whitman

I’ve begun to notice more and more people discussing the Levis campaign of advertisements, as well as the contest going along with it. Heavily based on Whitman the story follows a character who after reading Leaves Of Grass for the first time sets off into America to really know his own country and himself. In following the story, the contestants have an opportunity to find where the character Grayson Ozias IV (GO IV, get it?) has buried $100,000.

The contest is comprised of three stages, the first of which I’ve been actively following. Starting off in New York City the story is told via the Levis website http://goforth.levi.com/fortune where there are audio recordings left in digital portrayals of wax cylinders ( which Whitman recorded “I hear America singing” on).

The clues lead you to a location and time, where someone actually has to go and pick up physical objects related to the story, as well as unlocking the next digital audio clue. The game has been dubbed an Alternate Reality Game: where a fictional game or story requires the participants to actively use the real world to complete the game. The physical clues at locations sometimes include ciphers- puzzles that while its unsure if they give any direct information to the location of the treasure, the third phase of the game involves a cipher that leads to the location, so these early ones are mostly to help you understand cipher methods.

What I’ve really enjoyed about playing along with this game is that it actually educates the players not only on this fictional character, but the works of Walt Whitman and a history of America through local stories and folklore that wouldn’t be found in a general American History overview. Things like Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop  of New Orleans- a former front for the pirate Jean Lafitte turned into a bar, the sinking of the SS Central America of Charleston- one of the largest depositories of gold ever found in America, Robert Leroy Parker AKA Butch Cassidy and his ranch in Wyoming, or Joseph “Bunco” Kelly and the nefarious Shanghai Tunnels of Oregon. These are just a few of the things the story interacts with through the clues and it forces contestants to go to these places and see this part of our country.

Another wonderful part of this contest is the technology actively used within the contest. The creators did a great deal of work thoughtfully planning it out – using not only the website but a character/game support identity based via Twitter and Facebook- as well as dispersing cryptic media packages to many retails across the country especially those known for being denim jean aficionados. But the contestants themselves have worked to create resources for everyone to use and work with to become better informed. This includes a wiki at http://goforth.wikibruce.com as a resource for the multilayered game play. The website http://whereisthemaninthehat.tumblr.com/ was created by a player to let everyone else document their journeys to clue drop offs and allows everyone to submit their videos and photos. In preparation for phase two, a quiz that narrows the contestants down to only the first 100 people to complete it fully, web based chat rooms were set up so that many players could actively discuss clues with one another. The website offered by Levis does offer a discussion page, but it requires refreshing the page and potentially having a large number of new posts and having to search for a response to what you just said rather than a dynamically changing site that many are used to with current websites. For many of the clue drop offs, people were able to find webcams at locations so that we could all observe what happened in close to real time. At the Rochester Hotel clue pickup in Durango, CO the two contestants that went actually used their laptop to provide steaming video personally to view clues painted on the wall. The fact that this contest started now is interesting, because much like this site and the Whitman Archive it is using current technology to celebrate Whitman and the spirit of America.

There are drawbacks to the contest though. Obviously the main goal of this entire game is to generate an interest in Levis products. It’s very likely and almost a little hurtful to think that someone within the Levis’ corporate doesn’t really care about Whitman, or America, just about generating profits.

What’s really more concerning to me is that while this contest has forced people from all age groups out in search of America, what happens when it ends? Who’s ideal of America is being sought after? Something tells me that Whitman would despise that we’re not carving our own path. His words weren’t a path laid out, but rather a call to bolster oneself and move forward with undaunted determination to seek something out for yourself.

That being said, I’m still following the game. Yesterday I took the quiz in the Phase 2 portion of the game, and if I qualify in first 100 at the announcement tomorrow night at 9pm, I’ll be receiving a final cipher that I need to solve first in order to go forth in search of the treasure. Results to come soon!

I’ve begun to notice more and more people discussing the Levis campaign of advertisements, as well as the contest going along with it. Heavily based on Whitman the story follows a character who after reading Leaves Of Grass for the first time sets off into America to really know his own country and himself. In following the story, the contestants have an opportunity to find where the character Grayson Ozias IV (GO IV, get it?) has buried $100,000.

The contest is comprised of three stages, the first of which I’ve been actively following. Starting off in New York City the story is told via the Levis website http://goforth.levi.com/fortune where there are audio recordings left in digital portrayals of wax cylinders ( which Whitman recorded “I hear America singing” on).

The clues lead you to a location and time, where someone actually has to go and pick up physical objects related to the story, as well as unlocking the next digital audio clue. The game has been dubbed an Alternate Reality Game: where a fictional game or story requires the participants to actively use the real world to complete the game. The physical clues at locations sometimes include ciphers- puzzles that while its unsure if they give any direct information to the location of the treasure, the third phase of the game involves a cipher that leads to the location, so these early ones are mostly to help you understand cipher methods.

What I’ve really enjoyed about playing along with this game is that it actually educates the players not only on this fictional character, but the works of Walt Whitman and a history of America through local stories and folklore that wouldn’t be found in a general American History overview. Things like Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop  of New Orleans- a former front for the pirate Jean Lafitte turned into a bar, the sinking of the SS Central America of Charleston- one of the largest depositories of gold ever found in America, Robert Leroy Parker AKA Butch Cassidy and his ranch in Wyoming, or Joseph “Bunco” Kelly and the nefarious Shanghai Tunnels of Oregon. These are just a few of the things the story interacts with through the clues and it forces contestants to go to these places and see this part of our country.

