White Point encourages corporate groups to have more fun when they meet
by Heather Clarke, published by Saltwire
September 2019
When Scott Boone’s sales team attended their district retreat at White Point Beach Resort in June, they weren’t spending hours indoors watching PowerPoint presentations. They were roasting marshmallows around a roaring bonfire and scrambling over rocks, laughing and joking about who’d be the first to reach the next clue in their scavenger hunt.
The Mars Wrigley team spent two nights at White Point earlier this summer for training on a new brand partnership with KIND. Since it was important for the team to bond, they chose White Point’s brand-new Rising Tide meeting package — which includes a choice of three different team-building activities.
“Our team is relatively new, we work across Nova Scotia and P.E.I. and we only get together a few times a year, so I wanted us to get to know each other and bond a little more,” says Boone, a District Sales Manager with Mars Wrigley Canada.
The team chose the scavenger hunt option, so Darlene Norman — Recreation and Special Events Manager at White Point — designed a custom hunt across the property with rhyming clues that incorporated information on the new products.
Once the group wrapped up their scavenger hunt and the winning team members claimed their prizes, their formal product training reinforced the messaging they’d taken in through the hunt.
“Everyone loved it and said it was our ‘best meeting ever,’” says Boone. “It was a great way for us to have down-time as individuals, not just as employees.”
“If someone is looking for something different and exciting for their company, I would definitely recommend White Point.”
Norman says there’s a growing trend with companies to want their employees to spend time bonding and interacting with each other rather than spending all of their time sitting in meeting rooms.
For groups who want to let loose and get everyone laughing together, Norman says she can organize an assortment of Minute to Win It games, like shooting elastics at stacks of cans or bopping balloons in the air without letting them hit the ground.
“Adults don’t often get to have fun like this. It’s a great way for teams to laugh, play and cheer each other on,” says Norman. “After all, how often do colleagues get to relax and have fun together, outside of their cubicles and board rooms?”
Corporate groups can also choose a private yoga session outside on the oceanfront lawn, or lakeside by the indoor fireplace. White Point’s yoga instruction is able to provide everything from Yoga for everyone and Vinyasa Flow to Gentle Yoga, Yin & Flow, Mindfulness through Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra (guided meditation).
White Point had already offered activities designed for smaller groups — like working together to build a boat from an assortment of materials — but the challenge was to develop team-building activities for larger corporate groups of 30-60 people, so the Rising Tide meeting package was introduced this summer.
“When you play together, you’re bonding. It strengthens your relationships,” says Norman. “We always hear things like ‘Hey, I didn’t know he could do that,’ or ‘Wow, is she ever good at that!’”
Anne Stevens, Director of Sales at White Point, says they created the new packages because more companies were seeking “ways for their teams to connect on a meaningful level in a place where they feel welcomed and rewarded.”
She works with companies to personalize the Rising Tide package and create individual experiences for each corporate group — combining their meals, accommodations, breaks, evening bonfires, marshmallow roasts and their choice of a team bonding event.
“Companies want to incorporate activities that bring their people together because it’s all about sharing and collaboration of ideas,” says Stevens. “You spend a lot of time with your ‘work family,’ and it’s important for everyone to be able to work well together and be able to tackle new challenges together.”
Since White Point provides WiFi access and is just 90 minutes from Halifax — and under two hours from an international airport — Stevens says corporate guests aren’t fully going “off the grid,” but they are able to embrace a beautiful, private ocean getaway.
“There’s just something about the sound of the pounding surf that relaxes people and fuels creativity,” says Stevens. “Instead of finishing a meeting and disappearing into their rooms until the next morning, they’re playing chess and taking walks on the beach and sitting around the bonfire together.”
Norman says White Point is “the perfect location” for these corporate retreats because of the beautiful, private natural setting that seems to melt everyone’s stresses away as soon as they arrive.
“People love coming here on vacation with their families, so of course corporate groups love coming here, too,” says Norman. “Many of them enjoy it so much that they end up coming back another time with their family or friends, which says a lot.”
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For more information and check date availability for your next meeting (aka play date!) at White Point, contact Anne Stevens at [email protected] or call her at 902.423.8887
Explore Rising Tide, Executive, Great Day Meet & Eat Lobster Packages online now.