Get Ready to Play Tag
March 12, 2012 9:10 PM   Subscribe

Tag Challenge! "The infamous Panther Five has pulled an audacious new heist: they’ve stolen the world’s 3rd most expensive jewel, the Adly Diamond, from the Overholt Showroom in Washington, DC. Now they’ve split up and fled—dispersed to five different cities. We’re offering a reward to help find them. We’ll release their mugshots here on game day: March 31, 2012."

If you can get a team together that can cover these 5 cities, then you've got a shot at $5000 (USD).
Washington, DC | New York City | London | Stockholm | Bratislava

Their fine print: Tag Challenge is an independent, nonprofit event, conducted in a spirit of fun and curiosity. Our goal is to determine whether and how social media can be used to accomplish a realistic, time-sensitive, international law enforcement goal. Results, strategies, and any data derived from the event will be made public after its conclusion. Tag Challenge is not associated with any law enforcement agency, and the contest is not part of any law enforcement effort.
posted by juliplease (27 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Worth noting: Funding and support were provided by the US State Department and the US Embassy in Prague, in association with the Institute of International Education.
posted by juliplease at 9:14 PM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


A goon will win, and the organisers will be sorry.
posted by fullerine at 9:14 PM on March 12, 2012 [5 favorites]


Results, strategies, and any data derived from the event will be made public after its conclusion.

I can't wait until I've forgotten all about this, then see it in my favorites one day and I can go directly to the results.
posted by clorox at 9:28 PM on March 12, 2012 [5 favorites]


Don't they already do this in China all the time?
posted by bukvich at 9:29 PM on March 12, 2012


Hmph. Tell me when they find Satoshi.
posted by KChasm at 9:29 PM on March 12, 2012 [3 favorites]


I hope the clues will be delivered a capella.
posted by Flashman at 9:34 PM on March 12, 2012 [8 favorites]


Is this like that darpa balloon thing?
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:35 PM on March 12, 2012


The lazy panther who didn't even bother to leave DC should flee to the West Coast. If you're going split up, do it properly. None of this hanging around near your east coast buddy stuff.
posted by -harlequin- at 9:36 PM on March 12, 2012


This is going to be a cinch, assuming that the five faces are Barack Obama, Michael Bloomberg, Margaret Thatcher, the Swedish Chef, and, ah, the President of Bratislava (who we'll get by process of elimination).
posted by bicyclefish at 9:39 PM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Barney Fife does distributed computing.
posted by I love you more when I eat paint chips at 10:07 PM on March 12, 2012


The way the balloon challenge was won, you don't need a massive team of people you need a nice way to encourage people to encourage other people to search, amway style: http://archive.darpa.mil/networkchallenge/
posted by mulligan at 10:19 PM on March 12, 2012


Let's get this on IRL!
posted by schmod at 10:27 PM on March 12, 2012


Oh man. It looks like this person (and a few unsuspecting others) are about to find out if they've got any doppelgängers walking around the same city as them....
posted by schmod at 10:28 PM on March 12, 2012


No love down under.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:46 PM on March 12, 2012


Suckers! The big red Google Maps pins give them all away!

And c'mon, if you are going to hide at a Duane Reade in New York, don't pick THAT Duane Reade. You have 149,642 different Duane Reades to choose in Manhattan alone and you pick the Duane Reade at Duane and Reade.

If the NY guy's name is also Duane Reade I am calling this now as some sort of viral ad for Duane Reade brand deLish Brownie Bites.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 11:02 PM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Spoilers: the MIT team is going to win.
posted by Alterscape at 11:03 PM on March 12, 2012


It would cost me more than 5k to get a team together.
posted by mattoxic at 11:48 PM on March 12, 2012 [1 favorite]


Theives scattered 'cross the globe from New York to far off Stockholm
From distant London to good old Washington, DC
In Bratislavia, we might find what needs to get home
Tell me where! In the world! Is the stolen Adly Diamond?
posted by BiggerJ at 12:52 AM on March 13, 2012 [3 favorites]


Reminds me of Evan Ratliff and (selflink ahoy) Lobby Lud.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:51 AM on March 13, 2012


It would cost me more than 5k to get a team together.

The money isn't the sticking point; we need to figure how to get Robert De Niro out of retirement for this one last job.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:46 AM on March 13, 2012 [3 favorites]


Well, I am in London, so I'll keep an eye out.

It does seem a bit like an exercise in luck though.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:00 AM on March 13, 2012


i would rather like to have from their stuff than the bounty ;-)
posted by johnstendicom at 3:03 AM on March 13, 2012


the Overholt Showroom

The what now?! It's slightly disorienting to wake up and see your relatively uncommon last name in an FPP (all the more so if you have a lifelong love of heist movies).
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:49 AM on March 13, 2012 [2 favorites]


From R. Winkler's Suspect page: "A one-time resident of London, he is known to sport a beret and a pencil moustache."

Wait - this site is giving us licence to play Hunt-The-Hipster for real? Do we get weapons?
posted by ZsigE at 5:59 AM on March 13, 2012


Washington, DC | New York City | London | Stockholm | Bratislava

Worth noting: Funding and support were provided by the US State Department and the US Embassy in Prague, in association with the Institute of International Education.


The US State Department is aware that Czechoslovakia is two countries now, right?
posted by Sys Rq at 8:25 AM on March 13, 2012


that must be very strange indeed, mr. showroom
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 4:19 PM on March 13, 2012 [1 favorite]


Tomorrow's the day! I'll be in NY in the morning and DC in the evening, so I'll keep my eyes peeled. If y'all can just cover London, Stockholm, and Bratislava, then that $5K can go right into MeFite pockets.
posted by juliplease at 7:37 AM on March 30, 2012


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