It says so on our own website; CoNet really is an idiosyncratic company. It is only fair then, that our company get away is up to par. That is why recently we all travelled to Holten, for a unique weekend of camping, packed with outdoor activities. And unique it was. Wow, we did so much! We lit a bonfire, shot with bow and arrow, rode on Segways, played frisbee-rugby (which we invented!), fell down, got up and back in the game, tamed quads, barbecued, drank beer, laughed, drank some more beer and toasted exhaustively. We made plenty of memorable moments that will fuel our conversations for months to come.
It all started on a Friday. We arrived in Holten with a group of forty CoNet employees and significant others, late in the afternoon. What we found there, was a large outdoor compound, hidden in a vast pine tree forest and equipped with luxury lodges and tents. It was simply impressive. There was a large pile of wood waiting for us to build a fire with on the large fireplace. The owner told us: ‘you may use as much wood as you want’. Little did he know that the people at CoNet have a special relationship with fire. He found out by Sunday morning, there was not much wood left… But what fun we had!
We started Friday night in the outside bar with drinks and food, while we built a fire to keep us warm. This went on for a long time, because at dawn not everyone had yet gone to sleep. A couple of hours later though, the cruel alarm woke everyone without exception, because ‘if you’re gonna dance, you gotta pay the piper’. The program listed a hearty breakfast, to give everyone the energy needed for a full day of surprising activities. And surprising they were. We made three teams and battled each other for points. Which was easier said than done. For instance, how about riding a Segway on an uneven surface? Or playing bumper ball – which is playing soccer while being trapped inside a big transparent ball – where it appeared that the attraction between the players was higher than their ability to hit the ball. This led to the players bumping into each other like crazy and rolling across the pitch. Which was of course hilarious.
Luckily there were some ‘normal’ activities too, like archery, running an assault course and driving a quad. You would think that there’d be no-one left with enough energy to have a game of ‘frisbee golf’ get out of hand. But nothing was further from the truth. We all dove for the frisbee like seasoned rugby pros. And, as if we had not rolled around enough during bumper-ball, we ended up in a tangle of crazed players, all trying to get the frisbee. Luckily no-one got seriously hurt, just some minor injuries like a sore toe.
A barbecue eat fest wrapped up the day: another thing we handle particularly well! There were of course plenty of alcoholic beverages and the stories that were told at the campfire, while the sun was setting and later rising again, kept getting taller and taller… We look back at another memorable CoNet-weekend. This surely wasn’t our last surprise trip, there are many more to come and we can hardly wait for the next one!