GISHWHES

File:Misha Collins (7606270220).jpg

Actor Misha Collins, known for playing the angel Castiel on the American television series Supernatural, is the founder of GISHWHES.{{cite news|last=Mandy|first=Chaos|title=GISHWHES – International Scavenger Hunt|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/10/gishwhes/|access-date=October 19, 2013|newspaper=Wired|date=October 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920155337/https://www.wired.com/2012/10/gishwhes/|archive-date=September 20, 2020|url-status=live}} The competition began informally in 2010 when Holly Ollis, a publicist for Warner Bros., asked Collins to engage his audience to help Supernatural move from second place to first in the People's Choice Awards voting.{{cite news|last=Prudom|first=Laura|title='Supernatural' Season 9: Misha Collins Talks Castiel's Human Side, Sex Scenes, Random Acts And GISHWHES|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/supernatural-season-9-misha-collins_n_3656950.html|access-date=October 20, 2013|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=July 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728125831/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/supernatural-season-9-misha-collins_n_3656950.html|archive-date=July 28, 2013|url-status=live}} Collins posted a message on Twitter, declaring that if the show won, Ollis had promised him a rhinoceros which he would share with everyone who helped by voting for the show. When Supernatural won the competition, Collins, partially inspired by his time at the University of Chicago as an undergraduate during which he participated in the school's annual scavenger hunt,{{cite magazine|last1=Highfill|first1=Samantha|title=Here's how 'Supernatural' star Misha Collins is breaking world records|url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/07/23/supernatural-misha-collins-gishwes-interview/|access-date=July 25, 2014|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=July 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727191057/http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/07/23/supernatural-misha-collins-gishwes-interview/|archive-date=July 27, 2014|url-status=live}} asked his followers to send him self-addressed stamped envelopes into which he put scavenger hunt prompts written on the backs of jigsaw puzzle pieces from a puzzle depicting a rhino.{{cite news|last=Romano|first=Aja|title='Supernatural' star's Greatest International Scavenger Hunt attracts 10,000 contestants|url=http://www.dailydot.com/culture/misha-collins-greatest-scavenger-hunt-gishwhes/|access-date=October 29, 2013|newspaper=The Daily Dot|date=October 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420183621/http://www.dailydot.com/culture/misha-collins-greatest-scavenger-hunt-gishwhes/|archive-date=April 20, 2013|url-status=}} Soon, participants began to respond to Collins's "absurd" requests. One successful prompt, for example, challenged fans to photograph a group of firemen wearing nothing but kale.

Collins enjoyed this exercise so much that he decided to create an official scavenger hunt in 2011. He established the event's website and gave it its name, the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen, calling its acronym, GISHWHES, "the ugliest acronym the world has ever seen". According to Collins, the primary reason for developing the competition was that he "loved the idea of thousands of people from all over the world connecting to create incredible things".{{cite web|last=Barrett|first=Dan|title=Misha Collins and GISHWHES: the world's largest media scavenger hunt!|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2013/3/misha-collins-and-the-worlds-largest-scavenger-hunt-47380/|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=October 19, 2013|date=March 7, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521181214/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2013/3/misha-collins-and-the-worlds-largest-scavenger-hunt-47380/|archive-date=May 21, 2013}} He hoped to use GISHWHES to encourage participants "to do good in the world". The inaugural event, categorized by Guinness World Records as a "media scavenger hunt", broke the record for the largest scavenger hunt of its kind. In 2012, it broke its own record with 14,580 participants,{{cite web|title=Largest media scavenger hunt|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1000/largest-media-scavenger-hunt|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=October 19, 2013|year=2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714034734/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1000/largest-media-scavenger-hunt|archive-date=July 14, 2013}} representing 69 different countries.{{cite news|last=Hayes|first=Molly|title=Wanted: Rooster costume and Russian colonel|url=http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4029952-wanted-rooster-costume-and-russian-colonel/|access-date=October 19, 2013|newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator|date=August 14, 2013}} The contest broke two additional world records in 2013: the longest safety pin chain, measuring {{convert|1901.8|m|ft|1}}, and the largest online photo album of hugs, totaling 108,121 images.{{cite news|last1=Benjamin|first1=Maria|title=Misha Collins and Friends Officially Break World Record for Hugs|url=http://cwdetroit.cbslocal.com/2014/06/16/misha-collins-and-friends-officially-break-world-record-for-hugs/|access-date=June 16, 2014|work=WKBD-TV|date=June 16, 2014}}

