Posts Tagged ‘hide and seek’

January 15, 2015

Munzee Player(s) of the Week: Bill and Susan Balling (TheIrishDuo)

Munzee is a game for hunters, adventurers, and travelers. Our community spans the entire world and more than a few of our players have taken their Munzee trek into foreign lands. Even our world-traversing President Rob Vardeman has made his way throughout the Munzee world to meet our dedicated players more than once. What makes Munzee so much more spectacular than any other worldwide brand is that Munzee players know no strangers and we all open our lives to one another in the name of the game. This week’s Player(s) of the Week are Bill and Susan Balling (TheIrishDuo) and they have been on both ends of the Munzee journey. When Munzeeing the world they were welcomed by international Munzee companions and in turn when Munzee players (and even employees) show up in the Ballings’ home of Butte, Montana, they heartily toast to the occasion. Read on to learn more about TheIrishDuo!

Who are you?

We are Bill and Susan Balling aka TheIrishDuo

Where in the world do you live?

We live in Butte, Montana in the northern Rocky Mountains.

How long have you played Munzee?

Just over 3 years. We signed up on Christmas Day, 2011 when we lived in St. Paul, Minnesota and capped our first Munzee the same day.

How did you find Munzee?

Susan heard about it from a cacher. We looked into it and signed up and haven’t looked back since. We were instantly hooked.

What do you enjoy most about Munzee?

4 things jump out at us:

1. Getting out and seeing new places right around us as well as different parts of the US and world.
2. Meeting new Munzers along the trails or at events.
3. The new innovations MHQ keeps introducing to really keep the game fresh and interesting and moving along.
4. The community feeling that Munzee has established.

We were very fortunate to have visited a lot of places in the US as well as internationally over these 3 years. In 2014 we visited Prague, Munich, Cologne and Paris in June to celebrate Susan’s birthday. We met a lot of great Munzers on that trip, including CACHEEATER in Prague. The EuroAmbassador Robje64 along with Zeusi were kind enough to set up a Munzee event to meet TheIrishDuo while we were in Cologne! We met so many Munzers there including Robje64, Bixby, Zeusi, hugosoft, c-bn, Seal, Paverick, Tinkerbell, johanandpaula and a host of others. We had a great time spending the weekend with many of them as they took us around to capture! And of course, we had great food and drinks in both Prague and Cologne – vital to TheIrishDuo!

What is on your wish list?

Several things. 1) Restructuring the points needed for the different levels. I know it is on MHQ’s list already. 2) To see some type of new twists to Clan play other than just changing requirements each month 3) Allowing for players to cap their own Munzees when they become random specials (maybe reduced pts?) 4) New Badges for: higher number of First To Captures (other than First Responder); a Jeweler or Precious Stone Badge when you cap and/or deploy ‘x’ number of Diamonds and/or Rubies 5) More Specials similar to Munzee Munch that triggered other specials to pop up locally by capping one.

Tell us about yourself!
We have been married for 4 years. Previously, we lived in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota before moving to Butte, Montana 2 years ago. We have a dog, an Australian labradoodle, named Keeva.

We started both the Minnesota Munzers and Montana Munzers Facebook groups. When we first moved to Montana, there might have been a half-dozen Munzees in the entire state, We enjoy spreading the Munzee word and growing the game! It’s been great to see how Munzee has grown in our 2 years here in Montana. In 2014, there were 3 Munzee events held in Montana (Helena, Butte and Kalispell). CoachV and Dylan made the trek to Butte in late June to experience a variety of wild weather we had in store for them. TheIrishDuo also has the distinction of having our Premium Gold Star as the first Gold Star ever captured!

We were preparing to move to Portland, Oregon in October of 2014. However, while we were in Dallas for the Munzee Oktoberfest Bash in September, Susan suffered a major stroke. The stroke affected all of her speech. Needless to say, we did not move to Portland. Susan is recovering here in Butte and learning to speak again and she is progressing well.

I mentioned above that one of the things we most enjoy about Munzee is the Munzee community as a whole. Susan spent 10 days in the hospital in Plano, TX and MHQ went above and beyond with their concern and support. They sent ‘care packages’ to us at the hospital. Many from MHQ stopped by to see Susan as a show of support. TheRealGigi, ThePiedPiper, MeanderingMonkeys and The Yote all took time away from the event to stop by the hospital and they lent lot of emotional support and prayer. In fact, Munzers everywhere around the world, and especially here in Montana, have been in contact to inquire as to Susan’s progress. I can’t say enough about the Munzee Community and MHQ and how Munzee is more than just a game; we are all part of a very large and caring family. You guys are just tremendous.

