TNGDG – Part 1 – What has happened – a timeline

It all started almost two years ago when I started with a company here in Australia.

22 February 2007 – Started in a role as Manager Program Office based on a 12 month Fix Term Contract (like a full term employee but limited to 12 month).
22 February 2008 – 4 month Casual Contract and nominated to run a specific project.
17 July 2008 – Contract finished and leaving from employer in good faith.
19 July 2008 – Heading of to the US to do the John Muir Trail (230 Miles and 46.000 Feet Ascend)
During the John Muir Trail the idea developed to create a game that is reflecting on a project. I always wanted to do something like this. Everybody who ever has done projects will remember funny situations you faced that either put you a step forward or backwards. Remember building a house and you are having long debates with your partner about the colour in the living room. Those kind of situations would end up in action cards „Long debate with your partner about colour in living room – go to 2 steps back“. And while I was walking, some days I had to stop every 2 hours to empty my head and release all the creativity and put it on paper.
17 August 2008 – returning from the US
from that point on I was working on the game for about 4 weeks. I had to sharpen the idea, develop the concept and build it in Power Point.
10 September 2008 – approached by former employer and encouraged to apply for a specific role
So my seat I left behind was still warm and many people have been aware about this. Therefore I refused to send the already finished game and also a farewell message.
20 November 2008 – informed that application will not be progressed any further
21 November 2008 – Farewell message including the game sent as a legacy to former employees I was working with, to have a laugh about the situations we faced together during that project
Now the ball started rolling and the storm started to form
Of course, the game created some momentum and excitement therefore it has been passed on to others without control
26 November 2008 – Approached by the press, the email including the board game as pdf attachement has been anonymously passed on to the brisbanetimes.com.au and I was asked whether I would like to comment. After getting advice I declined to comment.
It went quiet after that but on December 2nd the storm has formed and was breaking loose.

02 December 2008

• 04:01 Article Published on brisbanetimes.com.au
• 08:00 I was checking something on the internet and found the article
  It was the second biggest headline on the front page and the most read article on the website already
• 08:05 shocked, surprised and excited
• 08:10 first colleagues were calling
• 09:00 Article was available on Sydney Morning Herald and on The Age
  all on title page and almost same article
  SMH published a photo on the title page with the face of Richard Branson in front of the game
• 12:10 First Online Forum starts discussing topic
  others are following
  Article also published on Western Australia Today
• Afternoon First Blog Post published
• End of day, this article remains the most read article on that day for brisbanetimes.com.au

03 December 2008

• After a rough day, things were settling down and the storm has passed

04 December 2008

• Things have settled almost completely and nobody is talking about it any more

Bottom Line:
Was that big? Not at all, but it shows the momentum and it makes you feel what others are going through that are mentioned in the press far more often. Where messages are tweaked to attract readers and from one day to the other you become a „disgruntled ex-staffer playing games with your former employer“