I’ve heard of fanasty football leagues but never a fantasy construction equipment league.
But that’s essentially what the Backhoe Challenge is.
Yesterday, as I went through magazines with a fine-tooth comb while helping to judge an editorial contest, I came across a news brief on the Backhoe Challenge.
I was reading a magazine covering meeting and conventions. Hmm, that further piqued my interest. What do backhoes and planning meetings and conventions have in common unless it’s meeting for the construction industry?
So I checked into it.
Turns out now, teambuidling isn’t just climbing ropes together or falling back and trusting that your partner will catch you. Now, teambuidling is operating construction equipment.
Bending Brook LLC, a Montclair, N.J.-based corporate training and consulting firm, offers the Backhoe Challenge. It lets supervised groups of up to 18 people operate earthmoving equipment in a series of challenges to create a more effective organization — to just have fun. It has been touted as a big sandbox for grown-ups.
After pointing out the article, one of my colleagues and fellow judges told me that a friend of her’s now husband wanted to operate equipment for his bachelor party. So she contacted one of the major equipment manufacturers to set everything up for her then-fiance.
I guess the fascinatation of operating large machinery never wears off. I know my 3-1/2-year-old and 16-month-old sons love it. And now it’s become a teambuilding and bachelor party experience.
Will a construction equipment fantasy league be next?