Teambonding - Team Building Innovations

Thank you Joseph Finder

2009-07-07T19:26:00Z

Every month or so I get a call or an email from someone who has read the book Power Play by Joseph Finder. The last call was from my father-in-law who said “Did you know that the author thanked you in the acknowledgements of the book I just read?” Yes I did know and do remember and really enjoyed the conversation as he was researching team building and corporate retreats. We had a nice conversation, a few emails and a few months later, out came the book. I have to admit, I love when someone finds it and they think it is so cool and to be honest, I couldn’t wait to show my kids. It is not often that your teenage kids think you are cool but in this occasion, they did.

I also received a signed copy of the book which is a fast-paced thriller that I loved even more as it was set at a team building retreat that was a little more authentic based on our conversation. For Father’s Day I got a new Kindle from Amazon and I just got my first book, Paranoia by Joseph Finder and I wanted to acknowledge him. Thanks again Joseph!

How We See Ourselves

2009-06-30T19:05:00Z

I think one of the fun things about the blog is to let you see a little “behind the curtain” and this particular blog is fun because this is our entry to the Forbes Magazine “Build Your Business” contest for $100,000 cash and advertising prize and the first part of the contest is to send them 500 words on who we are, what we do and what we would use the prize money for. I think you’ll like it!

“TeamBonding is a fun, dynamic company that designs and facilitates custom team building programs for groups of all sizes. TeamBonding also delivers team and leadership development programs including Myers-Briggs, Change Management, DiSC Profile, Change Management and Effective Communication.

We’ve been considered a cutting-edge leader within our industry since starting the business in 1986 with a personal loan. For the past 22 years, our company has been fully funded by cash flow from operations. Typically our clients are companies and organizations located in North America, though we do work internationally as well.

Our pricing is competitive. We establish pricing for each program by building a profit margin into our costs which include professional program design and customization, production materials, marketing, travel and expenses, top-shelf facilitators and staffing.

Company founder David Goldstein has been in charge since the beginning. Our management, sales staff and lead facilitators are all active in business and social networking, and attend the meeting and conventions of leading industry organizations including ISES, MPI, NACE and PCMA. Many have been interviewed and/or asked to contributed information for articles by a range of industry publications. We’ve also made the Inc 5000 each of the past two years.

TeamBonding offers over 70 different customizable programs through our various websites including TeamBonding.com, Scaventures.com and RecipeForSuccess.com. Our events are as diverse as our clients: indoor, outdoor, low tech, hi tech, culinary and philanthropic programs are all part of the mix. We even have a complete line of custom scavenger hunts and game shows. Our event designers are continually dreaming up new programs; for the past two years, we’ve focused primarily on Philanthropic and Go Green team building.

Our philanthropic programs include a Charity Bike Build that has participants assembling and donating bikes to kids in need; a Team Teddy Rescue Bear program for making and donating stuffed animals to children in distress; a Fare to Share program that involves cooking and donating food to shelters; a Habitat for Humanity event that designs, builds and donates accessories to new Habitat homeowners; plus an Operation Military Care program that packs and ships care packages to soldiers serving overseas.

Once you’ve seen one of these amazing efforts first-hand, it’s hard not to be moved by power and potential we all have when working together. You simply cannot forget the joyful face of a terminally ill child receiving a bicycle assembled and donated as part of a corporate event. The grateful eyes of a man without home or family who has gone too long without tasting a home-cooked meal. Our military care package events are emotion-filled gatherings as well.

All of which makes answering the next question easy: TeamBonding will use the $100,000 contest money to continue developing and implementing CRS programs that focus on environmental awareness and education, and Philanthropic team building programs that gives back to the community. We’d also like to expand the network of chartable organizations that receive the fruits of our philanthropic team building programs. There is still much to be done…”

Wish us luck!

Funny Friday

2009-06-26T14:40:00Z

The Benefit of My Experience

2009-06-18T16:18:00Z

After working and being in my own business for 25 years I’ve learned a few things and am starting to feel comfortable sharing them with others. I am enjoying seeing things that others don’t see and am seeing that experience is a great teacher. So far, the reactions are mixed…

1. At an Emerson College entrepreneurship showcase I met a student who was developing a company where his focus was developing a certain talent in the Boston area. His company name started with Far East. I approached him, complimented him on his business plan and asked him why Far East and he explained to me that Boston was Far East of New York and that was his angle. I tried unsuccessfully to convince him that Far East to me and many other meant Asia and nobody other than he considered Boston “Far East” of New York. I wished him luck.

