IT Geek Hub news: how we made a cycle quest in Prague and what awaits you at the next meeting
In response to the peculiar challenge of colleagues from St. Petersburg who had organized a cycle quest for C # developers, we, the Prague citizens, decided to repeat the event, and not worse, but even better. As a result, it turned out quite differently, but we liked it, and we believe that the idea as a whole was a success. Along the way, we made some interesting conclusions for ourselves. So this race was just the first pancake, then it will only get better.
Disposition
From a bicycle point of view, St. Petersburg and Prague are two completely different worlds. And no, not because of the cycle paths. Behind them you need to go to the Netherlands, it’s the cyclist the king and the god there who can scare away or even specifically hurt a pedestrian who has entered the cycle path. So let's sort out the disposition a bit:
St. Petersburg. Absolutely everyone knows for sure that the city was built under a rain cloud and in a swamp. Therefore, the terrain resembles a pancake. Bicycle paths as it is, but for the actual movement around the city they are not applicable. But the whole city is pulled into the asphalt with rare patches of paving slabs, which is for the cyclist what is and what is not. Riding along roads with cars is still a pleasure, but there is no place to go, so everyone drives (except for those who don't understand how a bicycle differs from a pedestrian). But the positive dynamics in mutual respect with motorists is clearly visible.
Prague. Perhaps not located on, but consists of hills. A dream in the flesh for cardio fans, if one way, and fierce enduro, if the other. There are a lot of cycle paths in the city. And simple on the streets, and dedicated, and service paths. But there is a small problem: the whole center is covered with paving stones. But these are not those lovely concrete bricks that most of the pavements in other cities are made of, but natural pieces of granite of the strangest form, which you can only ride on harsh double suspension with a fork for 150. So nobody bikes with the bikes , he takes the benefit from the power of 10 percent of the area of the city. By the way, the tram rules here. There are a lot of them, they are fast, and there are streets where two trams leave right next to houses.
Hence the moral: decisions applied to colleagues from the northern capital are not suitable here, and we must invent our own.
Idea
With a common idea, we didn’t subtilize and decided to just make an event for fellow developers and QA. But here we made a strategic blunder: we limited ourselves to a rather narrow sample of people. Why is that bad? We explain.
When we began to think over the format, the question immediately arose about the language of the event. The first thing decided to abandon the Czech, because for local events and without us a lot is carried out. They also refused to speak English, because Prague is a big city, and there are more Russian speakers than other émigrés and expats. So much more that almost any playground in Prague, you can come with a child, and he will find someone to talk to. It turns out that there are a lot of Russian speakers, but there are few events for them in their native language. So we tried to fix it a bit. This gave rise to a project codenamed Geek Hub, designed to unite the Russian-speaking, working in the IT industry of the Czech Republic.
So, there are people, so again we turn to the experience of the St. Petersburg cyclist. At the first moment, we just wanted to repeat the format: to recruit people, divide them into 5-6 teams, assign Vimovts to each team as either captain or link, and arrange team rides in the city. But for the reason described in the paragraph above, the idea was doomed to failure, and it was necessary to come up with something in the calculation either for a mass race or for competitions outside the city. But here we were afraid that too many people would come, and introduced an artificial filter.
Process
We quickly came to the realization that we have no goal to arrange competition in the spirit of faster-higher-stronger, and we could not know in advance the level of training of participants, so we went a simple way. Without records, at your pleasure, just pedaling to the place, actively turning our heads and admiring the surroundings. With this item, we did not lose 100%. There were people who, if not for the first time on a bicycle, but certainly firmly forgotten in which direction to pedal. Additionally, we decided to take into account the moment with safety and to the maximum exclude intersections with cars. So the idea of having a leisurely walk for your pleasure instead of a racing ride justified itself. But for justice, it should be noted that the bike is popular in itself, and as a means for a leisurely walk, especially.
One of the best bicycle paths, A2, departs from our Prague office, which combines not only a very gentle relief, but also incredible beauty views, coupled with isolation from the road. In order not to be accused of idle talk, I will attach a small video evidence. On the one hand there is a mountain, on the other a river and a picturesque field with houses. I want to go and go, but we limited ourselves to 15 km in the direction of Kletsan, choosing a nice place for lunch as the end point of the route. By the way, the route was laid by Andrew, who somehow told Habra his story of becoming a programmer.
So while the St. Petersburg colleagues, having divided into teams, received dubious pleasure from the races in the city center, we lined up in a column (okay, whom I lie, we drove by an ugly crowd) and advanced along the picturesque landscape in the direction of dinner. Along the way, several people tried to lag behind, turn in the wrong direction, but we are not abandoning our colleagues in distress, therefore, under our careful guidance and paternal supervision, all those who started have reached the finish line. Especially, I remember, people were scared by an unexpected slide just before the finish, but it worked surprisingly as a motivator, and everyone twisted it unexpectedly cheerfully. This is despite the fact that it was not necessary to go uphill, if you follow the route. But it turned out, as it happened, and, without saying a word, everyone decided to take it by storm. There was a great route “highlight” after the squatter.
Having a nice dinner on arrival at the tavern, our beloved girls from HR decided not to let the participants get bored and still arranged a competitive part of our arrival. True, it consisted of running around the nearby hills, but we liked it. Even with the fact that it was after lunch. Yes, and we must somehow justify the word "quest" in the announcement of the event.
So, we were divided into three teams, but with a common goal. It was possible to reach it, having executed several subparagraphs. There were just questions on a common mind, and tasks on the ground, by analogy with the good old Zarnitsa. You solve the coordinates of a place in the park, run there, find a hint for the next stage of the task.
Here is an example of a hint: “Your treasure in a square hole”. It seems simple, yes? So we decided to come running to the place. Here is a square mink - electrical panel, well, it's so obvious! Let's urgently open it and run on! But, probably, it’s good that it turned out to be anti-vandal, since under the square hole there was a hole in the brick wall, and the shield was under tension. Although competitors from the neighboring team decided that the square mink is a trash can, and began to poke around in it with enthusiasm.
Was it really interesting?
In fact, yes. With all my skepticism about corporate events, it turned out to combine a lot of good. You also rode a bike, and fed you tasty, and ran, jumped, and met new people, and talked about general topics, prizes, and even gave a T-shirt at the end. That is, Saturday was spent very well, and a combo of joyful emotions was obtained.
Bug work and new ideas
But, as I wrote at the very beginning, we have compiled for ourselves a list of moments that we will definitely improve in the new bicycle season.
• Soften the input filter. Having seen enough of our northern colleagues, we also used a fairly rigid input filter. The initial idea was to unite the Russian-speaking developers of Prague, but in the end we did segregation with our own hands, leaving several areas of activity behind. Do not do it this way. By the next race the filter will be significantly softened.
• There is an idea to negotiate with the rental of bicycles, as they heard voices willing, but not possessing an iron horse. Bicycle in Prague is popular, and we are for the promotion of cycling with both hands.
• We consider the launch of Geek Hub successful, therefore, without departing from the ticket office, catch
Announcement of a new event
October 13, 2018 at 15:30 on Streletsky Island.
In honor of the birthday of Veeam software , Geek Hub organizes the first ever urban quest for IT in Prague.
Important security codes were lost from a classified government organization. In order to find them, it is necessary to solve the problems in which street names are coded. In addition to solving problems and finding codes, you will have to meet different tasks and difficulties that only a real team can handle.
What will happen:
- Brain tasks
- Networking with industry colleagues
- Prizes and gifts (and how without them)
- Burgers and Beer (Yes, we are serious)