corporate bike trips
Just got off the phone with a friend from college who wants to bring his management team on a Western Spirit trip. The last corporate trip we did was in late October and it was for Nike Europe. They were celebrating 20 years of All Conditions Gear and we had 30 folks from 17 countries, including Russia, for 3 days. There were Nike athletes; two kayakers, a skier, and a climber, so we went boating, hiking, bouldering, and biking! (No skiing of course, but you could almost do it here today–lots of snow in Moab right now.)
Nike invited editors from all different types of media, and everybody was so happy to be in Moab and to go camping. Hanging by the campfire is where the bonding really happens. A backcountry retreat, where you travel under your own steam, and see almost nobody is so different from a hotel based event, where everyone goes back to their rooms to check their email. While the trip was only 3 days, we really got to know each other and spent some great time with the Tinker Hatfield hearing about the early days at Nike.
So I will be working to recreate that type of magic for this next event. It’s all about providing interesting outdoor challenges with minimal logistics. At these events, it is so important to have some down time for people to really get a feel for where they are. The Nike guys loved their time on the Colorado River. It was a sunny day and Take Out Beach was warm. They couldn’t believe they were walking around in warm sand barefoot at the end of October.
Of course planning something for a management team of 10 to 12 folks is easier. They will hopefully arrive at the same time and already know each other–at least in the context of work. Our job is to lay the groundwork for a shared experience that will make working together easier. There is something about making it to the top of the pass, or through the thunderstorm, or just gliding through the red rock on bikes that makes showing up at work on Monday better.
Maybe we will take the next corporate trip to Lockhart Basin, or the White Rim, or Bryce to Zion. I have a bunch of groups that went for 3 days last year, that are thinking about 4 for this year, which is great. It means we have more time to really get them out there.