May 2008 ACCESS Advantage
- Community Service Teambuilding: Participation with a Purpose!
- Signature Debuts its ‘World Class’ Terminal!
- 5-Star Downtown Luxury Hotel Opening Soon!
- Spice it up with ACCESS
Community Service Teambuilding: Participation with a Purpose!
The marriage of dynamic teambuilding events and community service is becoming increasingly popular. While teambuilding events promote camaraderie among team members and enhance business goals, adding community service into the mix takes the rewards and the results of participation to an exciting new level. Individual team members benefit, your organization benefits, and the community benefits in a big way. Socially responsible teambuilding events create lasting impressions on participants, fostering loyalty towards the companies that are dedicated to giving back and making a positive impact through charitable undertakings.
This past year the team at ACCESS Destination Services has designed and executed more socially responsible, custom teambuilding events than ever before. It has been an exciting year for us as we partnered with our clients on several dynamic programs, a few of which are outlined below.
In Palm Springs, teams recently raced against the clock and each other in a Build a Bike workshop for a charity organization benefiting children. "The expressions on the faces of the children were priceless. Most of these children had never before owned a bicycle," says ACCESS partner Barbara Smith, DMCP.
In another teambuilding program recently orchestrated by ACCESS in Palm Springs, a family outreach center was the beneficiary of the efforts of 200+ team members during a Community Day team building exercise. Team members helped create two large soccer fields for outreach youth by installing nets and lining the fields. Additionally, the enthusiastic teams cleaned out dug-outs, chalked base lines and installed the bases for a baseball field, assembled 10 picnic tables and spread tons of mulch to finish off the playing areas while other team members assembled 2,000 food care packages to be distributed to those in need within the community. Our client, a financial services company, was more than pleased with the results and with the 100% attendee participation. Following this program, ACCESS Palm Springs Sales Manager, Beth Daniel, extended assistance to the outreach center by involving her Soroptimist organization in a day of service at the center sorting donated clothing to help area families.
The ACCESS San Diego team was thrilled to partner with a large banking and financial services client on 5 waves of programs during their multi-month recognition and rewards program. Each wave featured a community service event, such as the Red Wagon Project, which supported this client’s mission of giving back to the local community. Teams each assembled Radio Flyer-style red wagons brimming with supplies customized to each of the individual charities who were the beneficiaries of the program. The fun escalated as we posed spontaneous "challenges within challenges" and the teams initiated "random positive regard" actions such as hugs and sharing of comfort items. One of the highlights of this initiative was raising additional monies for a charity which the company then matched. The program was such a success, both internally for the client and to the San Diego community that the client asked the ACCESS team to "take it on the road" to multiple locations throughout the country.
The possibilities are endless for teambuilding events that give back including assisting local food banks, "facility facelifts", even habitat restoration. It’s no surprise that beach clean-ups make for great Southern California events where teams join together, interact, and learn about the fragile marine environment. A little friendly competition is easily incorporated into this project with contests for the "most unusual item found" and "most debris collected."
Whatever your teambuilding goals might be, contact the team at ACCESS Destination Services for customized community service and socially responsible events that will take your next meeting, conference or incentive travel program to the next level!
Palm Springs
Signature Debuts its ‘World Class’ Terminal! Your VIPs will arrive in style at the new 6,700 square-foot executive terminal at Palm Springs International Airport where this new $4 million world-class Signature Flight Support terminal was recently unveiled. "The new Signature terminal is a great new addition to the Palm Springs International Airport and it exemplifies the goal of providing only the highest level of customer service," said Thomas Nolan, Executive Director of the Airport. "It is not only a beautiful building to grace the airport profile, but it includes all the amenities necessary to serve the airport’s corporate and general aviation users."
Signature’s executive terminal enjoys a modern design that incorporates angled "butterfly" roof forms and a curved "wing" roof element at the drop-off canopy. It includes such high-performance, earth-friendly design elements as natural lighting through clerestory glass, a heavily insulated building envelope, energy-efficient mechanical systems and building materials with recycled content. The strong geometry of the design provides a recognizable iconic identity for the new Signature gateway to Palm Springs. The building materials, colors and forms are designed to reflect the local natural elements and open desert landscape and are compatible with the region’s modern architectural vernacular.
