The Monk and the Tiger
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 by Dave Blum The other day, I was re-reading one of my favorite inspirational books, Sylvia Boorstein’s short and pithy “It’s Easier Than You Think“, and came across this parable: “A monk was being chased by a tiger toward the edge of a cliff. He leaps off the cliff, grasping a […]
Getting in the Flow
Monday, December 1, 2008 by Dave Blum A few years back, I attended a NASAGA conference session led by Bernie DeKoven. He spoke to us about the elusive quality of “flow”, a term much-popularized by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. According to DeKoven, the “flow” state is that feeling of being “in the zone”, when we feel like we’re at one with […]
Things We Do
Saturday, November 29, 2008 by Dave Blum For those of you who haven’t yet made it to my website, Dr. Clue is the company I founded in 1995. Our six featured team building activities serve clients in the following ways: 1) Our puzzle-based Treasure Hunts allow participants to navigate around a given city neighborhood, museum or resort, discovering […]
Favorite Treasure Hunt Movies
Saturday, November 29, 2008 by Dave Blum When looking for new scavenger hunt ideas and treasure hunt ideas, I often turn to the movies for inspiration. As described in an earlier blog, scavenger hunts are defined as the search for objects on a scavenger hunt list. Treasure hunts, by contrast, are a journey that moves along via […]
Five Ways to Use Clues in “The Real World”
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 by Dave Blum We live in a clue and puzzle culture, thanks in large part to the amazing popularity of The Amazing Race, National Treasure, The DaVinci Code and similar TV shows and movies. The entertainment media has clearly latched onto treasure hunt clues and scavenger hunt lists for the fun, […]
Shifting the Pardigm on Zero Sum Games
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 by Dave Blum My wife, Jen, and I were playing the card game, Bohnanza, Saturday night, and there I was losing — badly. I believe the technical term is “getting whomped.” The fact that Jen was routing me at a card game is not entirely earth shattering; she’s a brilliant gal, a Stanford Ph.D., and […]
“Business”…shhhh
Monday, November 24, 2008 by Dave Blum Should we talk about business when conducting off-sites? During a treasure hunt last week at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, I was confronted with this very same question. The client, Baxa Corporation, was preparing for an upcoming product launch; their offsite at the museum was to be their final […]
What’s going on here?
Friday, November 21, 2008 by Dave Blum I first saw the technique used in 2004, at a Dr. Clue hunt in Sacramento, CA. The facilitator was Christine McHugh, a Dr. Clue veteran. At the time, the group was vehemently discussing the treasure hunt clues after the first stage of their program, evidently upset with each others’ behaviour and […]
My Favorite Hunt Locations
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by Dave Blum In my last entry, I suggested that a great hunt location is: 1) Relatively flat in terrain 2) Large enough to get lost in 3) Packed with historic signage and public art I would also add that the hunt area should ideally possess the indefinable quality of “atmosphere”. While walking through […]
Top three ideas for scouting a treasure hunt
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by Dave Blum There are no rules for scouting out a treasure hunt location, but there are certainly some “recommended guidelines”. My three top suggestions would be: 1) Choose an interesting, walkable location without too many hills. –Walking (as opposed to driving) hunts allow you to see a variety of details, and […]