Stop me if this sounds familiar: a company starts an event or a partnership with a charitable organization, and you find yourself wondering what their end game is. We have all seen this before, right? Maybe our skepticism with the state of current affairs leads us to these conclusions. So when I was approached about writing a profile on a recent LMA Your Honor Awards winner, I perked up. What makes this story different from the one above? Well for starters, everything.
Let me start at the beginning. Arent Fox was the winner of the 2014 LMA Your Honor Awards: Capital Engagement award for their GeoPlunge initiative. After listening to GeoPlunge creator Alan Fishel at the awards ceremony and speaking with his team, it is obvious why Arent Fox was selected. Here is a breakdown of initiative:
The History
Ten years ago, Arent Fox partner, Alan Fishel created GeoPlunge, an award-winning geography game. As he told us at the awards ceremony, the idea came about after he asked a dozen third graders on his son’s soccer team a simple question about Miami, and he discovered they did not know where Miami was. It occurred to him that there should be a way to make learning geography fun and engaging. Thus, GeoPlunge was born.
The Game
GeoPlunge teaches children U.S. geography in a fun and motivating way, while simultaneously enhancing their critical thinking skills, and teaching them teamwork and sportsmanship. Arent Fox works in close collaboration with D.C. Public Schools officials, clients and referral sources, hosting multiple city-wide tournaments throughout the year. Students ranging from third grade to eighth grade compete in tournaments, which are more than a simple geography bee. The tournaments consist of three phases:
1) Game one: Teamwork. The kids have to work together to answer simple geography questions based on the clues given to them.
2) Game two: Rapid response. For the speed rounds, the faster they respond, the more points they get.
3) Game three: Strategic thinking. The teams have to come up with tactics similar to playing spades or bridge, they have to think about how the cards will position them and how they can use their hand to put their competition at a disadvantage.
The Growth
Ten years ago, the first GeoPlunge tournament started with eight schools and just 32 kids. This year, the December tournament is expected to have about 300 students representing 30 D.C. public schools. GeoPlunge has even caught the attention of a local major sports team. This past year, the Washington Redskins held a tournament at their indoor facility in Ashburn, VA, which was a resounding success. Clients from as far away as California, Michigan and Connecticut have travelled to D.C. for the event.
The Connections
Now that brings us to the question of how this initiative builds business ties and what it means for the community. GeoPlunge offers Arent Fox clients, referral sources, friends of the firm, and other businesses throughout the community a chance to be active participants. Many other law firms and businesses participate by coaching teams. Lawyers and other coaches spend significant time coaching their teams, and inviting students to their offices for months leading up to the larger tournaments. Several clients, referral sources, and friends of the firm volunteer by helping run tables at the tournament. The Arent Fox team holds training sessions for coaches and day-of volunteers. Throughout the training sessions, the contact in the months leading up to the tournaments, and the close contact during the exciting tournament days, Arent Fox has been able to develop stronger relationships with these entities. One client was so impressed by the initiative that they decided to fund a significant portion of the next batch of GeoPlunge cards to be distributed. It is clear from the positive feedback of the volunteers, that the hard work and diligence of the Arent Fox team has resulted in a successful initiative, pairing kids with professionals in an effort to further their education in an exciting format.
The Conclusion
GeoPlunge is very clearly a hit in the community. Kids are clamoring to form teams, host tournaments at their schools, and make their way into the large tournaments held twice a year. At the same time, clients, referral sources, friends, and other law firms are clamoring to be a part of the action by volunteering to coach and run tables at tournaments. This is one of those feel good stories. After listening to Alan Fishel and his team talk about GeoPlunge with such passion, there is no question in my mind that they believe in what they are doing. GeoPlunge is no publicity stunt - it’s a plunge into philanthropy, a skip into social consciousness, a hurdle into humanitarianism.
Interested in the types of questions the GeoPlunge contestants are facing? Here is a brain teaser for you: What two states’ largest city in population has the same name? No Googling allowed!
A team of kids participating in one of the large GeoPlunge tournaments
GeoPlunge Tournament Volunteers
By Kristin Maclay Brunett, Marketing and Business Development Manager at Paley Rothman, for the November/December 2014 issue of the Capital Ideas Newsletter.