Page 53 - Innovation Delaware 2021

pandemic INNOVATORS
These Delaware companies pivoted to provide new solutions in the time of
COVID, and have thrived as a result.
FGame Night Pros/Game Night Feud
or entrepreneur CLIFF JOHNSON, family game nights turned into a successful business that has connected families and co-workers during the pandemic.
Johnson operates Cliff Media, a digital marketing company that’s based in Wilmington’s The Mill co-working space. Struggling to attract customers and inspired by his family’s tradition of weekly game nights based on the popular game show Family Feud, Johnson started a new business, Game Night Pros, that put on in-person game nights known as Game Night Feud. “My idea was to figure out a software to put the game on the screen and play it more like the actual production on TV,” Johnson says. Johnson purchased podiums and buzzers and found a developer who agreed to provide gaming software for him.
“I started advertising, and there was a lot of interest,” Johnson said. “We did a lot of games at The Mill and video-taped them for people to see. Once people saw how fun the game experience was, everybody started signing up.”
Johnson’s company started racking up reservations for corporate events and birthday parties. Then, the pandemic hit.
“Suddenly, we had a stay-at-home order, and we had to cancel all our events,” Johnson said. The company was in danger of going under, but with support from The Mill CEO Robert Herrera and Director of Operations Rebecca Parsons, Johnson stayed afloat.
“Any information they got about grants and loans, they shared it with me. They offered to reduce my rent,” Johnson said. “Just having that support, and still having a place of business, allowed me to maneuver.”
Within months, Johnson built a new business model: a completely virtual version of the Family Feud game, based on the Zoom videoconferencing platform.
“We were able to connect family members that
CLIFF JOHNSON
hadn’t seen each other for ages,” Johnson said. “There was a lot of uncertainty at first around the pandemic, and people weren’t really in the mood to try anything new. But over time, it was a stress reliever and something people could do without risking being infected.”
The virtual nature of the events soon expanded the scope of where the company was doing business, Johnson said: “Other countries started noticing, and now we’ve had game nights in Switzerland, Spain and Canada. This whole thing was a blessing in disguise, because we’re able
to reach more people and help them through a tough time.”
At the time of writing, Johnson was in negotiations with a public school district to put on virtual game nights. “We’re using the model to build better relationships between parents, students and teachers. They can play for free — all they have to do is sign up. It’s a great way to stay connected during virtual learning.”
INNOVATION DELAWARE 51