Meeting News - September 8, 2008 - (Page 61)

Hawaii Incentives Edited by Terri Hardin terri.hardin@nielsen.com Tiki Team Building Exotic voluntourism experiences and contests in Hawaii await meeting groups Ohana hui means “group” in Hawaiian. The closest phrase the language has to “team building” is aha hui, or “gathering of groups.” Even though the ancient Hawaiian language does not have a name for team building, island venues and organizations have translated the team-building process into signature activities. From Huna training on the Big Island to canoe competitions on Kauai to Survivor competitions at Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu, there are myriad ways for planners to spark team spirit in paradise. The ancient shamanic secrets of Huna are taught to voluntourism incentive groups at the Ohana Keauhou Beach Resort in Kailua-Kona, a former royal residence and place of special spiritual significance to native Hawaiians. Participants in the three-day seminars or nine-day training sessions offered by the Empowerment Group of American Pacific University learn breathing techniques and personalpower practices that Hawaiian medicine people have used for centuries. In addition, Kilauea Rainforest Restoration is the theme of a voluntourism team-building event produced by Kona-based tour operator Hawaii Forest and Trail Ltd. Team members are transported to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where they spend one part of the day exploring the natural environment of the volcano with nature experts and the rest of the time protecting that environment by working to control invasive species like Kahili ginger—a beautiful but non-native blossom that is threatening to overrun the park. The effort can be done competitively and includes breakfast, lunch, beverages, day packs, walking sticks, and access fees. Also on the Big Island, the Four Seasons Resort, Hualalai offers the Alakai Nalu program (waterman and women). Teams use traditional outrigger canoes for paddling regattas, which can also include beach biathlons. The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort on Oahu and the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club offer similar outrigger canoeing competitions for team building. www.meetingnews.com Sand ceremonies and Survivor Ho‘olauna literally means “to introduce one person to another, to make a connection.” Island Partners Hawaii, an Oahu- and Maui-based destination management company, has created Ho’olauna Sand Ceremony (available at any major indoor venue in Hawaii) to do just that. Groups gather around tables filled with sand and introduce themselves to their fellow teammates by telling stories of their lives with each handful. One by one, participants contribute significant details about themselves that help build a mountain, which is later divided amongst the group and shared in a traditional ritual handed down by island elders. Island Partners’ Kimo Jenkins recalled that one of the first ceremonies was performed by Firestone and Bridgestone employees on the verge of a merger. “They were all a bit nervous at first, not knowing each other and what the merger would bring,” he said. After the ceremony, the mood was entirely different.“They found similarities and started building connections through them.” Along with the sand ceremony, another popular team-building event that Island Partners produces is a Survivor-type tribal council in which participants (like their latest client, Nike) paddle upriver in canoes to hold a tribal council meeting just like on the TV program. Survivor has actually been filmed at Oahu’s Turtle Bay Resort, and the company can stage a real-life Survivor for team builders at Turtle Bay or any other major resort on the Hawaiian islands. The only difference between the corporate event and the TV show is that in Hawaiian team building, the spirit of aloha—cooperation, rather than competition—rules. r —Gretchen Kelly Attendee hikers navigate the volcano Puhiapele in Kona with the help of a steward/guide. September 8, 2008 MeetingNews 61 http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - September 8, 2008

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