Animate your event

The first 30 minutes of an event

How to turn the coldest moment of an evening into a real encounter — without a host, without sticky badges, without any app to install.

Why Tendrel exists

Tendrel was born at a networking event. I'm a pretty social person. Yet those first thirty minutes felt strangely cold: I didn't know anyone, some groups had already formed, and finding a pretext to approach someone without sounding needy was genuinely hard.

I imagined another version of that evening. One where, the moment I walked in, I was invited to scan a QR code. My profile took a few seconds to set up — I was ready to play. And when the organizer launched the activity, at the moment of their choice, a game mechanic nudged me to go talk to other guests rather than wait for someone to approach me. That simple shift would have radically changed the start of the evening.

Some time later, I played a classic paper icebreaker: everyone writes a personal anecdote on a slip, hands it back to the organizer, the organizer redistributes them, and each person has to find the author of the one they received. And there I saw the room change — people stood up, walked over, asked. The format did the social work nobody wanted to do alone. But a very concrete friction killed the momentum: waiting for the slips, writing, handing back, waiting for redistribution, finally getting yours… By the time the whole thing got going, we'd lost ten minutes.

What if a QR code was enough? At any event, everyone already has their phone in hand — better to put it to work for the encounter than to fight it as a distraction. A business card that auto-activates the moment it's scanned.

That became Tendrel.

Mentimeter, Wooclap, Beekast — why not them?

You may know these tools. They're excellent platforms for a speaker to engage with their audience: live polls, word clouds, votes, Q&A during a presentation.

Tendrel answers a different need. The room isn't talking to a presenter — it's talking to itself. Participants meet each other directly, not through the mediation of a host. The presenter, if there is one, simply launches the session and lets the mechanic do its work.

As for Kahoot, it's a brilliant educational quiz, built for the classroom and for training. Adult event mode needs something other than a knowledge duel: a mechanic that forces encounter, not performance.

The 4 games that change the start of the evening

Each one addresses precisely the moment strangers don't dare to approach each other.

💬

Anecdote Sharing

Each participant writes a personal anecdote. The anecdotes are redistributed at random, and everyone has to find the author of the one they received. The conversation pretext is built into the game — no need to invent it yourself.

📜

Quotes

Each player gets half of a quote. The goal: find the person holding the other half to complete it. A mechanic that gets people moving and creates one-on-one encounters, without pressure.

🔷

Find Your Group

Each participant receives a geometric shape. The goal: find others holding the same shape to form a group. Perfect at the start of an event to instantly create small circles of 3-5 people.

📊

The Survey

Fun questions with results displayed in real time. Who prefers what? Who's the minority on this view? Participants discover common ground and surprising differences — ready-made conversation starters.

How it actually works

1

QR code at the entrance

Participants scan a QR code on arrival — on a banner, a welcome card, or projected on screen.

2

Quick signup

Three fields in a few seconds — first name, last name, email — to create their digital business card, shared only with the people they meet during the games. No app to install, no global Tendrel account to create.

3

The game starts

The organizer launches the activity. Instructions appear on each participant's phone. The game mechanic does the social work nobody wanted to do alone.

A real address book in return

At the end of the session, each participant leaves with the contact details of everyone they met during the games. Not a cold list of all attendees — only those they actually interacted with.

It's the asymmetric exchange nobody refuses: three pieces of information at the start of the evening, and you go home with a real, qualified contact book. Something no classic cocktail party ever delivers.

Frequently asked questions

Will my guests want to give their contact details?

Three fields — first name, last name, email — shared only with the people met during the games, not with all attendees. In exchange, your participants leave with the contacts of everyone they crossed paths with — the exchange they expect from a networking event, just more efficient.

My guests are senior / VIP / not app-savvy. Will it work?

Tendrel requires no app installation. The QR code opens a standard web page in the phone's browser — the experience is identical to scanning a restaurant menu. Three fields to fill in, then you play. No technical skills required.

How much time should I plan for?

Most icebreaker games last between 5 and 15 minutes. It's the equivalent of an organizer's toast or opening words — short enough not to disrupt the schedule, long enough for the room to change state.

How many people does it work for?

From 20 to 200 participants per session on the Event plan. Above that, the Custom plan takes over. No minimum is enforced — Tendrel works from just a few participants.

Do I need a dedicated host?

No. The organizer launches the session from their dashboard and lets the game unfold. Instructions are sent to each participant via their phone. You can host yourself or let it run while you welcome latecomers.

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