What makes for a worthy party to celebrate a great company and community?
Take a couple hundred of your best friends from government and private sector IT leadership, add in beautiful weather and refreshments, stir in a great fundraising cause, and top with players of all ages battling it out in a 500-year old game that only somewhat resembles baseball.
The result is MeriTalk’s annual Cricket Match held on September 10 at Bellapais-on-the-Potomac to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the company’s founding.
The headline news:
- Team Caroline headed by MeriTalk Principal Caroline Boyd topped Team Maria captained by former Federal Deputy CIO Maria Roat;
- The final score was 168 to 92, on 20 overs – if you know what that last part means without searching the internet, drop us a line for next year’s match;
- Partygoers ponied up for the USO National Capital District, which supports America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home, and country throughout their service.
- The Federal CIO ranks really know how to play the game – we’re looking at you Sonny Bhagowalia!
“I remember the first time we did the Cricket Match, and we had a client ask us how we were going to get people up on their horses to play the game,” said Steve O’Keeffe, founder of MeriTalk and 300Brand. “So since then I think that we’ve educated the American market on the niceties of the game.”
On marking the 25th anniversary of 300Brand and its subsequent creation of MeriTalk, O’Keeffe said, “in 1977, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee. I was 11 years old and 25 seemed like a massive number. Let’s hope that we live and reign as long as Her Majesty.”
Here’s what a sampling of the spectators had to say:
The Enlightened
“It’s a great game for a great cause…”
“I’m learning that there is more art than science to the game … even those with less experience can succeed…”
“I dig it. It only took me five years to understand what’s going on…”
“I like how it moves much faster than baseball…”
“I love the view, it beats a stadium anytime…”
The Befuddled
“I’m too American to understand cricket…”
“After so many years, I still don’t get it…”
The Comedians
“They told me I was going to meet someone named Cricket…”
“Is it a noisy bug, is it a discount wireless service?”
Mostly from the native cricketeers – keep your day jobs, folks – way too many references to “sticky wickets” and other innuendo for the squeaky-clean pages of MeriTalk.
See you next year for the 26th anniversary match!
