On May 12 to 14, Grand Marketing Research Plus Inc. (GMR+) held a Team Outing at Baler, Aurora.

The summer heat definitely makes it more tedious for anyone to work, so relaxing at a beach resort is a great way to de-stress in the middle of the hot summer season. As such, the GMR+ Leadership team decided to hold this year’s summer outing at one of the top surfing spots in Luzon: Baler, Aurora!

After a very early morning preparation and a sleepy 7-hour bus and van ride, some people waking up at the right side of their vehicle were greeted by big red letters saying B-A-L-E-R!

Before anything else, we had to satisfy our hunger, so breakfast was our first agenda!  When everyone had eaten their fill, our kind hosts took the opportunity to take us on a tour around the capital.

Our first stop was a 600-year old Balete tree called the “Millennium Tree”.  Many were excited to get some selfies and groupies around various angles around the tree. An adventurous few even climbed a few meters up the tree to get some daring shots!

We also visited Ermita Hills, which had a lovely view over the sea.  Here we braved the 278-step climb to the top to be able to reach the famous Healing cross.

Our tour guide explained that this was also, the spot where the seven (7) surviving families took refuge during the December 1735 tidal wave that wiped out the whole town.

 We also visited the Hanging Bridge, which was a precariously fine spot to get some photos!

And after a brief lunch break, we were taken on a Historical tour to visit famous landmarks that can be found in Baler.

The following day promised even more fun! We went trekking up a mountain to the Mother Falls, a nice place for freshwater dip after a long, sweaty climb!

As our last activity, we were free to spend the rest of the afternoon at our leisure. Some went swimming at the beach while others toured around the resort. A few even tried surfing lessons… with mixed results.

After 2 days of fun, we all prepared to make the long trip home. Refreshed and renewed, we have the energy to take on the rest of this Summer!

Grand Marketing Research Plus, Inc. (GMR+) held its annual Christmas Party last December 5-6, 2015 at Camp Benjamin, Cavite.

GMR+ recognizes that the main engine of growth for a service-oriented company like ours is its people. Bearing this in mind, the organizers chose to make this party not only a day of fun but a day of instilling camaraderie and “team-manship”. And boy, what a great two days these had been for the lives of our people! We have lots of pictures to prove it and great testimonials from some of our 200 colleagues who came.

The camp coordinators grouped us into 6 teams and named them according to the color of head scarfs (“bandanas”) provided to them. To prep up the teams, they were instructed to compose their own cheers and thus set the impetus for the whole day of fun. What a riot that cheering competition had been!

The fun continued when we were told to split the six teams to those up for physical challenge and to those that can handle the “not so” physical competition. The team who can accomplish all the challenges at the shortest possible time shall be the overall champion. And so the fun went on and on until the late afternoon.

The non-physical challenges included shooting basketballs backwards, catching farm animals, solving crossword puzzles, solving block/brick formations, limbo rock, skipping ropes, guessing the title of songs played, guessing the location of the tourist spots in the pictures shown, shooting balloons with darts, walking along the matrix of balloons blindfolded and group transferring a balloon using strings manipulated by all members of the team. The games look simple but without proper planning, the games were difficult to win. They were all fun though.

The physical games included hula-hoops passing, rope battling, trekking, wall climbing, sack race, monkey bars, see-saw, zip line and long water slides. You could see in the faces of the people how they enjoyed all the challenges given.

The twist of the competition was that each team has one member that must be blindfolded. This member had to remain blindfolded for the entire day while still being guided by his teammates to every station and still participating in every game. You could see how frantic it was as the blindfolded member remained apprehensive as he/she was dragged all over the resort!

More than just focusing on getting the most points and winning the competition, the camp coordinators highlighted what can be learned from all the group activities. It is about working together, setting goals together, out-of-the-box thinking and of course, succeeding together. Everyone nodded their heads, glad to not just have fun together but also learn something new together as the awards ceremony closed.

The awarding event segued to the traditional Christmas Party. We had a sumptuous dinner and the regular singing and dancing contest by each group were held.

Each performance by the contestants was interspersed by raffling off various prices culminating to a grand prize: a new laptop. The highlight of the night was the awarding of best employees, best team, best coordinators and the performance champions with plaques and cash.

The night was capped by our President/CEO who spoke about God’s goodness for growing GMR+ and for safekeeping of our people who mostly worked outside. He also talked about better prospect for 2016 and additional benefits that can be shared by the company to everyone. The day was ended with a heartfelt thanksgiving prayer.

The following day was free time for the whole morning. Swimming, exploration of the camp, some even tried the zip-line again. And of course, more picture-taking opportunities.