Meetings Today - September 2018

Combining the formats of gamification and corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is a teambuilding trend that is tailored to appeal to a multigenerational audience of attendees.

“It is really good to see the culture changing, with team activities changing in our industry specifically,” said Alexandra Pett, director of Vancouver, British Columbia-based team-building company Eventology, the exclusive Canadian partner of worldwide teambuilding company Catalyst Global Team Building Network, which operates in 54 countries—the largest network of teambuilding professionals in the world, according to Pett.

“[Gamification] is the
fashionable word on
the street—this year, last
year and probably the
year before that. Now it’s
very, very much CSR. I
think we’re the only ones
putting the two together
at the moment.”
Catalyst Global recently teamed with B1G1

( www.b1g1.com), a global business giving initiative, to create a high-tech teambuilding scavenger hunt, Go Give, which sees participants scoring charitable impact points benefiting efforts such as supplying water to a village in Cambodia, schoolbooks, water filtration systems and mosquito nets to third-world countries, and even planting trees to save the habitat of orangutans.

During last year’s holiday season, Eventology and all of the other 53 partners of Catalyst Global Network, together with B1G1, took part in the first-ever 24-hour continuous Global Scavenger Hunt by performing charitable events at sunrise across the globe.

According to Pett, the pairing of technology and good old-fashioned charity is also a combo that appeals across generations.

“I would see it as the solution in bringing in the Baby Boomers and Millennials,” Pett said.

“It’s a form of communication and solutions
that interest both. There’s a massive issue
regarding communication between those two
generations. They’ve started to realize they
can’t just do it on their own.”
Eventology also recently facilitated the
donation of more than 12,000 meals to Brit-
ish Columbia food banks through Catalyst’s
90-minute Hole in One event and via a
meeting of 250 from First
West Credit Union and

40 from Douglas College.

The Hole in One event is a nine-hole golf format that sees teams of seven people each compete on multiple golf courses simultaneously. Eventology can scale this and other events for groups up to 2,000.

Besides the benefit it
gives participants and
recipients via improving
team relationships and
giving back to the com-
munity, leveraging social media channels to
spread the word about such efforts provides
a multiplier effect on the warm-and-fuzzies.
“Because there’s so much publicity of
it through social media it really drives
business and makes people feel good in the
company, so there really is a big win-win for
everyone involved,” Pett said. “Last week we
donated 13,000 meals to charity, and people
read that and said, ‘I want to do that.’ It’s a
domino effect, really.”

PAYING IT

Here are some organizations making a difference:

// Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants had a team ride in the 2018 Chefs Cycle in Santa Rosa, Calif. The group of Kimpton chefs as well as CEO Mike DeFrino and recently appointed Senior VP of Restaurants and Bars Scott Gingerich raised funds and awareness in support of No Kid Hungry. Cyclists rode 300 miles over three days with the goal of raising $2.4 million in total to connect kids across the country with healthy food.

// Rosewood Hotels & Resorts recently launched Global Giveback Campaign, which seeks to raise awareness and donations for charitable organizations that provide educational opportunities and experiences to children. The campaign offers concessions for group bookings confirmed by June 30, 2019, including a 2 percent donation to impactful initiatives such as Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program, Centro Educativo K’iin Beh or the charitable organization of the guests’ choice.