Buffalo Rising Online

This event was a LOT of fun, but I'm amazed that the unofficial-Mayor-of-Buffalo only managed a "dismal" 300 pts.? Our team (BuffaloME.com) had two suburbanites (by BRO standards) and we came in 4th ;}

Great pics- What a crew you have there.. knowing 3 out of the 4 of you.. may not have gotten many points but im pretty certain you had the most fun out of all of the teams. Great job

I just want to thank everyone who participated (Newell, we actually Sold Out with 35 teams totaling 140 participants) and all of the amazing vendors, bartenders, citizens and whoever helped the teams out along the way, we heard nothing but positive stories about strangers getting caught up in helping take pictures, giving clues and wanting to get in on the fun. It was a perfect day, great weather, new and old friends who all had an amazing time getting to know each other and the city. Thank you to our sponsors (ArtVoice, Labatt, Comfort Cafe and others) to make this an amazing event, and I cannot forget to thank Deb Ellis, Blake Walker, and especially the lovely Kristin Jordan who performed all of the magic behind the scenes. The best part is that we made a donation to Camp Goods Days, and plan to grow that each year. For those interested, check out www.buffaloscavengerhunt.com, as we will make this bigger and better next year. Thanks for the recap Newell, glad to see you had a great time.

Best, Charlie

The scavenger hunt was a great time! Charlie - we would really like to see the total scores for all the teams. Do you think you'd be able to post this on the website?

Buffaloed, thank you for the feedback, I would appreciate if you can send pictures from your team efforts to me, I want to add some of these to the webpage and have a collection of all of the contestants.

In regards to the "green" thing, I see your point, but requiring teams to be on foot was the greenest possible application, us promoting not only cabs but public transportation added to that, which I know several teams took advantage of. I would have no problem if people were on bikes and rollerblades, except for the insurance necessary for something of that extent. I heard people liked the idea of walking cause it allowed them to interact with everyone else walking around.

Thanks Christa, you rock too!!!

A scoring error costs the true winners. The Scavenger Hunt was a lot of fun but results were not scored accurately and prizes were improperly awarded. After winners were announced, members of team “Almost” asked Scavenger Hunt organizers Charlie Riley and Kristin Jordan for clarification on scoring. Upon review it immediately became apparent that there had been an oversight in the scoring and the judges had not counted a very large 200-point item for team Almost (completion of a stress test at the Church of Scientology). The reason is that we were one of the first teams to check-in around 6PM and at that time it was not clear if the documentation from the Church that a stress test had been completed would be acceptable. Soon after it became clear that this documentation was adequate and other teams rightly received 200 points for this. With the scoring error, we had finished with 558 points while the team that was declared the winner had 715 points. Had our 200-point item not been omitted, we would have correctly been tallied to have 758 points. In private Charlie Riley and Kristin Jordan apologized profusely to our team, but downplayed the error saying that it was made by a volunteer for a charity event and that prizes had already been awarded. Our position was that if we earned the most points then we should receive the top prize and recognition that we had won. Charlie and Kristin told us that they would not take prizes away from those to whom they had already been awarded. We acknowledge that that may be difficult but that is what happens in an election if a recount yields a new winner. How would this be handled in the Olympics? We suggested that if Charlie did not want to take the top prize away from the team to which it had already been awarded, he would have to come up with another set of top prizes (4 mountain bikes). In acknowledgement of the error, Charlie offered to give us free entry to the scavenger hunt the next time it takes place. Eventually, he gave us our entry money back. He and Kristin told us that we would be considered and listed as the winners but we would not receive the top prize. We were made to feel that our concerns were petty and that we were imposing regarding some minor err of a volunteer in a charity event. Three days after the event, an email was sent out to team captains by Charlie and Kristin, but with no mention whatsoever of the critical scoring error and any official change to the rankings. Charlie and Kristin seem to be very good people who find themselves in a difficult situation. However, as Charlie and Kristin acknowledged in private that team Almost is considered the winners and in the interest of the integrity of the competition, we think we deserve more appropriate recognition and more than just a refund. Yes, this is a charity event and it is important that events such as this, presently and in the future, transpire in a fair manner.