All Work and… Lots of Play: Here’s Why Adding More Fun to Events Pays Off

During the pandemic, folks rediscovered the joy of play, using activities like coloring books, video games, and puzzles to escape reality, occupy their time, and cope with stress, burnout, and isolation.

“Many people had identity crises at the beginning of the pandemic when they had attached their productivity to their self-worth and now couldn't produce,” explained Jeff Harry, an Oakland, Calif.-based positive play coach who works with companies to “cultivate psychological safety within teams and ultimately make work suck less for staff.”

Jeff Harry, founder of Rediscover Your Play, defines play as "any joyful act where you forget about time, where there is no purpose or results. ... Play is the opposite of perfection. Perfection is rooted in shame, ego, and constantly scared to fail. Play is built on curiosity, wonder, awe, and embraces failure as a necessary part of the process."Photo: Courtesy of Jeff Harry“It was play that helped them figure out who they were outside of their work,” he added. “We found ways to feel seen, heard, appreciated, and valued all by playing more. People who embraced a play-oriented/growth mindset when dealing with this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic coped much better than individuals who tried to do the pandemic ‘perfectly.’ Some could argue play saved some people's lives when they didn't know where to turn during these surreal and challenging times.”

While the pandemic inspired more folks to get playful, the concept of incorporating fun-focused programming into corporate events or team-building outings isn’t necessarily new. For example, between 2015 and 2020, the number of escape rooms went from zero to more than 2,000 in the U.S.

And at the Sloomoo Institute—an interactive playground that specializes in slime with locations in New York, Atlanta, and Chicago—companies having been stopping by for corporate off-sites, slime-making classes, holiday parties, and after-hours events with cocktails and wine (known as “ooze and booze” or “sip and slime” nights). One company even enlisted the Sloomoo Institute co-founders to give a TED-style talk on slime and mental wellness.

“Mental health has become a full-on pandemic in and of itself. It is really important to let go and escape sometimes,” said Karen Robinovitz, co-founder of Sloomoo Institute. “Adults often lose the language of play and being silly. ... Slime and getting in touch with the senses in an analog way has a nostalgic but freeing feeling.” She added that it can also trigger endorphins. “Often, parents come to us after the experience and say that they realized it was more for them than it was for their kids.”

Sloomoo Institute opened a location in Chicago this year. It features a DIY bar that offers 60 scents, 40 colors, and 150 charms to make over four million slime creations, along with “Sloomoo Falls” where visitors can stand under a waterfall of slime, a Yayoi Kusama Obliteration Room-inspired “Slime Wall,” ASMR experiences, soundscapes, scent exploration, immersive videos, and more.Photo: Courtesy of Sloomoo InstituteBesides being a good time, play for adults does offer tangential benefits including improved stress management and better overall well-being. “We now know that more play, combined with learning and networking, results in more productivity, higher learning retention and application, greater workplace morale, and an increase in profits,” said Sharon Fisher, CEO and IdeaSparker of Play with a Purpose.

She added that play can also keep attendees attentive and engaged longer; improve brain function; foster empathy, compassion, trust, and intimacy; and spark innovation, curiosity, and creativity. For example, Play with a Purpose recently worked with a tech company to incorporate a corporate social responsibility (CSR) element into its conference that tied back to the event’s message of persistence and the power of “tweak and try again.” To engage attendees, organizers hosted a paper airplane contest and donated a STEM workshop about the science of flying and aeronautics to a local school.

Play with a Purpose’s new activity called “Synergk” is a retro-style game that uses some iconic pieces of '80s video games to encourage communication and teamwork. The built-in assessment tool lets you see how good your team is at sharing information and working together to accomplish goals.Photo: Courtesy of Play with a Purpose“When you infuse play into meetings, attendees are more likely to follow their curiosity, are more open to sharing, and the team is more willing to experiment," Harry explained. "If you start a meeting with play, attendees feel more aligned, and more people feel comfortable engaging in the meeting."

He added, “It's ironic that we state that we want staff to think outside of the box, and then we put them in a box building, in a box room, sitting around a box table, and then ask them to think outside of it."

Over the course of his career, Harry has worked with hotel executives to identify the issues that they've been avoiding and identify how to approach these challenges through an experimental lens, where they embrace failing as part of the process. He’s also recently been speaking at a slew of human resources conferences, consulting teams that are made up of older millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers on how they can connect with Gen Z workers by utilizing platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord.

He said that a majority of his clients right now are “dealing with significant amounts of turnover and burnout.” To address this, Harry uses a positive psychology play approach to help staff rediscover the type of play they enjoyed as a kid. “The way we used to play as a kid directly connects with how we do our best work now, and we help people make that connection.”

Of course, simply including mandated play time on an agenda misses the point, so event planners need to be thoughtful when choosing activities.

“Most of the time, event planners believe the best parts of an event are having famous thought leaders/celebrities speaking, or important knowledge being shared during the event, but what makes a majority of people come back to an event is how much of an enjoyable and impactful experience they had, and that happens through connection,” Harry said. “Play gives an excuse for attendees to connect where they couldn't before.”

Fisher echoed that sentiment, saying that “we are coming to the realization that ‘watching’ things—speakers, entertainers, PowerPoints, etc.—doesn’t provide the engagement we need for a post-COVID world. ... In order to improve both learning and networking, we have to design for more participation, hands-on interaction, and, most importantly, peer sharing.”

If you’re thinking about adding in a play element to your next event, Fisher advised first identifying the purpose for the activity. “Understand what you want guests to learn/know, how you want them to feel, and what you want them to do after they have participated. Stop choosing activities just because they ‘sound like fun’ and choose events that tie into the content and reason for your event and that are intrinsically fun while driving ROI,” she said.

The Georgia Lottery customized Interactive Entertainment Group’s Giant Human Claw Machine as a “Cash Grab” experience.Photo: Courtesy of Interactive Entertainment GroupArielle Dukofsky, content marketing specialist for Interactive Entertainment Group, suggested that if you’re looking to engage as many people as possible, incorporate multiplayer games. And if you’re hoping to generate leads, consider adding an experience that involves a leaderboard, which prompts guests to enter their information. She added that products involving gamification, such as Virtual Racing Chairs, the Giant Human Claw Machine, and Bumper Cars on Ice (a wintertime twist on the carnival ride that takes place on a synthetic ice surface), are the most popular among clients.

Because of the isolation caused by the lockdowns during the pandemic, Dukofsky said she thinks “people value in-person experiences more than ever. ... People have access to games at home, but it’s very different from a live experience where you’re able to connect with people in a physical space.”

“We now know that more play, combined with learning and networking, results in more productivity, higher learning retention and application, greater workplace morale, and an increase in profits,” said Sharon Fisher, CEO and IdeaSparker of Play with a Purpose.Photo: Courtesy of Play with a Purpose