Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organized automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver. Innovation and the drive of competition soon saw speeds exceeding 100 mph, but because the races were held on open roads there were frequent accidents with the resulting fatalities of both drivers and spectators. Grand Prix motor racing eventually evolved into formula racing and Formula One or “F1” can be seen as its direct descendant. Each event of the Formula One World Championships is still called a grand prix.
In iEnergizer, we had our own “Desi-Version” of Grand Prix, wherein contestants could apply breaks and freak-out along with gaining points. It was not all about racing the radials & smashing the parallels of NOIDA Road Administration, but it was also a Treasure Hunt through which our Michael Schumacher(s) penetrated the downtown; gaining huge points!
It was December 15, 2006; just a day before our ‘Mighty 6th Anniversary’ celebration, when Grand Prix was held. There were 14 Processes (which participated) including Human Resources. Each process consisted of 5 Cars with 1 Driver and 1 Navigator each. So, the total number of cars lined-up for the event were (14 processes multiplied by 5 cars each) 70 with 70 Drivers and 70 Navigators (altogether 140 Participants).
Team members of our in-house Event Management Team (~OCTAVE~), better know as Octavian(s) had to keep a close eye & constant vigil on each and every team!
The RULES – That were universally followed:
1. Two wheelers were strictly prohibited.
2. Teams were not allowed to split up. This meant that the entire team must be at the same clue site at the same time, and must stay within sight and earshot of one another (generally, within 20 to 40 feet). Half of the team members of any team cannot be around a corner, or down the block, and one or two members cannot sprint ahead of the others. This also meant that no member of a particular team could have arranged to have someone at another location doing research for that member.
3. Participants were restricted to use resources which ONLY exist independently of the treasure hunt.
4. If someone from a particular team had to leave early or stop for health or personal reasons, they could rejoin later, but they wouldn’t participate in the hunt by searching for clues while they are separated from the rest of any particular team. Every team was instructed to bring to notice, any such occurrences, to Octavian(s) available at the site.
5. The entire team of any particular Process must be present when they turn in the score sheet. The only exception was if someone left early.
6. None was allowed to guess or fill in something on the answer sheet without having visited the site. The point was to solve the clue and find the tokens, or the information. A particular Team and all its Team Members were instructed to be physically present at the site to receive credit for having solved the clue.
There were 2 things which needed a decoding by the participants:
1. DESTINATION CLUE
2. ACTIVITY CLUE
Teams participating in the treasure hunt were given a “DESTINATION CLUE” for the destination they were required to reach. They were needed to decipher the clue and reach the first destination.
On reaching the first destination, they were required to park all the vehicles at the authorized parking area and collect all parking receipts (which they had to deposit at the end). Thereafter, they were needed to get in touch with ~OCTAVE~ [the in-house event-management team of iE] team member(s) stationed at that particular venue.
They needed to sign the attendance sheet available with the ~OCTAVE~ member(s) and then collect “ACTIVITY CLUE” from that Octavian. With this clue, they were required to decipher the task to be accomplished. Once the team completed the given task(s), they were needed to report to the Octavian(s) once again, had to show the proof of task being done & had to carry it (if required). They were then required to collect the second “DESTINATION CLUE” from the Octavian(s) and proceed further. This continued until all the 3 destinations were reached and tasks accomplished.
It was overall an overwhelming event with a stupendous participation and activity. There was just one prize at the top slot which one of our oldest processes bagged and claimed the honor of “Maestro of Grand Prix 2006”.
Few moments caught during that occasion:
