Trophy Award Ceremony: How to Prepare It Well

In most team building events, the game, the logistics and the transfers get plenty of care. The closing ceremony, however, often comes at the end of the planning process, when there is little time left to think it through. That is a shame: it is the moment when participants come together, when the collective effort is recognised and when the event takes its place in everyone's memory.

For HR managers, office managers, event agencies and DMCs, a well-prepared ceremony is also a management tool: it closes the event properly and paves the way for the debrief. Here is how to approach it with TeamLab by QuestRides, designed in Marrakech, where it is available today.

Why the ceremony matters as much as the game

A treasure hunt, a trail game or an orienteering race generates energy, tension and shared moments. Without a closing moment, that energy drops all at once: teams disperse, everyone heads off on their own and nobody wraps up the experience together.

The ceremony fulfils three roles:

  • Recognise the work of the teams, including those that do not finish first.
  • Bring together everyone in the same place, in an atmosphere different from that of the game.
  • Connect the experience to the original objectives: cohesion, communication, integrating a new team, and so on.

Choosing a dedicated venue, separate from the finish

A simple TeamLab rule

At TeamLab, the ceremony takes place in a dedicated venue, never at the finish point of the hunt. There is a practical reason for this rule: teams do not all arrive at the same time. If the trophy presentation were held at the finish point, the first teams would wait for the last ones in a setting that was not designed for that. A separate venue lets you gather everyone, catch your breath, settle in and start the ceremony once everyone is present.

The practical questions to settle

The choice of venue is prepared at the same time as the rest of the stay. A few points to raise from the outset:

  • The transfer between the end of the game and the ceremony venue: how participants get there, and who accompanies them.
  • The meal: does the ceremony take place before, during or after it? A convivial moment around a table often gives a better rhythm than a stand-alone trophy presentation.
  • The atmosphere: a space where people can sit, hear and see one another, with the means to showcase each team.
  • Access: the venue must be easy for the whole group to reach, with no last-minute improvisation.

These elements (transfers, meals, ceremony, complete stay) are among the topics covered during the online scoping.

Building the honours list: trophies, distinctions, jury prize

TeamLab offers trophies, distinctions and a jury prize. The key is to decide in advance what you want to highlight, so that the presentation is not reduced to a podium.

Honour teams, not individuals

TeamLab produces no individual scores, no psychological profiles and no ranking of people. This is a deliberate choice, and it simplifies the ceremony: teams are recognised, with their name, their story and their team progress, never colleagues compared with one another. For an HR department, it is a guarantee of tone: the event remains a collective and supportive moment.

Varying the distinctions

If only the fastest team goes home with a trophy, the others risk watching the ceremony from a distance. It is more engaging to plan several angles, which you define with us according to your objectives. Some ideas:

  • team spirit or the cohesion seen during the game;
  • the perseverance of a team that had to reorganise along the way;
  • creativity in the answers or the missions;
  • a jury prize, for a team the organisation wishes to put forward.

Also define who makes up the jury and on what criteria it deliberates, so that the decisions are understood by everyone.

Setting the running order with the real-time control desk

During the game, the organiser sees each team's progress, the time elapsed since its position last changed, and the teams that are paused or offline. This position is transmitted by the team's team lead phone, never by individual tracking of participants.

This tracking also helps prepare the ceremony: you know where the teams are, so you know when to organise the transfers and when to open the room. If the running order needs adjusting, the control desk offers six interventions: reserve stage, timed surprise mission, freeze, slowdown, pause and resume. Before each intervention, it announces its target, its effect and its duration, and none is applied while a team is moving. You thus keep control of the overall pace without disturbing participants in the middle of their progress.

Talismans between teams (Givre, Sablier, Mirage, Égide), offered as an option, add twists. Remember to take them into account in the ceremony's narrative: they are part of the story each team will have lived.

Making the ceremony the starting point of the debrief

TeamLab keeps an event log and a timeline of the game. These elements serve as a basis for the debrief: you can go back over the key moments, the teams' choices and the highlights, rather than relying on memories alone.

A good practice is to open the ceremony with a short look back at how the game unfolded, then move on to the trophy presentation. You can then suggest a discussion in small groups about what the experience revealed about how the group works together. Participants registered with just a first name, with no email or phone number: the discussion focuses on the teams and their methods, not on personal data.

The preparation checklist

Whether you are in a company or an agency, here are the points to validate before the big day:

  1. Objectives: what should the ceremony reflect (cohesion, integration, recognition)?
  2. Dedicated venue: chosen, booked and separate from the finish of the hunt.
  3. Transfers: routes and accompaniment planned for each team.
  4. Honours list: trophies, distinctions and jury prize defined, jury appointed.
  5. Staff: TeamLab has five staff roles, including safety and observer. Allocate them for the end of the day too. The organiser can run things themselves, without a technician.
  6. Languages: the mobile game is available in French, English, Arabic and darija on the participant side; remember to adapt the ceremony's speeches to the audience present.
  7. Meal and entertainment: the running order of the evening or end of the day is set.

Event agencies and DMCs can integrate TeamLab into their seminars, and the client can be self-sufficient on their quest if access is granted. More information on the page dedicated to agencies.

In summary

A successful ceremony is prepared like the game itself: a dedicated venue, a collective honours list planned in advance, a running order set around team progress and a debrief based on the event log. It turns a great day into an experience participants remember, and that organisers can connect to their objectives.

Planning a team building event in Marrakech? Describe your objectives, your participants, the format, the transfers, the meals and the ceremony via the online scoping: you will receive a tailored proposal, in the form of a bespoke quote. You can also discover TeamLab before getting started.