OKLAHOMA CITY — An Olympic-style competition twisted with a mind-boggling question has had more than 80,000 SONIC Drive-In crewmembers guessing 'Where in the World?'
For January, SONIC crewmembers racked their brains trying to decode clues to determine the top secret location of the 2006 Dr Pepper SONIC Games, SONIC's innovative crew retention and incentive program.
On Feb. 10, SONIC officially announced the 2006 Dr Pepper SONIC Games National Finals location: Nashville, Tenn. More than 10,000 entries were submitted and six winners were randomly selected from a pool of more than 700 correct guesses. Each winner received a trip for two anywhere in the continental United States.
To kick off the 12th annual SONIC Games, SONIC created the 'Where in the World?' contest to generate excitement and encourage participation amongst the SONIC Drive-Ins nationwide.
"The addition of the 'Where in the World?' contest has generated a new sense of excitement among the crewmembers," said Diane Prem, vice president of operation services-SONIC Industries. "The SONIC Games have been established as a fun way to train crew members on service, speed, quality and accuracy. By adding an element of mystery to the competition, crews are even more motivated to become one of the final teams."
This year, more than 2,600 stores and nearly 80,000 crewmembers are competing to become one of 12 finalist teams. This enrollment sets a new record for the Dr Pepper SONIC Games. Since the first SONIC Games in 1994, enrollment has increased by more than 300 percent.
The nine-month Olympic-style competition will assess crews from coast to coast on Carhop (food delivery), Fountain (drink preparation), Switchboard (service delivery), Dresser, Grill and Swamp (food preparation) categories. This competition not only improves the quality of service, but crew members also learn important life skills such as goal setting, responsibility and teamwork.
Crewmembers compete on an individual and team basis for the chance to compete at the National Finals in Nashville Sept. 9-10. SONIC's top executives will honor the SONIC Games winners with gold, silver and bronze medals at its annual convention in Chicago, Sept. 11-13.
