RE:08 - The RE:cap
By now, you've surely heard little bits and pieces about our RE:treat, but here's your chance to catch it in its entirety.
We snatched up all the cameras that we could, shuffled things around a bit, did our best to put them in order, and the end result is the slide show that you see below. Read below for a day by day recap!
Day One:
We meet up at the MindComet compound to answer any questions and tie up loose ends. It's work as usual until noon, then we're off in our carpools to the train station!
We check our bags, then hang out for a few, pulsing with anticipation until the train arrives. Once it does, we take our place at the caboose and claim our territory for the next eight or so hours.
First things first, we have to work for our supper. Making the most of the captive audience created by the confines of the train, we sit down to watch a presentation, finely-crafted by our Management team, giving us a sneak peek into what we are to expect at the retreat, and a primer as to the year to come. Once completed, we receive our Train snack stipend.
We make the best of a long ride, spending quality time with our fellow team members. We share drinks, movies, mp3 players - anything to make the trip as pleasant as possible. Along the way, we even made some friends. We recruited a German tourist and made friends with the "Red Hat Ladies".
With just a bit of spunk left, we disembark the train for a bus ride over to the Wild Dunes resort. Jeremy decides that it is a good time to dig up his famous Gouda or Cheddar routine, entertaining us until we reach our destination. Worn out, we assemble our teams, claim our houses, find our bedrooms and unpack. Right to bed for most.
Day Two:
After a hearty breakfast, we gathered in a shady spot on the boardwalk to have a company-wide town hall style meeting. We further discussed our vision for the new year and answered any questions that could be thought up by the team. During the break, we all made friends with a cute puppy belonging to a resort employee.
Afterward, we broke up into teams to prepare for our RE:08 challenge. Each team's mission was to throw a party in their bungalow on a budget of only $150. The team's director was sent with a shopping list and only about an hour to gather goods. Upon return, teams let their creative vision flow, and constructed parties that would be judged upon various criteria by their fellow MindCometeers: food, drink, music, ambiance and overall theme.
Following an afternoon of intense preparation, the time had come for everyone to make final adjustments and prepare to party. First up was our Pink team, led by Marcelle, who assembled a high-class, laid-back, Jamaican gathering with a spicy kick.
Our next stop took us into the deep south for a good ol' Redneck hoedown. The Red team led by Kelly and Andrew threw a real authentic shindig, complete with all the trimmings.
[v
Stop number three, the Green team led by Jeremy, ultimately won our competition. Their Polynesian luau came with gourmet salmon, pineapple fizzes and hula lessons from a certified instructor. It was no surprise, as MindComet loves to shake it any chance it gets, and we can't get enough of Jeremy's sophisticated dishes.
With all of this commotion, what our team needed was a little bit of RE:laxation, and that is what the Blue team set out to do, piloted by Doug. We were greeted at the door with warm cloths to cleanse our bodies, followed by fine sorbet to clean our pallets. They went beyond what could be bought and offered free massages which everyone enjoyed.
RE:freshed, RE:laxed and RE:ady to go, we embarked to our final destination. David's Yellow team brough Candyland to South Carolina. They took the last stop as an opportunity, and offered desserts, sweet drinks, balloons, driving music and a dance floor to let the team do what it had been looking forward to for the last year - break it down!
As the night carried on, we slowly dispersed, some down to the beach, some to restart earlier parties and some just kept on dancing. Slowly, the parties died down and we retreated to our rooms for a little shut-eye.
Day Three:
With plenty of fluids, and as much rest as we could jam into the wee hours of the morning, we ate a quick breakfast and were divided into our various departments for some serious learning. We workshopped on fine tuning our skills some areas and discussed how we can work together within our teams to be the best MindComet that we can be.
Charged up, we assembled our costumes and met back as a group - not MindComet, but Killers International - part of a game we had started before leaving Orlando. We each had a role to play, sporting elaborate costumes and playing along to find out who had betrayed the group! Over lunch, we discovered the culprit and voted on who we found to be best-dressed. Notice David's excitement as the knight in the front below.
In the afternoon, we found a little free time. Some laid by the pool, some watched movies with their compadres, and some made it over to the salon for a massage, pedicure, or even a long-belated haircut!
For the second time that day, we had to dress up. But this time it was in our Sunday best to honor the MindCometeers that throw what is expected of them out the window and blow us away, each and every day. But we've already covered that in detail, so click on the picture below to see how it all went down.
Bellies full from our award feast, we headed to back to our rooms to pack. This allowed us to enjoy the last few hours that we had before we were to head back to FL.
Scattered from house to house, we enjoyed the time that we had left. Some took naps, others stayed up until we had to head out around 3:00AM to catch our bus.
You won't find any pictures of the trip home. Unlike the first train ride, we spent this one sleeping, worn out, and satisfied with what we had accomplished together.
