DISHER Dart Wars

One of the Many Reasons DISHER is a Great Place to Work

DISHER Dart Wars is an epic matchup of our fiercest nerf-gun-wielding competitors.

The second DISHER Dart Wars battle kicked off with 28 contenders in our Zeeland and Ann Arbor locations. As the games began each participant received their first target and started strategizing and plotting. The rules for the game included:

1. No shots fired in safe zones including individual’sdesk, conference rooms, customer sites, and during Friday all-staff meetings.
2. Once a target is taken out, their target is passed along to the shooter.
3. The target can freeze their shooter for 30-minutes by hitting them first.

The game started with some confusion in the Ann Arbor office as the team received their targets the day before the game started. Frank White thought the game started immediately after the email came out and shot his target, Jason Velarde, within a few minutes. His response, “Whoever heard of war starting tomorrow? War is immediate!” Of course, this shot did not count, but it did provide great entertainment for the team.

After that incident the game became very quiet as everyone was stealthy about their hits unlike our first DISHER Dart Wars. If you were not paying close attention you may have missed many of the hits all together.

After Connor Tierney took advantage of a team outing at Buffalo Wild Wings where he took out three of his teammates in a row, the Ann Arbor office was quickly whittled down to just Connor and Chad Barnes as the final two. Connor defeated Chad in an epic final duel and walked away with the golden nerf gun for being the last man standing. Matthew Reed had the second most hits and took the silver nerf gun award.

The Zeeland office took a little bit longer to get down to the final two, but finally it came down to just Brent Klein-Horsman and Nathan Cummings. The final battle included a chase through the Colonial Clock Building depicted by Brent here:

“Nathan had been trying to take me out for weeks. After multiple failed attempts I had finally worked my way through the targets and landed on him. He popped into the Design Studio unexpextedly on a Thursday and sneakly spotted me at my desk. Being safe at my desk, he walked away. Nathan checked again one more time after a meeting before he left for the day and I knew I had to cease the opportunity.

I went chasing after him but he was already down the stairs and had spotted me. I decided to try and cut him off at the exit, running to the other set of stairs near the exit and waited, but he didn’t show. My heart racing, I figured he must have gone out the side door or possibly doubled back on me and was waiting to spring an ambush. I quietly and cautiously made my way back to the Studio peeking around every corner to make sure the coast was clear.

There was no sign of him and I thought my chance was over, until I overheared him trying to plan his ambush with everyone who sat by me. It was now or never… I slowly and quietly crept up to the corner and jumped, ambushing the ambush. Moving fast and low to get a clear shot I rounded on him. In his surprise he fired and missed. After dodging his attempt I pulled the trigger, hitting him square in the chest. We all laughed, Nathan and I shook hands, and we congratulated each other just happy for the game to finally be over.”

DISHER Dart Wars 2016 Champions

While the four winners get bragging rights till the next battle, the rest of us were provided with plenty of entertainment from the game. It was so much fun to plan and moderate this game and watch all of the enjoyment that came from it. This is just one of the many activities that make DISHER such a fun and unique place to be!

Written By: Kimberly Bauer  | Talent Acquisition Coordinator 
Kimberly brings many skills from her years at Bethany Christian Services and Women at Risk International. A Grand Valley State University alumni, Kimberly received her BA in Public and Nonprofit Administration with an Emphasis in Community Health and a Minor in Hospitality and Tourism Management. Kimberly loves kayaking, hiking, camping, traveling, and art— in addition to her husband and golden retriever.