We would like to thank the Munzer(s) responsible for nominating us for POTW; we are very humbled and appreciative!

Other hobbies include:

We both like to travel and the outdoors. We especially like Munzee trails forcing us to walk and capture. We love discovering new beers and especially love drinking Belgian beers. We love Craftsman/Mission Style furniture of which Bill made a good portion to furnish our house.

TheIrishDuo included a new POTW Social as well as their original Social, so cap away!

If you know a player that should be nominated for Munzee Player of the Week, shoot us a message at iLoveYou@Munzee.com and let us know just why this person is outstanding in the global Munzee community!

-Please note, this is a super active campaign. We may not be able to get back to everyone, but you’re helping to grow the list of amazing people in the Munzee community!

January 12, 2015

Be a part of the Second Official Munzee Virtual Garden!

In connection with Munzee President Rob Vardeman’s trip to Australia, we’re proud to announce the formation of the Second Official Munzee Virtual Garden in Melbourne, Australia. Just like the garden outside of MHQ, we want our players to help us build this monument Down Under. Munzee is offering a limited amount of pins in the store until supplies last.

CLICK HERE

For $10 you can be a part of this virtual garden, which will be in the shape of Australia on the map. No work is necessary on your part to deploy this virtual pin, it will be assigned coordinates and deployed at the time of purchase. You may edit the name and notes if you choose. LIMITED TO ONE PER PLAYER ACCOUNT.

GemVirtEmerald128 When you purchase the Munzee Emerald Virtual Pin you get:

Limited Edition badge, only available to those who have purchased a pin for any official garden.
Points: 20 to owner on deploy. 20 to owner as residual on each cap. 20 to capper.
A limited edition emerald pin permanently deployed automatically by Munzee on your account.

These pins will be very popular, especially since Rob is attending an event very near the location, so we expect them to sell fast and high traffic will slow the store down. Please note that even if the online store says the item is sold out, keep trying. Until the page has been pulled completely there will still be pins left- just practice patience.

Update: All pins have been sold. Stay tuned for another garden in the future.

January 12, 2015

Munzee Videocast Episode 8: New Year, New Perspective(s)

Our eighth videocast has been converted to audio, so click the link and listen on!

http://munzeepush.munzee.netdna-cdn.com/Munzee%20Videocast%208.mp3

You can also re-watch the videocast HERE.

This week we talked about:

Team MHQ is back from the holidays
2015 Theme – New Year, New Perspective
Eventzee Beta testing goes live this week
Trail Munzees will be on sale soon
Rob’s hitting the ground running- or flying. Another year of travel is going to kick off Down Under!

Remember to join us Fridays at 3 pm (MHQ Time) for the live videocast where you can interact with us, ask questions and see us stumble over our words! To learn more follow us on Google + and if you missed last week’s videocast click HERE.

We’ve also created a NEW WEBPAGE strictly for the Videocast. Here you can watch the past and present podcasts anytime and it also allows downloads to iTunes! If you’d like to subscribe to the Munzee Podcast on iTunes go to File > Subscribe to Podcast > enter http://www.munzeepodcast.com/feed/podcast/. If you want to interact live with the Videocasts and ask questions, you will still need to join us on our Google+ page,

January 7, 2015

Apply to be an Eventzee Beta Tester!

Eventzee is ready for your input! We’re now taking requests for beta testers. All iOS and Android testers interested should fill out THIS FORM. If accepted you’ll receive an invite over the next ten days to install.

Thank you in advance for your input and remember this will be an active campaign so the number of testers will be limited.

NOTE: You must have a Munzee account to use Eventzee. Go to http://www.munzee.com/signup/ for your free account.

December 31, 2014

Top 14 of ’14: The Overall, Best of the Best for this year.

As the year comes to a close we can’t help but look back on how big 2014 was! From special icons and big events, to huge announcements, 2014 is going to be a tough act to follow. Here we have the 14 best things about 2014, ranging all things Munzee. In no particular order Team MHQ has decided on what they think made the year so special.

