Telecommunication, information studies and media senior Rob Maclennan and theater junior Meghan Cvetic share an embrace Sunday morning at the registration for the Becky Beauchine Kulka Diamond Dash. Teams of two took to the streets of East Lansing with the hopes of finding and winning a $10,000 Hearts on Fire diamond ring.
A cell phone was the game piece, and downtown East Lansing and MSU’s campus were the interactive game board in the second annual “Becky Beauchine Kulka Diamond Dash,” Sunday afternoon.
The event sends participants on a high-tech treasure hunt for a $10,000 Tacori diamond ring.
“Tacori is the number one name in bridal, so it’s a perfect ring for engagements,” Kulka said.
Participants competed in teams of two and needed an iPhone, Android or Short Message Service, or SMS, supported cell phone. At about 11 a.m., the teams sent messages and received their first clue. Once a clue was received, the team was directed to a location, where they answered the clue via SMS message and were given another clue.
“People all get different clues at once,” Kulka said. “They have to solve the clue, go to that location, do a challenge, and move on. The people who are the fastest and most accurate will win the most points.”
Teams were not allowed to use any type of motorized vehicle.
After the two-hour search concluded, participants were invited to a reception held at Eagle Eye Golf Club, 15500 Chandler Road, in Bath, Mich., where the winner of the event was announced.
English junior Liz McKinley and her boyfriend of nine months, mathematics senior Andrew Krause, decided to participate on a whim.
“We thought it’d be a weird date type of thing,” she said.
After accumulating more than 100 points, McKinley and Krause were named the winners of the ring.
“(Andy) got up and screamed and carried me to the podium,” McKinley said.
She said she plans to keep the ring. The duo participated in the event on foot after they were told the moped they brought would not be allowed.
Entry, participation and a shirt were free of charge, but donations to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital Children’s Center to benefit Coaches for Kids were accepted.
SCVNGR, a nationwide Boston-based mobile gaming company, took care of the technical aspect. The company is building a virtual game empire using the real world, said Smith Anderson, promotions executive for SCVNGR.
“People can go everywhere throughout their daily life and really have an interactive experience with everyday locations,” Anderson said. “What we’re doing here today is we’re taking that same idea and we’ve turned downtown East Lansing and the MSU campus into an interactive game board.”
Kulka estimated more than 1,000 people registered to participate. She said the event is a useful tool in advertising for her company.
“Last year we sold 18 engagement rings that we can directly correlate to this event,” she said.
She said every person in the event will receive a $500 credit to be used toward an engagement ring and a $100 credit usable on anything in the store.
“If we do our job right, (customers) will continue to come back and be customers,” Kulka said. “It’s a win-win situation.”
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