The C5 Quest for Success
Invited project for ZeroOne San Jose: a Global Festival of Art on the Edge
August 8-13, 2006
"Anyone on foot in suburban California is one of four things: poor, foreign, mentally ill, or jogging." - Hari Kunzru, Transmission
08/12/06
C5 would like to extend its congratulations to the winner of the C5 Quest for Success:
Lizabeth Rossof
Mill Valley, USA
Final judging took place on Saturday, August 12 at the ZeroOneSouth First Street block party.
08/11/06
After 3 nights of breakneck competition and a great performance delivered by all contestants, the finalists were determined:
Lizabeth Rossof
Mill Valley, USA
Joseph DeLappe
Reno, USA
Julian Bleecker
Venice, USA
The C5 Quest for Success is a suburban game that tests the analysis, management, and cooperative decision making skills necessary for success in Silicon Valley. The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program at the Montalvo Arts Center in cooperation with C5 Corporation and a to be named corporate partner provided a substantial Artists Residency opportunity as the grand prize award. The C5 Quest for Success is a game of strategy and tactics, executed while taking a literary excursion through the back-stories of entrepreneurialism associated with San Jose, the metropolitan center of Silicon Valley. More than just a race, The C5 Quest for Success is a personal challenge to comprehend the moment and seize the opportunity.
San Jose is the 10th largest city in the United States with a population of 1,000,000. It is the safest big city in the nation, is close to a lot of things, and has good schools, convenient shopping and plenty of parking. Although expensive, San Jose represents a unique platform for high stakes/low point entrepreneurs.
The Game:
The C5 Quest for Success was structured around three ZeroOne San Jose Festival opportunities: TALK, DEMO, PERFORM. Contestants had the opportunity to present their pitch through any of these three modes. Imagine the prospect of being invited to do any of these at a major international festival. Over the course of three evenings, a total of fifteen contestants (five per night) selected from an open call for qualifications competed against the streets of San Jose for just such an opportunity. Contestants navigated the streets of San Jose exploring GPS controlled narratives in an attempt to locate the C5 Corporate Limo. Once there, they had the opportunity to pitch their proposal to a panel of distinguished experts. A single winner from each evening's competition then advanced to the final round on Saturday, August 12th. Three finalists, one from each of the three evenings 'presented' their pitch live on-stage during the ZeroOne San Jose culminating celebration. The grand prize winner was selected by an international panel of art administrators, curators, and technology experts. Contestant evaluation was somewhat of a public process, but not entirely.
The C5 Quest for Success was conducted in 3 wheeled gas powered vehicles in which contestants were joined by a C5 chauffeur with whom they operated as a team to interact with an on-board GPS driven audio narrative system. Location information of the vehicle activated narrative descriptions of the city and presented choices for selection, each particular series of choices resulted in the creation of a misguided tour of San Jose. The game was not a race against others, although it was. The smart player, played the game well by taking cues from the on-board narratives and improvising their planned presentations informed by the back-stories and expertise of C5. Each contestant determined the best tactical tour of the city that would determine both an arrival time and useful information that woul best compliment their presentation.
In order of arrival, contestants had a seven-minute opportunity to present their proposal, have a drink, a tasty snack and be interviewed by expert evaluators. The evaluators elected to accept or pass on each pitch they were presented. However, they had to select one and only one each evening. The game ended when a selection was made and that contestant moved to the second round: a presentation at the festival culminating celebration. Arriving first didnot necessarily give the contestant the advantage, especially if they lacked the rhetoric.
View a list of the selected contestants.
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