Ann Hansen and Bo Krüger are meeting designers based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and run workshops and events to train other meeting planners. Known for gamification and other innovations to engage meeting attendees, the duo came up with a card game to help train planners, but quickly realized that the game could be used independently of training to improve the meeting planning process. Hansen and Krüger knew they were onto something when they used the game at a meeting with Meetings Professionals International and found that the planners loved it and wanted to take it home with them.
They improved the Meeting Design Game (MDG) for corporate and association use and last month launched it for sale online at www.meetingdesigngame.com.
The game consists of more than 100 English-language cards outlining the components of a meeting and ways to enhance each step of the planning process. The goal is to come to a common understanding about expectations for the meeting. It can be played by a team of planners working on an event together, or a meeting designer working with clients to discover their goals and focus for the event. The game also is designed to help key stakeholders within an organization express preferences for every aspect of an event, acting as a guide for the planner. It takes a couple of hours to play, and takes users through each stage of the process. It has been tested by planners in the United States as well as Europe and Asia.
The game creators call it the event design tool meeting planners didn’t know they were missing. Hansen and Krüger say, “We have condensed 20 years of strong knowledge, experience, training, and research into the game, and it is an easy way to level up from planning meetings, to designing meetings.”
Bo Krüger and Ann Hansen
