POGO Events

We did a scavenger hunt yesterday at the Brooklyn Museum with my wife’s parents and it was a great time. The host was funny and energetic. The puzzles were challenging but doable. We came in third place and won a prize so that is just icing on the cake.
I recommend their scavenger hunt at the Brooklyn Museum, it was a great activity for groups, families, or people on dates.

We did a scavenger hunt and came in second place — the prize was for us to get another go at a hunt for free. I’m actually really happy we got that instead of first place — which was a bunch of vouchers to events we weren’t that excited about (quiet clubbing events, etc.)
The race itself was fun — we met at a bar in midtown. There were lots of teams ranging from two people to whole groups (4 to 6). You had to run around and get pictures — upload them to the app, draw stuff, answer trivia questions, do challenges, etc.
It was a challenge of time management and teamwork. I learned my boyfriend and I are really good partners and work well together. The only thing is I do slow long distance jogging and he is way better at sprints so I tended to lag behind in our full out runs to race the clock.
The way they run the events is very fair, since everyone has the same amount of time to complete the tasks. There was one clue that was hard to figure out due to a mistake on the part of the event organizers (the wording made it seem like something was in one place when it was in another).
The only other complaint is that you are waiting around for a long time before the game starts despite getting there at the time they tell you to arrive. I think we were waiting for like 30 mins or something, which is way too long to allow for latecomers.
Despite these things, we are looking forward to doing another event very soon. It’s a great date /​way to spend a saturday or sunday evening and really good exercise!
Tips — get an all day unlimited metro card. You can’t use cabs or cars. I would recommend mapping everything out first before getting started to figure out the best route.
Feedback to business: It would be great if the bar/​venue offered some type of special discount to people who are doing the event. I noticed everyone was just sipping water and not ordering food because the venue was kind of expensive and there didn’t seem to be any special for us.

The events are so fun, so well organized, incredibly engaging, and run by an awesome staff lead by Mary. I participated in a race all around NYC and it was hilarious. My team
And i were busting our asses, determined to win, running all over the city like madwomen, collecting clues everywhere. We had a BLAST, laughed hysterically, met cool people, burned a ton of calories, learned a lot about NY, and saw some new spots in the city. Alas, we did not win (came in 2^nd place) but we still laugh about how much fun we had. Thank you Pogo!

Turning 11 in New York City is tough. In Georgia, there was nothing wrong with every kid having the same ol’ thang at a movie theater or the roller rink, and I was quite pleased with my prepubescent cosmic bowling extravaganza complete with cardboard pizza and room temp Hi-​C.
Let’s just say it’s a bit different growing up in Upper West Side in 2014…
A couple months ago, I took a lead role in helping a very special soon-​to-​be 11 year old girl plan a birthday party that would be unlike anything her classmates and friends had had. Specifically, she wanted a scavenger hunt personalized to her interests (Knicks, Dylan’s Candy Bar, tennis, magic tricks, bagels, you name it), and POGO was ready to step up to the plate and make it happen! I called other scavenger hunt companies, and none were willing to customize an event to the degree we needed. Along came Mary, who was consistently prompt, professional, and meticulous. She was wonderful to work with, coordinating incredibly personalized stops in the city that included photo-​taking challenges and custom trivia about the birthday girl herself, synced with a very cool, modern phone app that allows for the «hunters» to tackle the course in any way they’d like (rather than all in the same order). The event itself ran smoothly and efficiently, and there was very little stress on my end!
Friendly, energetic, dependable staff, good event pricing, and truly personalized service. The birthday girl and her friends are all STILL talking about the «amazing race birthday» five months later, and believe me — that says a lot!
I’d definitely use them again in a second. Go-​go with POGO!!!

