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A leadership trip to Barcelona took an unexpected turn when over 100 guests were kicked out of their hotel.
Fine food, sun-kissed beaches and Gaudían architecture – this is what the leadership team and directors of Barry Plant had in mind when they jetted off to Barcelona for their annual leadership conference.
But on the second day of the conference, havoc ensued when the entire team – plus their families – were suddenly evacuated from their hotel.
“Imagine finding out at 7pm during our family dinner some distance away from our hotel that we had to organise 100-plus delegates, partners and children to pack up, some by torchlight, and move to a new hotel, immediately. It was not the announcement anyone was expecting!” said Barry Plant CEO Lisa Pennell.
A surprise power outage was the cause of this sudden departure. With electricity not expected to return for several days, the team had no choice but to move.
“Despite the numerous challenges the news obviously presented for everyone, after the initial shock, we all pulled together, there was no complaining,” said Pennell.
Some of the other hotel guests were “getting upset and frustrated”, but Pennell reported that the Barry Plant attendees “all helped each other and we got through it swiftly”.
“By 10:30pm, the drinks at the bar of our new hotel were flowing and so were the laughs.”
In spite of the unexpected hurdle, the Barry Plant team still enjoyed their six-day sojourn in the Catalan capital.
The conference covered a range of topics, including leadership, strategy, personal wealth creation, metrics for success, and empowering leadership with data.
While Barry Plant team members were hard at work absorbing conference learnings, their partners and families enjoyed a photographic experience, a gourmet walking tour, and a paella cooking workshop in the city’s historic Gothic Quarter.
According to the group’s CEO, the unexpected evacuation was an example of the team’s ability to adapt to challenging circumstances.
“Our forced hotel evacuation certainly gave us clear evidence that the leaders within our group are strong enough to take us into the future, achieving the Barry Plant vision to become the trusted real estate brand,” Pennell said.
