Best Western Coeur d'Alene Inn and the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Coeur d'Alene, both offering reasonable rates. "Conventions and meetings are all about attendance and after awhile [of going to the same place], it becomes old and stale," Zibell-Wolfe says. "If you can add some interest in a new destination with exciting activities for the same price, if not less, it is more exciting for attendees. When you come to a destination like Coeur d'Alene, there are so many activities that are at your fingertips, and that adds a lot of excitement." Driving about four hours east on I-90 will land groups in Butte, Mont., another affordable and unique meetings destination in the mountains. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Butte was a boom town, known for its copper mining. At that time, mining was so profitable it attracted people from all over the world, giving the destination an ethnic flavor that is still felt today. "Butte is authentic; it is the real deal," says Sara Rowe, director of the Butte CVB. "It has this incredible history and people really haven't discovered Butte yet, so we still have good rates on hotels and the food is phenomenal." Rowe explains that during the mining boom, Butte welcomed a good deal of Irish, Chinese, Cornish, Italian, and Serbian workers, whose influences have greatly affected the town's culinary options. "We don't have a lot of chain restaurants, we have ones that have been here a long time and have a real ethnic flavor," she says, highlighting group favorites such as Lydia's Supper Club and Pekin Noodle Parlor. Located "right at the top of the Rockies," Rowe says there are plenty of ways groups can experience the beauty of the outdoors in Butte. "We have incredible trails, both for vehicles and for hiking," she says. "There is also a lot of climbing and within 15 minutes you can find some of the best trout fishing in the country." Although winter weather can prove chilly, summers "are gorgeous," Rowe says. "In July, it will be in the 90s and at night it will be around 65-70." In addition, Butte is known for its festivals, such as Evel Knieval Days, this year scheduled for July 24-26. "Butte is known as a festival city, and Evel Knieval was from here," Rowe says, adding that the community also has a Chinese New Year's celebration and a St. Patrick's Day celebration. This year's National Folk Festival will run from July 11-13 in Butte. When it is time to get to business, Butte has a variety of affordable meeting space options for groups, starting with the Butte Civic Center, which can seat 5,000 guests theater-style and 2,000 banquet-style. The 131-room Butte War Bonnet Hotel is another popular group option, with more than 4,000 square feet of meeting space, as is the Copper King Hotel & Convention Center, complete with an 8,000-square-foot ballroom. Desert Destinations While Palm Springs' gentle breezes and Scottsdale's long stretches of green fairways may come to mind first when planners consider a desert destination, alternative locations such as Moab, Utah, can also quench groups' thirst for the desert, but at greatly reduced prices. "There is so much to do for very little cost," says Marian DeLay, executive director of the Moab Area Travel Council, adding that hiking, camping and rafting on the Colorado River are all popular activities. "Golf is even cheap here. It is around $26 for 18 holes, or just $38 with a cart." The Moab Golf Course is one such place where groups can enjoy a day in the sun. The facility also often organizes tournaments, DeLay says. Beyond its golf, Moab is within easy driving distance to many of the country's national parks, lending itself nicely to groups looking for reasonably priced outdoor activities. For example, DeLay says groups can visit nearby Arches National Park for $7 a day. Moab offers a variety of ways to experience the desert, one of them as a split activity between a Jeep and a jet boat. "We have outfitters that take groups on a Jeep and jet boat combo," DeLay says. "In the morning, half of the group will get in Jeeps and go up to the Canyonlands and the other half will go on a jet boat on the Colorado River. Half way through the day, the Jeeps end up at the boat docks and they switch. "They absolutely love it," she says. "All that is about $60 a person and it includes lunch." Groups can also enlist companies who specialize in leading guided ATV and dirt bike tours of "some of the most spectacular scenery you are ever going to see," DeLay says. Two of the most popular meetings hotels in Moab are The Red Cliffs Lodge and the Sorrel River Ranch Resort & Spa, both of which offer a variety of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces for small- to-midsize groups. DeLay says meeting planners can expect to pay around $200 a night at the two hotels during peak season (May-September), but prices can go as low as $140 during slower periods. Limited service hotels are also available for groups in Moab, with prices hovering around $60-$70 per night. Traveling south to Arizona, the terrain is as much known for high-end meetings destinations as it is for long expanses of cactus-filled desert. Despite this, by heading a little more than 100 miles south of Phoenix to Tucson, planners will find that their dollars stretch pretty far. In January, Preferred Meeting Management's Cline brought a group of 700 delegates down to Tucson, staying at the JW Starr Pass Resort & Spa, and couldn't be happier with her experience. "It is absolutely a fabulous city to bring conferences to," she says. "It has an intimate feel and all the advantages of being a smaller community, but it has everything you need. The price structure definitely had a little less impact on our budget [than other destinations]." Although prices were reasonable, Cline says the quality was still there. "They certainly could demand the same prices [as other destinations]," she says. "They have beautiful facilities, but their prices are not high-end." Graeme Hughes, director of convention sales for the Metropolitan Tucson CVB, says the city's value not only stems from its attractive prices, but from its variety of venues. "Value comes from having choices and options," he says, adding that the city is host to several group-friendly resorts such as Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa and the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, as well as the Tucson Convention Center. "So much of what we do is based in the desert," Hughes says, adding that some groups like to head up to Cocoraque Ranch & Pavilion for a truly Wild West experience. "They can accommodate up to 30 people on horseback, and they will take you on a cattle drive. It is like City Slickers. Then the full day ends with a barbeque at the ranch house." Groups who would rather experience the desert from the indoors can visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, the second-most-visited attraction in the state, according to Hughes, with a zoo, museum and botanical garden. Yet regardless of what groups decide to do when in Tucson, they are in for a truly unique desert experience, Hughes says. "Tucson still offers a little bit of mystery," he says. "We like to think of it as authentic Arizona. We have the rugged terrain and the picturesque sunsets. In Tucson, you can literally walk out your door to hiking trails and nature preserves." ]]>