Digital marketing company, PPCnSEO, celebrated the remarkable developments that their first successful year of operations has brought with a day of equally successful team-building exercises at Pattaya Jungle Bungee Jump on Saturday 19th May.
Nearly 40 Thai and foreign staff divided into six teams to compete in a sequence of mental and physical challenges. They were tested on their planning, coordination, teamwork, general knowledge, dexterity, bravery, and endurance.
Nearly 40 Thai and foreign staff divided into six teams to compete in a sequence of mental and physical challenges.
“The aim of the day was two-fold,” said Mark Bond, CEO of PPCnSEO. “Firstly was to celebrate our first year of trading and the great start the company has had, going from five staff to 40. More importantly, it was meant to continue to foster the great team spirit we have built; to let various areas of the business get to meet and spend time with team members they hardly know. We have a range of staff from various nationalities and communication is always an important factor in a successful business and days like today help break down barriers and improve relations across the business.”
Activities included constructing a missile launcher, football golf, an aquatic treasure hunt, a geography quiz, and the dreaded bungee jump. Nearly half of the assembled people took the 50m jump, with Thai volunteers vastly outnumbering the Westerners.
Team members prepare to ride the dreaded bungee jump.
With points awarded throughout the day for achievement, style, ingenuity, and teamwork, it was Team C – ‘My Left Foot’ – which took a marginal overall victory. The company’s chief technical officer, Mark Walker and his team – Kumphu, Alana, Jason, Steve, and Richard each received a cash prize of 2,000 baht.
Mark Walker said that he was “very happy”, both with the reward for his team’s efforts and with how the entire day went.
The team members judged to have taken the most active part in the day were declared the ‘Action Man’ and ‘Action Woman’. Both Ben Reeves and Sasipat Park won a night’s stay for two in the deluxe rooms of the Dusit D2 Hotel on Pattaya Second Road.
“In my life, I have never had a chance to enjoy or do anything which people normally do. I have been a mother since I was 22 and being a good mum is far away from exciting activities. That’s why I would never miss the chance,” said Sasipat Park, PPCnSEO’s admin manager, adding that she was pleased with the reward for her determination.
“I went into the day with every intention of having a fantastic time, so I threw myself at every activity – sometimes literally. I succeeded in having an unforgettable day and our team ended up in second place, but that was definitely not all my work,” said copywriter Ben Reeves. “I was just happy to be there. Getting a prize for it was an unexpected bonus.”
“The winning team and the Action Man and Action Woman at the company event highlighted the strengths we have. It was also appropriate that the winners were one Thai [Sasipiat Park] and one Westerner [Ben Reeves], which symbolises the multi-national nature of the company,” said Mark Bond.
He added, “The team day was a great success – even more than I hoped for. We had nearly every single member of staff turn out, and considering it was a weekend, that was a great effort. We even had two Thai members of staff that haven’t started work take part! PPCnSEO is a great believer in investment in its staff and we know that, without them, we wouldn’t have a company. Everyone got 100 per cent involved and we will be repeating the event every year, I’m sure.
“PPCnSEO has had a great first year. We have been building a great team, developing our products and markets and achieved more than we expected. We now have a number of projects coming to the market, including an innovative property management system which is being launched into the Thai market over the coming weeks. We also have a number of major developments with clients which will possibly impact both the company and the local community in the coming months. Our eCoachManager software has just had a major upgrade and is currently being rolled out in the UK. We have high expectations for 2012/13 – we have a great company with quality, motivated staff.”
