It all started with an email…
That is all it took to set things in motion for the 2024 Maveris Olympics!
These olympic games spanned over two weeks and consisted of technical, physical, mental and ridiculous competitions. While many people looked forward to this event, others were unfamiliar with our version of the Olympics since our small business has grown so much since the 2021 Olympics (check out the post from that event). This year we had 55 people sign up for the Maveris Olympics, being split into eight teams to participate in the games. Each team had one goal in mind: finish first to win the gold and bragging rights! We also had other prize categories, like silver, bronze, and copper. Each category had different levels of prizes that the Party Planning Committee (PPC) and Allen hoped everyone was excited about.
COMPETITIONS
PARADE OF TEAMS
To start of festivities, the Parade of Teams competition allowed each team to submit a video that introduced us to their team; sharing their team name, colors, motto, mascot, etc.
DIGITAL MARATHON
The technical challenges included an open source intelligence (OSINT) digital marathon with 26.2 different challenges. This competition was also open for the public to complete. We had 264 users and 151 teams registered, from across 32 different countries. The Maveris Labs Twitter account received lots of engagement sharing appreciation for putting together this free event. We even received praise from a company based out of Poland in their LinkedIn post. This event was a great way to share an opportunity for everyone to test their skills, learn new skills and build familiarity with Maveris and our offerings.
If you are interested in participating in this digital competition, we will have the servers up for a while longer. We encourage you to see how many miles you can run in the Digital Marathon.
TYPING TEST
With many at Maveris seated behind a keyboard during their working hours, the next competition was a typing test where everyone could put their skills to the test. The average words per minute (WPM) was 67.5, while the highest score was 113 WPM. For this competition we used typingtest.com.
DIY OLYMPIC RINGS OR TORCH
This event allowed everyone to submit their best rendition of the iconic Olympic rings or torch. Once submitted, everyone at Maveris was able to vote for their favorite and medals were awarded accordingly. Below are a few examples of the submissions received.
TRIATHLON
New for the 2024 Maveris Olympics we had a Triathlon where we put our own twist on things. We had a javelin toss (using a toothpick and a solo cup), archery (using a rubber band and a solo cup) and shot put (using three balled up pieces of printer paper). This competition was astounding both at how hard it was to successfully complete the javelin toss and archery as well as how far team members could throw the paper shot. The maximum distance thrown was just under 78 feet!
PENTATHLON
Then we did a pentathlon to put everyone’s physical ability to the test. Participating members participated in a run, sit ups, push-ups, air squats and dips. The run was the total distance a team member could run in ten minutes while the other competitions were the number completed in two minutes.
RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS OR BREAKING
Last, we wrapped things up with the most embarrassing competition – rhythmic gymnastics or breaking. Teams put together a video of everyone performing their take on the new Olympic event (breaking) or just dancing. Extra points were awarded for this event since people had to put themselves out there and risk embarrassment.
CLOSING CEREMONY
In the end, the Maveris Olympics wrapped up with a virtual lunch/closing ceremony where the final scores of the last events were revealed, before the official winners were announced. The overall drive behind all of the events we do at Maveris is to show our appreciation for the great work of our team members, have some fun, and allow team members to meet people outside of their day to day team. The teams for the Maveris Olympics were put together at random to facilitate the mingling and getting-to-know each other we were hoping for. The PPC and Allen did their best to ensure that all team members were able to take part and contribute in one way or another and in hopes that everyone had a great time. After the closing ceremony, the PPC and Allen sent out a request for feedback to help them continue to make events like this one a huge success. Below is some of the feedback received.
I really enjoyed the Olympics. I enjoyed being teamed up with people that I wouldn’t normally work with and having the opportunity to be a part of the team.
I think you all do a fantastic job with these events, and you have a wide variety of competitions type. Not only do you have the technical CTF activities, but this time you also included simple physical activities as well. Keep doing what you are doing! These are fun events; it can just be difficult to join sometimes when things are busy with family life, or the standard day to day work activities. But keep it going!
It is a great opportunity to get to know other employees and great for morale! Well done!
While another virtual event has closed out for us, it’s safe to say that this was another successful event and we look forward to what the PPC and Allen have in store for us in the next event!