< PreviousPROFILE // N ever give up. Never quit.” That’s the message retired Army Staff Sgt. Tra- vis Mills, of the 82nd Airborne, shares as a motivational speaker. This mantra is the driving force behind his remarkable life’s journey — his raison d’être — or reason for being. In April 2012, Mills, a paratrooper and combat infantry soldier, was lead- ing a team checking for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghani- stan when his world blew up — liter- ally. After placing his backpack on the ground, an explosion erupted and mangled him. He remembers a flash of light, a loud boom. He screamed to the medics to help his soldiers. In a split second, he lost both legs above the knee, as well as portions of both of his arms. This was April 10, 2012, four days before his 25th birth- day. He was airlifted from Khik to Kan- dahar, Afghanistan, to a U.S. hospital in Bagram, Afghanistan, then transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, then on to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, and finally, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He had to undergo four amputations. His brother-in-law was at his bed- side when he woke up. “Am I para- lyzed?” Mills asked. “You took the brunt of the explosion for your guys. You’re not paralyzed, but your arms and legs are gone,” was the staggering response. A few days were dark, he says — very dark — while he began to process this life-altering news and contem- plate why he didn’t die. Also, he was self-conscious: without his limbs, the 6-foot-3-inch, 225-pound Mills was now 110 pounds lighter. Independent to his core, he thought needing help with everything would be intolerable. There were moments early on when he thought about quitting. And then Cpl. Todd Nicely paid him a visit at Walter Reed. Nicely, also a quadruple amputee, grabbed a soda and opened it. That simple act made a huge impact on Mills, and after chatting for a few minutes, Nicely reassured Mills that he would be able to go back to living independently. Heeding this call, Mills forged forward. “If I gave up, I was giv- ing up on my family,” he explains. “And I wasn’t going to do that.” An incredible will to live led him to become one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Afghani- stan and Iraq to survive such injuries. Each and every day, four hours of occupational therapy and four hours of physical therapy became his norm. He worked. And he worked hard. Eventually, the grueling rehabilita- tion paid off. Five weeks into his recov- ery, he used his robotic arm to feed himself. Two weeks later, he began to walk with robotic legs equipped with microprocessors. Also waterproof, they feature a Bluetooth remote to help him drive. Only five months after his injury, with sheer grit, Mills walked a 5K in New York City — the Tunnel to the Tow- ers — that honors the sacrifice of fire- fighter Stephen Siller, who lost his life helping others on September 11, 2011. While he struggled on his new legs, bleeding from his newly fitted pros- thetics, this experience helped him realize how much he wanted to run again. After consulting with his doc- tors, he was fitted for running blades. Today, he hosts an annual Memorial Day road race, the Miles for Mills 5K in Augusta, Maine to raise money for his foundation. I Couldn’t Fail He credits his family as the core behind his motivation. While at Walter Purple Heart Recipient and Quadruple Amputee Inspires Others BY ANDREA DOYLE SPOTLIGHT : TRAVIS MILLS 20 February/March 2022 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comU.S. Army veteran Travis Mills says his determination to recover from his injuries, suffered in Afghanistan, came from thinking about the love of his wife and children. Courtesy of the Travis Mills Foundation TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | February/March 2022 21Reed, he and his daughter Chloe learned to walk at the same time. “I came to terms with the fact that I lived when so many didn’t. I couldn’t fail. I had to be a role model for my kids,” Mills explains. “Do I wish this didn’t happen to me? Of course. But it did, and I have had to just accept that.” Today, Mills travels the world shar- ing his message of resiliency and deter- mination with groups of all kinds. “After my speeches, I hang around to meet as many people as I can. Everyone has a story to tell. My problems are not big- ger than theirs. I share mine with the hope I can help someone,” he says. “I gave a lot, but I didn’t give everything. I don’t dwell in the past, and I certainly don’t live on the sidelines. Life is all about perspective.” It is that message, his larger-than- life personality, sense of humor and incredible spirit that groups find most inspiring. Many are surprised by the way Mills pokes fun at himself. “People listen best when they are having fun and I make sure that happens,” he explains. “I tell jokes to disarm the situation,” he says with a laugh. “For example, `I really don’t want to bomb, because look what happened last time.’” With a robotic, bio-electric arm that turns 360 degrees, Mills frequently uses it to trick people when shaking hands. His message is especially poignant today, as the world reels from the ongo- ing COVID-19 pandemic. “My big- gest message is resiliency, and the fact that you can bounce back from almost anything with the right mindset,” says Mills, who never allowed self-pity to seep