The beginning is sudden

Spring 2021

Boss (President) "Yuri-chan, it's been 10 years since Pergo, and I want to hold a fan event. Can you organize a fan event for me? Gather about 200 people!"
Yuri: "Damn! Boss is crazy!"

Well, this article is written by Pergo's PR Yuri. I was in charge of the executive committee chair of a fan event called Navi & Camp. I ran away from being a class representative, director, or leader. Other than the executive committee. I will introduce how I planned Navi & Camp, what kind of event Navi & Camp is, including behind-the-scenes stories!

Hosting a fan event was both a dream and a challenge for Pergo. Because I'm good at making products, but I've never made an event before. As a result of thinking, "What kind of things will Pergo fans be happy about?", I decided to create an event where Pergo users can interact through the same activities, rather than just a camping event. However, the user's main battlefield is wide-ranging. Some are trail runners, some are hikers, some are campers. For example, the track and field club, the mountaineering club, and the go-home club play together after school. This is a high hurdle!

Four games to compete for outdoor power

Rogaining <br>Rogaining-style game where you compete for the total points of the CPs you spin within the time limit.

Orienteering <br>An orienteering game in which you compete for the total points of the CPs within the time limit.

Pack and Go <br>A game that competes for the time to pack camping equipment for one night "quickly and neatly".

Chakka and Go <br>A game where you compete against the skill of making fire and time.

Paago Navi & Camp 0.5 is a fan event of Pergo Works where you can experience the fun of the outdoors through navigation sports and camping. (The reason for 0.5 times is that we are holding 0 times as a pre-event in May.) Participate in teams of two people and improve outdoor skills in four events (rogaining, orienteering, packing, cooking). Deepen exchanges while competing. It became an event that incorporated a navigation game, centering on the common denominator of Pergo users, "I like to play outside." This is because when playing outdoors, it is essential to know your current location accurately in a field with few man-made objects.

52 people from 26 groups gathered by invitation or introduction. From famous athletes who are familiar with the Great Race, to outdoor writers, Japan's orienteering representatives, and the manager of a training shop, it was truly a mixed martial arts competition. 100 points are allocated to each of the four competitions so that people with any background can enjoy them.

The basic rules up to this point have already been notified to the participants in advance. But there are many unwritten rules for this event. For example, there are human movement CPs that are suddenly released during orienteering, and president points that bosses issue on a whim! Well, if you've heard this far, you should know. There is no fairness in this race! No matter how fast you walk, you can't win if you can't read the map. No matter how good you are at reading maps, you can't win if you can't start a fire. And even if everything is well balanced, you can't get a perfect score if you don't find a moving point! Athletes who usually live in the world of competition, and campers who play in their own outdoor fields that have nothing to do with competition, have a place to play an active part.

What is a navigation game in the first place?
An outdoor sport that uses a map and compass to find CPs (checkpoints) set in various places and compete for the total score and time. There are a wide variety of races, such as orienteering, which is played in a relatively narrow mountain area with a 1/10,000 map, town logaining, where tourist attractions are used as CPs in urban areas, and OMM races, in which all camp equipment is carried. For this event, the orienteering circle " Tortoise " cooperated to create a navigation competition and create a map.

Round 1 Rogaining ~The Beginning of Turmoil~

Boss "Yuri-chan, this team is interesting, so can I give you special points?"
Yuri: "President points can be given up to three times a day, please. (Serious face)"

Day 1 starts with Photorogaining using a 1/25000 map. By the way, in this Photorogaining, points are accumulated while shooting the CP pass proof with a smartphone app called Navi Tabi . In the previous pre-event, many "president's points" occurred, so this time it will look like an Ogiri tournament. Here are some of the photos sent to Navi Tabi.

Chitamuri Team (Mr. and Mrs. Nakamura) Drunk each CP? I will shoot around. Did you have other climbers take pictures of the summit? I'm curious.

Fukushima-san, who is active as a singer-songwriter for the Maji♡Itoko Team (Yamagishi/Fukushima) , entered the event with a guitar case packed with equipment. Get president points!

Team Sunoko and Sadako (Tomochika/Morino) uploaded photos of the severed heads of fallen warriors at all points, instilling fear in the scoring side. Get the president's point wonderfully with a consistent concept!

Each goal has its own style.

Trailrunner & Surfer Team (Shimoya/Shimazaki) Satoru Shimoya who won the Oku Musashi 100 and became famous in the Great Race. Even though I struggled with my first rogaining, I finished with a smile and a perfect matching look with my girlfriend Yuka!

Some teams burst into tears after reaching the goal. The Yokohama OL club team (Tanabe/Murakami) said, "I'm tired of carrying my luggage and reading the map, but I got more points!"

Round 2 Chakka and Go ~To the Next Battle~

Boss: "Yuri-chan, it's boring when someone who can run wins, so please add a race to the program where the campers will definitely win."
Yuri: "I'll definitely win, then it'll be a bonfire!"

The second competition is a game called chukka and go, which competes with fire-making skills and time. The theme behind this event is “learning”. Before every competition there is a simple demonstration by the "master". When Sakurai, the bonfire master, successfully ignited the fire with a single fire starter, the crowd was surprised!

Light a bonfire with a fire starter and boil water. A bonfire venue that glows with the signal of "Start!"

Teams with hot water raise their hands and appeal! The referee will be Mr. Bob, the president of the All Japan Bonfire and Water Heating Association (fictitious), who will make a strict judgment with a Tanita water thermometer.

The team of Mr. Sunoko, also known as the king of handsome camp, stood out. 1st place with a big gap from 2nd place! It's a relaxed expression.

The Trippers Orienteering Club (Hida/Kawachi) is a pair of trail running shop clerks. Although I struggled at first, I reassembled the firewood and ignited it. There are also teams who are struggling without any fire, and teams around them working together to help the slow team. You can't eat rice without a fire!

