It is no secret that the American workforce is working longer hours every day with what seems like a dwindling return on vacation time and personal days. Coming out of the second worst recession in our nation’s history the modern work place which we reside in is a highly competitive environment which is not often riddled with rewards or entertainment. Many people simply see returning to work on a Monday morning as reward enough for their 50 hour work weeks. While this growing trend is fast becoming commonplace in our new American modern culture there are a growing number of companies which have recognized this trend as a dangerous path to continue down and have taken some simple steps to boost morale. One of the most common steps taken by human resource departments around the country is to purchase an office game which is designed to engage workers and deliver prizes and rewards. Prize wheels for businesses are one of the fastest growing product lines in the corporate world.
Prize wheels, puck drop games, raffle drums and dice drop games are all popping up in offices around the nation. These gaming wheels, boards and drums are gaining such widespread popularity due to their universal applications. There are very few other products on the market which are as easily customizable and recognized as spin to win games. Not only does the spinning wheel with bright color evoke a feeling of winning chances but the clicking sound associated with the wheel in action is a noise that is part of American culture. Wheel of Fortune is as much a part of our culture as apple pie, Chevrolet and Jeopardy! For the last thirty-nine years (since 1975) the game show Wheel of Fortune has been on TV in some shape, form or fashion with the present nighttime syndication format in use since 1983. So from the days of Chuck Woolery to the nights with Pat Sajak the majority of the current workforce has come to age with the sounds of a clicking wheel spinning toward fabulous gifts and prizes. It is of no surprise that these wheels evoke happy feelings in the contemporary worker and allows them to think of winning prizes and vacations.
There are several different styles of prize wheels which are presently on the market and though they have some similarities the two main styles are ideal for separate events. The two main styles of prize wheels on the market, at present, are dry erase or write on wheels and print your own or template based spin to win games. The dry erase board is better suited and engineered or at least conceptualized for the modern office. Every office has a supply cabinet with a plethora of dry erase, wet erase or liquid chalk markers and these gaming devices make use of these popular marker types so that no wheel is ever without a writing implement. Using the widespread white board material is a smart design feature which allows anybody to quickly update the wheel. These write-on spin to win games are for all intents and purposes shipped blank to the awaiting HR or Sales departments manner. The blank façade of these spin to win games are one of their biggest selling points. The promotional items are not genre, category or industry specific and thus can be widely used by all industries.
The second main style of spinning promotional games is the template or print yourself prize wheel. This style of wheel game is generally more expensive and not as commonly used in the office as the dry erase models. The template based custom prize wheel is most often used by the traveling trade show or job fair professional. The templates are often digital files which are able to be formatted or populated in popular programs such as MS Word, Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. The reason that these template based gaming wheels are more often used outside of the office is also two-fold. On a practical and surface level it takes much more time to design, print and cut out the templates and if the sole purpose of using a wheel is to simply generate a good mood, solicit anticipation, or offer employees a chance at winning a prize then the a write on wheel can achieve that at a lower cost and with less time spent on the designing of the wheel. In turn the templates give a much more professional and legitimate feel to the prize wheel. If you are trying to attract passersby and potential customers, clients or future employees then the more professional and trusted of the two styles should be used by the trade show worker. The prize wheel with printed award slots is also more often used by charity based organizations who sell tickets or chances to spin to win as a fundraiser. The printed prizes are seen as more credible and will result in more confidence in the users and thus more money for the group hosting the event.
It may seem redundant to say but the American work force is made up of the everyday average American citizen. It makes full sense that the trends of the “popular culture” are just as apparent and alive in the workplace as they are outside of the workplace. And with that being true, if every weeknight for the last 30 years a strong majority of the population has sat down at 7:00pm EST and watched others spin and win, then it may be time to bring that same excitement to the next sales meeting!