Do you even GISH?

Have you ever felt you’re having way too much time on your hand? Do you have a crafting space or living room you’d like to drown in complete chaos? Do you enjoy having food thrown at you, or awkwardly interacting with strangers while wearing a random costume in public? Yes? Then you should definitely join GISH. If, like most everyone I know you’d answer this with “have you lost your mind, that sounds horrifying”, you should still absolutely join GISH. I promise it will bring a bit of extra magic to your life. And no, it’s not a cult.

So what then is GISH, you’re asking. Well, the short answer is, it’s an elaborate and insane week-long scavenger hunt where participants (termed GISHers) complete items that require various levels of effort and skill, document their endeavors and collect GISHpoints for it all.

My very subjective, somewhat vaguer but if you ask me, arguably better answer is: GISH is a movement of people from all walks of life who want to make their personal world and the world as a whole a little less grey, a little kinder, and definitely a bit weirder.

The GISH basics

The GISH hunt is formerly known as GISHWHES (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen) and was founded by Misha Collins in 2011. It has been held annually ever since. In 2012, it’s second run, the hunt unveiled an official mascot. The GISH mascot changes each year but is always a made-up animal hybrid. This year it was the Assbutt, a donkey with monarch butterfly wings, who got its name as an homage to a fan-favorite scene from “Supernatural,” the show that catapulted Misha Collins to legendary fandom favorite.

In the last couple of years, the scavenger-hunt has been taking part in the summer, around the first week of August. GISHers sign up in teams of up to 15 participants to tackle a list of items which is handed out on the first official hunt day. You can form or join a team yourself, or sign up to be added to a random one. There are only two competitive preference levels to choose from, an “In It To Win It” team, or “Just for Fun”. With thousands of teams competing, many with years of experience and vast resources at their disposal, chances of winning this whole thing are slim to none for most GISHers. But let’s say you achieve the highest points amongst all teams during the hunt, that means you will go on a trip of a lifetime. The rest of us mere mortals are usually just doing it for the hell of it all and for the sake of forsaking normalcy for a few special days each year. It is one of the most fun and wildest rides you can sign up for.

The List

Usually, GISH starts out with about 200 tasks. Over the course of the hunt some of these might slightly change, new ones will be added, and some might even be deleted, a process many GISHers often respond to with a collective #damnitmisha while they are drowning in task organization and glue gun residue. The fun part about the list is that anyone can find a way to participate, there are items that speak to anyone’s skill level and interests. Reading the GISH 2019 item list will give you a good idea of all the kindness, the weirdness, and the bravery GISHers aspired to by completing those tasks.

Over the last years, by completing certain items, the hunt has been awarded multiple world records including for the largest media scavenger hunt and the largest online photo album of hugs. However, my favorite thing each year is most definitely the kindness focused items. Nothing gives you “all the feels” like throwing surprise parties for strangers, donate much-needed items to shelters, or raise funds for causes that will literally change lives. 2016 was the first time when GISH partnered with Giles Duley and the Legacy of War charity to start a new project called Change a Life. In 2019, they teamed up with Random Acts to raise money with Crowdrise to protect thousands of Laotians from unexploded bombs and provide countless children and adults with prosthetic arms and legs via the Change a Life – Laos item. The funding goal was surpassed within just a few days. As a GISHer, this is such an inspirational endeavor to be a small part of.

The sign-up

Now, if all this convinced you to sign up for next year’s hunt, early registration is open for a very short time. If you sign up early, you will get access to special perks, bonuses, and nefarious offerings. But do not fret, if you can’t make the limited early registration deadline, sign-up will re-open again next year. Happy GISHing, and stay weird!

Addendum

For a detailed record of GISH(WHES) past, check out this highly valuable Tumblr: GISHWHESHistorian

For detailed info on conduct, secret tips, rules, and general info on the hunt, GISH publishes official commandments, which are frequently updated.

Last but not least, here is my very subjective and completely unofficial list of tips for the GISH newbie, some of these might unintentionally align with some of the official commandments.

