At last, the long-awaited reunion unfolded on that chilly Yooper night. In some cases, many were meeting for the first time. And unfortunately, the Florida office didn’t make it thanks to Hurricane Irma. But at least the Fat Heads of our beloved Florida office came with us everywhere we went! Nevertheless, this was the beginning of Retreat 2.OH in Michigamme, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
There was BLM Cash Cab, sunset boat cruises, musical performances, emotional Skype calls, creative presentations galore and a whole lot of sight-seeing in the Yoop. Sunday night was the end of our retreat. We were all exhausted from creative brainstorming, presenting our work, building professional relationships and the constant laughs and smiles produced throughout the weekend.
To sum everything up, we asked people to submit their Top Five or a Six Word Summary about the retreat or BLM. Here’s an inside scoop on our Michigan Retreat 2.OH.
Amber’s Favorite Moment:
Michael Waite jumped in the lake!
Ben’s Top 5:
1. How amazing it is to have our entire creative team under one roof
2. How good we are at working under pressure (like an entire campaign in a half hour!)
3. How to carry a stack of quarters in my crotch
4. How successful our digital ads have been (via Gus)
5. How to Derp dance
Lily’s Top Five
1. Outdoorsy stuff: Jumping into the lake, campfire night, and hiking Sugarloaf Mountain
2. Playing cards, What Do You Meme, and corn hole
3. Teaching everyone how to derp dance (arms one way, hips the other)
4. Hearing all the creative ideas, presentations, and 30 minute campaigns
5. Finally meeting everyone and spending quality time together
5 ½ . THE FOOD and the Dirty S Song
*BLM knows how to derp dance!*
Nick’s Favorite Moment:
– From my Skype video to Family
Rachel’s Top 5:
1. Michigan day : Marquette office, Lake Michigan, Sugar Loaf, Camp
2. First night around the fire with the live band discussing Asana
3. Morning 30 min Creative Brainstorm
4. Account Managers speaking about each person in the company
5. Attempting Euchre every night
Ann
We gathered around at the Brook’s Family Deer Camp to discuss our Rose, Thorn and Bud of the 2017 BLM Retreat. For those of you that have never heard of this team building exercise… the Rose is the Highlight of your Trip, the Thorn is the Drawback of the retreat, and the Bud is something to look forward to.
Rose:
Being able to discuss creative ideas in a nonjudgmental way, expanding as a creative whole by throwing out ideas for each individual client. Discussing “Giving Back” Ideas for the Holidays and realizing how lucky we are as a company to help out those unfortunate.
Thorn: The Florida Team not being able to contribute to the Retreat. Plus, it was really emotional to see the FL team on Skype. Everyone seemed scared but strong to stay home and help their families/community.
Bud: Taking all of these creative ideas and strong relationships that were built over the duration of the retreat and continuing to grow. I learned so much and connected with so many members of the BLM family, I am looking forward to continuing to learn and build on these relationships.
Ann’s Top 5:
1. Breakdancing for Nick and Amber
2. Trying Chris’ great food and seeing him in his element on the Lake and at Deer Camp
3. Constant Laughs and Smiles all around the BLM Fam
4. Being able to see all the work our company has done in Marquette
5. Cash Cab
Ryan’s Top 5:
1. The Pontoon Hoedown! – listening to sweet melodies while floating with the team on the waves of the Michigamme!
2. The love, emotion, effort, and growth of our entire team!
3. The House & The Food! WOWZAS!
4. Bonding moments with the team…the cards, challenges, shots, corn hole, ad writing, face-to-face teamwork, etc…
5. Lip Singing Night! The Florida Faces representing, even though they were miles away taking an ass-pounding from Irma!
Sara’s Favorite Moment:
– Hard work, Passion, Creativity + Too much fun = #BLMlife
Tammy’s Top 5:
1. The spontaneous bet-driven, fully clothed (except for the singer in the band) dives off the boat in 40 degree weather
2. The 30-minute creative challenge. WOW – do we have a team that can pull outstanding ideas together super fast.
3. The team camaraderie.I especially enjoyed being like a fly-on-the-wall, listening to our younger staff from all offices laughing and conversing by the fire. And guess what they were laughing and talking about…WORK!
4. Social’s presentation was off-the-charts good! In the fast-moving world of social media, it was great to see all the challenges presented in such a fun, funny manner.
5. Bringing all the heads together in one room. It’s absolutely priceless to have everyone get to know each other’s jobs better. Everyone gets consumed by their own little BLM world at times and may not understand the day-to-day lives of their co-workers. Without that company-wide understanding, it’s harder to create better systems and become more efficient.
6. (It’s really hard to stop at 5) The house! WOW! We could not have asked for a better house or setting to bring everyone together. Our goal in the Michigan office was to give everyone a good taste of UP life. Being in this gorgeous wood home with huge windows and amazing views of the woods and the lake was incredible. Seeing the Northern Lights on the first night was the icing on the cake. The Sugarloaf Mountain hike and camp experience was the cherry on top!
7. The FOOD…kudos to our chefs, most notably Chris Brooks, for mouthwatering eats that didn’t seem to stop coming during the entire retreat.
This year’s retreat was one we’ll all remember. The memories we made were priceless. The passion we all have is the common bond that unites us. We can’t wait to see what next year’s retreat will have waiting for this Bottom Line crew.