2. I received a resume from an ad I put on Craigslist and found a number of typos and spelling errors in an otherwise good resume. I thought I’d be helpful and let him know of the errors so that it would help him secure another job. Instead of being appreciative, he got angry, asked me what right I had and who I thought I was. I was just trying to help.

3. I have a new vendor who I really like, a husband-wife team. They have done a good job for me but I saw the need for improvement in one area of their company and wrote an email explaining what I thought of their service, where it exceeded expectations and where the opportunity was. At midnight last night, I got a heart-felt thank you email in return acknowledging my comments with appreciation. I really appreciated and enjoyed that.

I think I am learning how to use my experience to benefit others in addition to helping grow and lead TeamBonding. It has helped me choose the right programs to offer, the right facilitators to work with and lead the way in what our clients want from a team building company. I have never been able to explain how I can see early what others fail to appreciate and the one thing that I can’t teach, is experience.

Rallying the Troops: Team Building in a down economy

2009-06-09T15:18:00Z

Teambonding was interviewed by Maria Lenhardt for MeetingsMedia (Meetings West, Meetings MidWest, Meetings South) Excerpt here:

What with rampant layoffs, corporate mergers and a dark cloud of gloom and doom hovering over many a workplace, it s little wonder if those left on the office team are in sore need of a morale boost. But while sometimes viewed as a frill, team building is taking on a new sense of urgency in these troubled times.

At the same time, budget-strapped companies need to ensure that every investment yields a full measure of return. Doing so means taking a hard look at what needs to be accomplished and working with the team-building facilitators to find the right solution.

Scott Flynn, director of sales-West, for TeamBonding, a company with office locations that include San Francisco and Phoenix, also recognizes the trend. “So many companies have downsized because of the economy, that their configurations are different,” he says. “Departments have combined, offices have closed. There are different people in the departments; it’s a different matrix. Team building gets these people to meet each other, to learn each other’s strength. It’s more important than ever.” Along with building morale, facilitators also say team building serves an important purpose in getting people unplugged from an increasingly technological environment.

“We’re all way too connected to our computers—it’s getting to be epidemic,” Flynn says. “The idea of team building is to get people away from their computers and let them meet people who may just work on another floor, but that they never see. Some people are not even leaving their offices these days. It’s amazing to get them together.”

New Approach

With team building serving a more serious purpose these days, many companies are not satisfied with traditional programs, and instead want a fresh approach. Flynn believes that the down economy and the emergence of younger people in the workplace has also intensified demand for socially responsible programs.

“Economic conditions have created more people in need, and the Y Generation is very conscious of it,” he says. “They really feel the purpose of giving back, which I think is higher than it’s been in 100 years. And green concerns have never been so important; they were hardly an issue 10 years ago.” He also believes that team-building programs in general are essential for motivating and retaining younger employees.

“The Y Generation is different from the generations before them, and loyalty and commitment are on the decline,” he says. “Y’s respond to perks and to fun events. Their mantra is life first, work second. If their company lets them have fun once a month, but another doesn’t, they will go with the company that lets them have fun.”

Things we are Thankful for During the Recession

2009-06-01T19:50:00Z

As a team building company we need to practice what we preach and a recession throws all traditional thinking out the window. 2008 was another record-setting year, one that I think will qualify us for the Inc. 5000 for the third year in a row. In November, things slowed down considerably and we had to make some of the same changes that our clients and competitors were making. We laid off a person, asked another to be part time, re-invented our AP & AR department, released some office space, changed phone systems, credit cards and renegotiated with some of our vendors so that we could ride out the 1st quarter and beyond. It was a team effort from everyone we work with so that we could get through the tough times. Recently the signs of recession appear to be lifting and we need to start to think about life beyond the recession. Before we do that, I wanted to recognize some good things that have come out of this.

