Drink, Talk, Learn: The New Activity Keeping Our Team Engaged
Photo by Rosalind Chang on Unsplash
As we’re all adapting to our new work from home routine, the biggest thing we’re missing is basic human interaction – at media tastings, in client meetings, and of course our daily face time with the team in the office. While we can’t see each other every day, we’ve come up with a fun way to catch up every week which allows us to socialise while also learning something new: virtual Drink, Talk, Learn parties.
Drink, Talk, Learn parties gained popularity a few years back – originally an in-person party game, but in the time of COVID-19 we’ve managed to translate the ritual to Zoom every Friday afternoon. The guidelines to participate are simple:
Each team prepares a five minute, three slide maximum presentation about a topic of interest
Topics can be anything, but ideally not COVID-19 related (because let’s face it, we need a break), and something interesting that might be little known to the team
Each team takes turns presenting during a Friday afternoon happy hour, joining with a beverage of choice
Teams are selected randomly to allow for different interactions and engagement weekly
As we settle into WFH life, we wanted to take a moment to reflect back on some of our favorite fun facts we’ve learned during the last few weeks of Drink Talk Learn sessions.
Emojis were first invented in Japan in 1988; in Japanese “e” means picture and “moji” means character. Emoji = picture character.
Mickey Mouse was originally known as Mortimer Mouse, until Walt Disney’s wife Lillian convinced him to change the name.
The Guinness Book of World Records began as an idea to help curb bar fights, with the rationale that having a book of such facts would help set the record straight during many of the rows that started in brewery pubs after a few drinks.
The first documented use of paper for hygiene purposes was in China in 6th century AD in 1857 commercial toilet paper was invented for medical purposes in the US.
One of the most famous con men in history, “Count” Victor Lustig, managed to commission stationary with the French government seal and pose as a French government official to “sell” the Eiffel tower to the highest bidder – twice.
Around 1,500 people work at Area 51 – the highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Nevada – but anyone who tries to sneak on to the property can be shot dead on the spot.
Pigeons can find their way back to their nest from up to 1,300 miles away.
“Bubble tea” is actually a reference to the milk froth that forms when the drink is shaken, not the chewy pearls in the drink that resemble bubbles.
The Great Wall of China – one of the seven wonders of the world – took over 2,500 years to build, with 400,000 people losing their lives along the way.
When Sir Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore on 18 January 1819, there were only 1,000 people living on the island
Wimbledon employs a bird of prey, named Rufus the Hawk to keep pigeons away from the tennis courts during the tennis season
The first Disney character was a rabbit called “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”
