May 15, 2017

Meet Myles Nye of Wise Guys Events in West Los Angeles

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Myles Nye.

Wise Guys Events’ two co-founders, Myles and Greg, both SF Bay Area natives, met at UCLA when they were undergraduates. They worked together on the vulgar sketch comedy TV show that was broadcast in dormitory cable.

Several years later, after graduating, Greg and Myles were both pursuing careers in the entertainment industry when Myles got an opportunity to do some acting work for a SF based company doing app-based scavenger hunts in Venice. After a successful partnership with that company, during which time Myles and Greg ran all the LA-based programs and flew around the country and internationally delivering team building programs for corporate clients, they hung out their shingle and went into business for themselves. Wise Guys Events was the first time starting a business for either one, and after humble origins in Greg’s garage, they have now grown into the prestigious company they are today, based in Myles’s garage.

Has it been a smooth road?
We started our business during an economic downturn, and we’ve ridden the highs and lows along with the rest of the world of professional services. The puzzle of finding suitable clients is our most important struggle, but luckily, we are professional scavenger-hunt writers, so we’re excellent at finding things and at puzzles. The advent of the craze for escape rooms has actually proved to a boon for us, since we have an escape room-style program that we can run for up to 1000 people, far more than the capacity of any retail facility. Also, since we leverage existing technologies rather than developing our own (we’re not coders) we are sometimes at the mercy of online platforms and services, and sometimes they close up shop without letting their customers know. Looking at you scan.me!

So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Wise Guys Events story. Tell us more about the business.
Wise Guys Events specializes in intelligent fun, and their programs have included the Astronauts Vs. Lumberjacks SmackDown in Los Feliz Village; the Heritage Scare, an evening of competitive murder at the Heritage Square Museum, which won “Developer’s Choice” in Culver City at Indiecade, the International Festival of Independent Games; they have been named LA Weekly’s “Best Party Gamers”; and they have run corporate team building events for clients including Disney, Toyota, Nike, Google, Apple, and the Wonderful Company.

We are most proud of our ability to create fun, interactive experiences suitable for any group, and exercising our creative powers to help add playfulness to professional events, festivals, cultural events, and private parties. Our Swedish chef-inspired game “Høot Patøoter” won Best Family Game at the Come Our and Play Festival in New York due to the ability for parents to play with kids of all ages and physical ability, including a child in a wheelchair, and another who fell into a cooking pot (she was uninjured, and nobody ate her).

We’re proud of the consulting work we do on reality TV and game shows, including designing challenges for CBS hit reality show “Survivor” with producer John Kirhoffer.

What sets us apart is our sense of humor, our ability to curate playful activations for any occasion, and our resourcefulness as experience designers.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
If anything, we see more opportunities for our work in the years to come. As the appetite for immersive experiences is growing, there are more and more places where people want interactive, intelligent fun, and that’s our specialty. Our haunted house event, The Heritage Scare, was an instant sell-out with only bootstrapped guerilla marketing, and we’re bringing it back again this year based on that success. We hope to have many more occasions to tailor our special brand of game play to all kinds of clients.

We also see opportunities for growth in the Corporate Social Responsibility category. With more millennials in the workplace, it’s becoming clear that people want to feel like they work for a company that’s committed to something more than just the bottom line. That’s why we developed our original program, “Superhero Academy,” giving businesses an opportunity to achieve team building and fulfill CSR obligations at the same time, while having a super good time for a super good cause. Over the course of a half day outside in the park, players participate in 15-minute mini-games and challenges that help you learn everything you need to be a superhero, from leaping over a tall building to solving the villain’s riddles. Plus, you get your own cape! The whole thing is done in support of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and players create video care packages that are delivered along with gifts to the patients after the game is over. This is our latest and greatest offering and we’re really pleased with the response from clients. This game is something really special: you’ve got to try it to see for yourself!

Pricing:

Games in Los Angeles: $1000 minimum comprising $500 program fee plus per person fee ranging from $25 – $90 per person depending on the event.
Events in Orange County, San Diego, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and San Francisco are $200 – $500 higher.

Contact Info: