Earlier in the year we featured Primdahl’s Covid-19 Påske Special event, which had some great tips on how to plan and hold events in the current situation. Now that it’s been half a year since then, and the situation hasn’t really changed, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit those tips and also get some more! denali0407 has a wealth of information written for you here, so we greatly appreciate the time and effort she took to share! Also, don’t forget about the new Christmas Event Greeting Cards and Candy Cane Gardens we posted about last month, which might make setup a bit more convenient! And now, without further ado…
Today we’re featuring the Scrooged at Central Market event, which took place on December 6, 2018 at Fort Worth, TX and was hosted by denali0407, Roogles, Werewulf, and Brandikorte.
Give us a brief summary about your event!
“Scrooged at Central Market” was our Christmas 2018 event and featured one of my favorite badges ever (thanks, Trish!). Working within the madness of the Christmas season, this one was scheduled for a Thursday evening at a tried-and-true event site (where chocolate covered cherries can be found – and what event cannot be made better with chocolate covered cherries, I ask you?).
(Brief. You said brief, and I [mostly] delivered. Hallelujah!)
What tips do you have when hosting an awesome event?
Provide something for attendees to DO! Eventzee is ideal, especially when your clues tie into both the event site AND other attendees. Clues that entice players to interact with each other, and even to work together to figure out the necessary photos to stage, make it easy for people to get to better know their fellow players. Or to spend some silly time with the folks they already know and love. Either way works. The more outrageous the clues, the better the stories when people regroup!
Also provide fresh Munzees to cap. Virtual gardens work great, but it’s also a really good idea to blanket the area with physical Munzees when possible. If you place your event Munzees among the physical Munzees, the payoff for both attendees and deployers is even greater.
Plan early, when and if possible, and spread the word far and wide. Even tiny events can become the stuff of legend when you can manage to draw folks from all over the area. Catching up with seldom-seen faces is priceless. But those folks need advance notice, so do them a solid and give them an early heads-up.
Bear in mind the time of year and the likely weather you’ll face, and make necessary provisions. If it’s 7th level of hell hot, then water. And shade. And sunscreen. If it’s a blustery 42° (hey, that’s frigid for us here!), then move indoors. We typically like to have restaurants available, preferably with outside seating. (We liked to provide opportunities to social distance before it was The Thing To Do.) Corners and nooks and tables for two are an introvert’s dream. Adapt to the occasion and people will rise to that occasion!
What made your event unique?
This “Scrooged at Central Market” event all but created itself when a line from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol randomly came to mind: “If I could work my will, every idiot who goes around with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” From that, the badge was born, and everything else fell into place. Central Market is a grocery store with upstairs seating, outside seating, and Christmas displays galore. It seemed a natural fit for our needs.
This was one of our smaller events, which made it more intimate and cozy. We were able to use some of the time not just to socialize, but also to plan for some rather larger upcoming events in the area. Teamwork. It’s a beautiful thing.
We also tried something different that could really only work with a small event. Attendees were provided pen and paper and were asked to write down something they liked* about at least two of their fellow Munzeers (we were all fairly well familiar with each other, you see) and then surreptitiously, anonymously place it in the appropriate person’s candy dish (I say that like it was a thing of porcelain beauty – um, it was a red Solo cup) to find and digest later, with their sweets.
*All part of our ongoing efforts to, “Give me an occupation or I shall go mad!” (Bonus points to you, if you can name that movie.)
The Eventzee for Scrooged was particularly sublime (thanks to a brilliant co-host). It included various displays and items located throughout the event site and made for some interesting debate about loopholes, intent, and the spirit of the thing, post-event debriefing in the parking lot (the best events *do* have post-event chatter in the parking lot that goes on long after the venues close for the night, of course!)
I would be remiss if I did not mention that the weather for this particular event seemed sent from Scrooge himself: it stormed. Naturally. I say this because I feel I can never thank those folks enough who braved rush hour traffic in the pouring rain to get themselves to this event (hey, thanks again, guys!). [There. That should do it. Maybe?]
{You didn’t specify brief. This is all your fault.}
Would you like to highlight any future events you’re hosting?
We look forward to chatting loudly at each other from separate picnic tables and looking each other over to make sure we still appear to be (“appear,” being the key word) halfway sane(ish) after our long absence from this thing we used to know as a social life. On the plus side, who can tell we’ve aged 10 years in the last 8 months, when we’re 50′ apart? Silver linings, I tell ya. They’re a thing. A thing we aim to enjoy.
https://calendar.munzee.com/event1603381733/
This is our Ode to 2020, AKA the dumpster fire in which we are fully engaged at present. There will be the makings of an aptly designed garden for us to cap (feel free to deploy, and we’ll cap the tar out of them. Thanks!). We’ll also have at least a dozen physical event Munzees to cap. Think “little fires everywhere,” if you lean towards visualization. Who knew that 150′ proximity between event Munzees would one day be ideal? And to think we used to grumble. Now we respect what Munzee teaches us about distancing.
Attendees will be asked to kindly wear masks and if that doesn’t suit, then feel free to visit the site at any point during the week this event will be live. We will also have the usual hand sanitizers, spare masks, etc. for those folks willing to brave the presence of other (socially distanced) humans. The non-human kind need not be masked. Yes, dogs are welcome. Ferrets. Iguanas. Whatever comfort pet you’ve adopted during this siege. Bring ’em on. Show ’em off. Forgive us if we do not get close enough to pet. Maybe next time for that touchy, huggy thing we used to take for granted.
Meanwhile, attendees who take photos on the pink event indicator may just find themselves surprised by a little something post-event. Yes, we may just bribe – uh, *entice* – attendees to be social in different ways. Throw it out there, see what sticks, right?
Together we’ll figure out how to navigate these funky times in which we are a’livin’ and cap ourselves some Munzees along the way, yes? Yes!
Thank you to denali0407 for being such a great host and submitting the details for this event! We will be reaching out to other past event hosts in the future, so keep an eye on your inbox!