Just participated in a birthday scavenger hunt for my sister this weekend and had a really great time. The scavenger hunt was personalized to the birthday girl’s interests, so our finds centered around things she loves: fashion, Friends, yoga, the Walking Dead, and apparently stuffed gophers. It also had us traveling all over the city.
I didn’t set-​up the event so I can’t comment on anything leading up to the day of the event, other than the cost which was $ 25 a person (seemed reasonable) and participating guests had to fill out a questionnaire about the birthday girl prior to the event.
The event ran pretty smoothly. Our coordinator Katie (?) was super nice, and answered all of our questions before the start of the event. Two people in our group ran about a half hour late. We were able to extend the event at an extra cost (again, seems reasonable) and without any problems.
The finds were creative, and a good mix of easy finds (shoe store) and more difficult ones (stupid stuffed gopher). There was a lot of traveling involved which tagged on an additional metro card cost. (wouldn’t have been a big deal if the one day fun pass was still available). We did score some free transfer rides by using both city buses and the subway.
Ultimately it was a really memorable day and we have some crazy pictures to commemorate her birthday. It was also an interesting way to see a lot of NYC in a short amount of time.
If you have a group of friends who like being silly and are up for anything this could be a great event. The company supplied us with a personalized hunt, an event coordinator, and some t-​shirt prizes for the winners. Because I didn’t set the event up I do not know what kind of extras the company offers. I would recommend looking into this type of event for a unique celebration.

What an amazing and unique way to celebrate our just have some fun. I booked my birthday event with Mary and Amanda for last weekend and I have no regrets or complaints. Me and my family had a great time. They were organized, patient and fun to work with. I am definitely going to book another event with them at some point. Thank You team POGO!

I usually read reviews of events such as this before participating, but failed to do so this time and I am sorry I didn’t.
Their website describes the event as «part scavenger hunt, part obstacle course… A series of clues leads you around the area performing physical and mental challenges along the way.» This was extremely false. There wasn’t an «obstacle» course, no «clues» no «physical or mental challenge.» The entire time was just finding little things like «find a sign with Park in it» and take a picture. This was very disappointing considering we signed up based on what was advertised. It is because of this false advertising I will be asking for our money back.
I am surprised they are even allowed to use CBS’s title, «Amazing Race.» Because there wasn’t anything «amazing about it.» And if you ever watched the actual Amazing Race on tv, it is nothing like it. Honestly, because my friends are competitive, we made it fun. And we had some laughs. But as another reviewer stated before me, I really could have created this game for friends and saved $ 40 a person!
Prior to the event, we received an email stating points will be given for costumes. Well we were the only team who made the effort and yet the woman running it didn’t even acknowledge/​notice when we arrived. Actually our «costumes» seemed of little consequence to her. At the end, she mentioned we received «some» points for it. But there was never any indication of how many.
POGO has you download an app for the event, but it was never mentioned that the app drains your battery. You use the app to take your pics and it keeps a running total of your score. At the end of the race, we were down to less than 10% and were worried the phone would shut down before we finished. As a result, we stopped trying to take the pictures, just so we can get back before it shut down. At this point we have 350 (50 were not calculated by the app.)
Once we all arrived and she started announcing the winners, she announced our team came in 2^nd with a score of less than 200 and then 1^st place team had about 250. We are not sore losers, but rather just confused as to what happened. Some feedback for POGO — at least let everyone know why they got less points than what was stated on the app. It almost felt as we got cheated, especially again since we made the effort to have a costume and the first place team did not. It would have been great to see a break– down of the scores.
So, once the winning team was announced. No prizes were given out. The woman leading the event made a point of saying, «you will be getting these things.» But didn’t physically give the winning team anything. I couldn’t understand what would have been so hard to have something right there. And in regards to the 2^nd and 3^rd place teams –my gosh, for $ 40 a pop, POGO couldn’t afford to hand out small giveaways? A cup? Tshirt? Any promotional? Something? There was a team with 2 young children who came in 3^rd place, I felt bad for them. I don’ t that would have been too much to ask.
Considering the only overhead was to pay the two people overseeing that day and I guess money towards using the app, I am not sure where the $ 40/​per person went to.
Since writing this I have spoken to Mary, the owner of the event and I have to say this much, they are working out the kinks in the Brooklyn hunt AND it was raining that day, so many things changed. But I truly admire her great customer service and her willingness to help us rectify the situation. That is GREAT customer service and because of that, will «hunt» with them again.

