Special Offers Galore, New Hunt for Potter Fans, Strange Statues & More
Summer 2010, Vol. 3, No. 5

IN THIS ISSUE
• Summer Scavenger Hunts
• Hunt News: Foursquare, Meetups and Other Insider Offers
• Pop Quiz: Petrified Pooches & Other Strange Statues
• Unique Summer Outings Boost Morale

You can also read this newsletter online at WatsonAdventures.com/culture_chicago.html


SUMMER SCAVENGER HUNTS

You won’t be collecting objects (drop that pigeon!), you’ll be searching for answers to tricky, humorous questions. Bring a team of up to six people or tell us if you’d like us to help you join kindred spirits. To read complete descriptions and buy tickets, click on the name of any scavenger hunt.

See the Hunts-at-a-Glance Calendar to search by date

The “Starring the Loop” Movie Locations Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, June 19, 2 to 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 7, 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 11, 2 to 4:30 p.m.
Downtown Chicago has been one of Hollywood’s favorite backlots, a cinematic chameleon that has even doubled for New York. This tour takes you to numerous places where movie scenes have been shot, including the Willis Tower (hello, Ferris Bueller!), Daley Plaza (good-bye, Harrison Ford in The Fugitive!), Chicago City Hall–Cook County Building (watch out, Blues Brothers!), the El (yikes, Spider-Man and the Incredibles!), Marshall Field’s (aka Macy’s), the Chicago Cultural Center and lesser-known places made memorable on film. Learn more and buy tickets

The Field of Screams Murder Mystery
Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, July 10, 1:30 to 4 p.m.
Someone, or some thing, has been bumping off museum staffers involved in acquiring a sacred Egyptian relic. Is it the dreaded Curse of Ahtchu?  Or is a serial killer on the loose? Your team of sleuths will have to crack a hieroglyphic code, question a suspect and uncover the museum’s secrets to stop the killings. No previous knowledge of the museum or its contents is necessary. Learn more and buy tickets

New for Harry Potter Fans!
The Wizard School Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, July 24, 2 to 4 p.m.
Follow in the footsteps of young wizards on a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago, in search of art that echoes characters, places and enchanted objects in the famed Harry Potter books and movies. Keep your trusty wand handy as you track down flying owls, Hagrid-like giants, centaurs and unicorns like those you’d see in the Forbidden Forest, dragons that seem straight out of the Triwizard Tournament, and eerie figures as scary as any Death Eater or Dementor. Wizards and muggles alike can play and enjoy this hunt. The hunt is not an addition to or variation on Harry’s adventures, but instead references to the books will provide a surprising bridge to many strange and wonderful works of art. It’s a great way to discover—or rediscover—the museum. This hunt is designed for kids and adults to do together, but all-adult teams will be allowed to compete separately. Kids must be accompanied by adults. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Learn more and buy tickets

The Murder at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, August 21, 2 to 4:30 p.m.
A murdered curator has left behind a cryptic trail of clues connected with secrets in works of art at the Art Institute of Chicago. As your team gathers answers about the artwork, you begin to piece together a sordid tale about greed, lust, pride, revenge and treachery, all revolving around the museum’s planned multimillion-dollar purchase of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The murder victim knew too much—and now it’s up to you to learn what he knew and discover what drove one of four suspects to commit murder. To find out, you’ll have to crack a secret code left in the victim’s appointment calendar. Can you figure out who dunnit? Learn more and buy tickets

Road Trip! Upcoming Hunts in Other Cities
Click on the name of the city to see the complete calendar.
• Boston: The Munch Around Cambridge Scavenger Hunt, July 10
• Los Angeles: The Animal Magnetism Scavenger Hunt at the L.A. Zoo, July 24
• New York: The Revolutionary New York Scavenger Hunt, July 3
• Philadelphia: The Haunted Philadelphia Scavenger Hunt, July 3
• San Francisco: The North Beach and Chinatown Chase Hunt, July 10
• Washington, D.C.: The Haunted Washington Scavenger Hunt, July 3

To Purchase Tickets
Advance payment required for all hunts. To purchase tickets, click on “Buy tickets now” links above or visit the Hunt Calendar or call us toll free at 877-9-GO HUNT (877-946-4868), extension 22. Please note that there is a $1 per call surcharge on phone orders. Prices subject to change, particularly if museum admission prices change.



Questions?
Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page first. If you still can’t get no satisfaction, contact us by calling the Hunt Hotline, 877-9-GO HUNT (877-946-4868), extension 22, or by e-mailing us. Please note that, though we follow group visit procedures, we are not affiliated with the museums mentioned above, so please do not call them with questions about the hunts.