When we are busy, things slip through the cracks, shortcuts are taken, internal budgets are exceeded and focus is shared amongst the many priorities that compete for our attention. During the past 6 months we have had more time to train our facilitators, donate our services, develop new programs, spend time with our repeat clients and really put customer service back where it belongs, on the forefront of our operation. We have re-designed programs to better deliver the outcomes of our clients and focused on better ways to give back to the community. Our goals as a company have been less on growth and more on sustainable, smart operations and I think we all have a better sense of appreciation for each other and most of all for the companies that hire us and the work that we do. This will serve us and our clients when the recession is finally laid to rest.

Just the other day I was reading a meeting publication which included team building in the “hot trends” for 2009-10 and rightfully so. We have all been through an experience of a lifetime we are now coming out of it and as one of my colleagues Trent Schumann said in a new Linked in group for team building providers, “Interestingly enough, the companies that were already focusing on employee engagement are doing even more of it. They are using this as an opportunity to increase loyalty and raid their competitors’ disillusioned high performers. As soon as the turnaround happens, they’ll have a dedicated and tuned team ready to take advantage of it, while their competitors will be scrambling to hire and build new teams.”

Teambonding is getting through this economic downturn with patience, perseverance, and a positive attitude. Judging from the quotes and letters we receive, it is obvious that we are also jelling better as a team. When times are tough people rely on one another more, and that teaches us all a very good lesson about the power of teamwork.

The "arrrrgh" in "team"

2009-05-27T20:06:00Z

I found a great cartoon today and thought you’d enjoy a laugh on us.

Check out where I found the cartoon Social Signal

Live to work or work to live?

2009-05-21T19:16:00Z

I admit it, I’m a workaholic. I love to work. I often wake up at 5:00AM and go into the office before the family gets up. I surf the web and Twitter and Link in and really enjoy leading a creative team of individuals towards a common goal and I have been very successful in taking TeamBonding to the level of premier team building companies in the world. It wasn’t always this way, or was it?

As I prepare for my daughter’s graduation from high school I think back about the life changing decision she helped me make over 11 years ago. The business was struggling and in debt and the first calls each day were threatening. The internet was just starting and I had my AOL account. I had given up, I decided that I was going to get a job. While I was doing that one night, my 6 year old daughter came over and asked me what I was doing. I told her that I was going to find a job where I could go to work, do my job, come home and not have to worry about it. She looked at me and said as only a young child can do, “Dad I don’t want you to get a job like Jamie’s dad”. I asked what kind of job does Jamie’s dad have? “The kind of job that he leaves in the morning before Jamie wakes up and comes home after Jamie goes to bed. I don’t want you to get that kind of job dad.” Well, I didn’t want that kind of job either. I worked a little harder and decided to take the company in the direction of corporate work and slowly but surely, the debt disappeared, the new clients appeared and I got to spend a lot of time with my daughter, her sister and brother and haven’t missed anything along the way and I owe her a debt of gratitude for opening my eyes and helping me see another way.

I have just returned from a vacation in Ireland with my wife to celebrate our 20th anniversary and again I was reminded that yes, I love to work, I love the company and the people in it but I don’t live to work, I work to live and have enjoyed every minute of it. I hope you have the opportunity to do make the same choice.

Addicted to Philanthropy

2009-05-07T15:32:00Z

As the founder of one of the largest team building companies in the country it is my job to lead the way, determine trends and find new ways to build and bond the teams of our clients. One of the many things that motivate me is the feedback that we receive from the companies and teams that we have helped. We really help make a difference in their work lives and help companies achieve success. That has been enough to satisfy me in that my chosen professional is a worthwhile pursuit.

While building TeamBonding I have blazed a trail that others have followed creating team building scavenger hunts and then culinary team building and by far the best direction that we have taken is philanthropic team building. As the title says, I am addicted to giving back.

Philanthropic team building for those of you that haven’t jumped on the bandwagon just yet is a combination of a team building event that builds and bonds your team and a community service component that gives back to those less fortunate in your community. Just yesterday we did a program called Operation: Military Care where we helped a company create care packages for our soldiers abroad. The event concluded with a soldier just back from Afghanistan who wrote and article about what it means to soldiers to receive these care packets. A powerful conclusion to a powerful program.