I participated in the St. Patrick’s scavenger hunt and it will definitely be the last pogo event that I ever take part in. Conceptually it’s a good idea but extremely unorganized, uncoordinated and poorly planned (which are all part and parcel of a good scavenger hunt).
When we got to the bar «libations» to check in there was no clear sign or indicator where to go. After asking quizzically several people inside the bar we were pointed (literally pointed not directed) to some girl wearing a sweatshirt with a small pogoevents logo across the center (easy to miss). She had a crowd of people already registered who just couldn’t figure out how to get started. I stood around for 10 minutes just trying to get started.
Finally she tells us that we have to download 2 apps (scanquest AND barcod scanner) to begin. This was not mentioned in the description of the event OR the ticket itself only that a smartphone was needed. There is only ONE bar code to scan printed out, 20 of us who need to scan it are huddled around like idiots and NO directions whatsoever. She tells me and 4 others that one of us should take pictures of the scavenger challenges and the other should keep the app running.
My partner and I sit down to discuss strategy which is when it becomes obvious that this was not well coordinated. The «bars» which are part of the challenge are all over the dam place. From upper west side, midtown, murray hill to east and west village. We only have 3 hours AND there’s a massive celebration outside so subways aren’t running like clockwork right now. As part of the «rules» taxis and cars aren’t allowed — by foot and subway only.
We decide to smack on a smile and make the best of it. We start snapping away at the first bar but realize that the app is draining my battery rather quickly and is also asking for confirmation of the pictures. We are a bit puzzled as to how to proceed but of course NO ONE is there to ask at the first bar so we keep on going. I must mention that the web site stated we would get «clues» as we went to each location but NOTHING like that happened. No clues, no specials at the bar for participating and they didn’t even try to stock any of the other challenges listed. You were pretty much on your own.
The second bar was a dump. No sign about 20 ft wide, dark, empty, no music or atmosphere to think of. The only person there was one of the staff members. I asked her about the pictures. She promptly told me nothing would count because we didn’t use the app in conjunction with the pictures. I’m furious because we’re halfway done with most of the challenges minus the bars she picks up on this and says there is a number to call. She gives me a number to call for a Mary who tells me it’s okay they will count my stuff but the old fashioned way. Well thanks for wasting 15 minutes of my scavenger hunt on this nonsense.
We try to make it to the third bar (which is the next closest) and it takes over 45 minutes before we’re even off the subway. We realize we’d barely make it to the bar before rushing back to the final destination. My partner and I are deflated and just head home, not even bothering to finish.
Oh I forgot to mention that I wasted over $ 70 total on this crap. I probably could have organized a better event given enough time for half the amount of money. There are better events to spend money on that are cheaper, better organized and a ton more fun.

I have been twice to this Race, first time we won and second time we came in second. I think it is a fun time and it is a fun way to get to know the city as well. I do not know what the prices are as I have never paid for a race but I know it is great fun and it is even more fun to win.
If you want to make it a real competition you need to run and run fast because some of these guys are very competitive (especially my boyfriend). I was so exhausted after the race that I could not stand on my feet and I sprained my ankle, so people definitely give it their all.
The reason I am not giving this a 5* when I am so fond of it, it is because I am not sure how organized it is with the companies that they do business with as I experienced during a race that a restaurant claimed that they were not part of the race which turned out later that they actually were and we lost points on that account, therefore because of the doubt I am having I gave it a * less.

