Au Pair Amazing Race a GREAT success...

Despite the rain showers, 200 au pairs converged on Eakins Oval in front of thePhiladelphia Museum of Art this weekend to compete in the first annual Au Pair Amazing Race. We had over 30 teams going from station to station beginning at the Art Museum steps and ending up in Old City. They took photos, answered questions, gathered information about the history of the U.S. and ate some pretty interesting foods.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-57YMjLMu6E&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92IJzj3FhPU&feature=player_embedded

The winning team came away with a trip to New York City, including a $50 Visa gift card, a Megabus ticket from Philly and a night’s accommodation at the Big Apple Hostel for all six team members. Second and third place teams got gift cards fromStarbucks and Target. The winners of the Suntrek Challenge each received a 50% discount voucher for a future Suntrek trip. All remaining team numbers were put in a jar and a lucky final team winner was randomly chosen to get gift cards just for participating!

Congrats to our group of DE / MD au pairs for racing to a third place finish! Great job, ladies!

The other great part of the day was the amount of money raised for Kids First. Au pairs had the option to raise money prior to the race to earn a Fast Forward card, which helped them complete the race faster. A couple of girls were extremely inspired to raise funds and came to the race with donations of $162 and $505 respectively. Katya, the au pair who came all the way from the Ocean City, MD area with her LCC and au pair group, raised the most money and won a gift certificate for a facial or massage at Terme Di Aroma Day Spa on 3rd Street in Old City.

Between these and other funds raised by au pairs before and during the race, as well as the $1 taken from each registration fee, I am proud to say that we were able to raise over $1,123; Cultural Care Au Pair matches our donations dollar for dollar, bringing our grand total to over $2,246!! We are so happy with this and the generosity we saw truly exceeded our expectations.

We’ve heard great feedback about this event and are already looking forward to making it even better in the coming years! Thank you to Level 1 Fitness and Mirror Image Duplication for sponsoring our event, as well as to the local LCCs who came out to help and support our event!

Extra special thanks go out to the senior members of the Cultural Care Au Pair staff who came to join us for the event, including Program Directors Veronica Thibodeau& Judith De Kort, Development Director Sierra Rix, Director of Sales and Business Development (Northeast) Jenn Guarracino, Director of Customer Service (Northeast)Kristen Tanner, Vice President of US Operations (Northeast) Samantha Janney and Senior Vice President Natalie Jordan. THE BIGGEST THANK YOU OF ALL GOES OUT TO AMY BRYAN LCC in Middletown DE WHO WAS CO ORGANIZER … THANKS AMY

Here are some pictures I took–you can see more here.

LAST DAY TO REGISTER AU PAIRS!!!

GO TO THIS WEBSITE:


https://culturalcare.wufoo.com/forms/au-pair-amazing-race-saturday-may-22-2010/

Rules of the Race

RACE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

• Au pairs must be wearing the Cultural Care Amazing Race shirt and their team number at ALL TIMES  to participate
• Au pairs must stay together as a team for all checkpoints and challenges except Checkpoint One.
• ALL DECISIONS ARE FINAL
• PRIZES ARE TRANSFERABLE

TOP TEN LIST OF THINGS LCC's NEED TO KNOW

1). PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR AU PAIRS REGISTER... There are STILL PLENTY OF SPACES LEFT!  Another email will go out later this week with a list of au pairs who have signed up. Please use the email sent to you by Rebecca to get responses from your individual au pairs in the meantime. PLEASE INVITE ALL COMPETITOR AU PAIRS TO THIS EVENT--IT IS GOING TO BE AMAZING!!!!

2). LCC's will not need to send their sign-in sheet for the Au Pair Amazing Race. Since Boston is covering the costs of the Race, there will be a master au pair sign-in sheet that Boston will provide. Au pairs will sign in between 12 pm and 12:50 and will  be required to sign the Au pair event liability waiver to participate.

3). Au pair teams will be assigned once au pairs have signed in between 12pm and 12:50 pm on May 22nd. The Race starts at 1pm . Any au pairs not signed in by 12:50 will not be able to participate!

4). LCC's who are not  coming to the event, but are sending their au pairs MUST make sure they arrive to the Art Museum by 12:30 to ensure they will be able to sign  in and get team placement in time for the start of the race at 1 pm. NOTE:  it will take 20 minutes to walk from either Suburban Station or 30th Street station to the the Art Museum.  Please make sure to allow for this when scheduling a train for your au pairs to take. If you are driving, please note that the start of the race and the end of the race are in completely different areas of the city. You will need to park for at least 4 hrs and the average cost is $30 in that area.  If your au pairs are walking from the train station without a LCC chaperone, PLEASE send them a map with directions on how to get to the Art Museum. IF you would like us to send you directions, please contact Amy or Rebecca.

5). If you have questions about the Amazing Race or need to contact Amy or Rebecca, please do so by PD assignment. So if your PD is Veronica, please contact Rebecca Cronin at 267 275 7237 or   rebecca.cronin@lcc.culturalcare.com.  If your PD is Judith, please contact Amy Bryan at 302 898 7392 or at amy.bryan@lcc.culturalcare.com

6).If you are coming to the race with your au pairs, you will need to be at the Art Museum by 12 pm to help with team assignments and sign in. If you cannot make it to the Art Museum by 12 pm,  PLEASE CONTACT Rebecca or Amy to organise where and when you can help.

