The team from the Association of American Medical Colleges wanted to take their meetings to the next level.

Putting a New Spin on a Day-long Meeting in Washington, D.C.

As just about anyone who’s sat through one can attest, sitting through day-long meetings in the past can be a challenge. This group wasn’t necessarily opposed to a full-day event; however, they certainly wanted a strong dose of inspiration and unification. Enter Magnovo and our Rescue Buddies™ workshop! This energetic, smart group of 35 was very happy as the well-kept secret was revealed just after the opening breakfast. Everyone would spend two hours learning from each other through fun team activities and assembling 35 stuffed animals. The group donated these Rescue Buddies™ to the special education department at Houston Elementary School in Washington, D.C.

Taking Rescue Buddies™ to the Next Level

A Rescue Buddies™ workshop is typically customized to provided clients with targeted activities to educate, reinforce, and inspire. In this case, we worked with the event organizers to ensure that this group would get to explore new ways of working as a team, and strengthen the kind of interpersonal bonds that improved workplace productivity and efficiency. Teams competed for the parts needed for Rescue Buddies assembly by playing games like Air Counting, and John John.

Sometimes it’s the clients who surprise us, though, as was the case here. The participants in this workshop showed their caring and concern for area kids in small, thoughtful ways. Each person made their stuffed animal unique by adding a small heart to the Rescue Buddy™. Everyone also wrote short notes of good wishes to the kids who’d be receiving them. It’s this kind of extra effort that makes an event especially memorable for all involved.

Special Delivery for Houston Elementary’s Special Education Department

As an added surprise, we worked with the event organizers to have a few children from Houston Elementary arrive at the end of the workshop to personally accept delivery of the Rescue Buddies. The faces on the AAMC teams were indescribably joyful! And the children were thrilled to receive the stuffed animals. It was such a wonderful feeling for everyone to have worked hard and seen the results of that hard work come to fruition, in person. By the end of the workshop, people had really connected, evolving into a cohesive group, a genuine team, ready to face the rest of the day’s meetings together. We took a great group photo, and we’re pretty sure more than one AAMC staffer will post it in their office.