into his psyche. Instead, he chose to forge ahead with confidence and conviction that inspires people around the world. He does not call himself wounded. “I am a recalibrated warrior,” he says, adding that what defines him is being a husband, father and empathetic leader. His family is his world. After he was released from Walter Reed, his wife Kelsey gave birth to their son Dax, named in honor of the two med- ics who saved his life by putting tour- niquets on all four of his injured limbs while pumping fluids into his body. “If one of those tourniquets had loosened, I would have died within three min- utes,” he explains. After leaving Walter Reed, Mills and his family relocated six times, eventu- ally moving into a specially adapted smart home built and donated by the Gary Sinise Foundation in Manches- ter, Maine, the state where Kelsey is from. “A happy wife is a happy life,” he says with a chuckle. His awards are many, including finalist for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Citizen Honors Award, and 2018’s New Englander of the Year, but Mills insists being recognized by Fatherly Magazine as a Father-of-the- Year honoree means the most to him. A self-described “small-town kid” from Michigan, he attended Grand Rapids Community College until he discovered the military offered the same camaraderie he had so enjoyed as a top football, baseball and basket- ball player, so he enlisted in 2006, and deployed three times. In 2012, his unit was going to Afghanistan, and while he didn’t have to go, he wanted to. “My guys were going, and I felt obli- gated to go as well. A month and a half later, I got blown up. I was transferred to Walter Reed where I had to learn to walk, feed myself, dress myself and so much more.” Today, he speaks at 60 conferences a year for groups of all types and sizes, and is impressed by the corporate social responsibility focus exhibited by many. “I was at a sales conference in California, where during the day the group built 250 wheelchairs as part of Courtesy of the Travis Mills Foundation Mills, who calls himself a “recalibrated warrior,”says he and his daughter Chloe “learned to walk at the same time.” 22 February/March 2022 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.coma team-building activity that then got donated to a local veteran’s hospital. How cool is that?” Audiences are captivated by his journey. “I can honestly say that while his story is one of inspiration and of a true American hero, even more com- pelling is his ability to connect with his audience,” says Stephen James, of SCJ Fiduciary Services. “I have seen near a hundred motivational speakers over the years, and there are only a few I found that come across so genuine and as comfortable as a speaker as he.” Nan Pum, director of talent devel- opment at M3 Insurance, agrees. “He made us laugh, he made us cry. His story of resilience, the power of positiv- ity and humility moved our group. He challenged the thought processes and attitudes of everyone in the room, and gave them the perspective they needed to take on their own challenges in their personal or professional lives.” “Tough As They Come,” the book Mills wrote about his journey, has become a The New York Times best- selling memoir. The COVID-19 pan- demic was the impetus for a new book that is in the works about resiliency and how to thrive in the face of adversity. Giving Back Mills is forever indebted to not only his family, who unconditionally supports him, but to the medics, the doctors and medical technology that have contributed to the full life he now lives. Today, he is focused on giv- ing back and ensuring other combat- injured vets have access to the same support he received. An abandoned spa built by cosmetics guru Eliza- beth Arden in 1929 was on the market for 10 years and caught his eye. He thought it would be the perfect home for his nonprofit, the Travis Mills Foundation. It is. Converted into a retreat for injured soldiers and their families, hundreds of other “recalibrated warriors” have learned how to overcome their own injuries at his facility. Not only do they receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid, barrier-free vacation where adap- tive activities are offered, but they are also given the opportunity to rest and relax in Maine’s outdoors. Boating, fishing, biking and snowshoeing are just a few of the activities offered. With the hope of operating year- round, a Health and Wellness Center is also in the works that will include an indoor pool and fitness center. “These retreats help on so many levels. They include the entire family, as it is so helpful to bond with others who are in similar situations, and for our kids to see there are others like us,” Mills explains. “I will help anybody who needs help, as long as they are willing to work for it.” Mills and his wife are also owners of Lakeside Lodging & Marina, a lodge set on the shore of Cobbosseecontee Lake in East Winthrop, Maine, that is also home to a recently opened restaurant/ brewery, White Duck Brew Pub. Rental properties and a supplemental benefits insurance company are other endeav- ors. “I’m just a man with scars living life to the fullest as best I know how,” Mills says modestly. C&IT Courtesy of the Travis Mills Foundation People who have heard Mills’ speeches say his message of strength and determination, sprinkled with raw emotion, resonates deeply with everyone. My ... message is resiliency, and the fact that you can bounce back from almost anything with the right mindset. — TRAVIS MILLS To book Mills for your next meeting, conference or event, call Patrick Quinn at Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners at 630-903-0000 or email patrick@chicagosep.com. