Project Recycled Runway: Team Building

One of  TeamBuilding Unlimited's latest Team Events is Project Recycled Runway, a fun competition that taps into the creativity and resourcefulness of your group. Teams are given the opportunity to design and construct garments, walk down the fashion runway, and create a pitch for their fashions that ties back to the goals and objectives and theme of their meeting/event.

Participants are the ‘designers’ as they work in teams under time pressure using newspaper, cardboard, garbage bags, cloth, recycled accessories, glue guns, staplers, and duct tape. This is a Green Team Building Event!

The challenge is to construct a team outfit using nothing but the materials provided. Teams need to construct their garments carefully, as their models will actually need to wear the outfits during the final and fun part of the event--the Corporate Team Runway. In addition, each team needs to work together to create a unique one minute Runway "Pitch".

Teams are judged on quality, style and ingenuity, as well as model ability and spokesperson's explanation. There is never a right answer in fashion, and the final show is always surprising and entertaining. Winning designs/teams will be judged by their peers and ‘celebrity’ judges.

This teambuilding activity is varied, collaborative, creative and engaging, generating team spirit. Project Recycled Runway really gets team members working and having fun together. Fast paced, fun and varied, this event really brings together large teams.

Teambuilding Unlimited works with your teams to incorporate your group’s goals, objectives, jargon and meeting theme into the event. Our trained facilitators help with team construction guidelines, but it’s up to each team’s ingenuity to execute and showcase their designs.

Which Team will win Project Recycled Runway? And which team will be out?

Contact TeamBuilding Unlimited for more information.

THE CUPCAKE CHALLENGE

Who doesn't love to decorate cupcakes?  High above San Francisco-- on the 46th floor of the hotel during a large convention--150 spouses participated in the Cupcake Decorating Challenge! Armed with piping bags and frosting, the teams decorated over 500 cupcakes. Part of the challenge was to box the cupcakes, so they could be given to two charitable organizations. What a fun event. A beautiful day, sweet frosting and lots of decorating materials.

TeamBuilding Unlimited designed this program which included tips and techniques and pastry chefs! Usually TBU includes the building of a display in the event, but not this time, since the group was more concentrated on how many cupcakes could be decorated in the allotted time in order to have a bigger donation. It was a win-win event for everyone, especially the children who received the cupcakes!

Want to do the Cupcake Challenge for your next Team Building event?  Contact TeamBuilding Unlimited. This fun interactive and delicious activity capitalizes on your team's creativity and sweet tooth. It's great before or after a meal and can be incorporated into your lunch, dinner or afternoon teambuilding treat. 

Teams are challenged to Decorate their Cupcakes so that they symbolize the team itself, the company, the theme of the meeting, their positions at the company, or another theme.
In addition each team will be given materials to create a "DISPLAY" in which they'll be able to stack their treats into showpieces. Prizes will be given to best overall display!

Each team will be given Cupcakes and a variety of cupcake design supplies, tools and assorted decorating materials, so they can turn their concept into reality. After the cupcakes are designed, decorated and displayed, each team will create a "commercial" to present their cupcakes to the entire group.

And last but not least, participants will enjoy their creations.

Culinary TeamBuilding

TeamBuilding Unlimited and Murder on the Menu offers many different types of culinary team building. Our latest is Murder on the Menu: The Ultimate Cooking Experience!

Murder on the Menu, California's #1 mystery event company, partners with Paulding & Company, a local long-established San Francisco Bay Area Professional Kitchen & Catering company, to bring our clients a customized interactive murder mystery event, set in the Paulding & Company kitchen—where your guests are the chefs, and the mystery unfolds as you cook and dine.

Our Murder on the Menu crew of improv actors will add to the drama. What could be better? You get to cook great food, eat well...and solve the mysteries that unfold one clue at a time. It's a recipe for success!

Available for groups up to 65!

Texas Roadhouse Roadtrip in San Francisco

While companies are canceling their out-of-town meetings, Texas Roadhouse was in San Francisco last week for five days of fun! G.J. Hart, CEO of Texas Roadhouse, says it's crucial to business--to reward employees, get some work down, and have a good time together. TeamBuilding Unlimited/Murder on the Menu didn't participate in the event (sadly), but it was great to learn that our fellow entertainers, event planners, caterers, and hotels were able to participate. Go here for the video.

Face to face meetings, incentives and special events are critical to good business.

