Staff Retreat - a Relaxed Success!

We couldn’t have asked for better weather…

or a livelier crew for the fall 2024 GSS Staff Retreat. The Family Centre at Rundle Park was an excellent site for the day partly because it was set amid all the clues that made up the Scavenger Hunt. Calista Boateng, Indigenous Cultural Helper, had scouted the site and come up with picture clues to the outdoor treasures that teams were to locate. Selecting winners was a true challenge because each team did an excellent job tracking down the clues. Congratulations to everyone on the great energy, enthusiasm and scavenging results!

Perhaps all the impressive results from the scavenger hunt were due to the first session of the day: ‘Mind Magic’. The presenter, Louis Pezzani, describes himself as a ‘mentalist’ who uses ‘mindreading’, photographic memory, and mind over matter or ‘metal’ in his engaging events. And he used every one of those amazing abilities in a comfortable and engaging way to get everyone laughing, focused, and powered up for the rest of the day.

We needed that powering up to get into the afternoon lawn games. For several hours, staff were throwing axes and bean bags, tossing ladder ball bolas, strategically positioning discs, and oh-so-carefully removing Jenga blocks. The initial and only guideline for the games was a 10-minute limit so everyone could rotate through as many games as possible but, eventually, even that ‘rule’ mellowed. Overall, the games were a comfortable combination of visiting, experimenting and just hanging out together on a gorgeous sunny afternoon. The lawn games were an afternoon option because the beautiful Rundle Park setting was also an ideal place for wandering among trees and water areas or just catching up with colleagues or meeting new GSS staff.

Relaxation and enjoying time together were the goals of the 2024 staff retreat. Judging from all the chatting and laughter through the day, those goals were definitely achieved, and the retreat was a success!

Check out these photos for a delightful reminder of the day…