Once again, the techFrederick Games brought Frederick’s technology-based companies together at Baker Park for a day of fun, friendly competition designed to build community and comradery.
We caught up with techfrederick’s Executive Director, Amy Pontius, to give us a rundown on the memorable day.
How have the Tech Games grown over the past 6 years?
Since it's inaugural event in 2016, Tech Games has grown from an 8-team olympic style day of off-site fun in Baker Park for a handful of local tech companies to a 36-team day of comradery and team building for the entire Frederick community! Tech Games team and volunteer participation now represents a great breadth of tech companies, as well as, local law firms, Frederick City and County partners, community banks and financial services, local colleges, and non-profit organizations, all of which play an important role in the health of our tech community here in Frederick.
How did this year’s Competition stand out?
This year's Sixth Annual techfrederick Games stood out as a year of both coming together and giving back. After an incredibly challenging year and a half of being "apart", many teams working remotely, this Tech Games served as a prime opportunity to bring teams safely back together to team build in the name of FUN. The enthusiasm was palpable!
Not only did these teams come together to play this year, they came together to GIVE. Our Tech Games Giving Challenge this year was missioned to raise funds for, and awareness of, the Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership of Frederick County (SHIP) . Our teams came together this year to collectively donate $2,000 in funds AND 350+ tangible items to SHIP of Frederick County. It was a great representation of the strength and support of this community!
Why are the Tech Games such a special opportunity for our community?
Tech Games is a special opportunity for us to bring Frederick's tech community together with the larger professional community to foster comradery and build relationships, all while raising awareness of techfrederick itself.
The event also serves as a great opportunity for team-building with co-workers within the same organization. One 2021 team participant commented in the post-event survey, "(Tech Games is a) good opportunity to connect with coworkers outside of the office! I know it can be hard, especially at small companies, to do that kind of team building without being a part of a bigger community like techfrederick!"
With that said, we believe the most special opportunity Tech Games offered the community this year was the ability to take a team selfie with Mayor O'Connor in a "Where's Waldo" hat! We always love the Mayor's fun-hearted participation in Tech Games and we know the community does too!
Game Day Stats:
Number of …
Competitors — 110
Volunteers — 37
Points Earned By this year’s Winning Team — 261
Gallons of water consumed to stay hydrated on what turned out to be a beautiful, warm, sunny, October day! — 40
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Consumed at the Post Game Happy Hour — Over 100, and thousands more tater tots
Team Selfies Taken — Over 400!
2021 Game Stations:
Not Your Daddy’s Axe Throwing
Hook & Stack
Giant Billiards
Hawaiian Luau Hustle
Pourhouse Family Feud
Pourhouse Name that Tune Bingo
Pourhouse Trivia
Epic Downtown Frederick Photo Hunt
What is your advice for those interested in joining Frederick’s tech community?
If you are interested in joining Frederick's tech community we would certainly encourage you to plug in to techfrederick in two ways:
Subscribe to techfrederick emails to stay informed on all the great networking and informational events we're hosting in the tech community. To subscribe, go to www.techfrederick.org and scroll to the bottom of the home page to click the green "SUBSCRIBE" button.
Join techfrederick as a member (we offer both individual and company memberships) to get reduced rates to our events, exclusive rights to post on our Jobs Board, and great vibes just be part of a really cool tech community!