HUNT NEWS: FOURSQUARE, MEETUPS AND OTHER INSIDER OFFERS

Check in with Watson Adventures on Foursquare...and Win

Share your hunting experience and check in with Watson Adventures via our new Foursquare page in Chicago. Our venue page is brand-spanking new, and we’d love your help to jazz it up with tips, notes about favorite hunt locations and anything else you’d like to share—just click on Add Tip at the bottom of the page. To check in using your phone, do a search for Watson Adventures under Search Venues while logged into Foursquare.

We’ll treat the first three people who post a tip to a free ticket to any public outdoor scavenger hunt that takes place before August 31. If you’re one of the first three to post, send us a note along with your Foursquare name and let us know which hunt you’d like to attend.



Alumni Clubs, Meetup.com Groups and Social Groups Take Advantage of a New Watson Adventures Benefit

Scores of social groups from across the country have organized successful, fun events around Watson Adventures hunts. To show our appreciation, we’re offering special benefits for social groups planning to attend a hunt as a group outing.

If you’re the organizer for a group that has more than 100 people on your mailing list, contact us and we’ll send you the details on our special offer. Be sure to include the formal name of your group along with a link to your official website.

Contact us to learn about benefits for social groups

Discover How Watson Adventures Began

Check out the article “Scavenger Hunts Go Highbrow” in Ralph Lauren’s RL magazine to find out how Watson Adventures began with “Mick Jagger”...

Be a Watson Adventures Insider

Stay in the loop with the latest hunt news by visiting Watson Adventures on Facebook and clicking “Like” at the top of the page. Or visit us on Twitter at @watsonscavhunts. You’ll learn about special offers, new hunts, amusing apps, event discounts and much more.

Thanks to a new Facebook feature, you can see which of your Facebook friends also are Watson Adventures fans—just look on the left-hand side of our Facebook page when you’re logged in. And if you’d like to spread the word about our hunts or share discounts, click on Suggest to Friends. Thanks for spreading the hunting spirit!

Winner! Wizards at the Getty Featured in May Photo of the Month

Congratulations to Derick T. for winning our May Photo of the Month Contest on Facebook. Check out his photo of the winning team, “The Moving Staircases Got Us Lost at the Getty,” during the new Wizard School Scavenger Hunt at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

Each month, one lucky winner wins two tickets to any outdoor hunt. To participate, post your favorite hunt photo on our Facebook wall, tag your friends and let us know which hunt it was taken on.




POP QUIZ: PETRIFIED POOCHES AND OTHER STRANGE STATUES

If you’re like us, when the temperature rises, we get the itch to explore. Consider our summer hunts your talcum powder. For this month’s quiz, we’ve posted eight photos of quirky sculptures found on eight of those hunts in eight cities. Your challenge: Match the photo to the hunt. For hints and bonus questions, see the complete quiz on Facebook. (You don’t need a Facebook account.) We’ll acknowledge the correct answers there as people post them.

The Photos

                     
               1                                             2                                          3

       
                             4                                                5                                  6

    
                           7                                                 8

The Hunts

The Conquer Washington Hunt, Washington, D.C.
The Downtown L.A. Movie Locations Hunt, Los Angeles
The Haunted Salem Hunt, Boston
The Loop Movie Locations Hunt, Chicago
The Munch Around the Market Hunt, Philadelphia
The Princeton Prowl Hunt, Princeton, N.J.
The Secrets of Central Park Hunt, New York City
The Wharf’s Weird Wonders Hunt, San Francisco

See the complete quiz on Facebook


UNIQUE SUMMER OUTINGS BOOST MORALE

This summer, boost morale and build teamwork by staging a unique, fun and cost-effective scavenger hunt. Whether you’re planning a large corporate outing, an activity for summer associates or a team-building activity for an individual department, a Watson Adventures hunt will provide an array of benefits and make you the toast of your company—all in a way that is easy on the bottom line.

You can use a Watson Adventures scavenger hunt to...

• Encourage employees to interact in a fun, high-energy environment
• Build teamwork in a dynamic new way, with challenges that engage even the grumps.
• Express appreciation and reward excellent performance.
  
• Re-energize staffers and increase productivity. See How Team-Building Hunts Boost Your Bottom Line.
• Save money compared with what you’d spend on a typical company outing.

You can choose from a large variety of locations to find one that best fits your location and the interests and goals of your company.

Learn more about Team-Building Scavenger Hunts for private and corporate groups by visiting WatsonAdventures.com. You can stay up-to-date on the latest news about our corporate hunts by clicking here and selecting “Corporate Hunt Newsletter.”

Contact Us for More Information


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The hunt’s afoot!




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Address inquiries to Watson Adventures, 262 W. 38th St., Ste. 1203, NY, NY 10018