Image via Flickr user stvntal
A day after participants from The Amazing Race Canada rappelled down City Hall, another event inspired by the popular American television show took place in the heart of downtown Toronto. This time, startup entrepreneurs, employees, and tech enthusiasts got together to compete in a tech inspired scavenger hunt. Almost 100 participants across 23 teams took part in the competition.
The Amazing Tech Race was put together by North of 41, an organization that creates networking opportunities for Toronto-based entrepreneurs. The goal of North of 41 is to connect not only entrepreneurs within Toronto, but also to create links between Toronto and tech communities south of border in hot spots like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. On average, the organization runs one event per month. That said, Saturday’s race was somewhat of an experiment for the group. Last May, the group held an indoor hackathon, but, this year, decided to create an event where its membership could enjoy the impending warm weather. For the organization’s community manager, Tania Alvarez, the hope was that participants would emerge with a better understanding of what North of 41 offers to its 12,000 plus members. “Whether they win or lose, participants are going to come out of this event with a better sense of what we offer.”
Like the television program it draws inspiration from, Saturday’s event saw participants racing to and completing various tasks at checkpoints spread across the city’s downtown core. One such checkpoint was the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue. There, the affable Jeffrey Izzo, the consulate’s chief of political and economic affairs, greeted contestants and asked them several questions about the U.S. embassy’s trade initiatives. For instance, one question required teams to name the program that helps encourage, facilitate, and accelerate business investment in American companies by both domestic and foreign firms (the answer is SelectUSA). A later bonus question, asking participants to identify the last team Tim Horton played for, pitted teammates against one another in an attempt to win a bottle of fine Californian wine for themselves (the answer–for those that are curious–is the Buffalo Sabres).
It was at the U.S. consulate that I met one of the teams involved in the race. The Bearodactyls–named in reference to a popular Oatmeal comic strip (NSFW)–came to the consulate short of breath and determined to come in first place; in fact, the team was so set on winning that they only consented to an interview on the condition that I ran with them to their next checkpoint. Asked about why she decided to take part in the event, team member Lindsay Munro answered, “I’m very active in the tech community in Toronto, and this is yet another way to participate in the great events this city has to offer.” She went on to add, “It’s an opportunity to explore tech offices throughout the city, and get a sense of whose supporting events like this.” If Munro’s responses seem the stuff of a press release, it’s because she’s the digital communications strategist at Kanetix, a car insurance comparison website, a contributor to TechVibes, and a co-organizer of Girl Geeks Toronto–among a lot of other things. For one of her non-media trained friends, the appeal was a lot simpler: “It’s a beautiful day to be running around the city.”
I left the Bearodactyls on their way to the KPMG office building on Bay Street, which, along with the U.S. consulate, was one of 10 destinations the teams participating in the event were asked to visit. Other race destinations included the MaRS building, the Incubes incubator on King Street, and Brushfire North in Liberty Village. All the locales had some relation to the city’s growing tech scene.
With a time of 2 hours and 11 minutes, the Bearodactyls managed to come in second place. The winning team, Hello World, beat them by 17 minutes. Rounding out the top three was a team by the name of “All Your Race Belong to Us.” They arrived at the finish line a minute after the Bearodactyls did.
Win or lose, everyone that participated in The Amazing Tech Race was given a chance to meet new people, learn about the services and events North of 41 offers, and, as one of Munro’s friend pointed out, enjoy a sunny afternoon outside. A large portion of those that participated in the event did so with part of the startup they work with. In other words, Saturday offered a perfect opportunity for those working on a startup project to get to know their co-workers outside of their work environment.
____
Igor Bonifacic is a writer working for the Toronto Standard. You can follow him on twitter @igorbonifacic.
For more, follow us on Twitter @TorontoStandard and subscribe to our newsletter.