Signature Flight, one of two fixed-based operations at the airport, handles nearly 40 corporate and general aviation operations a day during the tourist season and features tie-downs for 30 single-engine aircraft. Overall Palm Springs International Airport is served by major airlines with about 100 flights daily that can connect passengers to cities worldwide. It is expected to serve about 1.6 million passengers this year, according to Nolan.
The Palm Springs office of ACCESS Destination Services looks forward to partnering with you for your airport transfer needs and other event components at your next meeting, conference or incentive travel program in the desert resort communities.
San Diego
5-Star Downtown Luxury Hotel Opening Soon! Setai San Diego, slated to open this fall in the heart of downtown’s financial and business district, has the distinction of being the only 5-star luxury hotel near San Diego’s historic Gaslamp District. Perfectly situated only steps away from San Diego’s bustling culinary and nightlife scene, Setai San Diego is only 5 minutes from the San Diego Convention Center and one block from Horton Plaza.
This $138 million dollar magnificent steel and glass structure with its cutting edge design and "Zen Chic" ambiance features 184 guest rooms including one-bedroom ultra-chic suites and 3 penthouses. The exclusive Grand Penthouse, unrivaled on the West Coast with its three floors and 5,000 square feet of luxurious living and entertaining space, boasts a chef’s kitchen, dining room, pool table and wrap-around deck with soaking tub. All rooms will feature Brazilian walnut floors and Zen-inspired fine furnishings. Additionally, floor-to-ceiling operable windows allow for the instant connection to San Diego’s perfect year-round climate.
The Spa Setai with its nine luxurious treatment rooms will invite your guests to relax and be pampered. This modern spa experience is infused with the cultural and aesthetic influences of Southeast Asia, India, Northern Africa and Japan. At Spa Setai your guests will experience the fusion of exotic and rich cultures woven together by the common thread of "silk", a reference to the ancient "silk road", an ancient caravan route along which merchants traded exotic silks and rare spices for gold and jewels, connecting the peoples and traditions of Asia with those of Europe. Experience Spa Setai and experience a one world culture.
For your meeting needs, just a few of the many luxurious features and amenities to be showcased at Setai San Diego include 20,000 square feet of meeting room facilities with 7 multi-function rooms, ballroom, a private screening room, professional recording studio, a 24 hour fitness center, infinity pool with surround sound, onsite business center, poolside cabanas, ultra-chic lobby bar, and a fine dining experience. The unique dining venue will be a combined creation of a modern name in media and a world-renowned restaurateur.
Contact the San Diego team at ACCESS Destination Services for updates on Setai San Diego and other exciting new developments in our area.
Spice it up with ACCESS
Honey-Soy Glazed Seabass! Enjoy this favorite from San Diego’s Pacifica Del Mar restaurant as featured in The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 6-9 ounce sea bass steaks
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons green Thai prepared curry paste
- 6 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped fine
- 3 fresh shallots, chopped fine
- ½ cup lemon grass, chopped fine
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, chopped fine
- 24 fresh green Thai chiles, seeded and chopped
- 2 tablespoons coriander seed, toasted and ground
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons canola oil
- ¾ cup fresh cilantro, cut from stem and packed
- 1 can coconut milk (preferably Taste of Thai brand)
Prepare glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together honey, brown sugar, and soy sauce until sugar is dissolved.
Prepare sea bass: Season fish with salt and pepper. Place fish in large, pre-heated sauté pan with olive oil and cook 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and finish cooking other side. If the sea bass steaks are too thick, finish in a 350 degree oven for 4-6 minutes. Set oven to broil. Turn fish back over to golden-brown side and coat each piece with a tablespoon of glaze. Flash under the broiler.
Prepare coconut curry sauce: (Yield for 12 and can be frozen for future use). Place the rest of the ingredients, except for cilantro and coconut milk, into food processor. Puree into paste. Add cilantro and process until smooth. In a saucepan, combine this mixture with coconut milk. Heat, but do not boil.
To serve: Pour coconut curry sauce on platter. Top with sea bass and steamed rice and bok choy, if desired.
Enjoy!
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"I can’t think of anything that would have made it better...All of the pieces came together and our group was so receptive - this was one of those times when everything we could control was perfectly matched by everything we couldn’t control - the weather, the mood of the guests - it was perfect!"
Director, Licensing & AdministrationGoddard Systems, Inc.