When your company is on the Best Place to Work list four years in a row, it’s important to keep things fresh. We recently put together an Ai-mazing scavenger hunt for our fantastic employees. Here’s how it went down: We split employees into teams of five people each. The teams all got a set of 43 clues and accompanying tasks to be accomplished on our American Tobacco Campus (our awesome office complex that used to be home to a tobacco factory) and the surrounding downtown Durham area. Here are some examples – see the full list of clues at the end of this post:
Who on your team is most likely to get thrown out of a bar or restaurant? Take a photo of them getting thrown out of a bar or restaurant of your choice. 5 points.
Former home of the Herald-Sun newspaper, built in the 1920s with Italian Renaissance styling. Take a photo of the Mergenthaler’s Linotype Machine. 5 points. (Bull City Business Center)
You could sleep at this City Center or you could look for the waterfall, Wooden Man Sculpture and a chess set. Chess can be kind of boring! Make it fun by taking a funny picture of the team with the chess pieces. Make sure to come up with a clever caption. 10 points. (Marriott Hotel)
Each team had their own dedicated channel in Slack to post pictures, videos, and text answers (how many hammocks are at the ATC?) and gain their points. Teams could also use lifelines to call for help on a task – but it cost points to do so.
The end of three hours, the team with the most points won (showing up late cost points, too). Here’s the winning team: they found pennies with the birth year of each team member!
Winners got Visa gift cards, trophies, bragging rights, and the ability to keep a set of Russian stacking dolls shaped like robots (collecting them all was worth 25 points during the hunt).
But more importantly, we bonded, talked smack, and had fun exploring the place Ai calls home! Go Durham!
The Full List of Clues
Five Points – Frosting Fixes Everything. Team Photo with your treat. 5 points. The Cupcake Bar (101 E Chapel Hill Street/816-2905)
Meeting & Event Planners, Group Tours & Newcomers use this business as a resource. Pick up your magnet. 5 points.Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (212 W. Main St/800-446-8604)
Feeling thirsty? Grab a pitcher of beer at this Irish Bull – Corey is buying! Team photo in front of business logo & make sure to grab a puzzle piece from Corey. 5 points. Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub (427 W Main Street/682-3061)
You will find pink penguins here, a spoon fall and the American Flag. Group photo with a pink penguin. 5 points. The Counting House
It’s a mellow fungus. Team photo under the Mushroom 5 points. Mellow Mushroom
Former home of the Herald-Sun newspaper, built in the 1920’s with Italian Renaissance styling. Take a photo of the Mergenthaler’s Linotype Machine. 5 points. Bull City Business Center (115 Market Street)
You can pick up an ice cream cone in this sitting room. Take a photo of ice cream flavors offered and see Steph for another piece of the puzzle. 5 points. The Parlour (117 Market Street)
Who on your team is most likely to get thrown out of a bar or restaurant? Take a photo of them getting thrown out of a bar or restaurant of your choice. 5 points. Anywhere team chooses.
Who on your team can talk anyone into doing them a favor? Find a police officer and video tape him reciting his favorite joke. 10 points. Anywhere team chooses.
Who on your team is the most competitive? Take a video of them competing in thumb of war with a stranger. 10 points.Anywhere team chooses.
This black & white bird is part of the crow family and is considered one of the most intelligent animals in the world. It is also a Durham Boutique Grab another puzzle piece. 5 points. Magpie Boutique (601 Main Street)
Home sweet Aimazing Home. Take a team picture with Birthday Bot. 5 points.
Smokey Street that advertises being scratch made & locally grown. How many steps are there going to their front door? 5 points. Tobacco Road (13 steps)
A place where energy flows, personalities mingle, and opportunities abound. A place where anything can happen. Also home to WXYZ How many flower pots border their driveway? 5 points. A Loft Hotel (11 flower pots)
Durham & Broadway meet. What does it say under the box office inside? 5 points. DPAC (Powered by Duke Energy)
Find the Penny at Mangum & W. Parrish. You can’t miss it. Take a photo of the penny. Thought this was to easy? Looking for extra points? Extra points will be given for collecting a penny for each birth year of the members on your team. 5 points + 5 points. Intersection of Mangum & W. Parrish
Newest Ubran market in downtown Durham. Just opened on May 7th. Say hi to Jay one of the owners. They have a wall where you can cut & snip. What kind of wall is it? On the way out grab your puzzle piece. 5 points. Bulldega – 104 City Hall Plaza (Herb wall)
You wont find a bell here but you might run into Mayor Bill Bell on the second floor. If Mayor Bill Bell isn’t available for a photo op, take a picture of Mayor Chester L Jenkins. For extra points Patrick W. Baker has a picture of a gas station hanging in his office. What is the gas station? 5 points. City Hall – 2nd Floor
Frogs in Durham. Have someone take a video of the team playing leap frog at a place of your choosing. Make sure to thank Damon! 10 points. Anywhere team chooses.