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | February/March 2022 23DepositPhotos.com A New Prescription Medical/Pharma Meetings Evolve to Meet Demand BY MAURA KELLER INDUSTRY INSIGHT // 24 February/March 2022 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comn n the midst on the ongoing pandemic, medi- cal and pharmaceutical companies are emerg- ing as leaders as it pertains to the modification of today’s meetings and events. The world has been watching them over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic to see how they handle the changing environment. Sue Gill, founder/CEO of Your Event Solu- tions (YES), says the manual on meetings and events — for medical/pharma meetings, as well as other industry segments — has been completely rewritten in the last two years. “To survive, we have to keep moving forward and pivot, change [and] adapt. We have to be consultative, employ brand new thinking, and look for innovative ways to keep an audience engaged,” Gill says. “The pandemic hasn’t stopped people from wanting to attend events. We’ve seen just the opposite, with medical professionals wanting to attend events and reconnect with others more than ever.” According to Melissa Park, global event producer at Melissa Park Events, no matter the industry, very few in- person corporate events were delivered in 2020-2021. Many companies canceled their entire portfolios, while others opted for virtual program delivery. And while some remain cautious, the vast majority of corporations, including those within the medical and pharmaceutical segment, are mov- ing forward with hybrid programs in 2022. “This format offers the flexibility to revert to a completely virtual program relatively easily should a last-minute change be required,” Park says. The design and implementation of COVID-19-safe event plans have added a layer of complexity and cost to medical/ pharma events. “In addition, due to concern and hesitation to pull the pin and make an ‘in- person’ decision, most clients are approaching planners with a lot less lead time and looking for increased flexibility and fully refundable cancella- tion clauses,” Park says. As we have recently seen with the effect new variants of COVID-19 continue to have, mandates are constantly chang- ing, and this is likely to continue for some time. “That’s why basing location selection on any state or city based on how they are ‘currently’ managing COVID is not recommended,” Park says. “Instead, look for venues that offer outdoor options and ample meeting space. This way, you’ve got the room to get creative if new restrictions come into play.” Within the pharmaceutical and medical industries, Emma Guo, co-founder & CEO of Offsyte Inc., has seen firsthand how organizations such as Kaiser Permanente and Molina Healthcare are really investing in virtual team-build- ing events for company morale and engagement during vir- tual events. “These meeting planners are looking for events that are inclusive and fun, that employees can enjoy from the comfort of their homes, and also have a great time bonding with their co-workers,” Guo says. Given the current state of the world, the biggest area of interest Guo sees is definitely virtual events that are inclu- sive, meaning anyone on the team can participate and have a good time. That also means if it’s an event that ships a kit to participants before the meeting, it needs to be shipped to all the participants in different states and sometimes even dif- ferent countries. “Within the medical/pharma industries, we see companies looking for virtual events like a virtual tie-dye workshop, chocolate making, wine tasting, magic shows and murder mysteries,” Guo says. “The trend is to try different events regularly instead of doing the same activity.” As mentioned, additional focus areas for meetings and events is making sure the activities included are inclusive. Also, the event duration needs to be taken into consideration. “Most people will have Zoom fatigue after a few hours, so if you are planning a full-day event, definitely factor in break times and fun events like ice-breaker questions, coffee breaks or any fun virtual events facilitated by professionals,” Guo says. “Also, always try different events instead of doing simi- lar activities all the time. This is also a good way to be inclu- sive, since everyone on the team will have different prefer- ences for what they want to do for team building.” According Georgie-Ann Getton, co-founder and CEO of GSD Solutions Events, a NYC-based virtual event produc- tion company, she is also seeing a surge in interest in moving medical/pharma events online as Omicron-variant infections spread. Getton helps organizations think through the ratio- nale of moving events online, and helps them plan, promote and produce high-quality virtual events and meetings. She also hosts regular webcasts to educate her network on best practices and ideas called “Events Reimagined.” “The medi- cal/pharma industries, in particular, have turned their events and reporting showcases virtual. These are critical, and in some cases, life-saving showcases, where they share information and data related to their medical research, studies and trials,” Get- ton says. “As you can imagine, professionals in the medical/ pharma industries closely follow the COVID protection guid- ance from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] CDC and take these precautions very seriously.” The traditional large-scale medical/pharma events Courtesy of Your Event Solutions Sue Gill, founder/CEO of Your Event Solutions, says people want to meet and network more than ever. