All work and no play make meetings a dull day. Teambuilding and wellness have become essential to any agenda, and incorporating recreational opportunities provides both. Hotels and resorts are expanding their onsite offerings, and teambuilding companies can help organize outings. Get your game on with these trendy and traditional activities that score with attendees.
Intensely fun
DodgeBow is described as an adrenaline rush of arena combat. The sport is a hybrid of dodgeball and archery. Two teams of as many as 12 archers face off with bows and flat-faced, foam-tipped arrows. There are several locations to play, including in Baltimore and Annapolis, Md.
“There’s a lot of teamwork and communication involved,” says Patrick Reid, founder of the Baltimore location, “so it’s a great ice breaker for groups.”
Navitat Canopy Adventures offers tree-top experiences along aerial challenge courses. The zipline park has two locations: Asheville, N.C., and Knoxville, Tenn. Both offer day and night experiences and provide all necessary equipment, including harness, gloves, and helmet. The Knoxville location has six trails ranging from easy to extreme, offering elements that can include ziplines, bridges, swings, nets, and climbs built into the tree canopy. Navitat can create customized group adventures that cater to team goals.
“It’s fun, outdoors, engaging, and physically challenging, but also physically rewarding,” says Navitat general manager Benjamin Ream. “It’s a great activity for groups to spend time outside of their work environment doing something healthy and engaging that also fosters communication, creates a bond within a group, and allows people’s hidden qualities to come out and shine.”
On the waterfront
At Riversport in Oklahoma, groups can experience watersports against the backdrop of the Oklahoma City skyline. The downtown adventure park is a state-of-the-art facility that serves as a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic training site. Riversport offers activities on the Oklahoma River for everyone, including group curricula rooted in communication and teamwork. In addition to whitewater rafting, tubing, and kayaking, fun group options include flatwater relay races or tug of war in inflatable rafts, dragon boat team paddling experiences, and professional rowing training in an indoor facility.
“It’s a fun environment that focuses on teambuilding, communication,” says Alyssa Baier, adventures marketing director for Riversport. “We can tailor any of the activities completely around the specific needs of the group, and there’s even a leadership program, as well.”
At the new Montgomery Whitewater in Alabama, groups can whitewater raft on dry land. The facility offers two manmade whitewater channels, both of which provide adrenaline-pumping fun. The concrete troughs contain Class II-IV rapids for rafting and kayaking. There is a 1,600-foot-long Competition Channel for experienced paddlers and a 2,200-foot-long Creek Channel for beginners. Groups can travel together or break into teams for some friendly competition.
“It’s a great activity for groups to work together or race and compete,” says Dave Hepp, CEO of Montgomery Whitewater. “A popular activity with some of our corporate groups is racing head to head in our inflatable kayaks.”
For open-water teambuilding, steer your group to Schooner Woodwind: Annapolis Sailing Cruises to take the helm of a 74-foot schooner on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Participants can feel the thrill of the wind in their face aboard the Woodwind and Woodwind II, each of which holds 40 guests. Team members collaborate as they learn to work the sails, navigate, steer, and even race on a designated course.
“We’ve had groups use this as a way to determine who to promote to a manager’s position or as a fixing tool for comradery or simply to watch employees delegate and make decisions,” says Jennifer Kaye, captain of the Woodwind. “It’s really neat to see teams grow through the experience.”
Back to camp
Summer camp conjures memories of warm days and campfire marshmallows. Attendees can recapture that feeling at YMCA Trout Lodge on the private Sunnen Lake in Potosi, Mo. Numerous activities include arts and crafts such as ceramics and tie-dyeing, pontoon-boat tours, disc golf, tennis, scavenger hunts, axe throwing, archery, barn dances with line-dancing lessons, hiking, fishing, swimming, and themed seasonal activities. The property’s Triangle Y Ranch offers trail rides on horseback, and a 50-foot climbing tower and 35-foot rock wall challenge adventurers. The property has cabins and a lodge with guest rooms featuring private balconies with lake views. All-inclusive rates cover accommodations, many activities, and three daily meals in an expansive dining room overlooking the lake.
Camp Trivera in Oklahoma City is owned by Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma. With 18 facilities onsite, the camp offers a rock-climbing wall, canoeing, outdoor pool, zipline, and nature trails. For extra fun, try the Treehouse accommodations that sleep 10.
“Spanning 19 acres, groups can come in and utilize it in a variety of ways,” says Judi Startzman, chief marketing officer for Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma. “It can accommodate everything from high-adventure activities to yard-game competitions to parties with live entertainment.”
The property is not as rustic as the word “camp” might imply; it offers a full-service catering kitchen, audiovisual technology, and a Great Gathering Hall that can accommodate 500, Startzman says. “It’s a blank canvas, so you can carry out whatever vision you have for your event,” she says.
