Geocaching HQ Lackeys attend dozens of Mega and Giga-Events around the world, shaking hands, sharing stories of adventure, and of course, geocaching! Matt is the Chief Financial Officer at Geocaching HQ. He recently traveled to London to attend the Mega-Event, London Calling 2023 (GC9MAXX). Here’s his summary of the Event.

Clever…I think sums up the London Calling 2023 Mega-Event in one word.

The London Calling 2023 event was themed to Sherlock Holmes. So of course it was located in the section of London where the books were based, clever. Brian and the rest of the organizing team, weaved this theme throughout the Mega and the surrounding events.

The Mega location was in an old church. It was a great space to meet and congregate. There was a well thought out gadget style Adventure Lab that tapped both into the Sherlock Holmes theme and along with London at the venue to get the fun going before heading out into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The organizing team set up multiple Adventure Labs near the Mega locations to get people outside and having fun! They were themed to both Sherlock Holmes as well as their own mystery, clever. For those seeking a bit more of a diverse day, they had you covered as well. The team was able to assist in suggesting an icon run for attendees. Thanks to their help I was able to get 12 icons that day!

After the Mega wrapped up, there was an evening event in the same location. The organizing team came up with a mystery concept using the Adventure Lab® platform. In order to solve the location stages, players needed to comb through folders full of clues related to the organizing team. What really stood out to me was how players were interacting with each other to solve clues. It was the first time I had seen the platform used in this way, clever.

The next day, there was a CITO event at the Wimbledon Common. After arriving and receiving some good natured teasing for wearing sandals to a common (in my defense, I didn’t know what a common was as we don’t really have commons in the U.S.) I learned more about the theme for the CITO, the Wombles. For those unfamiliar with the Wombles (me), they are characters based upon a series of books, then television series. The Wombles live in burrows at Wimbledon Common and collect and recycle trash that is left behind. Theming a CITO to the Wombles, clever.

All this, along with countless interactions and conversations I had during the time I was there was wonderful. The thoughtfulness and grace I was given by so many, made this a memorable adventure!