Let's start with day 1...I got up at 4am and we arrived at the airport at around 5:45am...checked in, got lucky (we travel space available) and we all made it into the flight... arrived in LAX at around 11am and went to the hotel where the managers, directors, VP and part of the training team were staying/having a workshop...were dispatched to lunch and asked to come back at 1:30pm...then told to wait until 2:00pm...had a problem with the meeting room and finally started our meeting at around 2:30pm...this lasted until 9pm, at which time we went for dinner and started our drive to Las Vegas...(no, I cannot sleep on planes, and I couldn't sleep in the car either, despite having the back seat all to myself!)...by the time we arrived in our rooms, it was 3am (which was 4am ES time!)...and, believe it or not, it was as hot as ES at noon!!!...funny thing (gross, too!)..they brought us a rollaway bed and, when we unfolded it...A CHICKEN BONE!!! eeeewwwwww!!!...they sent us a new one!! (bed, not chicken bone! LOL) --(depending on hierarchy, we were sharing either 2 or 3 to a room!...this was done to keep costs down to be able to have as many people as possible attend the event!)...we even had some people that are no longer in our unit, and they gave a presentation on what they have been doing and why/how their experience in our unit has been useful to them in their new roles!...
next day, we were supposed to meet at the lobby and watch the opening game of the World Cup together...most didn't make it, but watched the game in our rooms instead!...then we had lunch and, at 12 were again at a meeting...we discussed the current situation of the company (confidential), upcoming and current projects of our unit (confidential) and, had a team-building exercise in the form of a trivia quiz...we were asked to solve the test together and then put on teams to "consolidate" answers...of course, we all got much higher group scores than individual ones!...we were also asked to fill out/present our findings regarding: why we are proud of being part of this group, what -if anything- makes us feel embarrassed to be part of this group and, what can we do to correct things...then we had the directors and VP talk to us about the upward feedback they had received from us a few days before--very interesting exercise!...the meeting lasted until 6:20pm...(which was cutting it really short, since we had to be dressed up and ready to go to Jasmine at Bellagio at 7:00!)...went to dinner (beautiful place, and our VP had requested the tables right in front of the window that overlooks the fountains!)
We had a wonderful dinner and then went to see the Cirque de Soleil (sp?) at the same hotel...the show started at 10:30 and ended at about 12:15...it was impressive...I really cannot think of other word that describes it that well!...my sis and I had often seen those shows on TV and commented that going to one would be such an amazing dream! (and it was!)...the company paid for 1/2 the ticket and, employees were required to pay the rest..except the other admin and I, who were invited to this one by our VP!...for some, the combination of exhaustion, fine dinner, drinks, dim lights, sound of falling water and soothing music was too much and they fell asleep during the show!...Others (like me!)where too excited by the whole experience and watched in awe! --I didn't even know WHERE to look, so much was going on at the same time!!...from here, some of us went to zzzzz, while some others went gambling or partying...
The next day we had brunch at Treasue Island (yumm! great food!...we all did the same thing! first we had breakfast and then we attacked the lunch foods!LOL!)..this was our last "sponsored" event...from then on, we covered our own expenses!...we were separated into teams and given our instructions for the scavenger hunt!...that was so much fun!...We were dismissed at around 10am and, had until 6pm to gather as many points as possible and to put together a presentation for our judges!...Our team was 4th (out of 5!) but, we were given a "special mention" because we really looked like we had the most fun!! LOL!...
One of the things you had to do was take a picture with a REAL bride and groom inside a chapel! -- we went up to a couple and said: Congratulations on your marriage...could we crash your wedding? and explained the situation!...they were wonderful, and said yes!... we took our picture and, they asked if they could take a picture with their own camera...we agreed and, as we started to move to get out of the picture, they said: NO! we want a picture WITH you guys! LOL! ...I guess we are part of their Vegas-wedding experience! (this was at the Say I Do Drive trhu wedding chapel, by the way!)...we took tons of pictures (most of which did not meet eligibility criteria for points!), but, we had sooo much fun!!!...Other things included were a video of the whole team singing the national anthem in front of the Paris (funny how none of the teams that presented the video could spell anthem! LOL!...we didn't have ours, the lady that "took" the video didn't press the ON button!!) and a video/picture of one team member being thrown into the pool!...Ours was entitled Safety First! as that was what the guy being thrown into the pool kept saying, even while we were dropping him on the side of the pool, from where we proceeded to roll him in!... At 6:30 we finally were able to start reviewing the presentations (you can imagine what a riot THAT was! with all teams wanting to invalidate each other's points!)...after all teams had shown their pictures/videos and, after the judges gave their verdict, again some went to sleep and some to party!...the next day, my roomies and I woke up at around 8:00 and went for breakfast and then shopping...we had to be back at 4pm to drive back to Los Angeles...some groups were driving and some others were flying (3)...1 of these groups did not make it (flights were full) and ended up renting a car and joining us in Los Angeles!...our flight was leaving at around 1:30am...we were all put on the stand-by list because the flight was supposed to be full...in the end, there were 14 of us on stand-by (including some people NOT from our unit) and there were 16 spaces available!!! yay!!! so we all made it back home!...we arrived at 7:07am, and, went home to shower/change to go to the office...we didn't stay the full day, though, just took care of the most urgent matters (for me, that meant leaving for home at 4:30pm!)...our faces were "variations of a theme" and the theme was "Beat Up!"....we all looked tired, sleepy and wrinkled...we are doing much better, and are almost back to normal now!--but, we are still consuming inordinately large amounts of water!!...we were asked to send in our feedback on the whole event by end of day today, so I guess the results of that will be the official closing of the event!