Talk:Odyssey of the Mind

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Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving program for students of all ages that is celebrating over 30 years of continued existence. It has been administered since 1979 by Creative Competitions, Inc. (CCI). In 1982 CCI formed OM Association, Inc (OMA) with the charge of raising funds for the program. Only recently has it been presented that OMA administered the program and that CCI was formed subsequent to OMA. (That untruth should raise a flag about why one needs to be inaccurate regarding facts it has in its possesion.) After a failed takeover of Odyssey of the Mind by a group of OMA Board members, Destination Imagination was created. Sworn to under oath of the court, the disgruntled OMA board members denied any role in the formation of DI. Therefore, through legal representations DI was formed in 1999 and is not celebrating 25 years. (Another red flag?)

Odyssey of the Mind has existed since 1978, has been administered by CCI since 1979. If you have been told otherwise please question your source. There have been many self-seving rumors that Odyssey of the Mind changed its name or no longer exists. Not only does Odyssey of the Mind exist but it is growing. Most importantly, Odyssey of the Mind does not try to confuse anyone that it is a different program than that which it is.

[edit] Olympics of the Mind, name change?

The article cites the "late 80s" for the name change, but I seem to recall it earlier than that. My memory is that it changed between the 82-83 season and the 83-84 season--it was only "Olympics of the Mind" during my first year in the program (seventh grade), when we did "Humor from Homer"--make a comedy of a scene in "The Odyssey"--and then after that, it became "Odyssey of the Mind." I remember it mainly because I assumed they pulled "Odyssey" from the recent problem. However, my personal memory does not, as far I know, count as a legitimate source, for the good reason that I may be entirely mistaken. Does someone have a source for the "late 80s" date? Miss w 08:27, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

I wrote the part about the name change in the "late 80s". I can't find any written articles about the change, but I'm merely basing it on my memory. I participated in "Olympics of the Mind" in 86-87, so I'm deducing that the name was changed some time between 87-88. I too would like to find proof so we can have an exact date in the paragraph. If anyone finds that I am wrong about the "late 80s", please change it because I want the article to be correct. Thanks. --Mtjaws 21:19, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Sam Micklus speaks in 4/10/85 deposition* of having formed the "Odyssey of the Mind" corporation 1 1/2 years prior to that: "We were served notice a while back from the U.S. Olympic Committee when we tried to copyright the trademark OM ... we weren't allowed to use the word Olympics ... We dropped the word Olympics and moved to OM, just plain OM, and should the Olympic Committee come back and say OM still stands for Olympic ... I have a way to say it stands for Odyssey of the Mind.". That would put the name change in 1983, which is consistent with the formation of the OM Association itself around that time, and corroborates Miss w's memory. [*Superior Court of NJ ... Docket No. C-2261-84] Bokabu 09:45, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Balsa

I changed the wording on the balsa problem to say that the goal is 'typically' to hold the most weight, instead of 'always'. Every few years, the problem is a ratio problem, in which the goal is not to hold the most weight possible. Brianga 11:29, 24 July 2007 (UTC)