Bonfire time & talk session

Start a fire with a chukka and go, boil water and enter the meal time as it is. Cooking with your own fire feels especially delicious!

This time, A-suke opened a bar that offers sake and homemade smoked snacks! A-suke is the master of Cafe & bar BASE CAMP in Suidobashi, which has an outdoor concept.

When it got dark, the talk show started. He talked about the Pergoworks team, introducing products that will be released next year, and about manufacturing with ambassadors. This is a game without a script. Boss is running alone, showing products that have not yet been released, and suddenly calling guests to the stage. The timekeeper was nervous all the time (laughs).

Charge! campsite next door

The morning of Navi & Camp is early. You will be woken up by radio exercises that are not in the program. MC suke is in high spirits from the morning.

Following the same flow, the “Totsugeki! Neighbor Campsite” began, in which participants randomly toured the campsites! Since the previous pre-event was well received, this time as well, Gear Otaku Sakurai will search out the campsites of the participants with his unique sense of values. Utilizing the knowledge of former shop staff, we will check the equipment of the participants without permission.

Team Doors (Totsuka couple) also participated in the previous pre-event. Considering the speed of withdrawal this time, I purposely purchased a fine track Zelt. It is impressive that each team is studying "trends and countermeasures" for this day.

Gear otaku Sakurai was touched by the equipment of the Minimal Brothers team (Miyanishi/Ohtake) . The rucksack is particularly small, and I'm curious about what I brought on the contrary.

Sukkesuke's tarp only covers his face, and his bedding is a sleeping bag made from SOL's emergency blanket. The point of weight reduction is to "increase physical strength and endurance by the day".

Map reading course

On the first day, we will have two lectures before the competition. First, a map reading class by Yuki-san, an orienteering master (who has won the Japan Championships four times and has represented Japan three times). Orienteers of the participants also acted as instructors and went around the CP in the forest together.

Packing class

The second lecture is a packing class by a packing expert. I asked the boss, as well as the master of packing! Boss, who has been a backpack designer for many years, will give a lecture on how to pack two types of backpacks from the designer's perspective and tips on how to bring the center of gravity closer to the body.

After understanding the importance of packing, the second day of the race begins!

Round 3 Pack and Go ~Ambush Without Justice~

Boss: "It's a packing game, but I'd like to try it with a 'ルマン式スタート'. Isn't it fun to announce the rules on the day?"
Yuri: What is the Le Mans style? (Confused)

The two types of competition on the second day adopted the "Le Mans style start". In other words, participants are temporarily locked out of the campsite and are in a state where they cannot touch their equipment. At the signal of “yoidon”, everyone enters the campsite all at once, packs their belongings, and then the orienteering starts. In other words, if you don't pack your luggage quickly, the orienteering time will be shortened, which is disadvantageous. That said, if you pack it in a mess, the three hours during the competition will be tough.

The participants started to evacuate the campsite all at once. The team that organized their luggage early in the morning has an advantage. Does it favor hikers with more mountain experience?

But the fastest was the Minimal Brothers! . The overwhelming lack of equipment decided victory or defeat. Light is justice!

The Fukinoto Team (Obata/Kuno) are two master-students who are active in adventure races. Mr. Kuno, the youngest participant, has just become a hatachi, a 30-year-old duo!

Round 4 Orienteering ~Unleashed Assassin~

Boss: "Since simple orienteering is boring, let's set up human movement points that move freely!"
Yuri: OK!

The team that has finished packing safely scatters in the forest as it is.

One of the unique rules of Navican is "Movement Point". During an orienteering competition, a human movement CP is released into the forest. If you catch a moving point, plus 40 points! It's a pretty big allotment, so whether you catch it or not will be involved in winning. This time, four people were put in, and they escaped firmly and confused the participants.

As the time limit approaches, the participants return one after another aiming at the goal. If time passes, it will be a big deduction!

The impromptu team (Inage/Wakaoka) is an impromptu pair of Ms. Inage, the strongest girl in the orienteering world, and Ms. Wakaoka, who has just won the Finnish stage race the other day. In the case of solo participation, the executive committee will arbitrarily match you with a buddy with dogmatic and prejudiced. The two of them have earned a lot of points with their excellent navigation and running ability!

The Tentekomai team (Kobayashi/Nagamatsu) finished in a sandwich style. Surprisingly, this time he canceled the trail running race held on the same day and participated in the event!

Awards Ceremony ~Winner's Combat~

When all the competitions are over and all the points have been scored, the award ceremony is held. This time there are two tied first place teams! (Huh!? I only prepared one set of prizes, but what are you going to do!? ️ The management side is messy behind the scenes.)

So, the final winner will be decided by hand sumo. I really don't know the winner until the end!

As a result of rigorous push sumo wrestling, the Minimal Brothers, who showed tenacity with violent weight reduction and boasted navigation power, won the championship! Won the winning prize Rush 30 (SP model). Can you use it properly?

Finally, what kind of event is "Navican"?

If you love the outdoors, this is a Pergo fan event for any background. Whether you run or not, you can't read a map, you don't even have a bonfire, a gentle "master" will teach you well and you can be active in your field. Whether you're a runner who usually beats every minute in a trail race, a hiker who likes a leisurely walk in the Alps, or a camper who likes to hang out by a bonfire, find something new to enjoy at this annual festival. I would be happy if you could give it to me. Anyway, there are various ways to enjoy it, so I would like people who like pergo to participate!

Boss: Hey everyone! Did you enjoy this time?
Yuri
I announced ahead of schedule, but the first tournament is scheduled for May next year. At that time, I think that I will also receive general recruitment. Whew~~ I have to have another meeting!