I participated in the New York Amazing Race against my company. I compete against my coworkers. It was fun but I thought it could have been better. Read on for spoilers of the game.
We met at Baked Melissa on 42^nd street. The guide gave us instructions. I was late so I did not hear the instructions. The goal of the race is to find items on a list (movie poster, triplets, slide, dog with clothes, flag, big clock, guy with mets cap, bus driver), 3 out of 6 pictures (daily news globe, muppets at fab schwartz, apple at hudson river park etc) and a find of (12 different flowers or 6 different vendors that sell meet). In addition, for extra point, you had to check in with the guide at times square and if you choose to perform a specific task.
The event was tiring. We had to run towards the end of the race to get everything. My team won of course. However, given that we paid $ 35 for the race. I expected more like water to be provided, nutrional snacks a the end of the race, some sort of metrocard for public transportation and better prize (i got a plastic medal and t-​shirt).

3 friends and I participated in the Long Beach race yesterday. While it was definitely a good time, we all walked away feeling as though we were ripped off. $ 35 per person isn’t an outrageous amount of money, generally speaking, but the website promises tshits, drink specials and food. Of the 4 bars participating in the race, only one had any actual reduced price drinks, one wasn’t accessible at all because they were having a private party (great planning) and the last seemed to offer the opposite of a discount, charging $ 6 for crappy beer. There was no food and when we inquired about the tshits, they said it was «an outdated blurb on their site» and they were no longer part of the deal.
As for the race itself, it was a photo scavenger hunt and nothing resembling what I understand the ‘amazing race’ to be. The ‘roadblocks’ were a joke.
Like I said tho, it’s a damn good time, but one that was skewed by the detractions I listed above. I could have put something similar together in 10 minutes. These people have a potentially great product, but seriously need to step up their game.

Two years ago, we participated with our 10 year old son and a handful of friends in a «Come one. Come All» race. As it was his birthday, Pogo customized several clues (for the entire group) about my son. The 3 hr race was a bit tiring for them, but they all look back on it fondly to this day. We didn’t win, but we didn’t care!
Now my son is almost 13 and a Boy Scout. I called Mary at Pogo Events (a former Girl Scout) last year to explore a Boy Scout-​themed race for his troop. Her enthusiasm for the new concept was palpable due to her personal connection to scouting. A few months after our conversation, she got back to me that she had just completed a successful Girl Scout themed race and was eager to help us put together a race for our Boy Scout Troop.
I supplied information about BSA history, Law, Motto, Slogan, Oath, and merit badge requirements we could mix in. She and her staff took it to a level I never could have foreseen, making it much more entertaining for all.
We particpated with 6 teams made up of a total of 22 Scouts/​siblings/​relatives (paid $ 25 each) and 13 adult chaperones (didn’t pay as they were not eligible for prizes). We kept to BSA’s «2-​deep leadership» Youth Protection Policy and our teams were made up of 4 or 3 scouts with 2 or 3 chaperones.
We did the race in Class «A» uniform, for several reasons: 1) Bystanders (with the exception of one nasty NYC police officer) immediately recognized the uniform and were warm to the idea of helping Scouts and posing for pictures with us if needed. 2) In general, when Scouts travel as a group, uniforms give discipline (because they’re «representing», and unity of purpose 3) Security: bad folks are less likely to target groups in uniform 4) By design, it contributed significantly to better scoring in the race.
The Scouts all came back with stories and pictures that made all the other scouts that didn’t participate jealous. Pogo awarded us «Scavenger Hunt» patches for all participating Scouts/​siblings and Tee Shirts and trinkets for the winning Scouts. Quite honestly, bragging rights meant more to this group than the prizes themselves. Many boys want to do it again next year. Some parents/​chaperones were talking about taking their families back in for other themed races and customizing races of their own. One family is going back this weekend on their own to try to re-​do the route by themselves and better their own score just for the heck of it!
This particular race is good for kids of Boy Scouting age (11 and older) and adults. Pogo apparently runs races with themes more appropriate for younger kids of all ages.