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | February/March 2022 25previously took place in conference rooms and banquet halls. Now, clients are using advanced platforms, such as Remo, Hopin and Zoom, to create elab- orate conference experiences to learn and network with each other. “We have put on hundreds of virtual events using these state-of-the-art platforms, and the feedback is always very positive,” Getton says. “They give participants the ability to interact and engage online as if they were in person. While we all miss in-person meetings, being able to keep people safe is the top priority.” Continuing Education Events for the Medical Community Walter Ejnes, CHCP, president of the Continuing Education Company Inc., an accredited provider of continu- ing medical education (CME) for phy- sicians, nurse practitioners and physi- cians assistants, says that at the start of the pandemic, his company switched to a virtual format for three of their conferences. But, in June 2020, they bucked the trend and went back to an in-person format and are sticking with it. “Although 2020 was a challenging year for medical conferences, we began holding in-person CME conferences as early as June of 2020. We have since held over 28 in-person CME confer- ences,” Ejnes says. “At first, attendance was considerably down, but we have seen our attendance numbers in 2021 bounce back to pre-COVID levels.” For the most part, Ejnes says medi- cal professionals are eager and excited to get back to in-person meetings. He has seen attendance at the Primary Care conferences bounce back to pre-pan- demic levels, and in some cases, surpass those registration levels. As for location, Hawaii-based conferences are show- ing the greatest amount of interest, fol- lowed by Florida. “Despite the perceived hurdles required to travel to Hawaii during the pandemic, we have held five conferences on Maui and the Big Island [Hawaii] during the pandemic, and they have been our best-attended events,” Ejnes says. “Our Florida CME confer- ences have also done extremely well, with attendees excited to spend time outdoors in excellent weather.” As for certain modifications being made by meeting planners, Ejnes and his team continue to be aware of the need for great flexibility when planning a medical conference due to the unpredictability of the health-care audience. As he explains, with COVID rates constantly fluctuating nation- ally, attendee cancellations have continued to occur due to employer-imposed travel restrictions, cutbacks in CME allowances and over- all pandemic concerns. To overcome these challenges, the Continuing Education Company implemented its CME Reassurance policy, which eliminated cancellation fees and pro- vided flexibility to registrants. “From a meeting planning perspective, we have become more conservative than before with our guarantees, and have worked closely with our hotel partners to moni- tor room block pickup and F&B require- ments,” Ejnes says. Now that they are back to normal attendance at their CME conferences, one of the greatest modifications has been configuring the conference seat- ing to allow for comfortable physi- cal distancing. In some cases, it has required the Continuing Education Company to expand to additional space within a conference ballroom. In other cases, it has caused the company to close registration early. “These are good problems to have since people are eager to return to in-person medical events,” Ejnes says. “It requires close partnership with our venue partners.” As stated earlier, most medical meet- ings and events are offering virtual-only events or a hybrid model with a stream- ing option a result of the pandemic. However, Continuing Education Com- pany has been livestreaming its CME conferences for the past seven years, so the company already was using a hybrid model. “There are many aspects that need to be considered by meeting plan- ners when it comes to streaming a live event that impact internet bandwidth, equipment and space requirements, and increased costs,” Ejnes says. “This all needs to be taken into consideration when negotiating contracts.” Focused Consistency Debi Tracy, CMP, CH, E-RYT, senior event designer at Think Well- ness NY, says where meetings and Courtesy of Walter Ejnes Professionals in the medical/ pharma industries closely follow the COVID protection guidance from the CDC and take these precautions very seriously. GEORGIE-ANN GETTON Co-founder and CEO GSD Solutions Events Walter Ejnes, CHCP, president of the Continuing Education Company Inc., says his firm hosts in-person events despite the virtual-only trend. 