Every year, West Michigan Works and the C.W.D.A. put together MI Career Quest, a “career exploration experience” involving four industry sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Health Sciences, Information Technology, and Construction. Welch Tile and Marble is committed to supporting our community and industry. For the last two years, Welch Tile has championed the tile exhibit. Our next generations needs to understand career options, as many young adults learn by doing rather than by textbook.

In the past, our booth has had two elements of tile represented: the technical, installation side and the creative, design-related side. This year, we wanted our booth to be a bit more of an immersive experience to show how all elements of the tile industry tie together. And thus, the “Game of Tiles” was born.

Our showroom designer, Caela, took the reigns on the concept of the booth. The plan was to show two different installation types as games, then have a larger, sculptural element to exhibit the creative side of tile, while tying in a theme from the very popular television show and book “Game of Thrones”. For those who haven’t seen the show, the general plot line takes place in a fictional land named Westeros. This land is ruled by a king and the current king has passed. There is much debate as to whom the proper successor to the throne is, so nine noble families begin fighting to gain control of the country.

The sculptural element was the easiest to determine (as anyone who has seen the show will know). The iron throne is such a recognizable element that our booth would have been lacking without it. Dave, our Training and Development Manager, built and installed the larger tiles on the throne. Then, Caela broke apart tiles of various thicknesses and lengths to achieve a back that clearly evokes the layered swords that comprise the iron throne. The resulting product was a definite stunner.

For the games, we had both a quarry tile set race, where students went head-to-head laying 6”x6” quarry tiles into racks, and a house crest puzzle, which required small 1”x1” tiles being laid in a pattern as a mosaic would be. Both games required students to choose a house to compete for: House Wolf, House Dragon, or House Lion (fellow G.O.T. fans understand how these tie in). If the student won the race, they won a point for their house, which was recorded on a score board made from tile. At the end of each session, the winning house was announced on our Instagram account and said house was the temporary ruler of “Welchteros”.

The theme seemed to assist in captivating students to enter our booth and then experience the wonder that is the tile industry. We hope that we inspired some students to begin thinking creatively about their future!

The King and Queen of Welchteros!  Our President, Dan, and his wife, Doreen, our Safety  Manager — The King and Queen of Welchteros! Our President, Dan, and his wife, Doreen, our Safety Manager

Game of Tiles- MI Career Quest

WELCH TILE