Triangulator Scavenger Hunt:  City of Oaks

Triangulator is a scavenger hunt. A six hour multi-media, multi-modal (sub)urban (mis)adventure. A way to rethink our every day spaces and to interact more critically with the cities we live in.

This Saturday Triangulator is happening in Raleigh.

Why does the street stop being cleaned after you cross certain roads, where can you find urban fruit, how is it that residents in adjoining neighborhoods have different accents?  These are some of the many questions Triangulator seeks to better understand.

The event will include photo explorations and historical fact-finding, but its main point is to encourage exploration. That’s why Triangulator’s most prominent element and most interesting feature are its subjective, interpretative questions. These “Choose Your Own Adventure” categories ask teams to take interpretative photos that respond to prompts like “Before and After” or “Looking Up Looking Down.” Teams can submit any photo that responds to the prompt in any way they want. (For instance a response to “Looking Up Looking Down” could include pictures of open manhole covers, Penthouse suites, or patriotic cranes). Photos will be voted on by the overall group to determine winners. A lot could depend on the quality of the photography, so creative vision and savvy aesthetics are a plus.

We held our inaugural event in Durham back in April and it included everything from clue-laden poems that directed players to an overgrown abandoned factory to a mad search for Fufu Flour and Waxy Corn in a large and eclectic international grocery store. Participants for the “Choose Your Own Adventure” section submitted photos both serious and absurd, exploring gentrification and Hope 6 public housing on the one hand and celebrating flying puppies and “before and after” weight loss photos on the other. View photos from the event on our interactive Durham map.

Raleigh Triangulator will be this Saturday, August 23rd from 12pm to 6pm, with a dinner party and awards ceremony to follow. Kickoff will be on the Halifax Mall (map) and the after-party will be at a location TBA. The game will be structured similarly to the one in Durham, but will also include questions that are fitted specifically for Raleigh, including potential appearances from some of Raleigh’s favorite sons (and daughters).

We like to say Triangulator is very much like and very much unlike other scavenger hunts. We created it to be a space where interesting and interested people could exchange knowledge and experiences about the Triangle. We hope you’ll join us.

If you’d like to be more involved in a project like this email us at .  We could use your help as we try to build a community interested in feeding our collective delight for the geography around us.

Remember: there may or may not be right answers, you may or may not know them and that may or may not be an advantage.  Go forth and triangulate!

Schedule
Saturday, August 23rd
11am:  Congregation.  Games and Distribution of Clues at Halifax Mall (map)

12pm -6pm:  Scavenger Hunt in Raleigh (official questions will be within two miles of the state Capitol, but you can go anywhere for the subjective questions)

6:30pm:  Awards, Drinks, Food, and Presentations at a downtown location TBA.  It’s BYOB but we’ll have food.

Rules

• Each team will require a digital camera (i.e. bring one if you’ve got one).
• Registration is $5 per person (includes dinner)
• Unexpected interpretation of the questions and unpredictable results are encouraged.
• Boundaries:  All provided questions will be within two miles of the state capitol.  Subjective questions can be answered from anywhere.within the city limits.
• Winning teams will receive much backslapping and if you’re lucky a found chotchky.
• Teams will be formed on arrival (bring folks to play with or come and join up with others).

Why:  Because we are fed by curiosity and delight for everything that is the Triangle (and by extension, our world)

How: You can use any vehicle you like though we are proponents of the world’s most efficient vehicle, the bicycle, and the game is designed with that in mind.  However, we are also big fans of the world’s least polluting traveler, the pedestrian, and the game can be managed on foot.

Disclaimer: This is an ongoing process - participate at your own risk! We found with the Durham game that groups did best when they were willing to go places and do things they’ve never done before.  Come ready to open yourself up to the possibilities of the city.

To RSVP email:
(As part of our pre-registration process, please include your favorite Raleigh event/happening with your RSVP (Triangulator is an acceptable option!))

Chase is an organizer of the Triangulator Scavenger hunt.