Team Building

Choose an Escape Room for your Corporate Event!

Corporate events are an essential aspect of any business as they allow employees to connect, build relationships, and foster a positive work environment. However, planning a corporate event that is both engaging and interactive can be challenging. One activity that has gained popularity in recent years is escape rooms. Escape rooms offer a unique and exciting experience for corporate events, which can benefit businesses in many ways. In our newest Lock Chicago blog post we’ll explore why escape rooms are great for corporate events and those participating.

This phrase gets used most commonly as reasoning for any event but we certainly have to start with Team Building. One of the primary reasons why escape rooms are great for corporate events is that they promote team building. Escape rooms require players to work together and communicate effectively to solve puzzles and escape the room. This teamwork can improve relationships among coworkers and build trust. It also allows employees to develop their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, which are valuable in the workplace.

Stress relief: Corporate events can be stressful for employees as they may feel pressure to socialize and network with colleagues. Escape rooms offer a fun and immersive experience that can help alleviate this stress. It provides an opportunity for employees to unwind and have fun while still building relationships and engaging in team-building activities.

Improves communication: Communication is a vital skill in any workplace. Escape rooms require participants to communicate effectively to solve puzzles and escape the room. By participating in an escape room, employees can develop their communication skills, which can improve their overall performance at work. It also allows coworkers to get to know each other better and learn how to communicate effectively with each other.

Boosts morale: A positive work environment is crucial for employee satisfaction and productivity. Escape rooms provide a fun and exciting experience that can boost morale and create a positive work environment. By participating in an escape room, employees can feel valued and appreciated by their employer, which can lead to increased job satisfaction.

Encourages creativity: Escape rooms require participants to think creatively and outside the box to solve puzzles and escape the room. This type of thinking can be beneficial in the workplace, where creativity and innovation are highly valued. By participating in an escape room, employees can develop their creativity skills and apply them to their work.

Promotes healthy competition: Escape rooms can also promote healthy competition among employees. By working together to solve puzzles and escape the room, employees can feel a sense of accomplishment and healthy competition. This competition can motivate employees to work harder and achieve their goals in the workplace.

In conclusion, escape rooms are an excellent activity for corporate events. They promote team building, communication, creativity, and healthy competition, while also providing stress relief and boosting morale.

At Lock Chicago we offer unique team building experiences not just with Escape Rooms but with Scavenger Hunts and on-site events as well! Whether you want us to visit a location of your choice or set up an interactive Scavenger Hunt through our partner, Roamli we’ve got plenty of options. Overall Escape Rooms are a fun and exciting experience that your employees will surely appreciate and we look forward to hopefully hosting you in the future!

Finally Moved! Lock Chicago's New Escape Room Facilities

Hello Again!

We know it's been a few months since our last post and it's been a crazy 60 days as we've fully transitioned out of our original location and onto our new facilities at 820 Davis Street, Suite 151 in Evanston. Have no fear as we're still literally one block away from our prior location just with some new upgrades.

We have an additional 2,400 square feet to work with for a total of 4,000 with 2 new escape rooms coming by the end of 2017! We have added some new features to our existing "Sunburn" and "Malfunction" escape rooms and increased the capacity to 10 players each for "Private Rooms". They will still remain 8 players each for the "Public Room" function.

Feel free to stop by at our new spot to chat or take a sneak peek at our upcoming escape room concepts as we look to build on our new Lock Chicago location!

Best Regards,

Brian, Bane, and Alex - Lock Chicago

Understanding Humans and Running an Escape Room

Hello Again!

In this next installment of our Blog we're going to talk about what we've learned about human interaction when people are put in a new situation. It's funny, we initially thought that Private Escape Room groups would be more congenial or civil towards one another seeing as they are already friends/family but that is not necessarily the case! 

Our Public Group players even tend to be the nicest towards one another. Maybe it's because they're strangers and are trying not to look especially mean but who knows. When players are put in a unique situation they haven't experienced before they tend to also try things they might not have before. It's especially entertaining noticing younger kids or children with their families taking on more of a leadership role as parents try to scatter throughout the room without a sense of direction.

Our corporate partners/clients are also great examples of this when in many cases the central manager or organizer is not the one taking charge where you might find a more typical introverted employee stepping up and showing their skills.

It certainly keeps our time at Lock Chicago entertaining and we always welcome our friends from Evanston, Chicago, and all over to come try it out for themselves!

Best of Luck,

Lock Chicago - Escape Rooms

Lock Chicago and the Escape Room Festival Season!

Hello Again!

Today we're going to talk about Escape Rooms and the unique opportunity they bring to different street festivals, concerts, and outdoor events throughout the community and city. While escape rooms initially started out as designs built specifically for in-house locations the industry and experience has grown so much beyond that point. Larger companies and brands such as Zelda, Resident Evil, Ford, and more are crafting unique mobile experiences that they can take from city to city that not only promote an upcoming event but drive awareness for the unique experiences of an escape room.

Us at Lock Chicago are no different as we initially began our foray into mobile games with our partnership with Northwestern University's "Dillo Day" student-run music festival. We set up a 30 minute mobile escape room on the festival grounds back in 2016 and we look to ramp that up even further in 2017. 

The nice thing about being able to create an experience on the go is that you can take it virtually anywhere. As Spring and Summer inches closer keep an eye out for all the local community festivals in the area. Evanston has an abundant amount in their downtown area which makes a perfect opportunity for you to contribute and drive awareness of your own escape rooms brand in a fun and innovative way.

Just make sure you're prepared for any weather situation as that can put a damper on the outdoor escape room experience as well as durable props (us at Lock Chicago learned that the hard way).

In any case best of luck as we get through this seemingly mild winter and onwards towards warmer weather!

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Lock Chicago Data and Escape Room Statistics

Escape Rooms have been around for over a decade across the world but within the past 3 years have recently begun to gain mainstream popularity across the United States. But are they just a fad or will they follow the same path as Laser Tag or other similar games? We spoke with guests and other escape rooms to pull together some interesting key data pieces about the state of the industry in the United States. Special thanks to King's Escape Room for information from their infographic! 

  • From a survey of 1,000 33.9% of respondents said they had never heard of an Escape Room before!
  • 100% of respondents ages 18-24 loved their Escape Room experience.
  • 50/50 there was no correlation between male/female on opinions of escape rooms.
  • 84.9% of those who had visited an Escape Room in the past year "loved" their experience.
  • There are over 2,300 escape rooms in the United States compared to 2,200 in Russia where the industry has been thriving.

There is no doubt that this industry will continue to grow at a staggering rate but all things must eventually slow down especially as others look to play in the same space and join the market. It is up to the customer to decide on what makes the most special experience and escape rooms to keep up and continue to provide that experience. 

If you haven't tried an escape room yet what are you waiting for?? 

Cheers,

Lock Chicago