On the Microsoft Excel World Championship, selfies and a ‘hype’ tunnel
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An area. A hype tunnel, the sort via which NBA gamers usually streak. A competitor wearing a jersey patterned with a six-pack abs.
In a brand new piece, The New York Occasions takes readers to an occasion that organizers name the Microsoft Excel World Championship, a 40-minute, Las Vegas-based competitors that includes 12 contestants — all of them fixing thorny Excel puzzles. Some 400 individuals attended the December occasion, which ESPN3 live-streamed in between “competitions like velocity chess and the World Canine Browsing Championships,” experiences the Occasions.
The occasion was no joke, even when the self-described nerds concerned have a wholesome humorousness. In accordance with the story, the winner – a Toronto-based monetary marketing consultant – walked away with a $5,000 prize, a wrestling-style championship belt, and the title of world’s finest spreadsheeter after two front-runners stumbled. Selfies have been taken.
The hope is that the prize cash will finally hit $1 million as extra spectators and sponsors become involved. Within the meantime, the four-year-old occasion – held in individual final month for the primary time – is already a giant hit. “You’d by no means see this with Google Sheets,” one contestant instructed the Occasions. “You’d by no means get this degree of ardour.”