On November 19, 2022, Misha Collins announced that he was officially putting GISH events on hold for the time being, saying he needed to focus his energy elsewhere.{{cite web |last1=Collins |first1=Misha |title=A Letter From Misha |url=https://www.gish.com/thanks-for-the-gish/ |website=GISH |access-date=2022-12-05 |archive-date=2022-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205025427/https://www.gish.com/thanks-for-the-gish/ |url-status=dead }}

On the first day of the week-long competition,{{cite news|title=Just try to find a stranger scavenger hunt than this|url=http://www.recorder.com/home/8080850-95/just-try-to-find-a-stranger-scavenger-hunt-than-this|access-date=October 19, 2013|newspaper=The Recorder|date=August 16, 2013|author=Recorder staff}} a list is posted on the GISHWHES website with over 150 different tasks for competitors to complete during the hunt, which Collins and his friends, including co-coordinator Jean Louis Alexander, have devised prior to the beginning of the competition.{{sfn|Stein|2013|p=420}} Teams then submit photos or videos of themselves completing the prompts at the contest's website, receiving points for each item completed. While literal interpretations of prompts are preferred, judges will sometimes award points for especially creative responses.{{cite news|last1=Natasha|first1=Verayo|title=And then there was Gishwhes|url=http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/166741/and-then-there-was-gishwhes|access-date=July 30, 2014|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=July 26, 2014}} Prizes for the team with the most points at the end of GISHWHES have included a trip to Scotland for a slumber party with Collins and a trip to Vancouver for a "Viking surprise".

Teams consist of 15 members who may come from different countries. Individuals may prearrange teams or sign up individually, in which case they are randomly grouped into appropriately sized teams. As of the 2019 contest, signup costs ran US$25 per person with part of the participation fees going towards Random Acts, a non-profit run by Collins that aims to encourage random acts of kindness.{{cite news|last=Campbell|first=Amber|title=TV actor sends teens on wild chase|url=http://www.sj-r.com/voice/x1837079247/TV-actor-sends-teens-on-wild-chase?zc_p=0|access-date=October 19, 2013|newspaper=The State Journal-Register|date=August 30, 2013}}

In 2018 the competition was rebranded under the name Greatest International Scavenger Hunt (GISH), and added a free app that can be downloaded to have information in a simpler and direct fashion, and to directly chat with others on their team or close to their location.

In April 2020 Misha Collins announced GISH would be launching their first ever 24 hour mini hunt, beginning April 25. Money raised from this hunt provided meals for children impacted by Covid-related school closures. This was also the first GISH hunt that Misha Collins has personally participated in, along with his wife Vikki and children West and Maison. Another 24 hour mini hunt was scheduled for May 30.

GISHWHES challenges vary widely in focus and sometimes attract media attention. The Los Angeles-focused OC Weekly reported on a local ice cream shop's response to a GISHWHES team that asked them to create a custom ice cream flavor for the 2013 challenge "Get your team's new ice cream flavor on sale in an ice cream parlor".{{cite news|last=Goei|first=Edwin|title=Strickland's To Unveil Mystery Flavor Tonight For International Scavenger Hunt|url=http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2013/08/stricklands_to_unveil_mystery.php|access-date=October 19, 2013|newspaper=OC Weekly|date=August 15, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029181146/http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2013/08/stricklands_to_unveil_mystery.php|url-status=dead}} Another challenge involved participants using and spreading the word abnosome, Collins's portmanteau of abnormal and awesome. During the 2013 hunt, competitors were asked to dress up as the DC Comics character Flash and have their pictures taken next to a functioning particle accelerator. As a result, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Fermilab received numerous emails from GISHWHES participants and set up special tours for the visitors. Dean Golembeski reported in Symmetry, the official magazine of Fermilab and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, that the visits were welcomed and seen as an opportunity to educate a wider audience on the goals of and research done at national laboratories.{{cite news|last=Golembeski|first=Dean|title=The Flash invades Jefferson Lab|url=http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/august-2013/the-flash-invades-jefferson-lab|access-date=October 19, 2013|newspaper=Symmetry|date=August 23, 2013}}