On the same day we built 84 bicycles at Disney and I like this story even more, The Boys and Girls club and Big Brothers and Sisters didn’t need the bikes so Jayne, our Corporate Events Manager found a charity that served Youth at Risk who have never received a donation of this kind and the representative cried on the phone when we told her what we were doing and that we wanted to give the donation to her and her kids.

We have story after story like this and it is addicting to our entire team from the facilitator to the salesperson to the client and to the recipient. I thought that building teams for the good of a company was enough to drive my passion but I was wrong. I can’t get enough of doing well and giving back.

This week we are debuting a new scavenger hunt that gives back to the community with Random Acts of Kindness amongst other things. We now have 9 programs that can help your team and the community. Can you feed my addiction?

Team Building - a Facilitators View

2009-04-29T15:55:00Z

I have been writing this blog for a few months now and I am going to take a shortcut I think you are going to like. This blog is directly from one of our facilitators who just returned back from a philanthropic team building event in St. Thomas. It is good for you to see a team building event through his eyes. I think you’ll feel after reading this as I felt, like I was there.

“Back home, long flights but well worth it. I thought I would send some pictures along and let you know exactly what we were able to do. LifePath’s main points are Self, Family and Community. We were able to tie it all together with this We Care for Kids.

I started with some comedy and warm ups. The warm I chose was ‘Teach Me’. I divided the group into 15 teams of 9. Each person was able to teach someone on their team something they didn’t know when they woke up that morning. I then had each team teach the group as a whole one thing they learned. Everyone left knowing at least 9 new things. They loved this, I tied this in with self and family. So we learned to say good morning in French, a hand and eye test, a dance move, how to clap in double time and this first Synagogue on US land was in St Thomas. They really loved learning all this. I kept it fast paced and with some positive comedy. We then moved to the build.

We built 16 bikes, over 60 bears, over 60 camp packs and around 24 toys. After we completed everything we brought them all ( bikes toys, etc ) on to the stage. It was quite impressive. We talked about what we had done (dancing around what was going to happen with them )

The next morning at 8:30AM we all met back in the room and we had kids come in and the charities spoke. When we brought the kids in – tears of joy were running down everyone’s face.

We let the kids choose what they wanted. I choked up when I asked one little girl about the bike she chose and she said it was not for her but for her sister who was sick and could not come. Here is this little girl, who when faced with a choice of many toys and bikes didn’t think of herself, but of her sister. How touching is that?

Through this program we were able to touch over 200 kids!

The charities in St. Thomas were:

1. Kids Scope – A safe house for battered women and their children 2. Community Foundation – helps with grants and distributes money and supplies to childrens programs 3. Catholic Charities – works with homeless families 4. Family Resource Center – has child care and after school programs for the working poor.

This was by far my best program, not only from a facilitator stand point, but as in giving.

There are some very cool moments that happen in this job:

- When you see all the smiles on a groups face that we created. - While they are doing a task, just hearing the ideas, the planning, the laughter and knowing you helped create this. - When you see the fruits of the labor – everything on stage lined up. - When you see the looks on the kids faces and turn and see the look on the group. The love that is in the air is overwhelming.

We as a team created what happened in St Thomas. Pat is so great to work with. He organized and had a clear game plan on how the program would run. We worked well as a team getting things there, getting bikes, setting up the room

A team effort on your end as well, getting us there, support, booking the gig. A total team effort.

Ready for the next one.

Michael Riley, Master Facilitator”

The Winner of our Free Team Building Event

2009-04-26T14:20:00Z

One of our goals for 2009 is to focus on our give back, philanthropic team building events. We offer the widest selection of team building programs but few feel as good to us and our clients as the ones that have a community service component. These programs feel good for the clients, our sales and production staff, the facilitators and assistants and the recipients of the bikes, teddy bears, go green racing kit schools and so many others. We decided to step off the sideline and offer one of our team building events to a company that really needed it. Here is the winning entry to our contest for a Free Team Building event with our new “Go Fly a Kite Program”

“I recently saw an article about your “Go Fly A Kite” team building event and think it is such a great idea! Our company was bought by another company and the merging wasn’t pretty. There were not good plans in place to ensure a smooth transition, and the result was stress, high emotions, fighting, and even some depression. Time has helped somewhat, and working jointly on projects has helped us to put some differences aside and move ahead for the better of the new merged company.

