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Conclusion
Please review the Conclusion page for commentary on the party along with photos and videos.
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Innowix – Innovative IT Architecture Consulting - Wixom, MI
To-do
1. Review the date (This Sat Sep 6, 2008) start time (10 AM) and location (Kensington Metro Park - Picnic Shelter C)
2. Review the agenda and time commitment
3. Review and sign-up for the Potluck menu
4. Review and sign-up to bring additional items (we need Scrabble boards with tiles among other things)
5. Get ready, sharpen your brains and show up on time to get challenged!
6. Bring following items:
a. Food and other items that you have signed up for
b. Digital cameras and camcorders - you will need them!
c. Picnic blanket
d. Water bottles for you and your family (we will have water)
e. Pens/pencils (and if possble pads/pages etc.)
Things to Consider
Please understand the time and energy commitments. Here are other points to ponder over:
· This event is tons of fun; however, it is still a very serious event.
· There are not many physical activities involved.
· This is a team event and once you join a team, you will have to give your 100% to the team. Once you get down to the business of solving the puzzles, your team mates will appreciate your complete focus and attention.
· This year’s party is pretty much an entire day effort requiring your time commitment. If you cannot commit to this time, please let us know ahead of time.
· This year’s party will start precisely at the specified time. If you arrive late, you will not be able to participate in the initial phase and we may not be able to accommodate you in the later events. Please be on time.
· Please bring your own scratch pads, paper, pens and pencils. We will have a limited supply available for the teams.
Please read through the agenda completely to understand the format and time commitment.
Date, Time and Location
Date: Sat September 6, 2008
Time: 10 AM – Sharp
Location: Kensington Metro Park, Shelter C (Spring Hill) - There is a slight chance of shower and the venue may shift to my home if that becomes a threat. I will update you about the change.
Park map: http://www.metroparks.com/global/kensington_map.php
Main page: http://www.metroparks.com/parks/pk_kensington.php
5 Points for Sanjay Singh who got the answer right.
The logo had KMP-C using Rubik’s font (view a large logo from some distance and you will see KMP-C).
The logo had another indication where 96 referred to I-96 (did you notice the colors of freeway numbering in US?) and there was an exit # 153 (again using the standard freeway board color scheme).
The 968 also referred to Sep 6, 2008 (it just happened that way!). The notation “X-AM” simply referred to 10 (X in roman) AM.
I hope this gets you in the mindset of puzzle solving! Be ready – you never know when you are going to see a clue for a puzzle!
Agenda
Materials and Volunteers needed
We need a few volunteers who will not be participating in the puzzle solving events to handle kids activities. Please email me at - ghbhatt at gmail dot com - if you can volunteer.
We also need materials for the puzzles and for serving the food. Please go to http://sites.google.com/site/puzzleparty2008/items-needed and put your name against the material you can bring in.
Food
We request you to bring food in potluck fashion. There will be Pizza for kids!
Please check out the food options in the link below and send me the item that you will bring in. We may make adjustments to the menu if its not balanced.
http://sites.google.com/site/puzzleparty2008/potluck
Format
The format for this year will be given out on the day of the party. There will be few variations from past events. Here is a description of the format of the past two events for your information.
In the past two events, we had two main events – puzzle solving and quiz/trivia. Puzzle solving exercises your math, analytical and logical abilities whereas quiz/trivia exercises your memory and general knowledge.
Puzzles are given in printed paper form to the teams. The teams are expected to write down their answers after solving them. During the solutions discussion phase, we will require at least two participants from each team to review the solutions from a competing team. At the end, the Puzzlemasters will discuss each puzzle and the solutions with all the teams. The review members will award points for each puzzle and report it back to the Puzzlemasters who will aggregate points for final tally.
We had approximately 40 to 50 puzzles ranging from simple to complex with 2.5 hours to complete them. Some puzzles required performing activities with props.
The point scheme involved variable point scheme and negative points too.
Check out the Sampler page for puzzles from previous events.
Kids Activities
We have divided kids into three groups and here’s how we plan to entertain them:
1. Babies and Toddlers – Age 0 to 4 – Please have a family member/caretaker handle them and keep them fed, clean, happy and busy.
2. Kids Age 4 to 10 – We will have some activities planned including Puzzle solving, some games etc. I do need at least 2 volunteers to handle these activities
We expect around 10 to 12 kids in this group. If you know of baby sitters who can be onsite for the day to keep them busy, we will certainly explore this option.
3. Kids 10 and above – This group of kids can play an important part of the event. I hope that they can guide the younger kids in carrying out their activities. In addition, we will have some puzzles for them to solve. They can also be part of the main puzzle solving teams if they understand and abide by the rules.
Grandparents
As usual, grandparents and other extended family members are welcome too. They can choose to participate in puzzle solving events or just decide to enjoy the event. Just let us know the number of participants from your family so that we can plan for food.
So, get ready to exercise your brain cells, stretch your imagination, think outside the box and have loads of fun! Learn something new and play new games. Everybody will be involved and there is something for everyone.
Always puzzled - Your Puzzlemasters,
Hiren, Pattabi and Balaji