We invited The Escape Game to open this year’s Reality Escape Convention because with 18 locations across many different states, they have a unique perspective in this industry.
They talk about how they’ve been affected by 2020 and how they’ve coped through product innovation and customer experience.
As passionate advocates for this industry and an important part of our community, we’re excited to welcome The Escape Game leadership team to the RECON stage to open this event.
If you haven’t registered yet, it’s time.
About The Escape Game
The Escape Game is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee and has 18 retail locations across the US with 2 more locations opening this year. In addition to designing and manufacturing its physical escape rooms, The Escape Game has created multiple at-home gaming options including a new board game called Escape from Iron Gate, an at-home adventure series called Unlocked, and a virtual platform for playing its physical escape games called Remote Adventures. The Nashville headquarters houses a design and manufacturing center with creative and build teams, as well as corporate leadership departments including the company’s 3 founders, Marketing, Guest Experience, Operations and Finance.
At RECON you’ll hear from the founders of The Escape Game, Jonathan, James and Mark, as well as the leaders of several of their teams including Emily and Brian who lead operations, Phil who leads finance, Teddy who leads marketing, Ben who leads the game team and Andrew the Director of Product Operations. Collectively, this group has over 40 years of experience in the escape room industry.
The Story of my Favorite Sweatshirt
David and I visited The Escape Game for the first time in November of 2016 at their Orlando location.
We didn’t know anyone in Orlando at the time, so we played their 4 available games back to back, just the two of us. Our last game was Prison Break, which had a split-team start. As a 2-person team, this meant we each began in our own prison cell.
During those first few minutes of the game, David kept asking me – from the other cell – to describe what I’d found… but I hadn’t found anything. I was too cold!
The Florida heat outside was intense, so the air conditioning inside was also intense. I wasn’t prepared for a 4th straight hour of intense air conditioning. I run much colder than most people and cold environments present a real challenge for me. All I could say to David was, “I’m too cold. I know prison isn’t supposed to be comfortable… but I’m too uncomfortable. I can’t search.”
And that’s when our gamemaster appeared with a sweatshirt. I put it on and we escaped Prison Break.
This is what The Escape Game does. They make sure every guest has a good time. Sure, we got some preferential treatment that day when we met Mark, the CEO, but 4 hours later, Mark had left the building, gamemasters had changed shifts, and we were guests of The Escape Game, experiencing what The Escape Game prides itself on: equipping everyone to have the most fun possible.
And that sweatshirt with The Escape Game’s logo? I still wear it all the time. It’s really soft and warm. It’s getting a bit ratty. Next time I visit one of their locations, I’ll probably buy a new one.
RECON starts on Sunday
RECON ’20 is this Sunday and Monday.
We encourage you to register today and sign into the RECON Discord Server when it opens later this week. This way you’ll be all ready when The Escape Game takes the stage for the opening remarks on Sunday at 10:00 (New York time).
RECON is about sharing knowledge and building community. You’re invited to join in strengthening a sustainable escape room industry that recognizes creators, players, and the challenges of 2020.
Update 11/22/22: If you’re a fa of The Escape Game, we hope you’ll check out our interview with The Escape Game CEO and Co-Founder Mark Flint on The Reality Escape Pod.
