Following a successful  event with ‘The Trainline’ in 2010, BlueSky Experiences were challenged to come up with an equally exhilarating event for 2011. The solution – a team treasure hunt, run using mobile phone technology, in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. 

After  a morning meeting and lunch, at ‘Our Dynamic Earth’, Holyrood Road, in Edinburgh, the group reassembled in the main conference room, to receive their instructions for the afternoon.  The 20 teams, each with 5 – 6 members, and named on a piratical theme (e.g. Long John Silver, Captain Hook), were issued with a mobile phone, a local map, and a ‘Virtually Impossible Treasure Hunt’ booklet. Their challenge – to be the first team to find the solution to defuse the bomb, protecting the treasure.

The teams set off to navigate to around 40 different locations, up and down the Royal Mile. Along the way, they had to answer a variety of questions, either from the booklet, or when prompted to, by their phone. Clues ranged from the historical (‘which King is referenced on the plaque at this location?’), to the more modern (‘what word is missing from this picture, outside the Scottish Parliament?’), to the slightly less serious (‘take a picture of a can of Irn Bru – you have only 2 minutes to do so’).  Teams also had to photograph themselves in a variety of poses, at some of the locations. 

With a fixed return time, all teams reassembled at ‘Our Dynamic Earth’ to see who would unlock the treasure.  The team who had correctly answered the most questions, were given the first opportunity. Collating information from some of the treasure clues, they successfully defused the bomb, and released the treasure.

And the team who managed to defuse the bomb on time and release the treasure  …… team “Tiger Lilly”.

Bill Hopkins, Operations Director commented “The aim was to create a team building event which people of all ages and varying levels of fitness could evenly compete against each other and have fun.  The BlueSky treasure hunt successfully achieved both of these goals and provided a guided tour of Edinburgh at the same time.  A great success”

The BlueSky Royal Treasure Hunt for “The Trainline” is a post from: BlueSky Experiences Blog

New figures suggest that, after 549 long days, the recession which has crippled British industry in recent years has officially came to an end.

But while this announcement should be welcomed, there must also be room for caution with many companies across the UK continuing to announce job cuts.

With such developments evident across the county, and others looking to return to normality or grow as the recession ends, the importance of team development exercises should not be underestimated.

These can take any number of forms from office-based activities to day trips to events or from a simple night out to a day out in the wilderness quad biking.

Most of all, it’s about building strong and trustworthy relationships between staff members to the benefit of the wider company.

End of Recession Signals Renewed Importance in Team Building is a post from: BlueSky Experiences Blog

DOF Subsea contacted Bluesky Experiences to design and deliver a team development programme that would strengthen relationships between their UK and Norwegian teams. The brief for this team development programme was to help maintain positive dynamics within multi-cultural teams.

BlueSky set about creating and preparing a unique team development three day programme on neutral ground in Copenhagen.

Ciaran O’Donnell from DOF Subsea commented: “We were recommended to BlueSky by another client and were very impressed when we met them initially. We were looking for a team building event that would help strengthen the relationship between our UK and Norway business units and BlueSky’s approach was excellent. Our teams thoroughly enjoyed the session and there are definite improvements in terms of individual working relationships since the event. We would definitely use BlueSky for a similar project in the future”.

Pan-Euorpean Teambuilding Delivered by BlueSky Experiences is a post from: BlueSky Experiences Blog