Spring has sprung, and we’ve been attending a whirlwind of spring kickoff meetings around the western U.S. Most recently, we headed to Las Vegas to open a kickoff meeting for an organization that manages electronic medical records. The theme of the event was, “What’s Next: Healthcare of the Future,” and the goal of the gathering was to connect healthcare professionals that use the organization’s products and provide additional educational sessions.

As many organizations that call Drum Cafe West to open their events do, this particular company was seeking that extra special opening. Our role in kicking off the conference was to bring the attendees together to encourage collaboration throughout the remaining education sessions so that attendees embraced the desire to share and learn from one another. Overall, the group was very social and great at networking, but they tended to stay in their smaller groups with those they already knew. All of that changed when the drumming began.

It’s always interesting to watch participants enter our events because it gives us such an intimate look at the company culture. For this particular event, the attendees were all very hesitant and confused when they heard the beating of the drums. That quickly changed as one by one, participants picked up their drums and began tapping their hands along to the rhythm with us. It’s a powerful moment when everyone in the room realizes that not only are they individually far more rhythmically inclined than they initially believed, but that together, they’re creating a beautiful piece of music. This is what makes the Drum Cafe West program so universal—the concepts of Ubuntu and collaboration transcend the barriers of organizational structure and work field. While every single one of our programs is custom tailored to the company we’re presenting for, the core demonstrations and key concepts always translate.

The team at CHUG embraced the concept of Ubuntu, and through our rhythmic demonstration of corporate team building concepts, they transformed from an organization of individuals to a team that was united, uplifted, and inspired to take action. As a whole, they committed to walking away from our event with renewed vows to connect with the bigger picture instead of getting caught up in their daily to-dos, to sharpen their skills, and to create a better space to share with and learn from one another. Aligned to their CHUG heartbeat, the team was ready to tackle the rest of their conference with boundless energy and a positive attitude.

We were thrilled to kick off CHUG’s spring conference with a bang. It’s experiences like this that remind us why we love what we do so much.