MHQ Gets an Office!

MHQ may have hit the ground running in 2014, but at the end of 2013 they still didn’t even have an office! So when the 3 (at the time) full time members of the team moved into their new office in McKinney, TX they knew it was a start to a big year. Having a home base (that wasn’t Rob’s living room) solidified their full time role with Munzee and paved the way for the company’s growth. Little did they know that growth would come quicker than expected…

New Hires

While the first office in McKinney was a huge step for Munzee, the 350 square foot space filled up quickly. After hiring Intern+ Matt and a month later UI Designer Peter and Master of Media Dylan, it was time to look at expansion. Even in the final months of the year our team began to grow more with development on both technical and business sides. Munzee will only grow from here- especially considering the growth of the company’s business ventures.

The Munzee Marketplace

What started as a convenience store to provide the downtown McKinney workers with an affordable snack option has grown into something much bigger than anyone at MHQ could have imagined. The Munzee Marketplace is now McKinney’s premier option for local, organic, fresh foods. The Marketplace has partnered with various local vendors and has big plans on the horizon that make Munzee proud.

MHQ Bash

All the extra space from the Marketplace was handy for MHQ’s first official event. In connection with Downtown McKinney’s Oktoberfest Celebration, MHQ Bash featured three days of activities that nearly 200 people joined us for. After seeing some of the great events our players have thrown over the year, we knew we had to go big. We learned a lot about how to plan and execute events (a learning experience to say the least) and we know next year’s Bash will be even bigger.

Official Virtual Garden

Speaking of learning experiences, there’s still a lot the players have to teach us. Much like MHQ Bash, players have made their own virtual gardens for a while and needless to say we have been super impressed with what our players have created. So in connection with the emerald family jewel we made our first official virtual garden outside of McKinney and our players helped us fill it in. It took a little maneuvering and some help from our players with our design, but we’re proud of the new garden and excited to release more official gardens around the world.

The Traveling President

President Rob Vardeman may have done a bit of Virtual Garden scouting during his world travels this year as well. CoachV started his presidency with an oath to expand the player connection and he has not wavered on that promise. For as busy as we keep Rob in the office he still made as many trips to as many events as possible this year. From Germany to California to Canada and everywhere in between, the President racked up the frequent flyer miles, sometimes squeezing trips into a 24 hour span- and enjoyed every minute of it.

Copa Do Munzo

It’s hard not to enjoy world travels, especially when you’re in Germany days after they won the World Cup. Rob got to experience just this during his trip to Cologne, Germany. To celebrate the world’s favorite sport, Munzee blasted the world with football special icons and held a competition where players could vote on who they thought would win in the Copa Do Munzo competition. As many guessed, Germany won the cup and Rob was on hand to reward the faithful football fans.

Special Icons

Much like the footballs that bounced across the map, this year featured a lot of special icons. From 8-bit ghostzees to non-exploding London dynamite, the unique and eclectic assortment of specials got players out at odd hours and in new places hunting for munzees. This year’s specials not only took the game to different levels, but also gave us an opportunity to do good for others as well…

Charity Fundraising

The benefit of special icons is that they are constantly interchangeable and can be used in unique ways, like helping raise money for charity in a fun way. Our players came out in full force multiple times this year to use Munzee for good. The Autism Puzzle Hearts brought in $5000 for the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation, The RMH Virtuals garnered $25,000 for the Ronald McDonald House of Spokane, and the ALS Ice cubes raised $54,000 for Project A.L.S.. Needless to say 2014 was a big year in many ways!

3rd Birthday Celebrations

July 2014 also marked Munzee’s official 3rd Birthday Celebration, or #FiestaThree as we called it. We kicked off the month-long celebration by introducing Ruby Munzees, held various events every third day of the month and even had Pinata special icons that players could smash open. The whole month was a huge celebration and our players even sent in special Happy Birthday pictures and videos for Munzee. Players also took advantage of Rovers in order to get the Birthday Barker badge. Speaking of Rovers…

Rovers

During one of his many trips this year, Rob and other members of Team MHQ announced the arrival of Rovers at Munzee Madness 3 in California. Rover is a supplemental piece to the game, and in fact a game within the game of Munzee. Rover is an extremely unique part of Munzee because although it is not a munzee type it encourages players to travel and expand their personal maps. Since its announcement in March, all the active Rovers in the world have traveled a whopping 61 million miles!

