Penny Black’s Social Diary: WTW’s escape room; small plaice

WTW’s escape room

Just when Penny thought she’d seen every attempt to make insurance “fun”, along comes an escape room. Yes, really.

Florence Dennis, lead business partner at Willis Networks, took to LinkedIn to share an “Introduction to Insurance” session for Birmingham City University students hosted at WTW’s Birmingham office. So far, so standard.

But then things took a turn.

After a crash course in insurance basics, students were thrown into a series of escape room-style challenges because nothing says underwriting or claims like a ticking clock and mild panic.

Initiatives like this show how dynamic the industry can be.

Penny’s verdict? Creative and a great idea. If this is what it takes to get fresh talent through the door, perhaps more firms should start locking graduates in rooms and making them calculate premiums to get out.

Penny’s Lunch Box

You can’t go wrong with fish and chips? Turns out you can. 

While the plaice on offer at the Insurtech Insights conference in London was undeniably tasty, the portion size wasn’t substantial enough to satisfy Penny’s insatiable appetite after a morning of talks and networking. Two stars.