I’ve updated my resume to reflect my last two projects – working as a community liaison for World Without Oil and working as the writer (and eventually head writer) for the extended reality campaign that promoted the premiere of USA Network’s television series The 4400.
You can see my ARG resume in all its glory at my portfolio site.
Here’s a piece I wrote for The 4400 “Battle Over Promicin” campaign. I guess I have Las Vegas on the brain lately!
Casinos Go Promicin-Free
Mikki Grayson | Staff WriterLas Vegas casinos are scrambling to deal with the effects of promicin. The city, famous for its tourism and gambling industries, has suffered a huge economic hit after a loose consortium of major casinos suspended operations for three days last week.
The unprecedented move was due to worries about the substance promicin, which is known to give special abilities to those who take it. The possibility of players with extra-sensory perception or telekinetic powers has casino officials running scared.
“It might have just been coincidence, but at the same time the promicin story hit the news, our casino’s take decreased dramatically over three days,” said an executive who would prefer not to be named. “I guess there were several possible causes, like people canceling their trips and so on, but we just can’t risk the chance of having some freak come in here and manipulate the cards or dice.”
Casinos rely on a house edge – rules that make gambling statistically more likely for the players to lose money – in order to turn a profit. But that house edge is dependent on equipment that hasn’t been tampered with.
“The Gaming Commission would be in here like white on rice if they thought there was monkey business going on. That equates to even longer-term closure,” the unnamed executive explained.
Shutting down the casinos was not a decision to take lightly. Even a 24 hour closure equates to the loss of millions of dollars in revenue. But for those casinos which have reopened, some say that the cure is worse than the disease.
The two largest casino groups opened their doors Friday to picketers and riot police after it was announced that they would require any potential gamblers to fill out a lengthy questionnaire. The information the casinos ask for ranges from a social security number to a lengthy physical and mental health history. Casino spokespeople insist that the answers are necessary in order to gauge the possibility of whether players might have taken promicin.
“We would have done a blood test instead, but the government isn’t allowing anyone to use that technology for non-governmental purposes yet,” said the unnamed executive. “This is the next best thing we could think of that would let us stay open and keep those promicin-users out.”
Public reaction is profoundly angry. “I never would have spent my hard-earned dollars coming to this town if I thought they were going to demand my most personal information,” said tourist Miles Bradford from Indianapolis. “Doesn’t the Constitution say something about ‘unreasonable search and seizure’? Where the hell is privacy these days?”
Others agreed. A crowd estimated to be 1,000 strong marched south on The Strip Saturday night, completely blocking traffic for three hours on what is normally the busiest night of the week. In some spots, things got ugly. The Las Vegas Police Department reported arresting 109 protesters between the hours of 8-10 PM, for charges ranging from disorderly conduct to vandalism.
Until Monday, those who consented to the questionnaire were issued plastic wristbands to be worn for the duration of their stay. Casinos quickly regretted the decision when several thousand counterfeit wristbands were confiscated in North Las Vegas on Sunday evening. Since then, casinos have been issuing special Players Club cards to questionnaire takers, but plans are in the works for a standardized identification card. The new card will not only be available to those who fill out the questionnaire at casinos, but also at the airport and bus station. However, the thought of giving out such personal information to lowly-paid transportation workers concerns some.
“Yes, you might give this information to your doctor, but medical practices are highly regulated by law and physicians could lose their licenses if they disclose your details. There’s no such law for the casinos. These people [who are collecting questionnaires] didn’t even have background checks,” said Jackie Kellner, a practicing attorney in Clark County.
It would appear that many agree. Airlines have reported a 40% drop in traffic to McCarran International Airport. The Convention Center has had over half of its upcoming bookings cancel.
Casinos? Some experts estimate that profits are down as much as 50%. The anonymous executive echoed the sentiments of many in the gambling business when he said, “I wish to God I never heard of promicin.”
My history class brought up early feminism this week. I think I’m relatively lucky in some ways that, although I may have bumped heads from time to time with a few old coots who just don’t believe that chicks can do stuff, too, I haven’t really run into anything major career-wise. In fact, I’d venture to say that the ARG industry in general seems to be run almost by a majority of women. Truly, there is no feeling that guys run better ARGs, or make better puzzles. I don’t think I’ve ever been paid less because of my gender (or age or religion or number of pets or anything else).
On the internet, nobody knows what color you are, or whether you’re an innie or an outie, or if you have teeth. Could it be the great equalizer?
Quickie update – Cuervo’s still staying at the vet, but they have been calling us daily with reports. He’s “scarfing down food” and keeping it down. He’s also said to be in good spirits. The only problem is that they had to stop treating the big bad long-term problem in order to treat the big-bad short-term problem, so once his infections are healed, we have to restart the steroids and immuno-suppressants. And Kona is lonesome.
We hope to bring Cuervo home tomorrow.
Other stuff that’s been going on lately:
– Every time the neighbor’s AC goes on, our lights dim.
– I spent the night in NYC last Monday and had a great time. I left my camera in a cab, though. I did manage to grab the pics onto the computer beforehand.
– At least two more weeks of insane busyness ahead. I’ve also got a research paper due this week and a final exam next week. I’ve decided that I will not flip out if I get a B in this class. My GPA would still be a 3.9.
– We tried two new restaurants this week – Ventana (cooking school restaurant; okay prices, shaky service, uneven food) and Drakula (Romanian; good appetizer plate but when one makes polenta, one should use the salt; also, it smelled like someone’s grandmother’s house – a mix of cleaning products and cabbage – and was about the same 85 degree temperature atmosphere a grandmother would like, too).
-Two profs from last semester told me I should submit two different papers for publication.
Back to the grindstone!
It mentions two projects I’ve worked/am working on:
Before the South Korean monster movie The Host arrived in America, its ARG waded ashore; players successfully wrapped up the two-month-long game Monster Hunter Club at the end of March.
The game, called World Without Oil, launches April 30, when an imaginary oil crisis will shake the alternate reality version of the planet. Players who suspend disbelief will help characters cope with the consequences, whatever they may be — shortages, riots, wars, or surprising technological adjustments.
Enjoy!
I got a totally sweet trailhead swag package in the mail from what looks like GMD Studios’s new game. There’s even a Craigslist posting for me. Unfiction is all atwitter.
What I need is a clone. Or one of those time stoppy things.
1) I have scored not one, but two Bags of Crap in the last week. So has Hub.
2) I register for my last two semesters of college tomorrow.
3) Just a few hours after I posted my resume the other day, I got a job offer for something very big, cool, and exciting. It’s also very intense, so I may be updating here even less frequently than normal, if that’s possible. Be happy for me, because I am.