We snatched up all the cameras that we could, shuffled things around a bit, did our best to put them in order, and the end result is the slide show that you see below. Read below for a day by day recap!
Day One:
We meet up at the MindComet compound to answer any questions and tie up loose ends. It's work as usual until noon, then we're off in our carpools to the train station!
We check our bags, then hang out for a few, pulsing with anticipation until the train arrives. Once it does, we take our place at the caboose and claim our territory for the next eight or so hours.
First things first, we have to work for our supper. Making the most of the captive audience created by the confines of the train, we sit down to watch a presentation, finely-crafted by our Management team, giving us a sneak peek into what we are to expect at the retreat, and a primer as to the year to come. Once completed, we receive our Train snack stipend.
We make the best of a long ride, spending quality time with our fellow team members. We share drinks, movies, mp3 players - anything to make the trip as pleasant as possible. Along the way, we even made some friends. We recruited a German tourist and made friends with the "Red Hat Ladies".
With just a bit of spunk left, we disembark the train for a bus ride over to the Wild Dunes resort. Jeremy decides that it is a good time to dig up his famous Gouda or Cheddar routine, entertaining us until we reach our destination. Worn out, we assemble our teams, claim our houses, find our bedrooms and unpack. Right to bed for most.
Day Two:
After a hearty breakfast, we gathered in a shady spot on the boardwalk to have a company-wide town hall style meeting. We further discussed our vision for the new year and answered any questions that could be thought up by the team. During the break, we all made friends with a cute puppy belonging to a resort employee.
Afterward, we broke up into teams to prepare for our RE:08 challenge. Each team's mission was to throw a party in their bungalow on a budget of only $150. The team's director was sent with a shopping list and only about an hour to gather goods. Upon return, teams let their creative vision flow, and constructed parties that would be judged upon various criteria by their fellow MindCometeers: food, drink, music, ambiance and overall theme.
Following an afternoon of intense preparation, the time had come for everyone to make final adjustments and prepare to party. First up was our Pink team, led by Marcelle, who assembled a high-class, laid-back, Jamaican gathering with a spicy kick.
Our next stop took us into the deep south for a good ol' Redneck hoedown. The Red team led by Kelly and Andrew threw a real authentic shindig, complete with all the trimmings.
[v
Stop number three, the Green team led by Jeremy, ultimately won our competition. Their Polynesian luau came with gourmet salmon, pineapple fizzes and hula lessons from a certified instructor. It was no surprise, as MindComet loves to shake it any chance it gets, and we can't get enough of Jeremy's sophisticated dishes.
With all of this commotion, what our team needed was a little bit of RE:laxation, and that is what the Blue team set out to do, piloted by Doug. We were greeted at the door with warm cloths to cleanse our bodies, followed by fine sorbet to clean our pallets. They went beyond what could be bought and offered free massages which everyone enjoyed.
RE:freshed, RE:laxed and RE:ady to go, we embarked to our final destination. David's Yellow team brough Candyland to South Carolina. They took the last stop as an opportunity, and offered desserts, sweet drinks, balloons, driving music and a dance floor to let the team do what it had been looking forward to for the last year - break it down!
As the night carried on, we slowly dispersed, some down to the beach, some to restart earlier parties and some just kept on dancing. Slowly, the parties died down and we retreated to our rooms for a little shut-eye.
Day Three:
With plenty of fluids, and as much rest as we could jam into the wee hours of the morning, we ate a quick breakfast and were divided into our various departments for some serious learning. We workshopped on fine tuning our skills some areas and discussed how we can work together within our teams to be the best MindComet that we can be.
Charged up, we assembled our costumes and met back as a group - not MindComet, but Killers International - part of a game we had started before leaving Orlando. We each had a role to play, sporting elaborate costumes and playing along to find out who had betrayed the group! Over lunch, we discovered the culprit and voted on who we found to be best-dressed. Notice David's excitement as the knight in the front below.
In the afternoon, we found a little free time. Some laid by the pool, some watched movies with their compadres, and some made it over to the salon for a massage, pedicure, or even a long-belated haircut!
For the second time that day, we had to dress up. But this time it was in our Sunday best to honor the MindCometeers that throw what is expected of them out the window and blow us away, each and every day. But we've already covered that in detail, so click on the picture below to see how it all went down.
Bellies full from our award feast, we headed to back to our rooms to pack. This allowed us to enjoy the last few hours that we had before we were to head back to FL.
Scattered from house to house, we enjoyed the time that we had left. Some took naps, others stayed up until we had to head out around 3:00AM to catch our bus.
You won't find any pictures of the trip home. Unlike the first train ride, we spent this one sleeping, worn out, and satisfied with what we had accomplished together.
Labels: RE:08
posted by MindComet at Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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