Most GISHWHES challenges were completed successfully by at least one team, according to Collins. During the 2012 contest, for example, only one item saw no successes: coating a commercial blimp with fall leaves. Collins speculated it failed because of physical limitations. A 2013 challenge noted by Écrans, a French website run by Libération, challenged competitors to convince astronauts on the International Space Station to take a photo holding a sign with their team's name. Efforts by participants were headed off by NASA, which posted that the astronauts were unable to participate on its official Twitter account.{{cite news|last=Gindensperger|first=Sophie|title=" Gishwhes " : un stormtrooper dans ta laverie et 149 autres défis|url=http://www.ecrans.fr/Gishwhes-un-stormtrooper-dans-ta,16792.html|access-date=October 20, 2013|newspaper=Libération|date=August 13, 2013|language=French}}

File:GISHWHES 2012 No. 95 -- cucumber kilt.jpg|2012, No. 95: "Kilt made entirely of sliced cucumbers. Must be worn by a man."{{cite press release |last=Collins |first=Misha |year=2012 |title= GISHWHES 2012 List of Items |publisher=GISHWHES}}

File:GISHWHES 2012 No. 117 -- Duck Duck Goose.webm|2012, No. 117: "Play 'Duck Duck Goose' with real ducks and geese."

File:GISHWHES 2012, No. 124 -- Serif-based foreplay.webm|2012, No. 124: "Shoot an erotically charged scene. [...] The film must involve a pizza man and the actors can ONLY talk about grammar and fonts. Please use at least three of the following terms, 'kerning,' 'serif,' 'gerund,' 'participle,' and 'imperfective.'"

File:GISHWHES 2012 No. 148 -- Kissing with food.jpg|2012, No. 148: "A picture of you and a loved one kissing. Here's the catch though - you must have at least 11 food items between your lips and the lips of your loved one."

File:GISHWHES 2013, No. 25 -- Stealth Kindness.webm|2013, No. 25: "Do a stealth act of kindness for someone in public or at work like leaving a flower on their windshield, or a 'kindness note' at their desk, etc. Film them discovering it."{{cite press release |last=Collins |first=Misha |year=2013 |title= GISHWHES 2013 List of Items |publisher=GISHWHES}}

File:GISHWHES 2013 No. 114 -- Chris Hardwick fruit.jpg|2013, No. 114: "Let's see a portrait of Chris Hardwick from the Nerdist.com made from dried fruit."

Aspects of the contests have been well received by some media outlets. A writer for Nerdist.com called it an "avalanche of awesomeness" and compared the hunt's acronym to "an apocryphal GWAR album or a lesser deity in H.P. Lovecraft's consonant-laden pantheon".{{cite web|last=Casey|first=Dan|date=July 25, 2013|title=Join the Hunt with GISHWHES 2013 and Misha Collins|url=http://www.nerdist.com/2013/07/join-the-hunt-with-gishwhes-2013-and-misha-collins/|work=Nerdist.com|publisher=Nerdist Industries|access-date=April 10, 2014}} Reviewing the experience of participating in GISHWHES, a writer for Detroit's WKBD-TV described the contest as "a lot of fun" and recommended that others participate in the future. Shanghai Daily deemed several of GISHWHES's challenges "outrageous" and "visually stunning".{{cite news|last=Lu|first=Feiran|title=Scavenger hunt makes 'awesome' art|url=http://www.shanghaidaily.com/Feature/art-and-culture/Scavenger-hunt-makes-awesome-art/shdaily.shtml|access-date=April 11, 2014|newspaper=Shanghai Daily|date=August 3, 2013}} Laura Prudom of The Huffington Post commended Collins's "herculean" efforts in organizing the event.{{cite news|last=Prudom|first=Laura|title='Supernatural' Star Misha Collins Talks Season 8 And Holding The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/misha-collins-supernatural-season-8-gishwhes_n_1990234.html|access-date=April 10, 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=October 20, 2012}}

