I conducted a team-building event in the HK Disneyland Resort. A great experience! One important learning is how powerfully the venue can help the event. In my case, the HK Disneyland Resort helped in 3 ways. First, the service there is great. I have facilitated in various hotels in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Botswana, Indonesia, Singapore, Korea, etc. I understand that good services is not always a must. Sometimes, they misunderstood the room set up requirement. Sometimes, they mis-placed the material couriered before the event. Sometimes, I could not find the services staff when I need them. Sometimes, they will come in the room disrupting the event..... But I was really well-supported in the Disneyland Resort. My experience proved the claim that the 'Disney' brand stands for service.
It is not just the software, but also the hardware. There are a lot of open spaces, indoor and outdoor. You can see the seas and the mountains. We ran an amazing-race-kind-of activity, which worked well in this resort. The resort is not too big or too small for people to run around to conduct tasks. I like the location as well. It is reasonably remote from the city (though HK is not very big) to really give a sense of 'off-site' for the participants.
The third reason, and probably the most important one, is that the resort carries the 'Disney' theme. As our guest of honor kicked started the event, he said that when he entered the hotel and saw the Mickey Mouse sign, he felt excited. It seems that things became more possible. I felt the same when I checked in the hotel. I felt like more open to things, and probably my participants would feel like more equal to each other. Moreover, people coming in a Disney establishment will naturally feel the joy. Excitement, Possibility, Equality and Fun are all important elements for a successful team-building event.
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