I’m Joyce Ngo – public relations enthusiast, student, and currently TeamBonding marketing intern. This summer as part of my internship I will be focusing on social media and bringing the experience of the events and programs we do to the mass public from my perspective. You’ll get a behind the scenes view of what happens before the event and the preparation that goes into it. I’ll be posting blog posts about my observations and experience at each event. Basically, you’ll get to see what Joyce the Intern sees, no fluff. This time I went to a Polaroid Scavenger Hunt.
Polaroid Scavenger Hunt. No, we’re not using the new, pastel-colored mini instant film cameras that are everywhere recently (I actually own the light blue one myself). We’re using vintage, retro-looking polaroid cameras that really take you back in time.
Our Polaroid Scavenger Hunt is a throwback to the days of the original classic instant camera! Teams get a list of challenges and they get to choose which ones to do to meet the required amount. The only catch is that some challenges are worth more points than others. So the teams have to choose between the easy-finds or the ones that are worth more points which could mean having to travel farther or doing something more difficult.
A key to the Polaroid Scavenger Hunt is that teams have to stick together and complete the challenges together. They can’t split up to try to cover more ground. All the choices and decisions regarding the challenges had to be made together. It really emphasized teamwork, especially on a time crunch and not being able to discuss it over and over – they had to make the choices on-the-go. Challenges ranged from getting a free cup from Dunkin Donuts, finding a state quarter, or taking a picture with a lobster.
On this particular hunt, our base location was right next to the New England Aquarium. Because of that, of course one of the challenges had to take place there. The challenge was to bark with a sea lion.
One team tried to double-up on the challenges by combining barking with a sea lion and serenading on your knees. Yes, it was as funny as it sounds. Too bad one of the rules is that you can’t double up on the challenges, not even “creativity” points. Otherwise, that photo and their photo of a yoga pose taken in front of one of the statues might’ve won it.
Some teams were a little more reserved, but once the event really got going everyone got really involved. They had team leaders and creative team names (Day Drinking Dabblers, Is This Fuschia?, and Black Like My Soul to name a few).
The group was pretty young and when they heard polaroid some were a little lost even with the new-found popularity polaroids have been getting recently. But they quickly found their footing and got the cameras working.
As a team event, I think the most important part was the rule that teams had to stay together the entire time, otherwise it would’ve been incredibly easy to split up and get it done in the short amount of time. This way they really had to communicate, open up, and work together. It was team bonding disguised as fun!
