• Making a difference one bike at a time.
T
eambuilding exercises can offer several benefi ts to a com- pany. However, the benefi ts don’t have to stop there; companies are becoming wise to the fact that they can
coordinate activities that not only serve themselves, but also make a difference in the community. PLATO Learning is an innovative educational technology
company. The company is know for their creative products that cover a wide-range of learning and teaching needs, from tradi- tional classroom instruction to distance learning. Finding creative solutions and forward learning is what the company is all about, so it’s no surprise the company found a way to give back with their recent teambuilding exercise. Diana Brasch is the Manager of Meetings and Events at PLA-
TO Learning. She shared with Midwest Meetings her experience coordinating a Build-A-Bike Teambuilding challenge that the company recently sponsored. Midwest Meetings: Tell us about the bicycle teambuild- ing challenge. Diana Brasch: The Build-A-Bike Teambuilding Chal- lenge was held at the Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapo- lis on August 6, 2010. The event followed a full-day of all company business meetings. After the business meetings, employees were given instructions to walk from St. Thomas University to Peavey Plaza where they would meet up with the rest of their team. MM: What interested you in doing this team- building activity?
32
DB: I was given four objectives from my leadership team and
this event met all of our objectives. Our objectives were: 1.) Ev- eryone must participate in the event 2.) The Event needed to have both physical and non-physical challenges 3.) The event needed to give back and 4.) The event needed to be within our budget guidelines. MM: What type of work went into putting together this type of event? DB: I worked with Pete Nelson from Event Lab, which helped
facilitate this event. They offer a Build-A-Bike event, which we customized for our organization using their standard event to match my leadership goals and objectives. MM: How many people participated in the event and how many bikes were built DB: There were 225 people that participated in our Build-A-
Bike teambuilding challenge and 25 bikes were built. Teams of ten had to complete puzzles, challenges and tasks in order to earn parts. Once they had all of their parts, it was time to construct each bike… without instructions! MM: How did you choose to donate the bikes to Big Brothers Big Sister? DB: Big Brothers Big Sisters was a perfect match for this event.
PLATO Learning is an educational company that focuses on the success of students, so working with an organization that also strives towards children’s success was a natural match. MM: Why do you feel it’s important to give back and host events “for a cause”?
MIDWEST MEETINGS SUMMER 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100