"At the Christmas cookie-decorating station, guests can decorate homemade cookies with a selection of colored icings, sprinkles, and assorted trimmings. There will also be pre-packaged, professionally decorated cookies on hand to purchase or donate.” Holiday cookies from Eleni’s New York
SmartHunts are iPad-based activities offered by Best TeamBuilding. Teams perform challenges, solve clues, and answer trivia questions, which can all be customized for the group. Participants also capture video and photos throughout the activities that can be shown at the conclusion of the event and shared through social media. SmartHunts feature two-way messaging so teams are connected with the hunt coordinator, who can track players using GPS and download photos and scoring. Themes include Amazing Chase, Mission Possible, Da Vinci Code, and an Event Kick-Off SmartHunt for conferences. Each hunt takes about three hours.
TeamBonding offers five “Smartphone Scaventures,” in which players use the company’s mobile app to search for items, complete tasks, and snap photos. Teams earn points based on activities completed and the quality of photos. Hosts can create a mission list from a bank of more than 100 options—such as asking participants to play “human limbo”—or they can design their own activities. Teams can compete against one another from multiple locations, whether in different cities or different countries. Each hunt takes about three hours to complete.
Go Game uses smartphones to guide players through a series of challenges. Teams of as many as 10 players are sent on a course to solve puzzles and complete tasks within a game zone, which could be a few city blocks or a convention center. Players complete missions by submitting digital photos and text answers through the phones. Examples include a National Mall game in Washington that asks players to locate specific buildings and answer questions about memorials. Go Game also provides costumed actors that interact with participants throughout the hunt. The game ends with a presentation of the photos and videos, which the host also receives on a USB drive.
Wise Guys Events offers “Clockwise,” a cell phone scavenger hunt played with QR codes. Teams of as many as 10 players race against the clock to discover and decode 12 QR codes hidden within the game zone, usually a few city blocks. The codes may be located on a bike parked on a city street or on matchbooks players receive after giving a password to a bartender. When players scan the QR code, they get a password worth points at the end of the game and also instructions on how to complete an optional challenge for bonus points. Each hunt takes about four hours.
GooseChase is a D.I.Y. scavenger hunt platform. Hosts can choose from options in the “mission bank” or create one from scratch. Each mission has a set point value and can have images and links attached to it. Participants submit photos through the app as proof of completing each mission, which could include convincing a stranger to demonstrate a favorite yoga pose. Organizers can monitor the activity through the “Hunt HQ” on the GooseChase Web site and award points based on the submitted photos.
SCANVenger hunts are played using QR codes that can be placed throughout a venue, in an exhibit hall, or among a few city blocks. Players scan the codes and answer questions to earn points. Questions can be customized, for example, to quiz players about content learned at the event. Participants can also view the leaderboard on their devices, adding to the competition. SCANVenger also offers an interactive game wall—an 8- by 10-foot display of 30 QR codes—for hosts that want to offer a game without a physical hunt.
Wildly Different offers a hunt known as “Recess Anyone?” as well as custom hunts based on a client’s theme. Signs with riddles are placed throughout the hunt area. Teams or individuals use their smartphones to scan a QR code on the signs that leads them to a Web site with additional clues to answer the question. Hosts can determine how to set up the hunt: as a break between education sessions, a networking tool during a reception to encourage interaction, or as a way to get people moving around a trade show by placing clues in exhibitors’ booths.
American Outback’s “Wild Goose Chase” scavenger hunt sends players on missions that vary from wacky—like kissing a lobster—to customized to match the event’s theme, location, or objectives. Teams access the missions using the company’s app, and the list can be completed in any order. The hunt can be played in a few hours or over several days during a conference. Players can view a leaderboard in the app to increase competition.
Stray Boots offers trivia-based walking tours of popular meeting destinations around the country, including Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Miami, and Las Vegas. Players use their cell phones to complete challenges, solve riddles, and take photos, and they earn points along the way. Each activity includes interesting facts about the destination. Tours can be played via the Stray Boots app, text message, or on a mobile browser. For multiple teams, the game can be arranged so teams experience the same tour but take different routes.
Three of the festival's largest events were held on the top level of an open-air parking structure at Pier 92, adjacent to the West Side Highway, including the signature Burger Bash on Friday night. As part of its Community Created Art program, Burger Bash title sponsor Blue Moon had a professional artist on hand to help guests paint a pre-outlined mural of a giant beer bottle nestled among the New York City skyline.
Held at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on November 7, the 10th anniversary event raised an impressive $4 million. Keep a Child Alive's creative director Earle Sebastian and creative producer Natalie Galazka collaborated with event producers at Empire Entertainment on the evening's clean, elegant look. To thank long-time donors, producers tapped Wanderlust to create an experience that involved locked silver jewelry boxes on tables. At a point during dinner, waiters placed a key with the donor's name on it onto the table. When the person found the key and unlocked the box they found a personal thank-you note from Alicia Keys and a special gift such as an origami paper elephant.
The three-lane, three-story, neon-lit slide at IFC’s carnival allowed three people to glide down on burlap sacks. For those not partaking in the ride, there was a spot where they could take selfies.
It’s every wedding guest’s worst nightmare: sitting next to complete strangers at an assigned reception table. Guesterly, a new publishing company helmed by a former editor at Oprah’s O magazine, aims to alleviate that anxiety by helping guests connect in a fun, unforced way. Through the service, couples can create a custom magazine-style “yearbook” filled with photos and fun facts about guests, along with how they know the bride or groom. Then, the mini magazines are mailed to guests before the wedding or distributed at the ceremony. “It helps breaks the ice and allows for meaningful interaction among guests,” Grinnals says.
Pictured: At the Engage!13 wedding conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, guests were given a custom booklet by Guesterly containing photos and brief bios of each attendee.
At UrbanDaddy and Stoli’s launch event in New York in 2012, a pure white room was later transformed into a playful and colorful space as guests painted on the walls and lighting projections filled the room.
For a venue that will get the team moving, Urban Putt offers a winter-friendly indoor miniature golf course. The 14-hole course incorporates San Francisco landmarks—think a Transamerica Pyramid windmill—in a space that holds about 200 people. Still want to treat staffers to dinner and drinks? No problem. The venue also includes two private dining rooms, a restaurant, and a bar.
At Thinkery's Imaginarium gala, held in Austin in September, staff wore necklaces with Scrabble pieces that spelled out their names. These were used in lieu of traditional name tags.