Before the hunt

• Decide on the type of GISHer you want to be: “Just for Fun” or “In it to win it”. Honestly, if you’re looking to have an active team with lots of communication and interaction, choose the latter for sure. Most know that the chance of winning is rather slim, but they still want to compete with some level of intensity.
• Join a few GISH focused facebook groups for research purposes and to meet other GISHers, the GISH Bunker is great for example. Decide on a registration tier, all tiers will get you signed up to compete, but the higher (and more expensive) tier you choose, the more swag you’ll get after the hunt. If you’re not sure about spending the extra money, go for the lowest option, you can upgrade later. If you’d love to join but don’t have the money, you can sign up for a GISHscholarship. Generous other GISHers often give those out.
• Find your tribe: Your team will make or break this experience. It’s always good to have a few local friends, old or new, to hunt with. But don’t be afraid to branch out. International teammates are a great addition, you can learn from another, and also have a bigger chance of completing some of the location-based items.
• Built a wider support network. Let your friends and family know you’re prepping for GISH, you’ll be surprised how many people might not want to sign up themselves but would love to contribute in some way to help you out.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate! Set up a Facebook group for your team, and a WhatsApp or any other messenger group chat. This will help you to get to know each other better, share in the pre-excitement, strategize, and later allow everyone to be part of the fun during the hunt. Ask for help and support when it’s needed, be kind to each other. GISH is an amazing way to make friends for life!
• Download the GISH app! It’s a great way to communicate with other GISHers and you’ll need it during the hunt if you quickly want to upload submissions via your mobile phone.
• Talk to your team about how items will be claimed! This is important, once the list drops the claiming frenzy might make it hard to strategize. It can be helpful to copy the list into a separate document to share with the whole team and track who wants to do what. This also allows multiple teammates to sign up as backup if the person who originally signed up for it might need to drop an item.
• Find other local teams, either by using the GISH app to search other GISHers in your area, or find local Facebook groups specific to your city or state. These are plenty and they are super helpful. GISHers are a friendly bunch, you can learn from each other and meet new faces. In addition, it might get you invited to some of the bigger get-togethers during the hunt for some of the collaborative items you need to complete.

During the hunt

• When the list drops, take a breath, calmly read through it all, don’t get discouraged. Even if you don’t see anything feasible when skimming the first 100 items, there are still about 100 more items to go. You’ll find something that will speak to your skills and interests for sure. Keep in mind, more items will be added throughout the hunt, often daily!
• Communicate, communicate, communicate!
• Make sure you join in some of the group items and collaborative items, those are often the most fun and will get you into the GISH spirit. This year we did the #WeJustMetGala the Sunday after the list dropped, it was an amazing experience with multiple local teams participating. Check out the hashtag on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms, and you will see many wonderful video and image submissions for this item.
• Breath, sleep, and eat! Life doesn’t stop during GISH, make sure to prioritize your health and well-being. The hunt is fun and can get pretty intense, but shouldn’t leave you scrambling in all other areas of your life.
• Absolutely essential tip: Make sure all the videos you upload that were not meant to be shared on social media are set to private!
• Upload! For real, upload your submissions. You can always re-submit if later on, you have a better picture or video, but do it as soon as you have proof of completing an item. The last-minute sub-mission crunch is often real and you don’t want to accidentally forget to upload something you had finished because you waited to perfect it and missed your chance to do so.
• Have fun with the last-minute submission crunch, re-read all of the yet unclaimed/unsubmitted items on your team’s hunt page. There are always a few items you can finish last minute, with a fast creative idea or a less than perfect approach, you might still be able to get something done.

After the hunt

• Sign up for HARSH, a.k.a. the Human Analysis of Really Strange Happenings system, where you get to see submission and judge if they might make it into the annual Coffee table book or the online hall of fame, which highlight some especially awesome images and videos.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate!
• Keep the excitement going and finally share your submissions with the world (a few minutes after the hunt you’ll get the ok to set videos to “public” or post your images to social media)
  Keep an eye out for early registration for the next hunt!
• Get ready to spend some money at the Gishporium, an online shop to buy some memorabilia including the coffee table book with a selection of images from the best item submissions.

Written by “AnotherGalaxyFarFarAway”