This is all very complicated and I am in a rambling mood inconducive to concise portrayal of complicated structures. In this part I will try to list a few parameters:

• Company name: Evco Group

• Company website URL: http://evcogroup.com
• Company focus: 3vil 1nternational c0nspiracy
• Company project: Scavenger hunt

Project parameters:

• Location: Vienna, Austria

• Duration: 8 hours on 15 July 2006
• Project theme: evil international conspiracy involving mass-hypnotic object(s)
• Planning start: April 2006
• Targets: Half-dozen or so very bright teenagers
• Staff: Nearly two dozen participants, conspirators and contributors world-wide, half of which were heavily involved
• Name of project: “The Czar’s Testicles”

Motivation: Combination of two ideas: a love of treasure-hunts, which I have put on for my daughters before, on a much more modest scale, and the idea that if one could only harness the vast creativity out there, around the world, then one could do something fun. And it worked.

Backstory: The idea of the hunt was to find the Czar’s testicles while avoiding Czarist assassins. The Czar’s testicles were objects that enabled the holder to hypnotically influence masses of people. Conspirators came up with a narrative involving a sort of good guy who had hidden the objects from bad guys, who wanted them, in 1918. The guy eventually disappeared, his son took over, then his grandson, and now his great-grand-daughter. The same bad guys – neo-Czarists – were still after them, as well as some new ones.

Execution: Two phases. Phase one: online, started a week prior to the hunt proper. Beta given clue in real life, at work, wends way through internet sites, blogs, and a wonderful chatbot written by D that provide clues, background information and code-solving practice (while receiving cryptic and/or creepy postcards from around the world; note: target’s mother not entirely happy dad gave out daughter’s home and work addresses to weird strangers, so maybe it was a good idea the hysterical Russian lady screaming things in Russian hysterically mobile phone calls didn’t pan out). Phase two: the hunt. By solving the online codes etc., kids participating knew where and when to meet on the 15th. They visited about ten locations throughout Vienna, in all.

Feedback: Staff seemed to have a lot of fun. One of the targets said it was the most fun he’d ever had. Beta also approved. We all got together for food and drink at a pub after the hunt, and the kids were interviewed by Evco staff, but I haven’t seen the film yet. The project seemed like a success to me, though. I want to do this for a living.

Tomorrow: Play-by-play description of the actual scavenger hunt, during which I get a serious sunburn, discover my limitations as a superspy and depend upon the kindness of strangers.

Official T-Shirt: Designed by Bauke, produced by TH. Available here.