Texas has flown under six different flags, but unity has always been an essential Lone Star characteristic.
The name "Texas" itself means "friend" or "ally," translated from the Caddo Nation (the southeastern Native American tribe once inhabiting East Texas) word taysha. Working together is the Texas way, prompting initiatives like the North Texas Tourism Ambassadors Program, which inspires DFW-area hospitality industry front-liners "to turn every visitor encounter into a positive experience."
Our top 10 picks for Texas team builders, as diverse and memorable as the state itself, are also centered on that spirit of Texas togetherness.
1. Cypress Valley Canopy Tours, Austin
Bird’s-eye vision helped create this unique interpretation of the zip-line experience, which sends participants zooming through a canopy of old growth cypress trees—some 100 feet tall—in Texas Hill Country. Unleash your inner Tarzan and Jane as you sail from tree to tree on rides ranging in length from 80 feet to 360 feet, accompanied by guides who share their passion for local ecology, biology and zip lining. Drawing corporate groups from around the U.S., these exhilarating team builders, which include the out-of-the-comfort-zone Canopy Challenge and a gentler low ropes course, are also appetite builders; the company works with Austin-area restaurants such R.O.’s BBQ and La Cabana Grill to provide catered meals.
2. Chuck Wagon Olympix at Group Dynamix, Carrollton
Boasting the largest team development center of its kind in the nation, Group Dynamix offers an extensive menu of recreational events and team-building programs, including the only-in-Texas Chuck Wagon Olympix. Lasting from three to seven hours, this camaraderie-building outing, modeled after the Oklahoma Land Rush, is based on constructing and then racing mini-chuck wagons around a challenge course. Hilarity typically ensues as teams design and decorate their wagons, create pioneer team names and dance and perform hoedown songs. The goal is to collect "frontier points" en route to the finish line. The event, which can be conducted at the Group Dynamix facility or off-site, ends with one team claiming bragging rights at the Boomer Awards Ceremony.
3. The Amazin’ Maze at the Circle R Ranch, Flower Mound
An exclusive team-building program at this Irving-area institution is The Amazin’ Maze, a 4,624-square-foot wooden maze that challenges team members to assist and motivate each other while negotiating the labyrinth’s many twists and turns. Founded in 1973 by a Canada Dry executive from New York, the Circle R Ranch has been an events and meetings destination for four decades. Specializing in the production of exclusive programs for groups ranging from small social outings to huge convention off-site events, the ranch also features rodeo-themed team-building competitions and special offerings such as Roadhouse Ranch Biker Barbecue, where delegates can go full-throttle with "Rebel Riders" and "Biker Babes."
4. Team Glassblowing at Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery, Grapevine
Founded in 1844, historic Grapevine is one of the oldest settlements in North Texas. Located in the Historic Cotton Belt Railroad District just minutes from the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, Vetro Glassblowing Studio & Gallery exemplifies the artisanal spirit that has long defined Grapevine. Vetro offers four team-building packages, from helping glassblowing instructors to the hands-on swirling and twisting of molten glass. Every package includes a facility tour, and as an added bonus, two team-building participants can face off in a Bubble Blowing Contest. With molten glass-topped blowpipe in hand, the challenge is to blow the biggest bubble.
5. Power and Possibility: Choices in the Workplace at the Holocaust Museum Houston
Through its exhibitions and learning programs, this museum uses the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides to teach the dangers of hatred, prejudice and apathy. For team-building retreats with a singular perspective, Power and Possibility: Choices in the Workplace focuses on the roles that people in various professions played during the Holocaust. Conducted in the museum’s classroom and exhibit space, a typical day-long workshop includes a tour of the museum’s permanent exhibit Bearing Witness: A Community Remembers, an analysis of photographs and documents relating to individual professions and the Holocaust, and group discussion and program evaluation. Industry-specific presentations are also available, including law, medicine education and the arts.
6. The Amazing Race, Beaumont
Organized by the Beaumont CVB, this customizable program takes participants on an hour-long historical adventure through downtown Beaumont. Armed with video cameras for recording their progress, teams depart Riverfront Park for a race through this former oil boom city. Tasked with finding landmarks such as the San Jacinto Building and Hotel Beaumont, the teams’ goal is to arrive first at the final destination, the Fire Museum of Texas. The fun continues with dining and entertainment at the circa-1927 Fire Station, followed by video presentations and an awards ceremony over breakfast at the group’s hotel the following morning.
7. Food Enthusiast Classes at the Culinary Institute of America, San Antonio
Housed on the site of the former Pearl Brewery, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), San Antonio, which became the college’s third campus in 2008, welcomes corporate and other groups to its classrooms and state-of-the-art kitchens. Ranging from culinary boot camps and wine seminars to one-day and weekend-long cooking classes, the multifaceted Enthusiast Programs give foodies a real flavor of the CIA as they interact with experts in Latin cuisine. Planners can choose from around a dozen pre-developed culinary programs, or work with the CIA to develop a customized plan relative to the client or organization. Classroom space can be set aside for team-building programs, which average around 10 people but can go as high as 20 participants.
8. Corporate Rock Stars at Groove Labs, Austin
Who does not want to be a guitar hero? Boasting over 200 live music venues, Austin earns its chops as the "Live Music Capital of The World" every night of the week, and groups can get in on the act via Groove Labs’ innovative Corporate Rock Stars program. Teams work with the Groove Labs Band and professional facilitators on a three- to four-hour process of lyric rewrites, rehearsals and performances with real artists. Supplied with rock star props, clothes and professional gear, teams from Bank of America and Microsoft down to small firms swear by the experience. Groups under 17 people can rewrite and record classic songs via the Corporate Rock Stars Studio.
9. Spirit Ranch, Lubbock
As the name suggests, the Spirit Ranch is the place to go to restore body, mind and soul. Tucked away in the Escondido Canyon just north of downtown Lubbock and surrounded by 100-year-old elm trees, open meadows and water flowing from the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, this is a faith-based oasis for leadership, team, family and spiritual retreats.
From hula hoops, beach balls and the occasional blindfold to an intricate ropes course, the ranch offers challenging experiences designed to facilitate communication, problem solving and trust building. Free-ranging peacocks enhance the calm ambience. The event-capable ranch also offers facilities for corporate functions and other gatherings.
10. Rescue Bear Team Building at The Leader’s Institute, Dallas and Fort Worth
This combo team-building workshop and charity event from international training consultancy The Leader’s Institute challenges teams to solve a series of specific challenges in order to build teddy bears and other stuffed animals for young children who have been through a traumatic event such as an accident or a fire. Each team must solve puzzles, decipher codes and unlock secrets to acquire the incremental resources required to make custom teddy bears, bunnies, cows, tigers and other toys, all of which end up dressed in an official firefighter uniform. While the basic program runs one hour, the Rescue Bear program can be extended from two-hour events to two-day retreats.
