Set off the South Carolina coast, Hilton Head Island is only 12 miles long and five miles wide, yet it offers groups a complete package of sun, natural beauty, luxury resorts with great meeting space, championship golf courses and more.
When the agenda calls for outdoor recreation, team-bonding options and even projects that give back to the community, Hilton Head provides an eclectic range, including dolphin watching, crabbing, replenishing oyster beds, and golf and tennis tournaments.
Several Hilton Head team-building ideas, such as private island ropes courses, ziplining across a tree canopy and pirate-themed challenges, integrate the fascinating Low Country culture and coastal beauty of the region. Following is a roundup of unique options.
ZipLine Hilton Head
Popular for group outdoor activities and team challenges, ZipLine Hilton Head lets participants soar through the tree canopy overlooking Broad Creek.
Aerial Adventure is the company’s newest option. Six courses include challenges such as crossing swinging bridges, jumping through hoops, climbing obstacles and utilizing a skateboard zipline. These invigorating challenges take teams through the natural environment of beaches, water, gators and more. The courses are all about outdoor fun, including activities such as sailing, fishing, kayaking, boating and Frisbee tossing.
Up the Creek Pub & Grill is the on-site grub spot where groups can refuel and discuss their adventures after they’re done.
New activity options for groups are under way, including a 40-foot ropes course, a rock climbing wall and a bungee trampoline. PageBreak
Page Island Kayaking
Waterborne recreation and team-building exercises around Hilton Head are popular ways for groups to get into the island culture, fresh air and active lifestyle. Outside Hilton Head, a local DMC, offers a choice of customized programs that usually begin with kayaking to the company’s private Page Island.
“[Kayaking] to the island is a big part of the experience,” says Mike Overton, CEO of the company, and a great way to give people breaks from the standard four walls of a conference space.
High and low ropes courses are among the activity options on the island, he adds.
“When they arrive on island, it’s like they are part of the Survivor show, as minds open up for growth and change,” he says. “We begin with a group energizer to set the tone. Then teams rotate among a series of initiatives that don’t require exceptional physical ability, but combine a mix of brain and body functions. Our staff facilitators lead the conversation to transfer what people accomplish into implementing objectives.”
The goal is to have groups return to the real world with better relationships, he adds.
Half and full-day programs are typical for the Page Island experience.
Sea Pines Resort
Outdoor recreation is the main event on this 5,000-acre resort bound by the Atlantic Ocean, Intracoastal Waterway and Low Country marshes. A conference center, full-service dining options and a resort present groups with a full-serve location amid fresh water lakes, forests, wildlife and oceanfront scenery.
Though golf and tennis are the headliners on-property, Rob Bender, director of recreation and marine operations, says there are many other team-building and recreational activities available, and professional facilitators are part of the resort staff.
“We customize for groups to what they desire and what they want to accomplish,” he says. “Our beach is perfect for activities such as beach Olympics and volleyball. We also have a ropes course, scavenger hunts and many water-based activities.”
Sea Pines is home to the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Golf Tournament, which is held annually on the Harbour Town Golf Links, one of three resort courses. Bender says groups staying at the property can arrange a putting tournament and a meal function, a regular tournament or a scramble.
“Tennis is also popular, and we offer clinics, round robins—whatever a group wants,” she says. PageBreak
Low Country Journey
Through Low Country Journey, attendees immerse themselves in Hilton Head’s ecosystem, a metaphor for a highly functioning organization, says Overton of Outside Hilton Head.
“Each team gets assigned a specific area of interest, such as bird or animal life, or saltmarsh water quality,” he says. “They must learn as much information about their area as possible and how it interacts with the rest of the system. We give them both low- and high-tech resources to do the research. Each team has a boat and a captain guide who is knowledgeable about a specific resource. All teams also have their own iPad that’s loaded with information about their interest area. The tables also serve as communication tools so they can interact with other teams.”
The journey can be customized to fit an agenda from three hours to a full day of activity. Debriefings relate the exercises to the group’s real work, using the various components of the ecosystem as models.
“This journey gets teams into the local area, its nature, history and culture, because everything is connected by waterways,” he says. “It’s a great team-building exercise that you can’t find just anywhere.”
Road Rally Adventure
Groups can chart a course for all-out fun that gives teams surprises and puzzling mysteries to solve. In a half-day Road Rally Adventure, participants enjoy special landmarks and excursions such as shrimping, fishing, canoeing, exploring a wildlife trail and visiting century-old cemeteries.
Teams of four consist of a driver who must follow instructions provided by three teammates: a navigator who has instructions for turns and speeds; a timer who keeps the team on time throughout the course; and a distance manager who has information relating to distance between instructions and references where instructions are to be executed. Participants must deal with various challenges that may stress the team, giving them simulations about real world problems.
The takeaway is a foundation on which to build communication among people who may or may not be in the same work group. A road rally engages communications skills, trust and the value of interdependence to succeed in a team environment.
Pirates Casino
Once upon another time, the South Carolina coast was the playground of pirates who plundered the bounty of wrecked ships. Modern-day groups can relive the era in a fantasy setting of a three-masted ship, cannons and other props. Blackbeard and his band of pirates—facilitators in period costumes—direct the competitions. Teams earn prizes like gold beads or doubloons for activities such as the gauntlet, an obstacle course of wooden pegs; stand it, a game with black bottles, old can poles, hempline and slippery rings that results in wild betting and sabotage; and boneyard, where the objective is to assemble a wooden skeleton.
“We design the entire event, down to props and activities,” says Bill Winans, president of Meeting Dynamics. “Our designers and production people really give groups an island experience to carry home with them.”
Ruth Hill is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus.
