Few things bring people together like food and drink -- as some hotels have discovered when it comes to creating a team-building agenda for groups. "Food-related activities are growing in popularity," notes Andrew Roenbeck, executive chef at the Boca Beach Club in Boca Raton, Fla. "In addition to team building, food events can give groups their entertainment for the night while acting as a meal or cocktail hour, so they can serve several purposes at once."
The trend now, according to Bree Benson, director of conference services at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va., has groups moving away from the "heady trust-building activities where everyone is sharing their feelings with each other" and toward engaging, interactive, hands-on programs where delegates can showcase their leadership, communication and teamwork without being ostentatious about it. Besides, Benson adds, "Food creates a lot of buzz and, when you get the opportunity for a group to have some fun and get to know each other in a low-stress environment, you get moments that will resonate with them back at the office."
Following are some creative food-related activities as practiced at some key meeting hotels, which can be adapted to many other locations.
BAJA CHALLENGE Terranea Resort, Palos Verdes, Calif.
terranea.com
Perched atop the cliff-lined Palos Verdes Peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the 582-room Terranea Resort offers a novel twist to TV's Iron Chef formula by throwing a trivia component into the mix.
At the outset, teams are given the basic ingredients to make margaritas and guacamole and tasked with making the tastiest duo. What makes it tricky (and fun) is that the culinary process is intermittently interrupted by trivia and other contests that reward winners with mystery ingredients that must be used in the dish. Teams have to figure out on the fly how to creatively integrate items such as gummy bears and nacho cheese chips into their recipes.
The judges panel might include the event facilitator, the property's director of F&B, an on-site chef or company leadership. Among the key criteria are taste, presentation, creativity and how well teams integrate ingredients. The winning margarita is featured at the lobby bar, where the top team gets to enjoy it on the house.
In all, the resort offers 135,000 square feet of function space.
BREWMASTER'S BLIND TASTE TESTOmni San Diego Hotel
omnihotels.com
The
511-room Omni San Diego Hotel has partnered with the hometown Karl
Strauss Brewing Co. to offer groups beer-themed activities.
Following
a seminar during which guests get an overview of San Diego's craft beer
culture and taste various brews, attendees are put to the test in a
blind tasting competition. Contestants are grouped into teams and must
identify each brew while blindfolded. Once the teammates have discussed
and submitted their answers, the team with the most correct matches
heads to the final round, where the process is repeated with fresh
brews. One contestant is crowned the taste-test champ, and he or she
receives a one night stay at any Omni hotel. For an added twist,
planners can wait to announce the contest after the seminar concludes,
to give especially attentive attendees an advantage.
The Omni
San Diego Hotel features approximately 27,000 square feet of meeting
space and is adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center.
CAKE-DECORATING DERBYLansdowne Resort, Leesburg, Va.
lansdowneresort.com
Put
attendees' confectionary creativity to the test with a cake-decorating
contest as practiced at the 296-room Lansdowne Resort. Teams are ushered
to individual stations set up with a nine-inch cake round and basic
decorating tools. Ingredients include candy, icing and inedible
decorations such as toy army men and small plastic sports figurines.
Teams must decorate their cake according to a surprise theme within the
allotted 20-minute time limit. Cakes are then lined up in the ballroom
for judging, with winners determined by the volume of applause and/or a
panel of judges from the resort.
When a group of first-year law
associates was asked to design a "current events cake" last April,
decorations invoked breaking news relating to Charlie Sheen, the Arab
Spring and college basketball's March Madness. "The whole landscape of
the event changed from very reserved to far more relaxed," recalls
Landsdowne's Bree Benson. "People sometimes get intimidated by preparing
something others have to eat and judge, but you don't have to be a good
cook to decorate a cake."
For more serious deliberations, the Lansdowne Resort features a 50,000-square-foot, IACC-certified conference center on-site.
TOWER OF CHOCOLATEFairmont The Queen Elizabeth, Montreal
fairmont.com/
queenelizabeth
Altitude
triumphs over taste in a food competition offered at the 1,037-room
Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. Teams are stationed at tables
equipped with assorted desserts, including ice cream cones, cake, cream
puffs, wafers, macaroons and candies, and at the shout of "Go!" must
begin to build competing dessert towers using melted chocolate as the
glue. Each table is stocked with different items, so teams are
encouraged to barter with other groups, adding another wrinkle to the
competition. While the main goal is height, teams can win for
creativity, style, teamwork or any other categories a planner might want
to add.
"The activity is stress-free, nonthreatening, and you
have people getting a little dirty, which is always fun," says Nathalie
Guertin, director of sales, Quebec region, for the hotel, which has
46,500 square feet of meeting space.
SALSA AND SALES PITCHTanque Verde Ranch, Tucson, Ariz.
tanqueverderanch.com
Groups
can get into the spirit of the Southwest at this classic dude ranch,
complete with 170 horses and 450 head of cattle. Here, teams go
head-to-head in a margarita- and salsa-making competition with a twist:
They're judged not only on taste and presentation, but also on the
marketing of their creations. Each team is given blank flip charts and
colored markers with which to tout their finished products.
"The
activity is set up so if participants don't want to mix drinks, they
can work on the salsa or draft the team's sales pitch," says Nicholas
Gold, general manager. "We try to make sure everyone is comfortable with
at least one aspect of the contest."
Tanque Verde Ranch offers a total of 13,200 square feet of function space.
SHORES S'MORESShores Resort and Spa, Daytona Beach, Fla.
shoresresort.com
The
Shores S'mores contest channels attendees' inner scouting skills.
Contestants are presented with platters of ingredients, ranging from
oddities like smoked bacon, green apples and popcorn, along with
traditional Hershey's chocolate. Gooey creations are made over fire
pits, then judged on creativity and taste by the resort's executive
chef.
The 212-room property has more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space.
SLIDER GRILL-OFFBallantyne Hotel & Lodge, Charlotte, N.C.
theballantynehotel.com
No
trip to the South is complete without some good old-fashioned barbecue,
and at the 200-room Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge, groups can get in on
the grilling in a slider showdown. Teams must create their own beef or
turkey burgers, with creative use of various sauces, rubs and toppings,
including portobello mushrooms, Thai chilies and Ballantyne's own
special house spice rub. The hotel's culinary team judges the winners.
"Grilling
is almost a year-round sport in the South, and it's naturally a social
activity, which makes it a good ice breaker," says Marshall Hilliard,
director of sales and marketing for the hotel. "It's something that
everyone can do in their own way, and often participants will learn
something they can take back to their backyards."
The Ballantyne features more than 30,000 square feet of function space.
WINE-BLENDING EXPERIENCESilverado Resort & Spa, Napa Valley, Calif.
silveradoresort.com
Groups
compete for the title of best winemaker at the Silverado Resort &
Spa, with its 435 private cottage suites tucked amongst the vineyards
and rolling hills of Napa Valley. Using several varietals of red wine,
various measuring tools, and information about each varietal's acidity
and flavor, groups must blend their own bottle, to be judged by one
member of each team, though other teammates are welcome to roam the
tables and taste-test different concoctions during the event.
The
resort sends each participant home with a bottle of the winning blend,
emblazoned with a corporate logo or the winning team's custom design.
The resort offers 15,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 12,000-square-foot conference center.