Hi-tech hijinks
Game On Social Hub in Kenner, La., uses augmented reality to add another dimension to classic activities. Bowling scores a strike with Spark Augmented Reality, which projects images (including players’ photos) and 15 interactive games onto the bowling lanes. Axe throwing hits the spot with digital projections that create bright targets and offer a variety of throwing challenges to raise the stakes, such as tic-tac-toe.
“Each area has its own seating area, so groups can flow between areas and compete and sit back and enjoy some food and beverages between games,” says Christy Dillard, the attraction’s event designer. “We also have a two-story laser-tag arena that works great for teambuilding, as well.”
Topgolf Swing Suites are proliferating at properties throughout the South, with locations in nearly every state in ConventionSouth’s coverage area and more coming soon.
The indoor suites use technology to simulate golf games on huge screens, delivering a unique experience that can include attendees who don’t play golf. Beyond the “green” screen, the interactive simulator lets players compete in other immersive challenges, such as zombie dodgeball, baseball pitching, hockey shots, carnival games, football, and soccer.
Have a ball
For the real thing, you can’t beat the South for golf courses. The perennial favorite is on the upswing with a renewed surge in popularity. And it’s not surprising: Golf can be enjoyed at nearly any age, and it offers a chance to interact with others and with nature—often at some beautiful spots.
Top of the Rock Golf Course, part of Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo., is a championship course with equally spectacular views. The Jack Nicklaus Signature Course is situated high above Table Rock Lake in the Ozark Mountains, so players can perfect their putt amid a pastoral panorama. “At Top of the Rock, players are fully immersed in the nature around them, with peaceful waterfalls, wandering creeks, bass-filled ponds, and pristine lakes,” says Madison Horner, the property’s public relations manager. “It’s located at the highest elevation in Taney County, so the views are truly extraordinary.”
A highly anticipated 660-acre golfer’s paradise opened this year in Frisco, Texas. PGA Frisco features the new home of the PGA of America, the 500-room Omni PGA Frisco Resort with 127,000 square feet of event space, two 18-hole championship golf courses, a lighted 10-hole par-3 short course called The Swing, and a lighted two-acre natural-grass putting green known as The Dance Floor. Groups can buy out a section of The Dance Floor or The Swing, and golf clubs and balls are available. “The Dance Floor weaves its way throughout the PGA district, which is our dining and entertainment area of the resort, and it has three mini-courses within it,” says Nicole Mayberry, the resort’s marketing manager. The Swing is “a lot of fun,” Mayberry says. “It has lights so groups can play up until midnight some nights.” Not surprisingly, PGA Frisco also has a Topgolf Swing Suite.
Golf provides lots of options to get creative beyond playing 18 holes. Add a twist on tradition with one-hole challenge games, such as closest to the pin or longest drive, which take less time and can be more inclusive. Glow-in-the-dark golf or air cannons that shoot golf balls are a fun way to get non-golfers involved. And everybody loves mini-golf. At City Foundry STL in St. Louis, Mo., Puttshack offers an indoor 9-hole course described as “an upscale tech-infused mini-golf game” that uses technology to follow the ball’s route and track the number of strokes taken. With bright colors, lights, sound, and crazy holes that include obstacles like giant red Solo cups, in this game, the highest score wins. Other Puttshack locations include Atlanta, Ga.; Houston, Texas; and Miami, Fla.
“It’s fun and interactive and great for groups,” says Catherine Neville, vice president of communications for Explore St. Louis. “It’s all indoors, and you can bounce around from spot to spot while it keeps track of your score just based on your ball.”
Speaking of having a ball, pickleball is the hottest game going. Though not a new sport, the explosion has made it a widespread phenomenon and one of the fastest-growing sports among old and young. The sport has become so popular that many places are converting tennis courts into pickleball courts to accommodate demand. The Bumpy Pickle boasts it is Houston’s largest recreational outdoor sand volleyball and pickleball court facility. The Texas locale has nine pickleball courts, as well as cabanas for rest, food, drinks, and conversation. It’s a popular spot for teambuilding events, says Shea Loe, director of events at the Bumpy Pickle. “Some groups rent out a court or two, while others rent them all out to set up a tournament,” Loe says. “It’s a great option for groups because they can come in and compete or simply hang out at a cabana and spend
time together.”
Location celebration
Activities that incorporate the destination can make a meeting memorable. Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio offers Texas-themed experiences. The Rodeo Olympics challenges guests with faux-cow-chip tossing and lassoing a life-size replica of a calf. Attendees can take country line-dancing lessons with a professional who will teach the group a choreographed dance.
Popular souvenir activities include cowboy-hat fittings and leather-stamping sessions where guests can “brand” a logo onto a leather item such as a keychain. “This experience is ideal for a welcome reception or networking event,” says Michael Hrabovsky, the resort’s director of sales, marketing and events, “as it provides a fun conversation starter.”
