Today is a special day. CIM decided to dedicate this day to their workers. The goal is to beef up the friendship between the Company members, share and create new memories in common and, first of all, break the classic walls that exists between the different business positions on the Company. CIM doesn’t have bosses, it has leaders.

Head: All ready?

Me: All ready.

Head: Running shoes? sweat shirt? motivation!?

Me: Check. Check. Check.

Head: Let’s go then!

Me: But where?

Head: I don’t know really…

Me: First of all, lets pick up our mates and they will tell us where to go.

After picking up the group of fit coworkers and placing their backpacks in the trunk, they, I and the GPS set our destination to the Kickoff.

Head: So exciting. What will we do?

Me: I read something about archery and zip lift.

Head: It’ll be awesome.

Sometime later we arrived at our destination where the rest of the team was waiting for us. After we parked, we got to the first activity where, only for fun, we had to give each other nicknames. From that moment on I was known as “The Intern”. I was like a superhero with the ability to solve problems taking twice the time my coworkers would have taken.

CEO: Come on guys! let’s start with archery!

Head: Time to shine, you got awards on archery, medals!

The Intern: That was 11 years ago…

Head: Doesn’t matter, this is like riding a bike.

The Intern: I broke my arm and got some scars from two different bike accidents.

Head: As I said, like taking a walk! you never forget it!

The Intern: mmm

The monitor equipped us and told us the basic security rules. After a short explanation about how not to kill someone with an arrow, we were ready to shoot.

Head: Focus.

The Intern: It should be me to tell you that, don’t you think?

Head: Fire!

The first arrow flew away high, above everything and, agile like a falcon, avoided all the targets.

Head: My lord, you’re so bad.

The Intern: Shut up we almost hit the tallest part of that foam rubber beaver.

Head: Look at your colleague and learn something…

The Intern: I know… she hit that deer three times already.

Head: And that deer is the farthest one, I’m telling you… You’re awful.

The Intern: I told you, if you don’t practice you lose your skills.

Head: You are right my deer.

The Intern: … really?

Head: You don’t like my jokes? … deer with it.

The Intern: …

It was a nice day, the sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky. So, we decided to try the canoes, which, much appropriately, had two seats each.

The Intern: This is so relaxing.

Head: Your friends are going to splash water at you.

The Intern: What? I don’t thi.. GlughGlugh!!

Colleagues: Haha wake up!

The Intern: What the!

Head: Let’s get them.

And so, between laughter and water, we ended the canoe trip and went to the next activity. We had to get well prepared because this time was the zip line’s turn. After a short talk about security they put us on the harness and the ascent to the tree tops began.

The first colleague hooked herself in the metal cable that connected the starting tree with the one that was the goal, and without much thinking, jumps! and flew through the line. It was my turn.

Head: I don’t feel good…

The Intern: What’s happening now? we must jump, stop being dumb.

Head: Don’t look down…

The Intern: Why? there’s only the river.

Head: I say don’t look! I have vertigo!

The Intern: Is this for real!? Why didn’t you tell me before!?

Head: And what would you have done? not jump? don’t be coward

The Intern: It isn’t me who can’t look down.

Head: I’m perfectly fine, just look front and stop moving, that didn’t help.

The Intern: I’m not moving…

Voice: Sorry… we are…

Head: Who said that?

The Intern: I don’t know, I thought you knew everything Mr. Center of the World…

Voice: We’re your legs, at your deersposal.

The Intern: What!?

Head: Hehe another deer joke. Oh, c’mon intern, it wasn’t difficult.

Legs: Yeah, we listened to your jokes, we liked them haha.

Head: I like you two.

The Intern: This is ridiculous. Why are you moving so much?

Legs: We’re scared… sorry. But relax, just jump, we won’t fail you.

The Intern: One scared and one with vertigo. And we haven’t even started yet. At least we are hooked to this rope.

Head: You are so wimpy, I’ll leave you the first moment I can.

And that was how we had fun at the zip line. Swinging from side to side, trying to maintain balance which, thank God, I had trained, and flying through the trees.

The last activity, the last event, the last thing and the most interesting was waiting for us. It consisted in being imprisoned by a policeman and then taken, along with a quite peculiar convict, to a jail where we had to escape from.

They gave us our inmate suit, took the corresponding photos and then locked us up in a tiny cell.

The Intern: This is like a puzzle, we must think how to get out of here, and maybe we’ll finish on another room where we’ll find a new quest to solve. Maybe we must walk through some vents or some drains and at the end we’ll finally escape from this prison!

Head: Yeah ok em… I’ll leave it to you champ, I’ll sleep for a while, ok?

The Intern: What!? this is exactly when I need you!

Head: Of course, because you regulate your own circulatory system, right?

The Intern: No but… well, I mean… we need think…

Head: And I need to sleep so good night.

The Intern: Perfect…

Legs: Don’t worry! we’re here to support you if you need!

The Intern: Thanks… I guess.

And we made it, we broke free, and thanks to my legs because the surprises that were ahead were none but to jump from unstable platforms that were floating in a river to escaping a cannibal attack.

The great finale. After the long and extenuating journey a special dinner waited for us, in which we put on our apron and cooked our own meal together.

The Intern: That was great, today was an incredible day.

Legs: We’re so exhausted…

Head: Hellooo! Did I miss something? What are those empty plates?

The Intern: You are late, it was a great dinner.

Head: Nooo! did you save me some dessert?

The Intern: Nope.

Head: Tonight, when you go to bed I will think about all those things that got you worried but won’t give you a solution.

The Intern: You are just horrible…

Head: Where’s my projector? you will remember my name.

Legs: We need a little rest…

And that’s how CIM’s Kickoff ended, with all its members reunited in a cozy room, tired, talking and sharing the many anecdotes of that day.

This was my first kickoff and I, as the rest of the team, learned that it’s important to celebrate small victories, like when you hit the target at the first try and maintain the morale up of your teammates. We must go from tree to tree without leaving no one hanging. We must understand that, if someone falls, slips, or gets hurt in the head, we all fall as a team and the rise as a team. And finally, we learned that we’re all different, and we must take advantage of those individualities to break free together from the hardest of prisons.

 

Stefano Mazzuka