Love, As Always, Pete

The Weekly Letters, by A. Pedersen Wood

July 18, 2014

Dear Everyone:

Last year, during the 2013 ARMA, International Pacific Region Leadership Conference, aboard the Queen Mary Hotel-and-Historical-Ship in Long Beach, California, they asked where the people would like to meet again this year.  They offered several choices and the “Wine Country” got the largest show of hands.

Then they found out how much a hotel in the “Wine Country” would actually cost in July, at the height of the tourist season.  Nevertheless, they found a place in Sonoma, which is technically in the “Wine Country” and presented a two-day conference with the slogan, “Hear it on the Grapevine” (how original.)

This is the first time that the Mt Diablo Chapter (along with the Greater Sacramento Chapter) hosted a regional conference.  It looks like it will also be the last time that the Mt Diablo Chapter (with or without any other Chapters) will be hosting as the people at the International Headquarters have made some significant changes to how the regional conference will be held from now on.

In the meantime, the Mt Diablo Chapter was the host Chapter this year.  Accordingly, our Chapter President said something about making the Reception Ice Breaker “something wine-related.”  And I thought, “Oh, Lord save us!” or words to that effect.

Each conference begins on a Thursday, lasts all day Friday and finishes somewhere in the afternoon Saturday.  To make sure everyone shows up before Friday morning, they usually hold some kind of a reception, typically with drinks and munchies of one kind or another, Thursday evening.  And they have an Ice Breaker of some kind.

This is done to encourage people to move around and meet other people instead of huddling together with only the folks from their own Chapter, since these may be the only people they know.  I’ve been through many of these little exercises.  Possibly you have, too.

There’s “bingo”.  You are handed a sheet of paper with squares listing activities (find someone who climbs mountains; bikes to work every day; cleans state beaches on the weekend) or interests (find someone who can list all six Star Trek TV Series; who can prove they’ve read Proust outside of college; who knows the names of all the Hobbits) or just about anything else.  Whoever gets all the squares in a row or column first wins.

One year, the “bingo” finished too quickly, so they turned it into a scavenger hunt (find a Band-Aid.  In a hotel.)  Once we got to the restaurant, they wouldn’t serve the meal because too many “participants” were still out hunting objects.  It finally became a foot race ending in a tie.  So they had the two winners make up cardboard boxes.  In the restaurant.

Sometimes they try to make if “relevant”.  One year they required everyone to list three “outstanding accomplishments” in Records and Information Management and send them in prior to the event.  When not everyone showed up at the reception, some squares couldn’t be marked off because that person wasn’t there.  Bummer.

Last year, because of the Queen Mary, they gave everyone slips of paper involving “famous people” who had something to do with royalty or anything nautical.  Then people asked them questions to figure out who they were.  Unfortunately, many people had no idea what “famous person” they were supposed to be.

Example:  “I’m ‘Mark Spitz’.  I have never heard of him.”  (He was a champion Olympic swimmer.)

Another example:  “I’m a famous Queen.”  Queen Mary?  Too obvious.  Queen Elizabeth (either I or II)?  Nope.  Queen Cleopatra?  Not even close.  The answer:  Freddie Mercury, member of an all-male British musical group from the 1980’s.  Huh?

So you can imagine what a “wine-related” game would be like with people who don’t know a Pinot Noir from Pinocchio or a chardonnay from a chimney sweep.

Instead, I proposed a variation on the board game, Clue:  “Who Murdered the Records Manager?”

The Records Manager (name unknown) has been murdered.  There are dozens of possible Suspects, all with fictitious names, like “CEO Grumble”, “Robby Rent-a-Cop (Security)”, and “Abby Admin Assistant”.  The possible weapons are all common office equipment, such as “Stapler”, “3-Ring Binder”, “Tape Dispenser”.

Everyone gets a “name badge” printed with their identity and weapon.  Everyone gets a sheet of paper with instructions on one side and lists of suspects and weapons on the other.  Just roam around the room, crossing people and weapons off on your list until you think you know Who Did It.

When I made the suggestion, the Regional Manager asked if I was “willing” to take care of everything.  Well, of course.  I know better than to suggest something without knowing how I’m going to do it.  I ran the whole thing by “Jeannie” and my upstairs neighbor, the accountant.  Both said it looked like it would work.

Needless to say, it worked like a charm.  Everyone pronounced that they had a “great time!”  (What else were they going to say?)

In reality, it did work well.  The beauty of it (ignoring the whole possible copyright infringement thing) is that it would work just about anywhere.  I had an office setting.  Or it could be a country club get-together.  Just fill it in with “typical” country club types and lots of golf and tennis equipment.

If it were a school, it would be even easier.  You could call it “Who Murdered the Art Teacher?” since someone is always trying to shut down the Arts Department.  You could make half the weapons sporting equipment and most of your Suspects could be coaches, assistant coaches and assistants to the assistant coaches.

And as for why the (fill-in-the-blank) was murdered?  Only “Jeannie” ever asked for a motive.

Love, as always,

 

Pete

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