leaves the session in high spirits, feeling great
about the experience and about themselves.
A more extroverted group will enjoy exercises
that are more socially interactive:
And that one audience game, sandwiched
amongst the seminars, workshops, break outs,
field trips and banquets may in fact be the only
session that the participants buzz about for
weeks and months afterward.
Conference games come in all shapes and sizes.
I began by suggesting that the very act of asking
the audience questions is, in a sense, a game of
involvement.
If the group tends toward
introversion (even the most successful travel
agents may be personally introverted while at
the same time being professional extroverted)
then games might include:
A structured Experience. This is usually a
team exercise in groups of 4-5. No chairs
have to be moved. Some will opt to move to
another area to complete the experience,
others will sit where they are. But the entire
room will be buzzing with discussion—which
is what organizers want. The actual ‘game’
consists of asking the group to list 10 things.
It could be 10 reasons to send a client on a
cruise; 10 selling skills; 10 customer service
points you would want an entry level staff
member to know; 10 reasons to buy travel
from a real, live travel agent, etc. Or it could
even be an exercise where each group is
tasked with the challenge to start their own
travel agency and they must list 10 aspects
of the new corporate culture, or 10 ‘codes of
ethics’ for the make-believe agency.
A quiz that asks some serious as well as fun
questions. Eg. Do you like the GDS we are
using? If you could change one thing about
the GDS what would that be? What is the
most enjoyable destination you have ever
visited? How many countries have you
visited? Who is your favourite cartoon
character? Somehow this should relate to
the session being attended. The quiz can
either be ‘marked’ by the person who
completed it or handed to a seat-mate to
mark.
A map. This is useful at destination seminars
(draw a free-hand map of Mexico and
identify Cancun, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta
and Cabo San Lucas). But this can also be
used in general travel skill seminars to drive
home the importance of destination
knowledge. (E.g. Draw a map of South East
Asia and identify the following countries:
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand,
Myanmar, Malaysia…). It’s a fun and
challenging exercise that gets the audience
involved, as well as making the point that
they probably need some assistance with
their geography skills (and potentially their
drawing skills). Those who score 100% can
be acknowledged and given a small prize,
which