Happy Friday everyone! As most of you know, Clickbooth truly is a “Work hard, play hard” company. While we are always busy making sure our clients and partners are our #1 priority we also know how to keep office life FUN. Here’s an inside peak at the latest round of one of Clickbooth‘s most exciting and entertaining employee events, CB Snipers:
An email arrives in everyone’s inbox bearing one month’s notice and the rules, followed by weekly reminders counting down. Taunting, teasing, and smack talking lead to the inevitable visit by the Commissioner ["The Commish"]. And one at a time an unassuming card is handed to each participant, a small, 2 1/2 by 3 inch business card with a name, their target’s name. Over the next hour everyone prepares in their own way for the competition; some load magazines, a few get in some last minute target practice, while others reconnoiter. Alliances are forged, and friendships are put on hold, because it’s about to get real up in here. Each one holds out some small hope their name won’t appear in the daily “Butcher’s Bill”, but they know deep down that the odds are stacked against them.
Memories of previous CB Sniper rounds play through their minds. What worked? What didn’t? Who won and lost? And why? Am I ready? Do I have what it takes? What would possess me to play again? The sounds of running feet, plastic slides chambering round after round, the pop of spring-loaded pneumatic pumps, battery powered motors revving up to speed, and then the sound of Nerf darts whizzing through the air echo through their memories. Then it begins…
Noon on Monday, April Fool’s Day, the email goes out declaring the 5th Round of CBSniper has officially begun. Fifty-three assassins get the green light, and the hunt begins. No one wants to be the first one killed, and by extension the subject of The Commish’s ridicule for the rest of the game. No one moves from the safety of their desks until absolutely necessary. An hour passes before the first casualty (aka Sad First Victim), Chris Davis, falls at the hand of Janelle Furlong, our new HR Coordinator. After that, it was Game On! Eighteen more people are eliminated, one by one, over the rest of the afternoon before breaking at 8PM.
Tuesday, Day 2, brought more action as those who still required a kill, or be eliminated, pulled out all of the stops. Brent Powell was running away with the Death Dealer title, eradicating four competitors. David Crawford did his best to catch-up, and achieved a very respectable hat trick in a matter of about two hours. Meanwhile, John Lemp was both the luckiest and unluckiest competitor thus far, surviving six near-death experiences between the two days, only to be slain twice in duels. A total of twenty more competitors shuffled, crestfallen, to their desks, having felt the soft thud of Nerf, by the end of the day.
Fifteen remain as sunrise breaks over the Clickbooth Campus, and everyone has to dispatch at least one target in the next twelve hours. In the quarter finals, speed kills, and in a game of kill or be killed the Run & Gun of the first two days gives way to a chess match. Show up early, lay in wait, watch your target’s movements and when the opportunity presents itself, STRIKE. Eight contestants bought the proverbial farm. Trey Brenner sacrificed himself at the tip of his dagger so Peter Wilson-Ferrer could move on, but then Peter promptly lost a duel to Akanksha Mehrota. Kevin Hillman also lost a duel to Brent Powell, which makes five. And then there were seven.
As the days groan on, and the field dwindles, less and less happens. The game changes, it’s a waiting game. Waiting for an opportunity, a slip-up, the only chance you might get to catch your quarry in the open. It’s also a time for paranoia, which sets the scene for the loudest and most involved gunfight of the fourth day, which took place between two competitors who didn’t even have each other. The battle raged for more than 15 minutes, all for naught. A lesson about cherishing every day was learned by the four people who found it to be their last, two of them yesterday’s duel winners. Though out of the competition, Brent remained in contention for the highest number of kills.
The final day, Friday, only three remain. Paul Daniel and Ravinder Punia have honored an alliance made from the beginning, while Richard “Brozo” Iwanik-Marques is the odd man out. An otherwise quiet morning was interrupted by a shocking Run & Gun around the Marketing Floor ending in Brozo making a defensive shot to Paul’s leg. Later, in the afternoon, another defensive shot functionally took the game to a stalemate, until finally The Commish decided to force the players’ hands. An Every-Man-For-Himself, no defensive shots, no target, last man standing, cage-match in marketing. Each competitor was loaded with all of the weapons and ammo he could carry, and was randomly assigned a corner of the marketing room from which to begin. When the horn blew, in front of sixty or so witnesses, the final three ran through the cubicles, ducking, dodging, and firing their weapons until Ravinder was brained by a Nerf dart. Tired, breathless, and out of ammunition, the last two took up Nerf swords against one another. In true Highlander fashion, there could be only one, and Brozo narrowly bested Paul in the first overtime.
For now the game is over. Life returns back to normal as they reminisce about the bygone days of the battles. They talk about the best shoot-outs, the epic sword fighting, the daily email updates by The Commish. There’s one thing they don’t talk about, that shadow hiding in the back of their minds. Deep down they know, one day, when they least expect it, an email will arrive bearing one month’s notice and the rules for CBSniper Round 6.
Awards:
First Place: Richard “Brozo” Iwanik-Marques is CB Sniper
Second Place: Deadly Paul Daniel
Third Place: Ruthless Ravinder Punia
Most Kills: Brent “Pow Pow” Powell
Dubious Honor
Sad First Victim: Commiserable Chris Davis
Guest Post: Jer “The Commish” O’Connor, MBA, Integraclick Credit Overlord and Business Analyst
Jer was born in Illinois and grew up in Orlando, Florida – he graduated from Florida State University and later earned his MBA at Regis University. He is a co-founder of BarCamp Sarasota, an open forum focused on technology, education, and economic development. In his free time, he enjoys photography, reading, building computers, and brewing beer.
