- Is Calgary Meals on Wheels involved in running the Tweets for Eats Scavenger Hunt?
- Where is check-in for the beginning and end of the Hunt?
- Do I need a Twitter account in order to participate?
- What if I don’t have/don’t want/don’t know how to use Twitter?
- What if nobody on our team has a smartphone?
- I read there will be “advance” items. What does this mean?
- We will be using a digital camera to take photos of items. How do we get these photos to you to count for points?
- We will be tweeting the photographs during the day from a smartphone. How will you get these?
- How do bonus points work?
- What happens at the morning check-in?
- What happens at the afternoon check-in?
- What happens after the afternoon check-in?
- What hashtag will Tweets for Eats be using on Hunt Day?
Still have questions? Awesome! FAQs don’t get longer unless questions get asked! Frequently! Reach us by our Contact Us page to ask us more.
1. Is Calgary Meals on Wheels involved in running the Tweets for Eats Scavenger Hunt?
While the Calgary Meals on Wheels is the beneficiary of your donations (entry fees), the organization is not involved in the planning, organization, or execution of Tweets for Eats and are in no way involved in the event other than as being invited to speak about their organization and receive the donations at the after-party. They are providing some logistical support, but Tweets for Eats is an independently-run event.
2. Where is check-in for the beginning and end of the Hunt?
The check-in at the beginning and end of the hunt is at Melrose Cafe & Bar at 730 17 Avenue SW.
3. Do I need a Twitter account in order to participate?
While it is not mandatory, you will find it beneficial to have a Twitter account so that you can follow announcements of advance scavenger hunt items in the weeks leading up to the event as well as bonus items being tweeted from the @Tweets4EatsYYC account on the day of the Hunt.
4. What if I don’t have/don’t want/don’t know how to use Twitter?
As per question 3, it is not required for you to have a Twitter account. However, it is free to sign up for Twitter, and you will find it very useful for the race (and perhaps outside of the race!). You will want to sign up for the service in advance of Hunt Day in order to familiarize yourself with it and how to use it. You can also refer to our Twitter For Beginners primer (forthcoming) to learn how to use Twitter for this event.
5. What if nobody on our team has a smartphone?
There’s an awful lot of smartphone users out there. Smartphones are cell phones that have advanced features that go beyond just a typical cellular handset, and include such handsets as Blackberry, iPhone, certain HTC handsets, and others. If nobody on your team has a smartphone, you have two options. The first is obviously to recruit someone for your team who has a smartphone or will let you borrow it for the day. The other is to Hunt without the benefit of a smartphone. You will still have a hoot hunting for the items that are handed out on the paper list at the beginning of the day, and in theory, depending upon how many points other teams accumulate, will still even be able to win with those items only. So long as you have a digital camera with you, you will be at a disadvantage, but not a crippling disadvantage!
6. I read there will be “advance” items. What does this mean?
In the weeks before the race, Tweets for Eats will be announcing advance items. This means that, provided you are already registered as a team when the item is announced, you will be able to hunt for the items and potentially accumulate points before the official Hunt even begins!
The week before the race begins, we will also announce a “bring to check-in” hunt list. Show up at check-in with these items and you will start your day with points already in your pocket!
7. We will be using a digital camera to take photos of items. How do we get these photos to you to count for points?
You have a couple of different options. We will endeavour to have the necessary hardware to access all common memory cards at the end-of-race check-in so that we can copy your photos to our computers, however we can’t guarantee that we will be able to read your specific type of memory card. You should be prepared to provide us with the necessary connection wires to be able to access your camera’s memory. You could also stop by someone’s home prior to the end of the race to copy the photos to a computer and then e-mail those photos to the e-mail address that you will be provided with at the beginning of the race.
8. We will be tweeting the photographs during the day from a smartphone. How will you get these?
Prior to the beginning of the race, you will be telling us which Twitter account(s) you will be tweeting from, and we will follow those account timelines throughout the day in order to determine whether your photo meets the criteria to earn points.
To ensure that we know what item each photo pertains to, you are encouraged to add a comment identifying the item number when you upload it to Twitpic. If we can’t identify what item it pertains to, you cannot receive points.
9. How do “bonus points” work?
Throughout the day, your hardy organizers will be tweeting bonus items that are not on the paper hunt list. These items will work differently. In each case, the bonus points are only awarded to one team. In the case of physical items, you will be instructed to go to a specific location to acquire a unique item. Only one such item will be available at that location, and thus only the first team to arrive can acquire the item and earn the points. In the case of photo items, only the first team to tweet back a photo that meets the item criteria will receive the points for that item. YOU WILL NOT necessarily know if another team has already acquired an item or tweeted the photo, so your efforts to acquire said item or photo may be for naught! THAT, my friends, is the point. Do you spend your time to try to acquire a bonus item in hopes of beating the other teams to it, but possibly waste time by going there and finding it already gone? Or do you stick just to the list and hope to get the most points that way? That is your judgment call!
10. What happens at the morning check-in?
In the worthy pursuit of not being sued, you will be required to sign a waiver form that exonerates the organizers of Tweets for Eats and the beneficiaries of the event from liability. Check-in begins at 10:00 a.m. and goes until 11:00 a.m. You will want to arrive earlier rather than later, as teams will receive their list of hunt items in the order in which they check in.
11. What happens at the afternoon check-in?
At the end of the race, you’ll be bringing your found items to check-in for the judges to evaluate and to receive points. You will not know at the afternoon check-in whether you have won or not, as our final tally will not be confirmed until the announcement at the after-party.
12. What happens after the afternoon check-in?
Immediately after the race finishes, you’re welcome to pull up a stool and grab yourself a beer, wine, tropical cocktail, or whatever refreshment will help you to relax after a day of wackiness. We’ll begin checking teams in as soon as they start arriving. It will likely take about an hour to do that, and we expect that we’ll be able to announce a winner by 6:00 pm. You’ll be welcome to stay beyond that, of course. There is a very good chance that your organizers will be enjoying a beverage or two at that point.
13. What hashtag will Tweets for Eats be using on Hunt Day?
Tweets for Eats will be tagging posts with the hashtag #T4E. When you are tweeting photos in response to the hunt list, you should also attach the hashtag #T4E to your tweet.