I’m sure our story isn’t so different from many others, but we find that we are just now on the verge of really coming together as one, for the first time in almost two years. When I read about your “Go Fly A Kite” program, I thought it would be a great thing for us. Kites symbolize many things, including freedom, triumph, appreciation, and a lifting of spirit. Those are the same things we are beginning to feel as we start to truly work together. I really want us to win the free Kite team building event you are promoting! Not only would it be fun, but I feel that it would be a pivotal and symbolic marker in the progress of our employees, enabling us to fuse our visions together, looking ahead instead of behind.

Please consider (company name confidential) when deciding who to award the complimentary “Go Fly A Kite” program. We are located in San Diego; a perfect place for a kite flying event, don’t you think?”

We will be delivering this program to this deserving company and we will share the photos with you in an upcoming blog. It feels really good to give back. Your team should try it!

Go Fly a Kite

Happy Anniversary: April 15, 1987 – April 15, 2009

2009-04-14T15:12:00Z

On April 15, 1987 the first Mystery Café Dinner Theater opened in Cambridge, MA. After months of planning, construction, marketing, meeting, writing, casting and hoping and praying, America’s Original Murder Mystery Dinner Theater opened its doors to a sold out audience. I was 25 years old and I had always talked about having my own business and my friends helped me by saying, “David, just shut up and do something!”and I did.

Mystery Café led me to producing entertainment and corporate team building and all of my experience and work help me start this great company, TeamBonding. Naturally I couldn’t have done this myself and on this anniversary, I think back on all of the talented people who helped the company and I get to where we are today, a leader and an innovator in corporate team building and one of Inc. Magazines fastest growing companies in 2007 & 2008.

It got me thinking about one of my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want”. I think that I have done just that especially with TeamBonding as it is the culmination of all my experiences to date. We give our clients and our facilitators everything they want with innovative, high quality programs, competitive pricing, terrific customer service and follow-up and by doing that I have gotten everything I wanted in happy repeat clients, long term employees, talented, committed facilitators and assistants.

Recently I hired a business coach to see if she could help me focus and get what I wanted in life and it turned out that I have everything I want. What I want is more of the same and if old Zig is right, we should get it.

Today’s anniversary blog is a thank you for everyone who has ever been a part of one of our shows or team bonding events. I have a lot to be thankful for and have everything I want both personally and professionally. I feel lucky and proud.

How can we help you get what you want?

The Federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act

2009-04-07T19:34:00Z

We were asked to participate in a Cooking and Connecting charitable giveback program for the New England Meetings and Industry Expo (NEMICE). They decided what many of our clients have realized that culinary team building is hot and combined with philanthropic give-back component, it really is the talk of the industry for team building and philanthropy.

Our Fare to Share program is widely used by teams to work together to create a meal and also create food for those less fortunate by giving back to local food banks. A program like this wouldn’t be possible without the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. Senator John Kerry says that this act is “a wonderful example of what is possible when common sense and common good rule the day in Congress”.

This act encourages the donation of food and grocery products to non-profit organizations such as homeless shelters, soup kitchens and churches by releasing the donor of any potential liability that can stand in the way of community service.

TeamBonding is focused on our series of philanthropic team building programs which allow teams to work together to give back to the community through Fare to Share, our Charity Bike Build, the “Art” of Giving, beehive building, a Habitat for Humanity program and Operation: Military Care.

These are programs that we feel good about offering and teams and the recipients feel good about being a part of. This is true team building.

Fare to Share

If I Ran the Zoo (or the Team Building Company)

2009-03-31T17:44:00Z

It has been a challenging first quarter and I for one am glad it is over. Bring on the warmer weather, baseball and summer outings. Although this is my blog and TeamBonding is my company, I want to take this time and this space to acknowledge my team and thank them for helping me in more ways than I can share get through the last few months. Many of you know who they are and how good they are at what they do. This will also give you a little insight as to who we are and how we do what we do. The TeamBonding process starts at sales goes through production and delivery, follow-up and accounting. These people make it all look easy.

