World Wide Flash Mob IX

Yours Truly heading into action.

Today we participated in a World Wide Flash Mob.

A World Wide Flash Mob is a global geocaching event that was started by Sonny and Sandy from the Podcacher podcast 9 years ago. It was an attempt to create the opposite of a mega event.  Instead of thousands of geocachers getting together in one place for an entire day or weekend, they meet for just 15 minutes at the same time, in small groups, around the world.

Last year almost ten thousand people attended the event in over 200 flash mobs in 25 countries.  This year there are 312 events in 31 countries planned (including events in 48 states, and all 10 Canadian provinces), so the attendance should be higher still.

The idea of a flash mob is that it lasts just 15 minutes.  People suddenly show up, do a specific planned activity, then 15 minutes later they disperse as quickly as they arrived - thats the flash.

Tonka Tyke rushes into the fray.

Our event was called Water Gun Frozen In Time.  The theme was a water gun fight in a small park in the middle of a shopping complex near Asheville NC (think a village green and you'll get a good idea what the park is like).  A whistle blast started the fight.    Every minute or so the organizer blows a whistle and everyone is supposed to freeze where they are - hence Frozen in Time.  A short time later another whistle blast restarts the fight.

Both myself and Tonka Tyke participated in the fight, with my wife and Abigail watching from the sidelines and acting as photographer.  There were 20 of us participating from 3 different states. Tonka Tyke got overwhelmed in the crowed and bowed out early and watched from the sidelines.

My wife told me later that as we were out soaking each other, a security guard came by and said "That looks like a lot of fun!", and indeed it was.

I suspect there will be more flash mobs around this time next year. I encourage you to attend one if you haven't yet.  Keep your eye on this site for more information.

If you did attend a flash mob this year, please let me know about your event in the comments section below.

I'll leave you with a few more photos from the event.

Ozguff, the event organizer, with a well placed head shot.

Everybody freeze!

Group photo