Read about this company on a bride’s blog and for her bachelorette party, they did the «Amazing NY Bachelorette Race.» My fave TV show is «The Amazing Race» and I have always wanted to do one of the public, scavenger hunt-​type of races so when I heard about this, I knew I had to do it but the only problem was that my party was going to be in CA.
I called and spoke to Mary and asked her if she knew of anything like this in CA. She didn’t, but offered to write the race for me and to have it occur in SF! Mary responded quickly to emails and I had no problem trying to get a hold of her.
It was $ 25/​person (with minimum amount of players = 10) and her co-​workers (some from the Bay Area) wrote the race for us. She had a friend of a co-​worker meet us in SF and «host» the race for us.
My girlfriends all had a blast running around the city, taking pictures and doing fun things. All the clues were of me and were based on a questionnaire that was sent to family and friends.
The only thing was that several of the facts/​clues were wrong and they got the name wrong of my fiancé. In any case, we all had a great time and I’m glad I got to partake in this. My team didn’t win, but I still had an amazing time and got a t-​shirt to prove it!

I really enjoyed this event. It really gets you to bond with your friends, discover the city in a different way and feel like a child again!
I highly recommend it and will totally do it again for my birthday!

I participated in the Movie themed race. I don’t know if we signed up late, but we ended up spending $ 60pp instead of the $ 35 that was originally posted on the website. It is definitely not worth $ 60 and moreso not worth $ 35! The consolation prize was a bag full of misc. candy. The theme was «movies,» but the newest movie on the list was «Two Weeks Notice.» I’m in my mid 20s, and the only movie on the list I watched was «Breakfast at Tiffany’s.» We’re in New York City! The system was also inefficient; we were able to log in our clues using multiple iPhones (*Nudge nudge* for future AR participants). Not sure how the scoring was evaluated, but does THIS:
count as «Take a picture with a woman in a white dress doing the Marilyn Monroe pose over a subway grate» !?
I’m not being bitter because we got 3^rd place. I am just disappointed that I could’ve gotten concert tickets to Glee for the same price, and it would’ve been just as cheesy.
Two stars for the free beer at the end.

i think the concept is great, and the events are really fun but I don’t like how they award full points for things that aren’t deserving of it.
Pogo Events organized a birthday scavenger hunt for my friend last weekend, and I think that my friend should have served as a judge, since all of the tasks were about her. My team came in 2^nd place, and I know I might sound like a sore loser but after my friend went around looking at every group’s pictures, she explained that some of the winning group’s pictures didn’t reflect the clues correctly! That really pissed me off. They shouldn’t have been rewarded full credit for taking a picture in front of 5 Penn Plaza when the clue clearly stated «stand in front of the DMV.»
Honestly, I don’t care much about the tshirts they give out as prizes, it’s just the principle of the thing. We could have half-​assed the entire thing but we were pretty true to the clues and all. As long as my friend was happy then, I guess that’s really what matters. I definitely think that I could have put together a better scavenger hunt myself if I had to.
I think Watson Adventures does a MUCH better job with their scavenger hunts, and they’re actually much more challenging to complete, especially for a group of achievement whores. Definitely check out Watson Adventures if you want a better experience. They may be a bit pricier but the experience is worth it.

My sister and I did the Amazing Dessert Race this past Sunday and we had a blast. We were late to the check in and lost out on extra points bit as this was our first race, we weren’t expecting to win anyway.
I was a big fan of the leniency of the scoring, especially since it was very much in our favor. We had to be very creative to come up with some of the scavenger photos.
Yes it was a lot of work. There was a point where I hated that we were doing this because things were further apart than I expected them to be and I was tired. But one bite of a sample cupcake made the trip worth it.
I would definitely recommend this. More so if you enjoy walking, are competitive, and a little crazy.

