Gerdau Team Building Adventure

#1: The wild chicken population that currently resides in Ybor City are direct descendants of the chickens that lived in the backyards of the neighborhoods earliest residents over 100 years ago. Anywhere along the way, take a picture of your team with just ONE of these wild chickens. If there is a group of them all together then you'll need to work together as a team to corral just one away from the pack so you can take your picture with it.

#2: Gerdau is one of the major suppliers of specialty long steel in the world. To honor these international relationships and how Gerdau works together with them, get your team to any location where the United States flag and any other country's flag are flying within 100 feet of each other. The flags should be authentic flags made of fabric, flying or displayed for the public to see, and not a miniature version found in a gift shop, image on a poster or shirt, etc. Once there, take a video of your team working together to complete the Group Sit & Stand Challenge. Basically, your team members will all be standing shoulder to shoulder in a tight clump/circle with your backs all facing in and your arms interlocked. Slowly lower the entire interlocked group to the ground until you are in a seated position with your butt on the ground, and then slowly stand back up while remaining interlocked. At some point in your video be sure to show the two flags. To watch a video of a group successfully completing this challenge click HERE.

#3: In the history of Ybor City, most early residents made their living from cigar making, while the occupations of many other workers revolved around the cigar trade. Ybor City remained the Cigar Capital of the World until the 1930s. Get your team to the location marked by a historical sign as “Tampa’s First Cigar Factory”. Since there was so much “rolling” happening at this spot take a video of your team all completing "Stop, Drop, and Roll" while the historical sign is visible in the background. Be sure to yell each step of the fire safety technique as you do it, but be sneaky so that you don’t give away the location to other nearby teams.

#4: Today is National Taco Day (it’s true, look it up)! To celebrate, take a video of your team members all at the same time consuming separate spoonfuls of any brand of hot sauce (the hotter the better). Make sure to show the bottle or packet of hot sauce in the video so it can be confirmed that it's actually hot sauce you're consuming. Disclaimer, this will likely not be pleasant, which is exactly the point. Because a team that suffers together, grows together.

#5: Anywhere around the area find a business with a Skee-Ball machine. Once there, take a video of anyone on your team rolling a ball into the 100 point hole, OR a video showing team members rolling any two balls into the 50 point hole. For the option where you get two balls into the 50 point hole the rolls do not need to be back to back so sending two separate videos is acceptable. While attempting this challenge you’ll need to have each racer on your team rolling the same amount of balls so decide upon an order and rotate who rolls after each ball. All balls need to be rolled from the standard location at the end of the lane.

#6: Get every team member a large (16 ounces or so) open-top paper, plastic, or foam cup and fill it with water. Then somewhere outdoors, line up shoulder to shoulder and balance a full cup on each team member’s head. Once everyone’s cups are balanced, hold hands with the team members on either side of you and take a video of your team working together to all take 10 steps forward without anyone touching their cup or having it spill. If someone’s cup spills make sure to encourage them and then refill any spilled cups and start again as a team. After your team successfully travels 10 steps together dump the cups to prove they were full, and celebrate!

#7: Tampa has played an important role in this country’s military history as far back as the Spanish American War and all the way through modern warfare. Anywhere around the area find an active military person or a veteran. They could be wearing some form of military or veteran attire, have a military ID, or they could simply describe their military background while you’re completing your challenge. Once you’ve found someone, take a video of them watching your entire team doing 10 push-ups or sit-ups at their feet to honor their strength and courage. After you’ve finished recording, spend a few minutes learning more about their time in the service before you depart, as a small gesture of appreciation.

#8: The first streetcars in Tampa started operation in 1885, using wood-burning steam engines. Streetcars returned to the city in 2002 and a grant in 2018 allowing free rides for everyone boosted annual ridership from 300,000 people a year to over 850,000! To celebrate this iconic piece of Ybor City history take a picture of your team attempting to jump in the air at exactly the same time and high-five each other, while any one of the city’s real-life streetcars is somewhere in the background. The challenge will be to not only communicate with each other in order to capture a well-timed jump, but to do it before the streetcar in the background speeds off to it’s next stop.

#9: Lots of people around the world, whether delusional or not, believe that they might someday find a Sasquatch. But did you know that one of the businesses right here in Ybor City has already captured the lesser known relative to Bigfoot called “AssSquatch” (yes that’s it’s actual name). Click HERE to see a picture of this mysterious creature. Once you’ve found this legendary beast take a fun team picture with it, acting scared/shocked/etc. While exploring the business and taking your picture please don’t touch AssSquatch or any of the other items throughout the gallery. We want to make sure these rare artifacts can be enjoyed by everyone that visits.

#10: Gerdau is committed to the environment and is working toward making it’s operations carbon neutral by 2050. Each year, by transforming millions of tons of scrap into new steel products, Gerdau has become one of the world's largest recyclers. To honor the company’s commitment to our planet, take a picture of your entire team all completing any variation of the "Tree Pose" in front of any Yoga studio/facility. If the location doesn't have yoga in their name they should at least have signage out front or on the window promoting that they offer it. To view a picture of someone properly performing a variation of the Tree Pose click HERE.

#11: Get to any clothing or apparel store and find two different items with enough in stock that every team member can be wearing the same two items in their own sizes. Then take a fun team picture with everyone wearing those items. For example it may be a wacky shirt, and a pair of shorts. Or maybe some cozy slippers and a large sun hat. As long as everyone is wearing the same exact two items but in their own sizes.

#12: To honor the 10 different countries that Gerdau operates in, take a team picture with any parked vehicle that has a license plate which contains numerical digits that add up to 10, no more, no less. So if the plate were "CF2H 5K3" it would be acceptable because those numbers add up to 10 and there aren't any additional numbers.

#13: Tom Brady has come out of retirement to try and lead the Bucs to another Superbowl title! To help them get psyched up for another winning season, find a logo of the Bucs anywhere around the city being proudly displayed, worn, flown, etc. Then take a video of your group pretending to Gronk spike an imaginary football and immediately breaking into your very best celebratory touchdown dance while the logo is clearly visible in the background. If you need some inspiration for your performance you can click HERE.

#14: The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line was the first scheduled airline using a fixed wing aircraft. The airline provided service between the two cities, flying the 23 miles across Tampa Bay, while rarely exceeding an altitude of more than 5 feet above the water. To honor this city’s role in advancing human commercial flight, take a video of your team completing the "Paper Airplane Challenge". Basically send some team members to the 2nd level of any building or parking garage and have them toss paper airplanes out into the air in front of them (not just dropping it straight downward). The rest of your team should be on the sidewalk or grass below. Any of your team members at ground level need to catch just one plane before it hits the ground. All team members at ground level can be attempting to catch planes, but only one plane needs to be caught. To watch a team complete this mission successfully click HERE.

#15: Tomorrow is “National Do Something Good Day” (it’s true, look it up). To take part in this positive movement, find a postcard that features this area in some way, or a fun greeting card, and purchase it. Then click HERE to go to the Postcard Happiness Project website and scroll down to the profile for John Craig, an adult with Downs Syndrome from Oregon that loves to receive mail. On your postcard include a fun or uplifting message and sign it with your names or your group name. The mailing address for John can be found in his profile description. Stamp your card and take a picture with it to show you've completed your Act Of Kindness and then drop it in the mail along the way or after your event ends.