26 February/March 2022 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comevents were at one time all about the dates, the rates and the venue, now the emphasis is on if we are practicing SET (safety, efficiency, and transparency). “Thus, innovation has been in high gear in search of finding possibilities to pandemic-specific problems. The need to be more efficient in a broader way may make way for new opportunities,” Tracy says. “Safety isn’t suggested; it’s required more than ever before.” Tracy was at a hotel last summer in upstate New York where she found empty beverage bottles in the cabinet underneath the sink. “True, they may have been out of sight, so they were missed [during cleaning]. But that made me think: What else could [the cleaning people] have missed? More disturbing was when I brought it to the attention of the front desk manager and later in emails to the hotel company, they all just brushed it off,” Tracy says. “Yet, the apples at the front desk were individu- ally wrapped! Consistency is key.” Tracy suggests that for in-room meetings, venues must have a strategy to promote their SET message. Otherwise, there’s no way a planner has knowledge of it, which makes it difficult to sell their client. “Once the venue commits to SET, they also have to commit to promoting, implementing and enforcing it,” Tracy says. “Protocol, as an element, is impor- tant, but communicating that plan to event professionals is vital.” Ongoing Impacts The pandemic has forced every orga- nization to get out of its comfort zone and reimagine what meetings and events can look like. Going virtual can provide a great user experience and keep everyone safe. “With COVID changing so quickly, the industry has to be nimble and able to go virtual in a day’s notice,” Getton says. “Having that capability at your finger- tips is paramount. It used to be ‘a nice to have’ but now it’s a ‘must have’ capabil- ity that drives results, and high levels of participation and satisfaction.” The three areas where Park is seeing the most impact on medical/pharma events, as well as those across other segments of the meetings and events industry, include supply, cost and staffing. “Just like the shelves in every retail and grocery store, supply of just about every material needed to pro- duce events is either non-existent or in high demand, driving costs to levels the industry has never seen,” Park says. “In addition to this, we’re now tasked with accounting for the purchase and deliv- ery of our COVID-safe event plans, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Generally speaking, budgets have not increased, so knowing where and how to make every dollar work for you is more important than ever.” Similarly, many event professionals were laid off and a large number of those have chosen not to return. “Because of this, companies are being forced to pay above-average rates to attract any interest. Teams are lean,” Park says. Getton advises that meetings and events planners need to continue thinking about what hybrid events look like, and how to embed a high- quality virtual experience into all potential in-person events. “Virtual isn’t an afterthought, but an entire seg- ment or track that needs to be curated and thought through the same way we think through the elements of a live event,” Getton says. “Catering, entertainment, interaction breaks and so on are all happening online now, and good planners are able to organize those hybrid gather- ings successfully.” Gill recognizes that plan- ners need to provide a vari- ety of solution offerings for medical/pharma meetings. “Correct protocol, testing and lowered attendance num- bers are good starting points, but beyond that, we need to be working as a trilogy of partners,” Gill says. “Destinations [hotels and confer- ence venues], event planning agencies and clients need to help each other to ensure they are actively involved in the health and safety of everyone involved.” Getton adds that at the rate at which companies are evolving and new tech- nologies are introduced, the only way to keep up is having staff on-site or working with trusted partners that are always thinking of how to bring more innovations to the virtual environment for medical/pharma meetings, as well as those within other industry seg- ments. “We spend a lot of time focus- ing on discovery and learning about what’s now and what’s next,” Getton says. “Virtual events aren’t going any- where; it’s our job to evolve with our world to bring an amazing user experi- ence to every event — online, in person or a combination of both.” C&IT We have become more conservative than before with our guarantees, and have worked closely with our hotel partners to monitor room block pickup and F&B requirements. WALTER EJNES, CHCP President Continuing Education Company Inc. Courtesy of Your Event Solutions Many medical/pharma meetings are hybrid, giving attendees the option of being there in-person or participating remotely. