Bristol Company Celebrates Banksy

The sentence 'we're going on a work day out' can strike fear into the heart of the bravest soul. We've all spent a day 'team-building' (wearing the same t-shirt), 'bonding' (being shot at by a sociopath with a paintball gun), and 'thinking outside the box' (staring at four beige walls looking forward to free cookies).

The Bristol HQ of international business events company GDS International (http://www.gdsinternational.com) employs around 150 people in a variety of connected-but-different roles: design, credit control, sales, video, IT, etc.

"Getting to know people is vital," says conference director Richard Stirk. "Getting to know them outside of the office environment is the best way we have found. But how to do that without a management consultant, raft building, or the phrase 'really great sharing experience?"

GDS International decided on a few Bristol-themed challenges celebrating some of the world's most-famous Bristolians, including local street art legend, Banksy.

The challenge was simple:

"#3. Bristol is rightly famous for its street art. Undoubtedly the most widely known of our local legends is young Banksy: the cheekiest monkey. We want you to try out some physical graffiti and recreate a Banksy using your own good selves. Then take a photo."

The prize was an afternoon of pampering in Bristol Lido and a cheque for charity (the top team won £500 for the Children's Hospice South West).

"We think the results are fantastic," says Richard. "And the feedback from everyone involved has been excellent."

"It was a great day," says team captain Ryan Minshull. "We had a mix of different departments from GDS, everyone got involved, and it was hilarious."

See the results of GDS' physical graffiti here: http://www.gdsinternational.com/Blog/Details/14/Physical-Graffiti

Contact:  Hannah Duffie ([email protected])