Another wonderful part of this contest is the technology actively used within the contest. The creators did a great deal of work thoughtfully planning it out – using not only the website but a character/game support identity based via Twitter and Facebook- as well as dispersing cryptic media packages to many retails across the country especially those known for being denim jean aficionados. But the contestants themselves have worked to create resources for everyone to use and work with to become better informed. This includes a wiki at http://goforth.wikibruce.com as a resource for the multilayered game play. The website http://whereisthemaninthehat.tumblr.com/ was created by a player to let everyone else document their journeys to clue drop offs and allows everyone to submit their videos and photos. In preparation for phase two, a quiz that narrows the contestants down to only the first 100 people to complete it fully, web based chat rooms were set up so that many players could actively discuss clues with one another. The website offered by Levis does offer a discussion page, but it requires refreshing the page and potentially having a large number of new posts and having to search for a response to what you just said rather than a dynamically changing site that many are used to with current websites. For many of the clue drop offs, people were able to find webcams at locations so that we could all observe what happened in close to real time. At the Rochester Hotel clue pickup in Durango, CO the two contestants that went actually used their laptop to provide steaming video personally to view clues painted on the wall. The fact that this contest started now is interesting, because much like this site and the Whitman Archive it is using current technology to celebrate Whitman and the spirit of America.

There are drawbacks to the contest though. Obviously the main goal of this entire game is to generate an interest in Levis products. It’s very likely and almost a little hurtful to think that someone within the Levis’ corporate doesn’t really care about Whitman, or America, just about generating profits.

What’s really more concerning to me is that while this contest has forced people from all age groups out in search of America, what happens when it ends? Who’s ideal of America is being sought after? Something tells me that Whitman would despise that we’re not carving our own path. His words weren’t a path laid out, but rather a call to bolster oneself and move forward with undaunted determination to seek something out for yourself.

That being said, I’m still following the game. Yesterday I took the quiz in the Phase 2 portion of the game, and if I qualify in first 100 at the announcement tomorrow night at 9pm, I’ll be receiving a final cipher that I need to solve first in order to go forth in search of the treasure. Results to come soon!

I’ve begun to notice more and more people discussing the Levis campaign of advertisements, as well as the contest going along with it. Heavily based on Whitman the story follows a character who after reading Leaves Of Grass for the first time sets off into America to really know his own country and himself. In following the story, the contestants have an opportunity to find where the character Grayson Ozias IV (GO IV, get it?) has buried $100,000.

The contest is comprised of three stages, the first of which I’ve been actively following. Starting off in New York City the story is told via the Levis website http://goforth.levi.com/fortune where there are audio recordings left in digital portrayals of wax cylinders ( which Whitman recorded “I hear America singing” on).

The clues lead you to a location and time, where someone actually has to go and pick up physical objects related to the story, as well as unlocking the next digital audio clue. The game has been dubbed an Alternate Reality Game: where a fictional game or story requires the participants to actively use the real world to complete the game. The physical clues at locations sometimes include ciphers- puzzles that while its unsure if they give any direct information to the location of the treasure, the third phase of the game involves a cipher that leads to the location, so these early ones are mostly to help you understand cipher methods.

What I’ve really enjoyed about playing along with this game is that it actually educates the players not only on this fictional character, but the works of Walt Whitman and a history of America through local stories and folklore that wouldn’t be found in a general American History overview. Things like Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop  of New Orleans- a former front for the pirate Jean Lafitte turned into a bar, the sinking of the SS Central America of Charleston- one of the largest depositories of gold ever found in America, Robert Leroy Parker AKA Butch Cassidy and his ranch in Wyoming, or Joseph “Bunco” Kelly and the nefarious Shanghai Tunnels of Oregon. These are just a few of the things the story interacts with through the clues and it forces contestants to go to these places and see this part of our country.

Another wonderful part of this contest is the technology actively used within the contest. The creators did a great deal of work thoughtfully planning it out – using not only the website but a character/game support identity based via Twitter and Facebook- as well as dispersing cryptic media packages to many retails across the country especially those known for being denim jean aficionados. But the contestants themselves have worked to create resources for everyone to use and work with to become better informed. This includes a wiki at http://goforth.wikibruce.com as a resource for the multilayered game play. The website http://whereisthemaninthehat.tumblr.com/ was created by a player to let everyone else document their journeys to clue drop offs and allows everyone to submit their videos and photos. In preparation for phase two, a quiz that narrows the contestants down to only the first 100 people to complete it fully, web based chat rooms were set up so that many players could actively discuss clues with one another. The website offered by Levis does offer a discussion page, but it requires refreshing the page and potentially having a large number of new posts and having to search for a response to what you just said rather than a dynamically changing site that many are used to with current websites. For many of the clue drop offs, people were able to find webcams at locations so that we could all observe what happened in close to real time. At the Rochester Hotel clue pickup in Durango, CO the two contestants that went actually used their laptop to provide steaming video personally to view clues painted on the wall. The fact that this contest started now is interesting, because much like this site and the Whitman Archive it is using current technology to celebrate Whitman and the spirit of America.

There are drawbacks to the contest though. Obviously the main goal of this entire game is to generate an interest in Levis products. It’s very likely and almost a little hurtful to think that someone within the Levis’ corporate doesn’t really care about Whitman, or America, just about generating profits.

What’s really more concerning to me is that while this contest has forced people from all age groups out in search of America, what happens when it ends? Who’s ideal of America is being sought after? Something tells me that Whitman would despise that we’re not carving our own path. His words weren’t a path laid out, but rather a call to bolster oneself and move forward with undaunted determination to seek something out for yourself.

That being said, I’m still following the game. Yesterday I took the quiz in the Phase 2 portion of the game, and if I qualify in first 100 at the announcement tomorrow night at 9pm, I’ll be receiving a final cipher that I need to solve first in order to go forth in search of the treasure. Results to come soon!