7). Registration will consist of 3 stations.  LCC's will be given their station assignments on Friday, May 21st   along with a detailed description of what is needed for you to do. If you are NOT coming to the Friday meeting with everyone,  PLEASE let Amy or Rebecca know so we can assign you your station details via email.

Station 1:   Au Pair Sign In  

Au pairs will sign in by last name, according to the registration list from Boston.  They will also sign the Au Pair Event Liability Waiver at this time.

Station 2:  Charity Check 

Au pairs who have collected Kids First sponsorship money will turn in their donations and be given a Charity Fast Forward card to use during Checkpoint Four.

Station 3:  Team Assignments 

Au pairs will be assigned teams (groups of 6 only) and will be given their team bag with the items needed for the race.  Teams will then be asked to pick an au pair from their team  to participate in the first Checkpoint.  That Au pair will stay at Station 3 and wait to be escorted to the starting line. All other team members will return to Station 1 where they will wait in groups  for the first Checkpoint to be completed.

8). LCC Checkpoint Assignments 

LCC's will also be given Checkpoint assignments in addition to helping with the sign-in stations.  Details for these will also be given with the station assignments, along with a TEAM LEADER.  Team Leaders have been chosen based on availability and knowledge of the city layout and Amazing Race details.  TEAM LEADERS WILL NEED A CELL PHONE WITH THEM ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT .

9). LCC's will NOT get to see the whole race.  However, you will get to see at least 3 check point stations during the course of the race and we will be videoing each check point to make  a video for later viewing.

10). LCC's SHOULD UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHARE RACE CLUES OR INFORMATION WITH THEIR AU PAIRS. WE HAVE GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO MAKES SURE THIS EVENT IS FAIR AND THAT  EVERYONE HAS THE SAME OPPORTUNITY TO WIN.

11). We need an additional  MEGAPHONE--DO YOU HAVE ONE??? CAN WE BORROW IT ??? Please respond ASAP

Amazing Race Terms

If you have never seen the show, you may be unfamiliar with some of the terms that will be used throughout the event.  Here is a list of the different phrases you may encounter:

Checkpoint:  There will be five of these throughout the course of the race.  These stations will be manned by CCAP staff.  The staff at each station will be responsible for:

·         checking that all tasks are completed correctly

·         that all team members are present at check-in

·         monitoring Road Blocks (see below)

·         handing out cards with the next task to teams that are ready to move forward

Detour:  At some checkpoints, a team may receive a card marked “Detour.”  A “Detour” occurs when teams are given the option of choosing between two different tasks of varying difficulty.  Teams must choose ONE of the two options given; they do NOT need to complete both.  If a team is unable to complete the first option they choose, they may decide to switch to the other option.  However, once that decision is made, the team may not go back to the first one; the second choice must be completed to move on.

Fast Forward:  A “Fast Forward” entitles au pair teams to skip ahead to the following checkpoint.  Au pairs will earn a “Fast Forward” by turning in their Kids First Sponsorship Forms at registration.  The “Fast Forward” can only be used at Checkpoint Four.  Only one “Fast Forward” card may be used per team.   “Fast Forward” cards are not transferable to any other au pair.  Au pair teams wishing to use their “Fast Forward” must report to Checkpoint Four and submit their card to receive clues for Checkpoint Five.

Roadblock*:  A “Roadblock” is a time penalty given to a team who checks in and has not completed tasks accurately (i.e. has a wrong answer).  Teams may not go back and correct their mistakes; they must take the time penalty assigned.

* A Roadblock in the actual Amazing Race involves performing a different task. To simplify for our purposes, we are just using a time penalty.  

Event Information

On the day of the event, au pairs are asked to come to the Art Museum to register by 12:30 and assemble their teams. If you can gather a team of 6 au pairs before the day--GREAT. If not, we can find you one on the day of the event. Au pairs will be given T- shirts which they MUST wear to particpate in the Race as well as a team number.

Each team will receive an Amazing Race survival bag which will include most of the things needed for the race; however, we advise au pairs to bring the following to assist them in their goal to be first over the finish line

Au pair teams will need:

Pen

Watch

Rain gear and or sunscreen

Comfortable clothing and footwear - sneakers preferable

Au pairs are advised to bring snacks or water for the duration of the race. Eating lunch before the event is advised.

Money for incidentals , food or souvenir's etc

AU PAIRS WILL NOT NEED:

Maps

Philadelphia guide book

STARTING DETAILS:

The Race will be started by Cultural Care's very own Senior Vice President Natalie Jordan SHARPLY at 1pm. There are 5 check points needed to complete the race, which are located throughout the city.

Like the TV show, there will be Detours and Road Blocks that will make the race fun and challenging for all.

Be prepared to do physical challenges, eating challenges, performance challenges and more to get ahead and be the first team to the finish line.

There will be individual checkpoint winners but the Grand Prize of the FREE TRIP TO NY is for the first team to complete all 5 check points.

Philadelphia is a city old rich in history and culture. This event will ensure you leave not only with a sense of team accomplishment, but also with better knowledge of the birth place of America!!!

Au Pairs Will Need:

Official Amazing Race or CCAP T shirt

Pen

Digital Camera - per team

Bag

Watch

Rain gear and or sunscreen

Comfortable clothing and footwear - sneakers are strongly recommended!

Au pairs are advised to bring snacks or water for the duration of the race. Eating lunch before the event is advised.

AU PAIR WILL NOT NEED:

Maps

Philadelphia guide book