Pamela Whitman has lots to say here - great feedback and advice - and it's all worth reading. She even got her son and his friend to provide their feedback...

I'm still recovering! The party went wonderfully, only I didn't give myself enough prep time, no fault of yours, I just decided on the hunt too late...But I have TONS of feedback -- and many thanks for your inclusion of the other feedback on your web site -- that, in addition to your wonderful product, made the party one to remember... and, since I may never have the energy to do that again, they'd better remember it well! Your scavenger hunt helped my 11-year-old do four things:
1- Strengthen acquaintance-type friendships into true, closer ones
2- Build his general reputation as "one cool guy"
3- Show his old friends he still cares, and
4- Start a new "romance" with the female friend of his who helped me put the clues together and organize the hunt to fit our swim club location!
The other moms are torn between being "jealous" and trying to convince themselves that I'm really certifiably crazy ...I'll let you know if my son and his new "flame" end up getting married years from now... it would be a great marketing story ...Regards and much more feedback to come, Pamela Whitman-Weiner, Philadelphia, PA

Here's more from Pamela and some kids who participated in Operation Kovert Kids' Scavenger Hunt:

From Sophie:
I thought it was cool because we got to bribe Aaron's little brother for clues. It was better than a regular party because we got to pick the name of the teams, etc. I liked the picture part the best -- I liked trying to get the picture of someone else on the other team. I helped Aaron's mom do the pre-hunt preparations, which was fun. I liked making decisions about what was going to happen and I liked predicting how my friends would feel about doing certain activities. While the hunt was going on, it was exciting to work with my team
to get everything done in the amount of time we had.

From Aaron:
Dear Susan, Thank you for creating your scavenger hunt. It added a great element to my party! The ideas were very original, and it turned out to be a huge hit. Ever since the party, whenever I see someone who participated, they always refer to me as "the boy who had the awesome scavenger hunt!" It was a good way to get to know people better who were only acquaintances before the party. My favorite part of the hunt was the way the scavenger hunt ideas were set up for the party, like how everything entertained everyone and everyone had something to do. Your event was a lifesaver because until my mom came to our pool and started the hunt, everybody was getting all out-of-control because they'd gotten tired of swimming and didn't really have anything to talk to each other about. As soon as the materials from your scavenger hunt arrived (with my mom), we divided the group of 16 into 2 teams and everyone started to work together nicely. The lava lamps that my mom had gotten as prizes motivated everyone to work their hardest to be the winning team (of course, everyone got prizes as it turned out). I really like the scrapbook idea because now I have a book with pictures of my friends doing all the crazy things we had to do for the hunt, and my mom doesn't even have to spend her time putting my birthday photos in a scrapbook! All in all, we had a great time, and it's the kind of party that people don't forget. Thanks again, Susan!

Sophie's advice (11 years old): "Have fewer kids on each team, prepare early so you get everything done (like a week instead of two days!), have a captain -- either an adult or an older child than the other children -- to keep the group under control and focused on getting everything done."

Aaron's advice (11 years old): Make sure you get everything to the place you're having the hunt so you can start at the very beginning of the party. The way we did it, it worked out well, but I was going crazy until my mom stopped printing everything out at home and finally got to the party!

Now, Susan, on to MY feedback:
Aaron neglected to tell you in his feedback that he and Sophie barely knew each other before she helped us get ready for his party and was the captain on Aaron's team. Now, she and Aaron are good friends, and she comes over to our house regularly for study sessions (she's in Aaron's class at his new school) and for family dinners, events in the city, etc. She's the one I told you about, that you'll have to follow their trail to see if they get together when they get older!

As for the scavenger hunt, it was a real hit with everyone!! The parents who watched for a bit were absolutely in awe. The kids were so motivated to figure out the clues, take the photos, even to make the scrapbooks! I have to say that the prizes I bought in advance -- lava lamps from a place called "Cool Things Cheap" -- really helped in the motivation area. They all thought that only the winning team would get the lamps, until the end of the hunt when I did, of course, award prizes to everybody.

Your setup gave me the chance to work with my son and his friend, Sophie, in advance to plan the hunt -- giving them both a feeling of empowerment. This also made sure that the things I was including were age - and interest - appropriate for the guests attending the party. But the best part was, their participation helped me get organized!!

Sophie's comment about needing more than a couple of days to really do your hunt justice was absolutely on target. Looking back on it, I must have been insane. But, I'm still glad I did it, although I drove everyone crazy from Thursday to the end of the party on Saturday...

Honestly, Susan, this is what I enjoyed the most: I got the chance to "see" my son's friends in a totally different light from watching them each participate in the hunt's team exercises. What a great team-building activity!! I can definitely see how you would use these in a corporate setting. After the hunt, I could CLEARLY see my son's friends' strengths and weaknesses -- and I got a few major surprises!! Some people who I'd previously thought of as leaders and easy-going fell into whining, non-team-oriented individuals as early on as the first exercise... One boy who I had little respect for before the hunt was a real team player, worked hard and steadily to find the solution to the problems, and showed incredible intelligence and resourcefulness throughout the entire hunt! Competitiveness between siblings became evident, and some of my son's peer group "leaders" who had all the good looks were totally overshadowed by the team players who relied on their ingenuity and kept working to meet the goals of the team. These boys are now being rewarded handsomely for their efforts by the girls who got to know them in a different way during the party, I might add...

What a personality-revealing exercise!! I'd like to do it with some of my friends, although I'm a bit afraid that I might have to find new friends when we finished the hunt...

Anyway, that was the big benefit for me: Learning a lot about my son's friends and about the power of misleading assumptions that we all seem to make because of those little things like image and incorrect perceptions that we attach to people we meet casually.

Oh, well, that's about it. My son loved it. I loved it but would give it at least a full week if not two if you want to plan it well and not be stressed.

I'd use it to test prospective employees at the drop of a hat if I got the opportunity -- I'll bet there'd be a lot more marriages that worked if the people did an activity like this together before they made a real commitment to each other. I think you could start a dating service that uses this as an exercise to match people, or at least sell it to someone who counsels people on relationships...

I wish you tons of luck and think that you could truly use this in a variety of ways to help people learn about each other. Hope that doesn't sound hokey but I believe you could make a "marriage version" that would help people figure out why they don't get along, or what is different about their styles so they could understand their couple's dynamics better.

Best of luck and thanks again for money EXTREMELY well spent, Pamela

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