Your team is hot, Your team is on fire, Your team is #1. There is a bell outside of this station. What city and year are listed? Near by is a bench, how many names are saluted? 5 points. Fire Station #1 (Baltimore, MD) (4)
Everything you wanted to know about recreational programs, events & parks you will find here. Pick up a brochure from their program information rack. 5 points.
This 1934 Neoclassical building paid for in 15 minutes of its first day of operation by taxes on local tobacco. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Find our number address “512” . What are the numbers to the right and left of it? 5 points. 502/522
Gallery of fine art photography that also offers books, posters and other items related to photography. You may need a lens to find it. Mr. Roylee Duvall will be helpful to you in answering the following: Who is the local photographer who took the picture Oasis? What is it a picture of? What does a Wizard have to do with Automation? Don’t forget your puzzle piece! 5 points. Through this Lens (Christer Berg) (Cruise Ship) (Matt Cutter)
You could sleep at this City Center or you could look for the waterfall, Wooden Man Sculpture and a chess set. Chess can be kind of boring! Make it fun by taking a funny picture of the team with the chess pieces. Make sure to come up with a clever caption. 10 points. Marriott Hotel
With all the construction going on…this one should be easy! Take a photo of a construction cone. 2 points. Anywhere in downtown Durham
Slow down and enjoy life! Take a photo of a 25 MPH speed limit sign. 2 points. Anywhere in downtown Durham
We love Durham! Who else loves Durham? Take a photo of an out of state license plate.5 points. Anywhere in downtown Durham
The non-profit Carolina Theatre of Durham is one of downtown’s most loved and established arts organizations. What year does the plaque say by the box office? 5 points. Carolina Theater (1926)
Scavenger Hunt within a Scavenger Hunt @ the Durham Art Guild. Take a photo of the following works of art located on the 1st floor. (Cloaked In Mystery) (53 Million) (Puppy Love) (The Art of Sushi) (Embrace of the Ancestors). 5 points.Durham Art Guild
Who said this Scavenger Hunt stinks? Take a picture of a port-a-potty. 2 points. Anywhere in downtown Durham
Love to travel by train? No fancier place to depart from than the 110,000-sq ft adaptive reuse of historic Walker Warehouse, an 1897 Italianate-style brick building. Stop by the station and pick up a baggage ticket. Extra points if you get there in time to take a picture of Train 74 – Piedmont at the station. 5 + 5 points. Durham Train Station – 400 W. Chapel Hill Street
Take a break! Ask someone to take a team photo of all of you in your favorite yoga pose wherever you choose. 5 points.Anywhere in downtown Durham.
We be swingin’ in the ATC. How many hammocks are there? 5 points. 4
Stop by our landlords office & say hi to Natalie. Feel free to grab a piece of candy but don’t leave there without your puzzle piece. 5 points. ATC Admin Office
No Durham Scavenger hunt would be complete with finding a Bull. Team Photo with a bull. 5 points. Anywhere in downtown Durham.
The team will need to be powerful to figure out what a plant, boiler room & theater have in common? Take a team photo in your favorite super hero pose in front of this building’s sign. 5 points. Power Plant
If someone on your team has Triskaidekaphobia – you may want to skip this one. Which ATC Bay has the #13 above it? 5 points. Bay 5
Public Service Announcement: These guys provide high-quality news, cultural and entertainment content to create a more informed and engaged community. When looking at the shirt in the lobby – who’s signature is on the right sleeve? 5 points.WUNC (Paula Press)
You won’t find the stack by following the yellow brick road. Instead head down Stack Alley. There you will find a place where three sets of stairs converge and the green Stack sign glows. How many stairs does each stair set have? 5 points.(4) (10) (17)
You will find Mamie Dowd Walker with her bike at this history hub. She may have been the first woman judge in NC but she won’t be able to help you with the history of baseball in NC. You will have to go inside to find out. Who on your team was the first to ride a bicycle? Have them take a picture as Mamie Dowd. Get more points if you know how many NC cities hosted professional baseball teams during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Grab a postcard on your way out. 3 points+ 7 points. Museum of Durham History (70)
Who knew that in this AREA modern home you would find a Robot who cracks nuts? How much is this nutcracker? 5 points. $30
This mid-century modern hotel in the heart of downtown has a pretty awesome roof top bar! Take a video of at least three of your team members dancing and singing some of the “”clean lyrics”” to “”The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire.” 10 points.The Durham Hotel
Have all 6 stacking robots. 25 points.