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | February/March 2022 27Play On Use Gamification to Increase Engagement at Your Next Event BY SOPHIA BENNETT PLANNER TIPS // ooking to boost engagement at meetings, appeal to younger attendees and provide better metrics to sponsors and other key participants? Gamifica- tion may be the way to meet all of these goals — and more. For those who are unfamiliar with this buzzy term, “Event gamification is the idea of adding game-like elements to your event in order to increase engage- ment of attendees,” says Scott Winstead, founder of MyElearningWorld, a web portal that provides gamification services to companies. “Essentially, you’re adding game-like elements to a non-game sce- nario to achieve a targeted outcome.” When using gamification, compa- nies provide attendees with games, polls, quizzes and other tools — often ones they can play on their electronic devices — before, during and after an event. When a person completes a task, they receive some kind of reward. “The mechanics that make up a great game are points, badges, leaderboards and trophies,” says Sam Caucci, founder & CEO of 1Huddle, a gamification plat- form for workforce training. With plat- forms that use points, the person or people with the most points at the end of an event will win some kind of prize — often something substantial, like an iPad, Peloton bike or Airbnb stay. Peo- ple may also be able to redeem points for goods and services. Leaderboards, which show the names of the people who have scored the most points, similar to the display on arcade games or pinball machines, allow par- ticipants to compete against one another over the course of the event, which appeals to their competitive spirit and can even make them feel like an event VIP, says Vaibhav Jain, founder & CEO of Hubilo, a virtual and hybrid event gami- fication platform. Badges and trophies provide a similar feel-good award. Gamification can be done at in-per- son events almost as easily, and doesn’t have to involve technology. Many plan- ners have already done simple in-per- son gamification through team-build- ing exercises. “We do a lot of escape rooms, trivia games, painting contests, flash mobs [and] photo booths,” says Valerie Bihet, director/founder of the Miami-based corporate event planning firm VIBE Agency. Teams win points or other rewards for answering the most questions in a trivia game or coming up with the most creative photos. “These are all types of gamification,” she says. While people of any age can get into gamification, it may be particu- larly important for companies looking to boost participation among younger event attendees. According to Caucci, “It’s believed the average millennial will have spent over 10,000 hours on game platforms before they’re 21 years old. Gen Z is not going backward. Build- ing upon the behaviors and preferences these consumers already have provides tremendous opportunities.” If older attendees push back, “People will say, ‘I’m not a gamer, that’s a young person thing,’” Caucci says. “Remind them that if they do crossword puzzles, play or follow sports closely, or engage in other competitive activities, they are gamers.” He also compares event gami- fication to frequent-flyer miles or credit card reward points. “You’re sprinkling gamification on top of a business pro- cess or a consumer process,” he points out. “You’re using points and levels to make the pursuit of a business outcome more fun and more sticky.” Why Gamification? Gamification’s most important role is increasing engagement. “We have lit- tle kids inside us,” Bihet says. “The best way to learn something is to have fun.” 28 February/March 2022 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comProviding engaging speakers, interac- tive activities and information people can use to do their jobs better is critical to making any event successful. “But in the delivery, you need to find some tricks to engage your audience. Gamifi- cation is one of them.” Gamification was already taking off in corporate, education and other settings before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it became more of a necessity as planners watched engagement dip during Zoom trainings, and virtual conferences and trade shows. “At first, [virtual meetings were] a welcomed change for many, as working from home and not being forced to attend such events was a breath of fresh air,” Winstead says. “However, as these virtual events increased, online fatigue set in. Turns out, it’s a lot easier to go through the paces and stop paying attention when you’re sitting on the other end of a screen at home.” Event organizers began turning to gamification to make it easier for event attendees to engage with the content at virtual events. “By design, in-person events garner more involvement and participation just by attendees being physically present,” Winstead says. “Virtual events, on the other hand, lend themselves to disengagement, as it’s just viewers watching on a screen. And as we, as a society, get more used to viewing content in small tidbits on apps like YouTube, expecting a viewer to tune in to an event where they’re just watching speakers for long periods of time with no engagement is just setting your event or meeting up for failure.” Gamification can help with many other kinds of outcomes as well. Dur- ing a large five-day event, Hubilo’s gamification platform helped attendees exchange greetings and ideas on mes- sage boards, set up meetings, network and share what they’d learned on social media — on top of the leaderboard and other fun elements to make the event more enjoyable and memorable. Melissa Park, global event producer with Melissa Park Events, notes that gamification can also be used to mea- sure knowledge and understand user behavior. This means it has important implications for employee training Gamification, done properly, can go a long way to increase attendee engagement at meetings and events, while also adding loads of fun. Courtesy of Valerie Bihet TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | February/March 2022 29Next >