Rumors swirled around the office for weeks about what we do for our first annual Buddy Media Team Bonding Event.
Would we spend the day bowling and hitting golf balls at Chelsea Piers? Would it be an outing to Central Park for a picnic and whiffle ball? Or maybe the plan was to go to Jeff’s apartment and scrub the grout in his shower? Most agreed that while scrubbing Jeff’s bathroom tile would be fun, we’d prefer a day out in the sun. Well, our wish was granted when Kass and Mike unveiled the Buddy Media Scavenger Hunt.
After receiving detailed instructions (Instruction #1 – Any calls to Kass will result in a strict penalty!), the staff was split into five teams and unleashed on the Big Apple, with only $50 and a digital camera. In order to complete each task on the Scavenger Hunt, team members needed the courage to negotiate with pedestrians and civil servants, and the street smart savvy necessary to traverse NYC from the Upper West Side to the southern tip of the island.
Five hours of frantic scrambling around town ended on E. 53rd Street at Top Tunes Karaoke, where Kass reviewed each teams photos to determine a winner. (While it seemed like a lot of work went into the planning of the hunt itself, it soon became evident that the most work went into the Excel Spreadsheet that Kass used to track each team’s progress.) When all the points were tallied and all the photos scrutinized, the team of Isha, Josh, and Greg emerged victorious.
The real victors however, emerged after the Scavenger Hunt, as the teams bellied up to the karaoke bar and started belting out classic tunes like true professional amateur singers.
Post Event Reward Wrap-up…
The “Something I Never Thought I’d See” Award – Eugene singing a serviceable version of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man”
The “Give Me A Stage and a Microphone and I’ll Entertain Myself All Night” Award – Abby, who managed to contribute to just about every performance
The “I’ll Only Sing If the Microphone is Broken” Award – Dan, whose one appearance on stage paled in comparison to his appearance in the back of a police cruiser
The “Who Knew” Award – Luke, whose show stopping version of Elvis Costello’s Alison was the talk of the office for days
The “Thumbs Up” Award – Patrick and MJ displaying their thumbs more times than a hitchhiker on a ten-lane interstate – Runner-up: Jeff, whose thumbs made an appearance for the first time since the X-mas party
