Company: Lincoln Benefit Life

Programs: Travel

Program Types: Employee Incentive/Recognition

Program Details: Team building excursion and meetings for 12 sales and marketing employees who sell variable life and annuities, including Greg Farley, executive vice president of Lincoln Benefit Life, who was also the coordinator of the trip. The excursion took place on the Royal Pacific Canadian railway, which is comprised of five, three-engine vintage railway cars from the early 1900s. It was a six-day trip, starting at Calgary, Alberta, and going through the Canadian Rockies. The train has meeting rooms, dining car, suites for two, and high-speed Internet access. The purpose for the excursion was to conduct teambuilding exercises and meetings to discuss business strategies and to see how well the team worked together. According to Farley, "This trip helped me to choose my divisional managers after I got a better feel for each member of the team. I got to see how everyone interacted with each other." The group also had the opportunity to play golf, hike, and fly fish on stops along the way from, Banff to Invermere. "Everyone was so proud of themselves when the chef cooked their catch at our final lunch. The chef turned it into poached trout over rice," said Farley.

Objective: Conduct teambuilding exercises and meetings to discuss business strategies and to see how well the team worked together.

Results: Our salespeople spend up to 80 percent of their time on the road in hotel rooms," says Farley. "These are fairly seasoned travelers, so finding something unique helped us develop an esprit de corp."