Clan Wars

Another huge part of this year was the Munzee Clan Wars. Players battled it out month after month, fighting for that number one spot and the ever-glorious Super Chuck. This aspect of the game has shown MHQ how dedicated our players really are and the lengths they are willing to go in the name of Munzee. As we head into the new year we’re sure our players will take the battles to an even higher level and the Clan count will only grow from there!

Podcast/ Videocast

In case you couldn’t tell from our world-traveling President, Munzee is all about transparency and our player relations are extremely important to us. So what better way to interact with our players on a weekly basis than with a podcast? Our weekly update on all things Munzee has evolved a lot over the year. We’ve recently turned our podcast into an interactive videocast that players can now ask us questions each week, which has furthered the connection we get to make with our players. Be sure to join us Tuesdays at 1 pm (MHQ Time) for the live videocast where you can interact with us, ask questions and see us stumble over our words!

Eventzee

As big as 2014 was, 2015 is going to be even bigger. Perhaps the biggest announcement of the year was the development of our new app Eventzee! The private events-based app will not only expand the Munzee events system, but will help our business grow to new reaches and in turn grow the Munzee map as well. We’re currently beta-testing the app and fixing any final kinks, but Eventzee will be a huge part of the new year.

Thank you to all of our players for a great 2014. We can’t wait to see what happens next!

December 30, 2014

Munzee: 2014 By The Numbers

As the year comes to a close we can’t help but look back on how big 2014 was! Over the next few days we’ll be looking back on some of our favorite moments of the year. You guys grew the game in a big way this year and our numbers prove it. Check out 2014 By The Numbers!

Edit: The numbers below show what are labeled Virtual and physical deploys. These numbers should be 2014 and 2013 deploys, respectively.

December 30, 2014

Top 4 of ’14: Team MHQ’s Top Events

As the year comes to a close we can’t help but look back on how big 2014 was! Over the next few days we’ll be looking back on some of our favorite moments of the year. 2014 was a record-breaking year for Munzee events! Although there were events all across the world, the following brought out big numbers in attendance and President Rob was on hand at all of them.

MUNZEE MADNESS III

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA- USA

March 01, 2014

The original large scale Munzee event was back for its third year in the Yorba Regional Park located outside Los Angeles, California. Members of Team Munzee joined Rob for his 2nd year for some Fun in the Sun. Unfortunately the rain decided to crash the party, but it didn’t slow down the true Munzee spirit of the players who had traveled from almost a dozen states for the annual event the first weekend in March. Several events over the course of the weekend included dinners, time at the park, and mega points at nearby Anaheim Angels stadium and Disneyland. This annual event is hosted in part by Munzee reseller Elliot of the Munzee Madness clan (see where the name came from now). 🙂 Members of Team MHQ also announced the Rover!

EURO MUNZEE 2

COLOGNE, GERMANY

July 19 and 20, 2014

More than 100 Players from almost a dozen countries traveled to Cologne for multiple events and the opportunity to play host as Rob visited from MHQ. The main location was a biergarten surrounded with mystery virtuals deployed by players from around the world. Side trips to the Köln Dom, the Rhine river, and nearby parks allowed for fun times to socialize and score maximum points. Munzee reseller John of EUMunzeeshop was on hand to take care of player needs. Rob also revealed a new line of hats, clothing and stickers!

CAPPING THE COAST

MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA- USA

November 15, 2014

New to the Munzee scene and showing explosive growth over a 6 month period, the Space Coast of Florida was home to a huge event in November. Over 100 players traveled from distances up to 1000 miles away to join Rob as the event was sponsored by Munzee resellers Dale & Barb of the Space Coast Geocaching Store. The event was the perfect temperature to soak in the sun, cap a ton of points, and then unwind in nearby Port Canaveral at sunset to watch the massive cruise ships departing on their ocean voyages. A month later Rob rejoined over 60 Florida Munzee Hunters in Celebration, FL near DisneyWorld for an event to celebrate all things Munzee. The Trail Munzee was introduced in Celebration with many players capturing the first trail ever deployed and spending time enjoying the unique town.

