FARGO, N.D. — The company that makes Hot Tamales candy offered its sales team an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii if it met its annual goals, and a trip to the nation’s tundra if it didn’t.
The Just Born team did not meet its target, so on Tuesday, about two dozen salespeople gathered inside Fargo’s 19-story Radisson hotel — the tallest building in this frozen city.
Outside, the temperature was 7 degrees, and the ground had 2 feet of snow. In Honolulu, it was sunny and a comfortable 82 degrees.
“Fargo is not what you would think is one of the greatest locales in the United States, and technically we didn’t make our year,” said Dave Bayha, a Just Born manager. “It was somewhat of a punishment.”
They are trying to make the best of it, with a little humor. They planned tours of two North Dakota wineries and a sleigh ride, tobogganing and hot toddies around a fireplace inside a chalet.
On their first night in town, they went to the VFW in West Fargo for a spaghetti dinner. Five bucks a plate, all you can eat.
Afterward, they hauled an old-school popcorn machine into a conference room and watched a movie. “Fargo,” of course.
