As the holiday season wound to a close, IDS took the chance
to do a little celebrating of their own. As an event organized by Kayelyn
Harris, on January 20
th employees of IDS and their guests had the
chance to win prizes, eat food provided by
Brick Oven, socialize, and visit
Alcatraz Escape Games. “The caterers were great, and the venue staff
went above and beyond,” Harris said. “I feel the event was generally a
success.”
Katie Means, who assisted with setup of the event, agreed.
“The holiday party was very enjoyable. Even when things seemed a tad chaotic,
it was still great,” she stated.
Alcatraz Escape Games,
located in Draper, UT, provides a fun chance to test the mind. Several escape
rooms are open to try, clues and riddles hidden around the room as the groups
within try to find their way out of the room before the time limit.
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The quickest group completed the "Horcrux Hysteria" room. |
The quickest IDS group solved the Harry Potter themed “Horcrux Hysteria” room. Employees Rulon Doman,
Katie Means, Vince Wilson, Nick Attebury, Shawn Gibson, and Marc Hartley, along
with their guests, nearly made the leaderboard for their quick completion time. “Being inside the rooms really made our teamwork stronger,” said Means. “I was
able to meet other employees I had never spoken to, and we had a blast solving
mysteries together.” The group won a prize for their quick escape – tickets to
come back and try to solve another room.
Other rooms included “Prison Bus Escape,” “The Row,” “Extinct,”
and “Zombie Panic.” Each room had different challenges to overcome.
Those on “The Row,” said to be the most difficult of the
escape rooms, had to work together to try and escape death row before their
sentence was carried out. “It was definitely a tricky room,” commented Brooke
Espinoza, who attempted the escape, “but it was super fun working with everyone
and trying to figure things out!”
There was only one room with an age limit: “Zombie Panic.” Participants
not only had to escape the room, but also avoid the zombie within. “This one
guy dressed as a zombie came in as time was running down,” employee Tyler
Sebresos said. “Even though it was just a guy in make-up, everyone freaked out.
It was great!”
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The "Prison Bus Escape" group braves the cold weather. |
“Prison Bus Escape” is not only the room with the lowest
escape rate, but also the only one that takes place out of doors. Taking place
on an actual bus, the participants had to make their way through the bus to the
back in order to escape. “We got really close, we just needed to figure out how
to get the door open,” said employee Adria Riley. “I might go back again to
find out the rest of the puzzle.”
While employees waited for their turn in the escape rooms,
they had the chance to enter a large raffle for prizes and pick up their
holiday gifts. “Having time before and after the Escape Rooms where we got to
better know our fellow employees and their families was a lot of fun, and
informative,” Means said.
Those participating in the raffle could win gift cards, spa sets, movie tickets, Bluetooth headphones, and many other prizes. Additional tickets for the raffle could be won by completing brain teasers and ice breakers, or found hidden in the escape rooms. “The party was awesome. The gifts were great, and the food from Brick Oven was really good,” employee Jared Curtis said. "I had a great time."