Kennesaw, January 25, 2016 ─ VJI tax experts for manufacturers started 2016 by kicking off the year’s first staff meeting with a team-building escape room game. Getting together at Urban Escape in Alpharetta, the group tried to solve a jewel-heist mystery game that is based on virtual escape rooms that have been popular online for years. The VJI team gamely entered a room where they had one hour to escape by finding clues, solving puzzles, and cracking codes left by a fictitious international jewel thief.

“The physical versions of escape games are becoming very popular in the United States,” says VJI President and CEO Valerie Jordan. “I thought it would be a good exercise in further developing the great teamwork and communication among our staff. We came close to beating the deadline, but we ended up joining the two-thirds of first-timers who didn’t quite solve the mystery. Nonetheless, I still call it a ‘win’ for fun and building team spirit.”

After a stop for lunch, the team met at the Hampton Inn in Woodstock for an afternoon annual kickoff meeting. “We reviewed the work that we completed for our clients in 2015 and discussed plans for 2016,” says Jordan. “We will use what we learned during the escape room game to make 2016 an even better year for us and our clients.”