Rock, Paper, Scissors. Is it a childish game? A decision mechanism only slightly superior to flipping a coin? You be the judge. What I do know is that at the WOMMA Issues Summit in DC, it inspired 500 marketers from around the world to pop out of their chairs and roam around the room in fierce competition. Douglas Walker, managing director of the World Rock Paper Scissors Society, amused the crowd with his story of asserting himself as the world’s leading expert on RPS and how claiming that authority and creating content around it has turned RPS into an ideavirus that has successfully infected thousands around the world. After that, he challenged everyone to challenge each other in the world’s largest “street rules” RPS competition.

I don’t know why or how everyone got into it, but it happened. Witness WOMMA’s esteemed CEO Andy Sernovitz being spanked by an attendee thowing paper to his rock in the photo on the left. In some ways RPS is a great equalizer. ALL the attendees, even those from around the world who had brought translators, understood Rock Paper Scissors and could interact.
Want to catch RPS fever (or get one of their sweet t-shirts)? Check out the site. Want to learn how to win every time (yes, you read that correctly)? Check out the official Rock Paper Scissors strategy guide is available on Amazon. Have no one to play against? You can practice against an online trainer here. Next time you need to get a diverse group of new acquantiances interacting, remember that a little childlike fun, competition, and common ground may be just what it takes. Oh, and always throw scissors.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 14th, 2006 at 7:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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