Not all reception has been positive. Emily VanDerWerff wrote for Vox that, "Quite a few of the items basically invite participants to pester—or even harass—the famous and semi-famous on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook."{{cite news|last1=VanDerWerff|first1=Emily|title=Why the Internet's biggest scavenger hunt is the bane of many sci-fi authors' existence|url=https://www.vox.com/2014/8/6/5976267/gishwhes-explainer-scavenger-hunt-sci-fi-authors/in/5664110|date=August 6, 2014|access-date= August 7, 2014|work=Vox}} A 2014 challenge asked hunters to convince published science fiction authors to write a 140-character story for them and some, such as John Scalzi and Lauren DeStefano, complained that the task encouraged participants to harass them on social networks.

In an article analyzing Collins's relationship with his fanbase, Middlebury College Assistant Professor Louisa Ellen Stein argued that GISHWHES was a "co-authored transmedia experience" that "play[ed] with [the] power, erotics, and emotional excess present in Collins' fandom."{{sfn|Stein|2013|p=420}} Citing participants' independent efforts to coordinate teams using a variety of online platforms, Stein suggested that "GISHWHES may lack the overt language of industrial reconfiguration found in the Divine Kickstarter Project [a webseries that Collins engaged his fans to help fund]. But through its satire and dadaist play, it more fully models the potential for a congregation of authors, both official and unofficial, to direct fannish and creative investment into digital participation."{{sfn|Stein|2013|p=421}} Stein further argued that "decentralized projects like Gishwhes, with creators who fully immerse themselves in the surrounding digital cultures, show us the potential for future transmedia creative authorship in millennial culture."{{sfn|Stein|2015|p=153}}

GISHWHES has broken several Guinness World Records.

• Largest Photo Scavenger Hunt (2011)
• Largest Media Scavenger Hunt (2012) - 14,580 participants{{Cite web |url=http://www.gishwhes.com/world_records.php |title=Guinness World Records :: GISHWHES |access-date=2016-09-14 |archive-date=2016-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919142043/http://www.gishwhes.com/world_records.php |url-status=dead }}
• Most Pledges for a Campaign/to Complete a Random Act of Kindness (2012) - 93,376 pledges
• Largest Online Photo Album of Hugs (2013) - 108,121 hugshttp://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-online-photo-album-of-hugs {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}
• Largest Chain of Safety Pins (2013) - {{convert|3,583|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} longhttp://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-chain-of-safety-pins {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}
• Largest Gathering of People Dressed as French Maids (2014) - 695 participants
• Most People in a Decorated Hat Competition (2014)
• Longest Human Chain to Pass Through a Hula Hoop (2014) - 572 participantshttp://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-human-chain-to-pass-a-hula-hoop {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}

• Most Painted Rocks In One Place at One Time (2021) - 21,790 rocks {{Cite web |date=2021-05-15 |title=Maryland Foundation Earns Guinness World Record In Order To Bring Awareness About Suicide Prevention - CBS Baltimore |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/baltimore/news/maryland-foundation-earns-guinness-world-record-to-bring-awareness-about-suicide-prevention/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Stein|first1=Louisa Ellen|editor1-last=Gray|editor1-first=Jonathan| editor2-last=Johnson | editor2-first= Derek | encyclopedia= A Companion to Media Authorship | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |date = 2013| title = #Bowdown to Your New God: Misha Collins and Decentered Authorship in the Digital Age |location = Hoboken, NJ | isbn= 978-0-470-67096-5|doi=10.1002/9781118505526.ch21 |pages=403–425}}
• {{cite book|last1=Stein|first1=Louisa Ellen|title=Millennial Fandom: Television Audiences in the Transmedia Age|publisher=University of Iowa Press|location=Iowa City, IA|date=2015|isbn= 978-1-60938-356-5|doi=10.2307/j.ctt20p587m}}

{{commons category}}

• {{Official website|https://www.gishwhes.com/ }}

Category:Annual events in the United States

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Category:2011 establishments in the United States

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