SFCVB Sets Sail

Only in San Francisco

The staff of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau set sail today on a Cruise to Die For.... Some may have thought they were going on a holiday Bay Cruise, but pretty soon they realized more was afoot. Something was up when odd characters offered a partnership with a unique new San Francisco product--"San Francisco in a Bottle." Drink and eat in a bottle. These bottles were going to capture the many neighbors that make up San Francisco--Chinatown Chardonnay, Mission Merlot, South of Market Sauvignon, Beach Chalet Burgundy, and the list went on. The premise was to offer a bottle to each member of the SFCVB, cases to meeting planners and travel agents, and maybe later have the bottles for sale at the SFCVB. But the afternoon wasn't all about this 'fantastic' new wine.

The company that proposed it had some skeletons in their closet, and before the ship docked there were five crimes committed. Joe D'Alessandro, head of the CVB and someone who loves red wine and everything Italian, wanted justice done. Could he be bribed with a bottle of NorthBeach Red--part red wine, some pasta, a little tomato paste and lots of garlic? As it turned out, he was one of the suspects. Murder on the Menu's Ace detective, Frank T. Lawman (aka Peter Nachtrieb) grilled many suspects throughout the cruise. He even brought wanted posters on lots of the well-known suspects and bureau staff. But all good -or bad--things come to an end, at least in Murder on the Menu productions. Each table became a team as they matched wits with Frank T. The solution to the dastardly crimes came to light as the fog shrouded San Francisco Bay. This customized uniquely San Francisco Murder Mystery could happen "Only In San Francisco," everybody's favorite city.

Smart Meetings

Just got the September issue of Smart Meetings, one of my favorite industry publications. Several great articles on teambuilding including one titled, "Team Building, Smart Meetings-Style" by Hunter Holcombe about Smart Meetings own team's teambuilding Scavenger Quest with our own Frank Price. Last lines: "what did we all learn from this experience? We certainly woke up the next morning feeling like we had the best team in publishing." That's what we like to hear. Our teambuilding events are about as much about team bonding as team building.

For great ideas on teambuilding and planning your next meeting, check out Smart Meetings magazine.

Venues: Waterbar San Francisco

Last night I was invited by the Long Beach CVB to a special evening at Pat Kuleto's new Waterbar. What a venue. What a view. What terrific food. Our event was in a lovely private room with its own balcony overlooking the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island and the Bay. It would be perfect for a small party of 50 or less. I'd love to do a mystery event there, but any type of party would be great.

Downstairs, the Waterbar located on San Francisco's Embarcadero just south of the arrow has interior views just as spectacular as the exterior views. The two dining rooms hold up to 275. The menu is prepared under the direction of Chef Parke Ulrich who worked with Mark Franz at Farallon for the past 10 years. Great fresh sustainable seafood. Unpretentious but elegant.

Corporate Holiday Party Ideas

It's never too early (or late) to plan your company holiday party. Murder on the Menu / TeamBuilding Unlimited would love to work with you to make your holiday event a smashing success. Here are a few ideas. Remember, all Murder on the Menu/TeamBuilding Unlimited events are customized to include information on your group, company, jargon, goals and objectives and more! All our events are interactive because they're all about you!

Murder Mystery: Our mystery events are customized, interactive theatrical presentations -- a welcome form of corporate entertainment. The spotlight of fun is on employees and friends as our actors bring out the corporate energy and unique creativity of your guests. MurderOnTheMenu.com

Delicious Designs: The Great Gingerbread House Competition
Teams work together to design, build and decorate the best Gingerbread House to reflect their company and/or their group within the company. All materials are provided including instructions, gingerbread, decorations, icing, candy, sprinkles and other goodies! You supply the resourceful creativity and dynamic energy. So roll up your sleeves and get down to food basics. Design a delicious gingerbread house which reflects the raison d'être of your group.

The Charity Challenge: Trikes for Tots
TeamBuilding Unlimited has added a special element to our teambuilding events. After a series of engaging, fun and competitive Wacky Games, participants will work together to build Tricycles for Tots. Enter into the Season of Giving-Year-Round.
TeamBuilding-Unlimited.com

I have a lot of other ideas for holiday parties--The Arresting Detective, Elves, A French Knight, Hats Off to You!

ZS Associates Build Bikes for Kids at the Giants AT&T Park

Thursday dawned foggy and damp, but even the cool Bay area fog couldn't dampen the energy of 100 ZS Associates participants as they put together 26 bicycles at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The Charity Challenge: Bikes for Kids yielded 26 bikes for needy kids. Rick Uribe of Catholic Charities received the bicycles for Family Support Services in Santa Rosa. Some bikes will be given to children now, and some will be held for holiday gifts. But the day for ZS Associates didn't end there. Murder on the Menu/TeamBuilding Unlimited had also created some fun teambuilding games before the Game. It was a great day and the group was certainly up for the Charity Challenge!