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Long live the Faire!
The very first thing anyone would think of for a team building activity for a payroll company would be buying tickets to the local Ren Faire for all employees and a spouse/child/guest apiece. Right?
Absolutely!
At least it was fun! ACat and I called and checked ahead of time, and though I wouldn't be able to pick up my free tickets until 2 PM when our department coordinator would show up to sign for them, we could very well buy our own tickets, have fun on our own until then, and pick up the free ones to use NEXT week. That part of the plan went beautifully well!
We aimed to be there to open the place, and missed by about ten minutes, but we stayed until almost 5:30 and saw as much as we could cram in between. Hack and Slash (comedy swordfighting), Lost Boys, the Zucchini Brothers, a little bit of the Birds of Prey show, the Sturdy Beggars' Mud Show, a bit of Mickle -A- Do's dancing and music, a little of the combat chess match, a part of the staged Robin Hood fight, many bits of street theatre in passing which were largely lots of fun. The Royals kept popping up in odd spots, including the King strolling down the aisle of the Lost Boys show for no apparent reason, and a small group of the court apparently trying to trade riddles with a couple of patrons in jester costume on one corner. (The patrons were either flummoxed or just didn't know any riddles, so it was pretty one sided.)
The shops were an enormous temptation, as always. We drooled over everything from leatherworks to blown glass, stunning garb to Sky Chairs, jewelry to scented oils to metal sculptures to pottery to articulated fantasy puppets to sit on your shoulder, and a fascinating shop run by folks garbed as pirates selling all sorts of really NICE blades. They also ran a jam auction at the end, the first I've ever actually seen but I'm pretty sure it was from the descriptions. All the stuff we actually liked well enough to take home was about $200 on average, but I did get a nice black and garnet velvet bodice (to wear next time!) and we splurged on a sword set for ACat. Well, he did haggle the pirate down almost half, and it is his birthday in a month and a day, so what the hell. He looks GREAT with his plumed hat and his sword! (We did get some pictures, but he had the camera and I didn't get any of him until we got home, and the light was almost gone. Better planning next time!)
As far as the team building went (Remember the team building? This whole exercise was supposed to be about team building), we dutifully went to sit by the front gate at 2, and waited. And waited. No one showed... at 2:30, I finally called our coordinator's cellphone and she told me rather quickly that she'd be there in 20 minutes. Another half hour later (at least we went and got lunch!) she showed up and apologized. Apparently she was pulled over for speeding on her way, and was talking to the police when I called! Oooops... so I collected my free tickets, found out that two coworkers had somehow wheedled theirs out of the will-call desk already and gone in, and pretty much no one else was there, nor was there any plan for getting people to meet up. Huh? Not my problem, not my plan. We heartily recommended Lost Boys and also the belly dancers (who we never did see this time, dammit)then we zipped back into the faire and except for seeing that same coworker again briefly at the Lost Boys, I never saw a single coworker all day. Hmmm.... most painless team building activity ever, and I'm not sorry. Everyone else seems to have had fun with whatever they did, too.
Even with all we did see, we didn't see all we wanted to. But you see, we have these tickets now...... and a looooong weekend coming up! I do enjoy the Ren Faire! (Anyone else want to come along?)
Absolutely!
At least it was fun! ACat and I called and checked ahead of time, and though I wouldn't be able to pick up my free tickets until 2 PM when our department coordinator would show up to sign for them, we could very well buy our own tickets, have fun on our own until then, and pick up the free ones to use NEXT week. That part of the plan went beautifully well!
We aimed to be there to open the place, and missed by about ten minutes, but we stayed until almost 5:30 and saw as much as we could cram in between. Hack and Slash (comedy swordfighting), Lost Boys, the Zucchini Brothers, a little bit of the Birds of Prey show, the Sturdy Beggars' Mud Show, a bit of Mickle -A- Do's dancing and music, a little of the combat chess match, a part of the staged Robin Hood fight, many bits of street theatre in passing which were largely lots of fun. The Royals kept popping up in odd spots, including the King strolling down the aisle of the Lost Boys show for no apparent reason, and a small group of the court apparently trying to trade riddles with a couple of patrons in jester costume on one corner. (The patrons were either flummoxed or just didn't know any riddles, so it was pretty one sided.)
The shops were an enormous temptation, as always. We drooled over everything from leatherworks to blown glass, stunning garb to Sky Chairs, jewelry to scented oils to metal sculptures to pottery to articulated fantasy puppets to sit on your shoulder, and a fascinating shop run by folks garbed as pirates selling all sorts of really NICE blades. They also ran a jam auction at the end, the first I've ever actually seen but I'm pretty sure it was from the descriptions. All the stuff we actually liked well enough to take home was about $200 on average, but I did get a nice black and garnet velvet bodice (to wear next time!) and we splurged on a sword set for ACat. Well, he did haggle the pirate down almost half, and it is his birthday in a month and a day, so what the hell. He looks GREAT with his plumed hat and his sword! (We did get some pictures, but he had the camera and I didn't get any of him until we got home, and the light was almost gone. Better planning next time!)
As far as the team building went (Remember the team building? This whole exercise was supposed to be about team building), we dutifully went to sit by the front gate at 2, and waited. And waited. No one showed... at 2:30, I finally called our coordinator's cellphone and she told me rather quickly that she'd be there in 20 minutes. Another half hour later (at least we went and got lunch!) she showed up and apologized. Apparently she was pulled over for speeding on her way, and was talking to the police when I called! Oooops... so I collected my free tickets, found out that two coworkers had somehow wheedled theirs out of the will-call desk already and gone in, and pretty much no one else was there, nor was there any plan for getting people to meet up. Huh? Not my problem, not my plan. We heartily recommended Lost Boys and also the belly dancers (who we never did see this time, dammit)then we zipped back into the faire and except for seeing that same coworker again briefly at the Lost Boys, I never saw a single coworker all day. Hmmm.... most painless team building activity ever, and I'm not sorry. Everyone else seems to have had fun with whatever they did, too.
Even with all we did see, we didn't see all we wanted to. But you see, we have these tickets now...... and a looooong weekend coming up! I do enjoy the Ren Faire! (Anyone else want to come along?)
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Convince your department to hire me on as a telecomuter, so they can spring for the plane tickets so I can attend these 'team building' exercises. :)
*keeps innuendo to herself*
-H...
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We thoroughly enjoyed the filksing this weekend, thanks for making us feel so welcome! It was nice to meet you, & we do hope to be back down there again soon. :)
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