Thursday, March 5, 2009

We've Gone Country!



Cowboys. Country Music. Skeet Shooting. Barbeque. How could a day with all of these activities be anything but amazing?

Recently, the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa Sales, Catering, and Event Services team spent an afternoon at Star Ranch, located in the hills above Corona. We arrived at the ranch, had a cocktail hour, and split into teams for a day of outdoor, true-west team building.

As we rotated through each activity, the “Yellow Bellies” “Purple Stallions,” “Roughriders,” and “Angel’s All-Stars” (yes, we named the teams ourselves) learned how to lasso cattle, shoot actual rifles at clay pigeons, work together to build a fence without saying a word, and herd cattle. Never will our team forget the “unmovable” cow, and the attempts made at getting her to budge. Of course, this day ultimately became a competition, with each team competing to accumulate enough points. The culmination of the day involved creating and performing a song to the lyrics of “You Are My Sunshine.”

While this may sound like an interesting way for a hotel staff to spend the afternoon, our team unanimously feels that the bonding and interaction created through activities that require us to be out of our comfort zone will create lasting relationships, and ultimately enable us to serve our clients and guests better. Just as we had to rely on each of our team members throughout the day to create lasting results and finish activities, as a hotel staff every day we take different skills, abilities, and backgrounds to service our clients from beginning to end.

Our day at Star Ranch facilitated a trust and bond within our staff, and ultimately we will use the memories and skills from this day to strengthen our team’s ability to serve our guests.

If you think this may be a great activity for your organization, contact Star Ranch, http://www.ridestarranch.com/, and mention Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa for special rates.

-Kelly Ricedorff, Sales Manager & Cowgirl

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