I did a Team of Two race with a friend who had a deal for $ 15 per person. If I had paid any more I would have been really annoyed. You don’t actually get anything for your money — you could easily just arrange your own race with friends for free and have the exact same experience.
The race is difficult only in terms of time. The actual activities are pretty simple, it doesn’t require much knowledge of the city or brain power to figure anything out. Only one of the items on the scavenger hunt required use of a smart phone.
The way they do the scoring is also not great. One of the items was taking a picture with a bride, and people got equal points for taking a picture with a real bride as they did for taking a picture with a magazine with a bride on the cover.
I did have a lot of fun doing this, but I was expecting to get a T-​shirt or a cocktail or some kind of consolation prize for the money we put down. There weren’t even any specials offered at Dave & Buster’s, which was where we had to spend a significant portion of the day.

4 stars only because we had a Dealist (think Groupon) discount and the event cost us $ 20 rather than $ 35 — otherwise probably wouldn’t have been worth it.
All in all a fun day, took us all over the city to places we’d never been. Also exposed me to the bus system which I’ve rarely taken. pretty reliable & runs regularly (should I be Unilocaling the metro system.?).
Pretty well organized. We got plenty of e-​mails beforehand letting us know how we should prepare (though they were a little ambiguous on the metro day pass– were they providing it or did we have to buy it? Good thing we bought ours just in case). On they day of they ran pretty smoothly, although registration was a bit of a bottleneck with one person doing each task (sign in, name tags, handing out paperwork). There were lots of staff though and they were all really friendly and seemed to really enjoy running the event, which made us enjoy it more. At then end they came around and scored our pictures by going through them with us (liked that — so we could make sure we got credit for all the items we found), and had us load our pictures on a computer being projected so we saw a slideshow with everyone’s photos as they were scoring. Funny to see how creative some people were.
Would’ve been nice to have a little bit of food at the start or at the end — annoying that we were basically expected to stick around and order Dave & Busters food since that was the start/​end location. It’s ok, we just ordered a small appetizer (as we were STARVING) and went off to a restaurant actually worth our time for dinner.

The Amazing NY Race is a scavenger hunt around the city. I found out about this event from Goldstar which is a site that offers discounted tickets for various events around the city. Tickets which are normally $ 35 (plus service fee) were only $ 17.50 ($ 23 total with fees).
My friends and I did a Sunday afternoon race (2−6PM). It was their «Come All» event. On their website, they have all sorts of races (Singles, Teams of Two, Gay Pride, Dog Friendly, etc) throughout the year. My friends and I were allowed to make up a team of 6, even though they state on their website that teams had to be 2 – 4 members. I believe there were about 30+ teams that day.
Our starting and ending place for our race was Dave & Busters in Times Square. We were told to arrive 30 min prior to the start of the race (which was beneficial because there was «extra credit» which if we came on time or late, we wouldn’t have been able to partake in). After picking out team names and assembling all the teams together, the coordinators then give out the packets which contain the scavenger hunt details. There is a list of items you need to find (i.e. a person with a red scarf) in which your whole team needs to be in a picture with. There are also pictures which you are given and clues to where they are located (4 of these must be completed) — again, the whole team must be photographed with the item. There were a couple some additional items.
The hunt had us all the way downtown to all the way uptown! It was a ton of fun asking strangers to take pics of us and with us. For the most part, we came across some really friendly people, but we did get a some that just didn’t wanna help us.
Things you’ll need:
— Comfy Shoes since you’ll be walking, sometimes even running, for 4 hours
— All Day Metro Card (not included in the cost)
— A Camera (smart phone would do also)
— Smartphone (helped in researching where a lot of the things were located around the city)
— Snacks (you’ll be running around the city all day, a granola bar & water will keep you going without making you grumpy)
Our team didn’t win and were 15 min late to the 6PM finish time which deducted 15 pts from our total. We weren’t last though which I was thrilled about! lol
All in all we had a fun day! Definitely a great thing to do with a bunch of a friends during the weekend! So why the 3 stars you ask? Where did the money go that we paid? We weren’t given snacks, metrocard, or anything — not even a bottle of water. Only the winning team got prizes which I believe were just t-​shirts and gift certificates (to Dave and Busters is the only one I rem). So the creator of this race is making a killing! I need to make my own game/​activity around the city! Who’s with me!