InStyle Magazine Scavenger Review
The Office Team Away Day That Won't Make You Cringe...
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Looking for a fun team-building day to welcome those office newbies this September? We've found the best team activity day around...
Are you getting seriously bored of those annual office ‘fun’ days out? Those group activities and team building events that literally make you want to curl up and cringe. We've all been there, right? Well, we've got the solution... meet The Big Smoke Events.
These guys have changed group activities for the better with their epic scavenger hunts around London. In their own words: 'Our aim is to create a personalised experience that engages participants in an interactive and memorable way!'
Team InStyle took a day out the office to experience this brilliant scavenger hunt and it’s pretty safe to say it was anything but your average office activity day...
Why did you choose the Big Smoke scavenger hunt, was it for a special occasion?
Yes! It was to celebrate the closing of our awesome 15th anniversary birthday issue, we wanted to do something totally different with the whole team and mainly do something just a bit silly.
Which location did you choose to do the hunt?
We chose East London for our scavenger hunt. We based ourselves at a pub called The Water Poet, where we all gathered for the briefing and to receive our task clip boards (very professional!) from Francesca Hubbard, founder and CEO of The Big Smoke.
How did you kick off the event?
A few glasses of prosecco (a little bit of liquid courage for the team...) then we hit the streets to complete our 27 random challenge tasks in 2.5 hours. Don't panic 27 tasks is totally doable in the time limit, also it adds to the race aspect... aka running around centeral London like a total lunatic.
What was the best challenge in the scavenger hunt?
The earthquake video task. Each team had to record an earthquaske scene in a public area and everyone's video was so different which made the presentation at the end of the hunt so funny to watch. During the hunt we were all told to send Francesca our photos and videos over Whatsapp, which Francessca compiled into a presentation for a great awards ceremony and private screening to showcase what each team got up to.
What did you learn from the scavenger hunt?
You'll probably find that you don't mind going up to complete strangers and asking them for random things, like finding an accountant called Charles who would give you his business card (task number 10) or even doing a truly embarrassing dance routine in front of someone in the middle of Liverpool Station and asking them to rate you out of 10… totally no big deal!
Any tips for the hunt?
Try not to take it too personally when a colleague 'pep talks' you into being more enthusiastic, and try not to freak out when you're shouted to ‘get a move on!’ during a task… remember at the end of the day this is supposed to be a fun activity. Also break up the team to complete more tasks in the time limit and keep your phone on you to communicate frantically between your team members regarding where to meet and who's doing what exactly.
Would you recommend it?
For sure, everyone on the team had a hilarious time. It kind of made us feel like we were on an episode of The Apprentice but way more fun. Also knowing that you have these ridiculous and hilarious photos and mini videos to keep forever for office embarrassment is totally brilliant!