Corporate Travel Destinations

Employees are often confined to offices or cubicles throughout the workday. They may have little time to interact with fellow employees, subordinates, or managers outside of the workplace. Even at the workplace there is little time for interaction outside of work-related topics or discussions. Employees are often busy working on projects that may include only a particular group of people, and the majority of the workforce may be unfamiliar with one another. A meeting planner understands the need to build in time for camaraderie when event planning. Whether this is accomplished through team building exercises or mutually agreeable leisure activities, building camaraderie is important for event planning.

Team building exercises are an excellent way to build camaraderie among employees. Team building exercises work great at any destination or venue. Group incentive destinations that are inherently more relaxing and offer attendees the chance to unwind are great venues for team building. Group incentive destinations that offer many leisure activities and entertainment options also provide attendees the opportunity to get know one another outside of the office. Finding common interests among employees is a great way to solidify a company's workforce. Choosing destinations that are ideal for team building and leisure activities can help build relationships among those employed by an organization.

A little competition can go a long way, particularly when it comes to team building activities. Team building challenges that break your group up into smaller teams competing against each other are a great way to build camaraderie, encourage participation and get your attendees working together in new and different ways. This type of team building activity can also be particularly useful if staff members who are of different levels in the company work together as equals on each team. When friendly competition and small working groups are involved, you will often see your natural leaders shine, your staff’s wallflowers become more involved and the rivals begin to work together for the greater good.

There are many types of competitive activities that can be used in team building. One example is requiring each team to build a solar powered vehicle using provided materials. This timely activity is a great way to increase environmental awareness while building your team, which makes it an even more appropriate choice for this era of increasing environmental concern. Of course, it is not enough to simply build a solar powered vehicle; in order to really have some fun and encourage some friendly competition, there must also be a race. This activity is a great way to blow off steam at the end of a long day of more strenuous team building activities, or even a fun way to spend an afternoon during a regular work day.

There is no doubt that conferences and conventions are becoming more and more common worldwide. From science fiction and fly fishing to automobile manufacturers and writers, gathering in one place for camaraderie and technical exchange is not “the next big thing,” it’s the “now” thing.

Almost everyone in the United States has heard of the larger conference and convention centers. Las Vegas, for instance, is home to the enormous and beautiful Las Vegas Convention Center. Located within walking distance to hotels, restaurants, and the casinos and nightlife, the website (www.lvcva.com) says it has “In addition to more than two million square feet of exhibit space, 144 meeting rooms (more than 241,000 square feet) handle seating capacities ranging from 20 to 2,500.”

And that’s just one convention center in one U.S. city. Convention centers have begun to spring up worldwide, even in unexpected places like Panama creating meeting places like The Orchid, which will be available sometime near the end of 2009. Other countries seem to be following suit, and the International Association of Conference Center North America chapter president, Neil Pompan, hopes that the international chapters of his organization expand into places like China and South Africa. Continue reading »