MHQ BASH

McKINNEY, TEXAS- USA

September 26-28, 2014

MHQ’s first official event went BIG. In connection with Downtown McKinney’s Oktoberfest Celebration, MHQ Bash featured three (kinda four) days of activities. Nearly 200 people joined us throughout the weekend and proved just how far our players were willing to travel for the game they love. Friday night we rented out Franconia Brewery, a traditional German brewer based in McKinney, for a night of laughs and socializing. Bright and early the next morning we hosted the Amunzing Race Scavenger Hunt, followed by tours of MHQ. The weekend was rounded out with a mystery munzee poker tournament, capping The Village at Fairview and brunch with Team MHQ. Other highlights of the weekend included the Grand Opening of the Munzee Marketplace on Thursday, a World’s Collide event that took over downtown McKinney, and a special sneak peak at Eventzee! I wonder what MHQ has planned for next year…

What were your favorite events of 2014? Be sure to follow along the rest of the year as we look back on more big moments from 2014!

If you’re interested in hosting a Munzee event contact events@munzee.com today and be on the lookout for news about our new app- Eventzee!

December 27, 2014

January 2015 Clan Requirements

Get your clans ready and prepare for war. We want to start the New Year running, so here are your January 2015 Clan War requirements!

#1:
capture 20 greenies
400 total points per player
clan total points min. 6,000
Rewards: 1 virtual

#2:
capture 50 greenies
800 total points per player
deploy 2 munzees
clan total points min. 10,000
Rewards: 1 virtual, 2 maces

#3:
capture 80 greenies
2,000 total points per player
deploy 5 munzees
clan total points min. 25,000
Rewards: 1 longsword, 1 mystery virtual, 1 diamond

#4:
capture 200 greenies
5,000 total points per player
deploy 10 munzees
clan total points min. 60,000
Rewards: 1 battle axe, 2 longswords, 1 motel, 1 ruby

#5:
capture 400 greenies
10,000 total points per player
deploy 25 munzees
clan total points min. 110,000
Rewards: 1 battle axe, 3 mace, 1 motel, 1 virtual, 1 ruby

December 23, 2014

Year End Special Icons!

Expect the Unexpected! As Team Munzee winds down and prepares to spend the holidays with our families, we want to offer our players something to keep them busy during the rest of the holiday season. As many of you have captured, our blue gifts have been on the map all month long, but Santazee may have let a few more things slip off his sleigh. Along with the blue gifts we’re launching red gifts to the map as well. But that’s not all!

It’s been a big year for Munzee and for those that missed out on various parts of the year, we wanted to bring back a few of our highlights. So, starting December 26th at midnight (00:01 MHQ Time) we’re re-releasing a few icons. These special icons, along with the two gifts, will stay on the map until the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s eve (23:59 MHQ Time). 200 of each icon will be on the map (Blue gifts will reduce to 200 when the rest go live) and they’ll sit in one place for 6 hours or until capped, when it will then bounce to a new spot in the world. For those that have captured these already, this is technically a new icon so it will show up in your specials list as a new icon. All of the icons can be seen on www.munzee.com/gifts once they go live on the 26th. As with all special icons you are not able to capture one on your own munzee, but you are able to capture an icon on any other munzee (even if you’ve capped it before).

All will launch on December 26 at 00:01 and stay on map until December 31 at 23:59

: Football- More Kicks- Points: 20 split cap & owner

: Blue Gift- Points: 25 split cap & owner

December 16, 2014

Munzee Videocast Episode 7: Not-Rob and The Case of The Missing President

Our seventh videocast has been converted to audio, so click the link and listen on!

http://munzeepush.munzee.netdna-cdn.com/Munzee%20Videocast%207.mp3

You can also re-watch the videocast HERE.

This week we talked about:

Rob is MIA. Well, actually, he’s at Disney World growing the Mickey Map. Co-Founder Scott Foster filled in, in his absence.
We’ve hired a new IOS guy. Happy to have ya Nick!
Trail Packs are currently in Beta and more news should come at the start of the year.
The Eventzee social pages have gone live, the app is still coming soon.
Scott looks back on what a big year 2014 was.
2015 Theme voting will start tomorrow.

Remember to join us Tuesdays at 1 pm (MHQ Time) for the live videocast where you can interact with us, ask questions and see us stumble over our words! To learn more follow us on Google + and if you missed last week’s videocast click HERE.