Philalympics 2013
Wednesday afternoon corporations from across the region joined hosts Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy, P.C., the Fun Department, eXude Inc. and Comcast Spectacor at the inaugural Philalympics — a competition in which companies from across the city matched wits, athleticism and general Philadelphia knowledge in pursuit of the title, “Philadelphia’s Phunnest Company.” Philalympics took place at the Wells Fargo Center, and focused on fun, teambuilding and networking. All dollars raised from the event will go to benefit the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. Here, Mitchell Kaplan, partner at Zarwin Baum, greets the competitors and thanks them for their support.
Each team was assigned a “cheerleader coach,” and they included Olympic medalist soccer player Heather Mitts (below, right), motivational speaker and former Philadelphia Eagle Kevin Reilly, comedian Joe Conklin, style and fashion commentator Lilliana Vazquez, Senator Larry Farnese, Good Morning Philadelphia‘s Kacie McDonnell and Mike Jerrick. Also pictured: Stacey Kracher of Zarwin Baum, who also helped conceptualize the event, and Nat Measley of the Fun Dept. Measley was also emcee. The Fun Department is an organization that specializes in corporate team building.
Below, Jimmy Murray (left) — former general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles and co-founder of Ronald McDonald House — lets Fox 29’s Mike Jerrick try on his 1980 championship ring.
Below Ted M. Schaer (left) of Zarwin Baum and Patrick McGrath.
Below (left to right), Tim McKenna, Lina Stasytyte, Maria McGonifle and Chris Gali, of the Adminovate team. During one of the competitions, three teammates used a giant slingshot to propel T-shirts across the Philadelphia Soul football field which other teammates would attempt to catch a net.
Another fun competition was “Mustard on the Pretzel” (below). A bowl of mustard packets was placed at the 50 yard line, and using giant foam fingers teammates had to move mustard packets to the pretzel. Any packets that fell on the ground were not allowed in the final count.
Kacie McDonald (below) is ready for her close up. She had to leave at about 6 p.m. for her bedtime an hour later.
Comedian Joe Conklin (below, in grey shirt) helps the Comcast Spectacor team answer trivia questions about the nemeses in the Rocky movies.
Senator Larry Farnese (below, in white shirt) cheers on his Conestoga Bank teammates.
Today Show contributor Lilliana Vazquez (below, on tricycle) with her Ronald McDonald House teammates, participates in the adult-tricycle race. I love how the helmets have the Philadelphia Eagles logo on them.
The Magna team (below) tries to solve a puzzle to win one of the competitions. The tough part here was that most teams thought the object was a cheesesteak, but it was a hotdog wit wiz. Other corporate sponsors participating in the day were: Zarwin Baum, Pro Computer Services, Comcast Spectacor, Conestoga Bank, Haverford Trust, Capital One 360, AstraZeneca, PeopleShare, and eXude.
The final two teams had to also figure out a puzzle. One teammate had to ride a tricycle across the field after rolling an oversize die to get the number 3. He presented his teammates with T-shirts that each had a letter on it, and then the team had to figure out what the letters spelled. It was so close, but Capital One 360 (below, who had the largest cheering section in the stands) had two letters out of place.
Which allowed the team with home field advantage, Comcast Spectacor (below), take home the trophy.
Fran Cassidy (below), Comcast Spectacor vice president of premium seating, welcomes the Philalympics trophy.
It really was a fun and innovative fundraiser, and Philalympics raised $20,000 for the Ronald McDonald House. Below (left to right) are Susan Campbell, executive director of Ronald McDonald House, Stacey Kracher, director of marketing for Zarwin Baum, Jimmy Murray, co-founder of Ronald McDonald House and Mitchell Kaplan, partner at Zarwin Baum. Stay tuned for next year’s competition.
