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.
Perfect for pool parties and resort events is L.A. Photo Party's underwater photo booth. The self-contained unit includes a DSLR camera, strobe flash, preview monitor, and underwater trigger button. The booths are available globally; pricing is available upon request.
Roar Events hosted a destination meeting dinner at Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa August 18. The Mexican-theme dinner offered an interactive margarita bar where guests could pick their tequila, flavor, and specialty salt.
Ferrari rented out a Shell gas station in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, for its Casa Ferrari Carmel pop-up August 12 to 16. Among the amenities open to the public at Casa Ferrari was the Piazza, a custom-built structure that displayed a rotating schedule of vintage—and priceless—Ferraris certified by Ferrari Classiche each day. These included a 1954 250 Monza (one of four ever built) and a 275 GTB Competizione (pictured), which captured third overall in the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Tucked in what was the gas station's general store was a Ferrari shop open to the public. Fans could purchase their favorite Ferrari mementos while ogling the exotic cars parked mere steps away.
In addition to a Veuve Clicquot Champagne bar, invited guests were also treated to a proper Italian feast featuring a bevy of pastas and meats, not to mention a traditional Parmesan cheese wheel.
The Teen Choice Awards' V.I.P. tent at the Galen Center August 16 invited entire families of sponsors and Fox V.I.P.s. Designed and produced by YourBash, the tent's centerpiece was a three-tier chandelier made from 200 yards of fabric.
Tabletop vignettes included lanterns, flowers, and autograph notebooks for kids.
Yesterday was National Banana Lovers Day, but Magnolia Bakery teamed up with UberEats to dub it National Banana Pudding Day. The first 300 customers who ordered a meal using Uber's city-specific food delivery option received a free small banana pudding from the bakery. Customers who bought banana pudding in stores got a free banana-theme temporary tattoo and a chance to win free pudding for a year if they used the hashtag #GoBananas and tagged the bakery in an Instagram post. In addition, Magnolia is offering a Banana Pudding Cupcake in its stores through the weekend.
W Hotels Worldwide hosted an Amsterdam-theme event in New York on August 18. Since the early 1500s, Amsterdam's city symbol has been "XXX." The symbol appeared, along with the W Hotels Worldwide logo, on flags that decked the boat.
DJ Mia Moretti spun from a custom DJ booth bicycle, a tribute to Amsterdam’s reputation as the bicycle capital of the world.
In the Spy Game, from the Go Game, participants work in teams to complete a series of activities and solve clues provided via smartphone, all based on the premise that someone from their company has been kidnapped and they need to solve the crime. Missions may include having to spell a word without writing, creating videos, and engaging with actors they may encounter throughout the designated course. Each game takes about two hours and combines some high-tech activities with more campy elements such as disguises and cracking codes.
