Month: April 2013

Best Corporate Events Sponsors Giveaway at BizBash IdeaFest

Earlier this month, event leaders BizBash held IdeaFest South Florida in Fort Lauderdale, and Best Corporate Events was not only on hand with a snazzy booth full of our friendly staff, but we also sponsored a great giveaway with impressive prizes from dining certificates to gift cards to an iPad Mini! Attendees of the conference could get a key that might unlock our treasure chest full of rewards. We loved meeting so many experts and showing them why Best Corporate Events rocks! Plus, it’s always a pleasure to partner with big names in the corporate event industry, and both BizBash and ISES (the International Special Events Society, which also offered some items in the giveaway) certainly fit that descriptor.

Chocolate Factory: Video of the Week 2

Anyone who loves chocolate has probably had a lot of it over the course of his or her lifetime. But this program, Chocolate Factory, includes some aspects that even a chocolate devotee probably has never had occasion to try. Participants taste rare and unique flavors of chocolate, for example, and learn obscure trivia about the cocoa bean and history of chocolate. Most importantly, as this video shows, they get to literally play with their food, building a bridge or other structure in collaboration with the other team members!

How To Choose a Team Building Company

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

When it comes to the important task of selecting the right team building company for your corporate event, it’s worth considering the history of the company, its track record, and its staff. In our case, Best Corporate Events was created by the merger of top companies in the fields of Professional Development Training, Team Building, Corporate Events, Corporate Entertainment, Technology, and App Development – dozens of experts nationwide who knew first-hand the state of the industry and wanted to form a company that would innovate and inspire. Our Managing Partners, Lead Facilitators, and Program Designers are extremely experienced and at the top of their respective games; importantly, they all share information, best practices and ideas, supporting each other in all aspects of preparing corporate events. We are now the largest team building company in America, able to deliver our unique programs anywhere in the country thanks to our super team of professionals.

So before you choose the company you’ll trust to facilitate a program for your team, consider this: Best TeamBuilding isn’t just a name. It’s what we deliver. The best.

Chili Cook-Off: Video of the Week 3

Chili Cook-Off, one of Best Corporate Events’ top culinary programs, has a little something for everyone’s skill set. Those who are experts with a chopping knife get to dice vegetables. Marketing types have the chance to write a commercial or chant promoting their team’s chili. Natural performers can take center stage when presenting that piece to the judges. Everyone wins – especially because not only do participants get to show off their strengths, but also get the support of their team in taking on tasks that they might not have been as comfortable with at the start. Check out this video of teams thriving, learning, eating, and having a blast!

On Being Worthy of Attention

“If time spent with you or your message adds value every time, then you’ll have a competitive advantage over those that don’t.” –Tim Sanders

This enjoyable ONE+ article by Tim Sanders talks about how in this digital age of constant distractions (and therefore limitless possible demands on our time) it’s important to make sure to treat attention as a valuable commodity. Of course, this not only means giving those who contact you your undivided focus, but also considering carefully before contacting a colleague or client.

We here at Best Corporate Events have long since considered attention worthy of, well, attention. Those who call our office get a thoughtful talk with a real person, whose expertise makes the program proposals then offered customized and useful. We avoid haphazard newsletters, emails or phone calls; they’ll always have a purpose, like sharing a new and innovative program we’ve perfected or collaborating with a client on the details of an upcoming event.

In short, we agree with the article that the best way for us to be valued is to value everyone’s time and attention. It has served us well.

Charity Miniature Golf Course Build™ with iPads: Video of the Week

Not only does the Charity Miniature Golf Course Build™ program offer the best of all team building worlds (like corporate social responsibility, creative collaboration, and competitive sport) but it now can also include Apple® iPads®! As you can see in this fun video, adding technology adds the ability for participants to take photos and video, answer trivia questions customized for the theme, and check out live scoring throughout the program. It’s the cherry on the top of an already delicious cake!

First Time Without Training Wheels: A Bike Build Story

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.” -Vesta Kelly 

One of our Managing Partners, Ray, offers this heartwarming story. Recently, he delivered Bike Build charitable programs for two large corporate groups back-to-back in New Orleans and then in Philadelphia. (Needless to say, as one of our most experienced and busiest Lead Facilitators, Ray has a huge number of frequent flier miles!) At both these events, once the participants were surprised by the arrival of the kids who would be the bicycle recipients, at Ray’s instruction the team members adjusted the height of the seat and handle bars for each child.

Then the real magic began. For most of the kids, this would be their first bike ever, or at least their first without training wheels, so they were excited beyond words but did not actually know how to ride. The teams began to teach the children, patiently and carefully, and within a half hour many were zipping around the room with pure joy.

“It was amazing to see it,” Ray reports, recalling the moments when these deserving recipients, helmets firmly fastened, balanced on their own and rode free. “I get a lot out of seeing it right in front of my eyes.” We know that the teams who create the bikes during the program, as well as the kids who receive them, absolutely get a lot of out it too!

Video of the Week: Catapult

Our Catapult program contains a lot of impressive moments, including the launch-for-distance portion, where teams are using their custom-created catapults to send their projectile as far as possible, and the distance-and-accuracy portion, where team members are dashing around the playing area in an attempt to catch their team’s objects. A slightly less flashy, but equally important, section of the program is right near the start: when teams spend ten minutes looking over their supplies and available materials, discussing and planning their strategy.

All of the parts of Best Corporate Events’ programs have a purpose – we never throw in filler just to take up time – and in this case the hands-off design phase forces teams to communicate, set goals, take inventory, and solve the upcoming task creatively. Not coincidentally, these are all vital when they return back to their company.

Check out this video of teams planning, building, and launching projectiles in one of our most exciting team building programs, Catapult!

Add Corporate Training to Push Your Team to the Next Level

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

Though we here at Best Corporate Events offer a huge selection of team building programs, that’s certainly not all we offer clients. It’s true that our programs run the gamut from game shows to culinary competitions to charitable scavenger hunts – many so proprietary and original that we’ve trademarked them! – and that they are all based in solid professional development. It’s good to remember, though, that the Professional Development section of our catalog can impressively complement our more standard fare.

Our corporate training professionals are some of the most impressive anywhere, averaging over 18 years of facilitation experience in their fields, and they offer programs that in one day can cause a paradigm shift for the better in your company. These offerings help team members appreciate their colleagues, help managers better guide their employees, help with time management, and help reduce stress. In short, they truly help. And we have the spectacular feedback to prove it!

Welcome to the BEST blog, a collection of team building articles, industry insights and news about our large collection of programs and events offered in locations across North America.