Posts Tagged ‘technology’

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 8, 2015

Munzee Player of the Week: Josef Lewerken (GeoBeTa)

Munzee may be an international game, but our team is very much headquartered in the US. A lot of responsibility falls on our worldwide players to not only grow the game, but also aid in spreading and translating Munzee news and announcements. One such dedicated player is Josef Lewerken (GeoBeTa) who helped start the first German Munzee podcast- MunzPod. It’s this dedication that truly helps our small staff continue to grow the game in new and interesting ways- and in all languages! Read on to learn more about GeoBeTa!

Who are you?

I´m Josef Lewerken aka “GeoBeTa”.

Where in the world do you live?

My hometown is called Delbrueck, a small town near Paderborn in Germany. It´s also the HQ of my clan “Team Delbrueck” which won the October clan battles in 2013 with the highest result before the Mystery-Virtual-Munzee-Rollout. So there is some historical air to breeze.

How long have you played Munzee?

Today my account is 1.181 days old, but I’ve played seriously since I got my first Android phone in April 2012.

How did you find Munzee?

I heard about Munzee as an active “other game” player in 2011. At the time, Paderborn was a munzee desert. An addicted player, called PappaPad, was kind enough to build a local community.
During the october clanbattles in 2013 Paderborn changed to “Paderblue”. We added over 1,000 mystery munzees and made our area to the 3rd biggest mystery cluster worldwide.
So thanks alot Mr. Pad, you made me find Munzee.

What do you enjoy most about Munzee?

It´s a combination of different things. Getting outside, reaching the highest possible clan level with it´s rewards, chasing special icons, the German Munzee community and of course producing the German spoken munzee podcast called MunzeePod. But clan battles are the biggest fun factor.

What is on your wish list?

Well, it´s an app-based game. So, why do I have to use a browser for my daily needs? It would be awesome to buy credit items, to watch my #pointstoday, to have a message system which invites me to a private clan chatroom when I´m joining a clan, to capture a location-less by touching it and say “open with Munzee” (you need a second device) and that all in app. I want to go outside! There´s no time for sitting in front of a PC.

Tell us about yourself!

I´m 33 years old and married to my wonderful wife Debby (Thank you for supporting me Honey. I love you!). We´ve got an awesome 2 year old son who is interested in mobile devices. In the Munzee breaks I am a certified engineer for professional coffee machines.

Other hobbies include:

Definitely the podcasting. I´ve produced the German spoken MunzeePod (http://munzeepod.de) since march 2013. In my opinion it was the 1st pure Munzee podcast worldwide. I´m thinking about a monthly live talkshow with guests form the German Munzee community in 2015. Many thanks to my awesome audience. And of course many thanks to matzenthias. There wouldn´t be a MunzeePod without him.

GeoBeTa was kind enough to share his social, so cap away!

-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 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 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 18, 2014

Munzee Player of the Week: Frank Broughton (FrankBroughton)

Much like our map, Munzee the game is always growing. We’ve evolved in our three years and continue to do so every day. That being said, we’ve had growing pains and some times that loses the interest of players, but we pride ourselves on fixing our errors and earning back respect. This week’s Player of the Week wasn’t impressed with Munzee his first go around, but he’s happy he gave the game a second chance. Frank Broughton went from deleting the app to running a unique system of clans in the Western New York area and hasn’t looked back since. It’s this dedication that proves to us that our game means something and we take pride in knowing players will always give us another chance. Read on to learn more about FrankBroughton!

Who are you?
Hmmmm… I do not know, sometimes I ask myself that same question. The answer varies… from simple man, to complex man, to father, to dad, to husband, to grandpa, to friend, to leader, to follower, to loner. My Munzee player name is my real name, “FrankBroughton”.

Where in the world do you live?
I live in Western New York. In small country town, south of the City of Buffalo. Munzee has grown immensely in Western NY. Niagara Falls is 45 minutes away from Team Broughton HQ.

How long have you played Munzee?
I joined the Munzee website on October 1st of 2012.

How did you find Munzee?
I run a forum for other GPS based location games and hobbies. One of my good friends asked this question on a thread he started “Dare I use the “M” word?” GOF Munzee introduced me to Munzee that day. I was skeptical of the game at first, I even deleted the APP shortly after (it crashed too many times on my phone). Some time had passed and another friend of mine talked me into giving the game another attempt. He mentioned how the APP had improved, he encouraged me download it again, I did. He even walked me through a park finding some Munzees. Something clicked, Rayman, thank you for that day. You reintroduced me to Munzee and I have never turned back from that point.

What do you enjoy most about Munzee?
Easily first, I love the clan aspect of the game. I love running the NY & Friends Munzee Hunter Group of Clans and our Facebook group. We currently have 6 clans, each one has different goals allowing players to jump from clan to clan depending on the effort they feel they can dedicate to the game on a given month. I could write a small book on this aspect of the game. Secondly, I love the freshness of the game. I love how Team Munzee is always coming up with something new. From the various types of clan requirements, to new Munzee types, to specials on the map, the weekly Google hangout, the up and coming Munzee event APP, and more. There is something always fresh and new about the game of Munzee. Third, I love the competition aspect of the game. It pushes me to get to the top of the score boards, to earn more badges, and to have my clan’s streak of superchucking continue on. Yes, I enjoy many aspects of the game of Munzee. Last but hardly least, I enjoy getting out with some of my family playing the game together. Two of my sons, GoldenEagle and EagleClaw, and my wife SunShower, are active in the game. (Shout out to Katzrule712, my faithful clan teammate.)

What is on your wish list?
Glad you asked. I think it would be very neat to see the creation of the Munzee Missile! It would work just like a standard blast, but the different being one picks a virtual Munzee any place in the world as a target. The Munzee missile lands at that location and captures the nearest 100 virtual Munzees within the blast zone. Let’s face it, many players will never have the chance to travel the world to get to the many awesome Virtual Gardens on planet earth. The missile Munzee would be a neat tool. Make it so it would have to be earned, and rare. Perhaps the ability to earn one for say each 1,000 deploys and 1,000 captures of Greenies. Something along that line. It really could work and be a fun part of the game. It covers the virtual world and the ground game. Again, it would have to be earned.

Tell us about yourself!
I have been through some bumps and bruises in my 55 years so far of life. From my dad passing when I was 13, to my first born son passing at age 26. I have to say though, I also have been very blessed. I have a wonderful wife and 7 other kids. I have 5 wonderful grand children. I have had the great privilege of working for my church full time for 23 years now. I am someone who puts his all in most everything I attempt to do. I love this Jack Dempsey quote, “A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can’t.” I know that feeling.

Other hobbies include:
I have a passion for Fireworks. I put on a huge show on America’s Independence Day each year at a summer camp I help run. I use the Cobra Electronic Firing system to create a pyromusical (fireworks synced to music). I am an administrator on a very popular Fireworks forum. I enjoy scenic photography, hiking, and simple things such as watching sunsets with my wife.

FrankBroughton was kind enough to share his social, so cap away!

-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!

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.