Now imagine you are on the sidelines of the NCAA Final Four and I am introducing my starting lineup:

Jayne Hannah is celebrating 8 years at TeamBonding as our Corporate Events Manager but that doesn’t aptly describe what she does once your program hits her desk. Jayne is from the UK and I always find that people think better of me when they know Jayne is on my team. Jayne manages the production department and puts all the pieces together and helps you the client feel good about the program you have chosen and the facilitator who is delivering it. Jayne really cares and that comes through from start to finish.

Jeff Davies is celebrating 4 years this week and he is our Director of Sales and a great one at that. With a background in travel and sports venue marketing, Jeff has transitioned easily into what we call the “face of the company”. Jeff is often the first point of contact with TeamBonding as he is a regular at MPI, ISES and the CVB. He knows the programs even better than I do.

Scott Flynn was brought on as our CEO a few years ago as a long time friend and my first boss and Scott is now our West Coast Sales Manager. Scott helped create an infrastructure and consistency that helps in every aspect of the company. He helped us get on the right track and put a plan of growth and a solid foundation together as we fine tune our programs, marketing and develop Scotts area of the country, the West Coast.

Shannon Stillings is one of the most energetic and enthusiastic people you’ll ever meet. As a Corporate Events Manager Shannon can often be seen writing a scavenger hunt, uploading a video, taking a reservation for our dinner theater and sending an email, all at the same time. We all should have the passion that Shannon brings to TeamBonding.

Jennifer Smith was a stage manager in her previous job and she is the go to gal for all things production as the Production Manager as she has taken her skills and adapted them to handle our shipping, purchasing and makes sure that all of our facilitators have everything that they need to deliver the programs fully equipped.

Eliseu Depina (We call him Sue) started as a temp and has moved up to be the backbone of our accounting office handling the Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. He is a warm, kind and caring individual and an “asset” to our team.

Nanci Kirkland has brought a new warmth to our sales department. She really takes good care of her clients and enjoys not only selling them the program that best fits their needs and budget but going to the program to make sure that all goes according to plan. As a member of NACE and PMA, you’ll be seeing Nanci out and about more often.

Karen Snow has recently stepped in as our Business Manager and she is the right person at the right time. With a cool and calm demeanor Karen adds that extra special accounting and business knowledge that a creative business like TeamBonding needs to get through tough times and the busy times ahead.

Etienne Lavail has joined us from France as a marketing and production intern. He will be with us through August assisting and learning and giving us more of an international flavor in the office. His overall project is social marketing and he is learning and teaching the rest of us!

These fine teambonders are people that you will come in contact every step of the way when we help you create the perfect team building event for your team. There are so many more I could thank including our program designers and facilitators.

TeamBonding is not only getting through this tough time, we are positioning ourselves for growth on the other side by making improvements in every area of the company; from programming to marketing.

I owe a big thank you to my team and will be doing another team building event in April for our staff.

If it's hard to say, it must be risky

2009-03-24T19:49:00Z

Some new research in Psychological Science from The Association for Psychological Science, tells us that human beings tend to find unpronounceable product names risky. As the recent MPI meeting and tonight’s ISES meeting is on branding, it got me thinking.

My first company was a mystery dinner theater and we went through all sorts of names including the one that still makes me laugh, as my partner was named Frank, so Frank n’ Steins, was a top contender before we chose The Mystery Café. Now, 22 years later, we know the naming/branding was just right.

With TeamBonding, it was another name that said what we do and we recently trademarked Teambonding as it has become a great way to distinguish our offerings from other team building providers. We’ve had similar success with Recipe for Success and TrainingPath but our first spin-off from Teambonding, Scaventures has always been a challenge to pronounce.

Does that make it scary? Will our clients not use us because they can’t pronounce it? Scaventures was a word we created by combining the words Scavenger with Adventure to take the run of the mill scavenger hunt to the next level. It has proved to be a great word in our vocabulary as we can describe a new hunt by just adding the word to it like our Cell Phone Scaventure or our Urban Scaventure or our Limousine… yes you guessed it, Scaventure.

The same study says that if something is familiar, the thinking goes, it is comfortable and safe. So consider Scaventures a word that you can pronounce and is familiar. Just for the record, you can pronounce it anyway you like.

Check out the Scaventures Home Page