“PLAY every day, keeps the doctor away”

-Kristi Herold

What’s in a name?

Since we re-branded a couple years ago, I have had a lot of people wondering and asking…where did the name JAM come from? After 25 years as the Sport & Social Club, why would you change your name, especially during a global pandemic?  What does JAM mean? Short answer.  I thrive in chaos…kidding (sort of).…

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Why force the issue?

Companies around the world are forcing their employees back to the office, against their will. Remember when your Mom forced you to wear a dress but you wanted to wear jeans, or when your Dad forced you to take a nap and you weren’t tired?  How happy did you feel being forced to do something…

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Huddle Up!

Is your team missing seeing each other as you are working from home with only the occasional day in the office? Or perhaps everyone is working fully remotely? Are you feeling the loss of those random sparks and laughs you used to enjoy when you would connect with your teammates at the office? You may…

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My 2023 Workplace Culture Prediction

Fostering flexibility and belonging will create a thriving workplace culture.  Like a 500-hour trained yogi, utmost flexibility will be demanded by the workforce in 2023.   With technological advances the age of “work from anywhere” is here to stay as the flexibility it affords is very appealing to employees. Organizations that want to retain great people will be…

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PLAY creates lives.

PLAY creates friendships…and lives!  Levi Cooperman is the co-founder of FreshBooks, that little Canadian start-up that achieved unicorn status a year or so ago, and he credits playing with JAM for his marriage and beautiful two daughters.  Here is the story, in Levi’s own words:  “It was the summer of 2003 when Naama and I…

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Purpose = Joy.

What is the core purpose of your work? Does it bring you joy? After what felt like a refreshingly normal dinner out on King St the other night, (after so many dinners in), we were driving past Lamport Stadium and I made my husband pull over so I could jump out and stand by the…

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Our Official JAM Re-brand

This month marks 25 years since I started the Sport & Social Group and we have some exciting news to share and celebrate! This past year has been incredibly challenging and has had many of us wearing different hats. With our sports leagues on pause, our team stayed focused on our core purpose of connecting…

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3 Easy Tips to Reduce Work Stress

The holiday season is over, a new year is upon us, along with a return of day-to-day work, responsibilities and more zoom meetings.  Beware, there is an inaudible enemy lurking amidst your zoom calls!  It exhausts your energy levels, ruins your attentiveness, and eats away at your self-assurance. Your co-workers complain about it and your…

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Hindsight is 2020.

2020 is about to be permanently in the rearview mirror – permanently behind us – permanently hindsight. A fact I’m certain many of us are grateful for. 2020 had begun with such a clear vision (pun intended) for a bright future. I launched into 2020 by saying “yes” on Jan 1st to a marital proposal…

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Small business stung by pandemic pivots to raise $200,000 for charity

Today Canada’s largest adult recreational sports league, the Sport & Social Group (SSG), announces a $200,000 corporate challenge for charity called “Titans of Trivia.”  The initiative is led by JAM (www.workplayjam.com), the newly created remote events arm of SSG which helps corporate teams worldwide keep their culture thriving by hosting playful events keeping their teams…

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Do we make our own luck?

Ever hear the saying, “you gotta be good to be lucky and lucky to be good”?  Well I believe this to be absolutely true! The other day at my staff book club we were discussing our most recent read, Jenn Sincero’s “You are a Badass”.  During our discussion it became clear that some of my…

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Bench the Kids and Take the Field

Why Parents should Play Sports too! When the Sport & Social Club first had members kicking balls, throwing discs and hitting homeruns, the sidelines at our games looked like this; …empty…there were few spectators and definitely no children or baby strollers. Back then the average member was 23 years old and single. But as the…

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