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| Written by Marie Johnson, CMP

Engage Remote Teams with Virtual Contests

Virtual Contest Daily Kick Off

Whether your organization has a remote workforce by design or necessity, it is important to boost morale, increase collaboration, and foster relationships to create a high-performing team. We reached out to Corporate Event Interactive (CEI) to learn more about their latest initiatives focused on creating unique remote team building, networking, and CSR events for teams.

“For many of us, our new daily routine includes video conference meetings, schooling our kids, sharing photos from our work-from-home (WFH) offices, and ordering take-out,” said Linda Whitlock, President of Corporate Event Interactive (CEI). “We developed a series of virtual gaming and contest experiences to keep employees motivated, inspired, and connected.”

At M&IW, we were early adopters of a virtual workforce model with more than 75% of our team working remotely across the U.S. and in the U.K. for the past decade. However, we are also accustomed to seeing our M&IW family members onsite at client events, industry events, and more. While we couldn’t meet in-person, we were excited about the opportunity to have a little fun with a remote unique, game-sharing experience.

We selected The Daily Kick-Off, an innovative way to keep employees engaged and the perfect kickstart to each day for a week! It is a self-guided activity featuring creative, motivational challenges that prompt participants to answer trivia questions, take photos, capture videos, and compete in “challenge tasks” from home or any location via a mobile app. Each challenge completed earns the player points and the leaderboard lets them know how they are performing against their peers.

In partnership with CEI, we were able to customize the experience and task challenges such as; office must-haves, acts of kindness video, a throw-back photo of their team, and more. Once the program was live, we were assigned a gamemaster. Trent made sure it was all a very seamless experience. Here is what a few of our employees had to say about the experience:

“I like how the challenges are different each day and how they engage your creativity. I loved the when we had to share an old photo of our M&IW team. I found some great ones of clients that I sent to them via email and it gave us a chance to reconnect!” Liz

“Very creative, it got the whole family involved and we were looking forward to the next task every day. Each challenge was spot on, perfectly presented, and ideal time when we needed a little motivation and fun.” Gio

“It was something to look forward to every day! What will today’s adventure be? Also, the format was very simple to follow – everything was laid out clear and easy to navigate!” Nancy

The week following the competition, the CEI team hosted the M&IW Daily Kick-Off Awards Presentation via Zoom showcasing spirited fun and creating team comradery. It was wonderful to see the creativity of all our team members and families through their photo and video submissions.

M&IW has been partnering with CEI for years on our client team building and CSR activities, as well as our annual Global Give Back program. They are a trusted partner and industry leader in the production of interactive programs for corporate meetings and special events. Founded in 1987 by Ed Graziano, CEI combines two dynamic industries—meeting and event production with experiential adult education—to create programs that get a reaction. With specially designed activities, they revitalize company meetings and retreats, deliver key messages and learning objectives. Each program is unique, fun, and appropriate for groups of all abilities and professional levels.

If you’re interested in incorporating a virtual component into your next event, let us know. To learn more about Remote Team Building & CSR Experiences offered by CEI, check out this iQuiz Video or visit www.corpevent.com.