Before last night, I would have told you that I’d experienced Chief LIFTer Tim Carr in his element. I’d seen him go toe-to-toe with tricky clients, impressing a conference room full of seasoned marketers with his knowledge and passion for Direct Response Marketing. I’d seen him present work he was passionate about and announce huge testing wins, massive lifts in response, and exciting agency initiatives. In short, I’d seen him at his best. Or so I thought.
That was before LIFT’s West Coast (Best Coast) team holiday outing to Spin SF, a ping pong bar and grill, where Tim finally showed us his true colors.
The great thing about ping pong is that the best players are the most unexpected ones. It’s Senior Designer Jen Jones, whose serve comes with a nasty backspin. Or it’s Adam Young, Project Supervisor and OG LIFTer, who prefers playing tableless tennis, seeing how many times he can hit the ball back and forth without a bounce. (The answer is 11, in case you were wondering.)

But most of all, it’s witnessing our CEO play with the force of 10 men, waving arms that seem to magically lengthen while returning even the most difficult serves, winning rallies that go back and forth over 100 times before ultimately diving into a metal bathtub full of ping pong balls. Flourishing, excelling, thriving.

So maybe ping pong is a metaphor for collaboration. Maybe it’s an opportunity to “accidentally” hit your Art Director in the face with a light plastic ball. But most of all, playing ping pong is a valuable chance to connect in different ways, see coworkers in a new light, and discover that your CEO could go pro in the competitive world of table tennis.