In "long"...
The only preparation I did for this "game" was to read the rules and guidelines - which were very basic and simple. I also signed up on "The First 500" Facebook group which became a sort of clearinghouse of questions and answers, as well as a way for some people to e-meet others before last night.
Once we all checked in, we gathered in Astor Hall for some introductions, and then we all headed upstairs to the beautiful main Reading Room. Then once we were there, we were divided into two groups: Patience and Fortitude.
Then it was up to us to "find" and organize ourselves into smaller teams, squads. -I actually ended up meeting a writer from the New York Times, Jenny8Lee, and she was there with two friends, and we ran into another friend of theirs as were getting things organized at our table.
The way the game worked involved using an app on your iPhone or Android to scan QR codes that were placed on or around various artifacts in the Library. Once you scanned the code, you would unlock some information about the code, as well as a "mission" of sorts. Each artifact was used as a springboard for some sort of creative project. You were provided some ideas, and then you either wrote some sort of prose, or you could even draw a picture to reflect the theme of that artifact. The squads did not have to find and scan every since QR code, nor did they have to complete every "mission". However, it was up to "The First 500" to keep track via various bulletin boards which artifacts had been found and which missions had been completed. This made it possible for every artifact to be found and each mission to be completed via a crowd-sourcing of sorts.
Some teams started off by dividing up and getting all the QR codes scans. Others had people who wanted to do less physical leg work, and stayed at the desks at their computer waiting for the team members to find an artifact, and then start working on one of the missions. Basically, even though it was a "game", and there was some competition involved, it was truly about collaboration.
My team sort of did a bit of each. We all started off together finding the first couple of artifacts just so we could see how everything was set up. Then two of them went back up to the reading room and started working on some of the writing assignments, while the rest of us - myself included - kept exploring the library.
Along the way we came across postcards from "the future" for other participants, and then we had to go and find those participants and deliver their postcard to them personally. In other words, it was a cool way to meet other people.
The game started a little before 9:00pm, and the last call for stories was at 4:30am. At 5:00am, we all reassembled for a closing ceremony of sorts, and, most importantly, to sign the copy of the Book we had all just spent the past couple of hours writing together. And the Book was actually being printed and bound throughout the night. Alas, it was not completed by the time we left, but it should be on display by early next week. And each of us who attended tonight and contributed to the book will now be listed as an Author in the catalog of The New York Public Library.
