The Intersection

Let the Gamification Begin!

How can meeting planners use games to enhance their events? In the latest installment of The Intersection, Geoteaming CEO John Chen offers a few ideas.

Conferences shouldn’t be all fun and games. Right?

John Chen, CEO and ‘Big Kid’ of corporate teambuilding company Geoteaming, might disagree. “With a game, you’re constantly engaged with the whole conference, from beginning to end,” said Chen in “Leading Meeting Change,” the latest video for The Intersection, presented by PCMA and PSAV. “I think it’s going to be a key feature moving ahead with conferences.”

In the meetings industry, gamification can provide opportunities to network, educate attendees, guide traffic to booths, and  introduce a sense of adventure into an event. “If you’ve come to this conference 20 or 30 times, maybe you think you’ve seen everything,” Chen said. Yet with planners constantly upping the ante on engagement, gamification, said Chen, can help attendees unlock “the hidden features inside of a conference that meeting planners create.”

Chen thinks that while 80 percent of planners have heard of gamification, only 20 percent have used it at their meetings. “It’s also a way to engage a younger demographic” Chen said, especially Millennials who might not always show up in person, but still want to participate.

His top tip for planners? “Know what you want,” Chen said. “If you don’t know what you want, all of these other tools are flashy, but they won’t help you get your goals.”

To watch the video, visit www.pcma.org/theintersection.

Corin Hirsch

Corin Hirsch is a writer who specializes in food and drink.