WDS 2015 Scavenger Hunt and Bigger/Better

Project Description

This is the third year I’ve done a treasure hunt for World Domination Summit; the first time, I didn’t even have permission. I just crashed the registration party dressed as a superhero and started wrangling people into doing this crazy scavenger hunt across the city, and everybody had a great time.

After I blogged about it I sent a link to the WDS Adventure Czar and said, “Do you want me to do something like this again?” With permission this time, I did an Unconventional Treasure Hunt as part of the bigger Unconventional Race. They also gave me an official title: racemaster.

When given the chance to be the #superhero, always say #heckyeah! #wds2015

A photo posted by Caelan Huntress (@caelanmac) on Jul 15, 2015 at 8:58am PDT

This year they wanted to re-use the 14-foot wooden globe that rotated on a pedestal onstage in previous years, and come up with some really innovative idea to involve it somehow in the Unconventional Race. It had been chopped into 140 pieces, and the poles of the globe (those six-sided stars pictured above and below) were really interesting. Starting from this concept, we made two games: the World Domination Scavenger Hunt and Bigger/Better.

How to Make a Scavenger Hunt

After five years of making treasure hunts in downtown Portland, I’ve learned that there are delicate layers of permission involved. The approval and support of the shopkeepers and employees who work near each of the landmarks is really helpful to put everything together, and making sure the clues don’t disappear. Getting the right people on my side was the second step.

The first step: wander around the city, and find some interesting things. Then, I linked these interesting things together with clues and riddles.

The series of clues for the World Domination Scavenger Hunt linked 7 landmarks together in a chain. Every landmark had to be photographed, and uploaded to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #wdsrace.

Winner of the #wdsrace at #wds2015 will be first to find where I’ve hidden the pole to the WDS globe, and will get a free ticket to next year’s conference. A photo posted by Caelan Huntress (@caelanmac) on Jul 9, 2015 at 3:44pm PDT

 

The rules were kind of complicated, so I hung out at a table in the lobby and explained the rules to any curious people who came by to check it out. We also posted the rules at http://wds.fm/race, although they can only be viewed by attendees with WDS accounts. If you’re not one of those people, this is the spiel that I gave:

After taking a photo of each Portland landmark, and posting it with #wdsrace, participants would search around for the next clue, hidden somewhere nearby. Below I have listed all of the clues, along with the winning photos.

 

The #wdsrace has begun! This is the first clue. #wds2015 A photo posted by Caelan Huntress (@caelanmac) on Jul 11, 2015 at 8:58am PDT

 

I was really happy that Kristin was first to find the pole, and won a free ticket to WDS 2016. She was actually one of the participants in my first WDS treasure hunt in 2013!

“This was way more fun than previous unconventional races; there were moments where I felt like I was competing on The Amazing Race. Thanks for making this experience awesome!” – Sebastian Mealer

BIGGER/BETTER

While the scavenger hunt went between the two poles of the WDS globe, Bigger/Better (which was originally Jedd and Michelle’s fantastic idea) used all the pieces that bound the globe together. I liked this symbolically; because WDS isn’t really about the speakers, or the venue, or the swag – it is the people that make it such an amazing experience.