Halloween Committee Meeting

Halloween Committee Meeting Minutes

October 20, 2021

Conference Room Behind Steph’s Shed

Committee Members Present:

Rocco Raccoon

Ricky Raccoon

Mama Cat

Kitten

Crafty Fox

1. Trick-or-Treat Optimization (TOTO) Study

Spader Squirrel presented the findings of the TOTO study, which was funded by residual earnings from the Raid the Dumpster program. The study points to several areas of improvement that might be addressed for this year’s trick-or-treat (TOT) harvesting event. After combing through recent census data, researchers now predict that the family at the end of the block with a brand-new trick-or-treater to pay attention to will enable their older child and his friend to accidentally drop their candy behind them unnoticed at a higher rate than average. Ricky Raccoon asked whether following this family earlier in the evening might yield the best rate of return, and Spader agreed this is the predicted best option.

Another family, namely the Wilsons who visit from a nearby neighborhood each year, have high potential for candy drop in 2021. The accidental candy drop calculation (ACDC) is expected to surpass all prior years combined because, according to intel acquired by the Hawkeye Commission, it’s expected the Wilsons will be sending The Teenager with the younger ones in place of the parents. Crafty Fox asked the Squirrel to clarify the reasoning on this section of the study. Spader stated the expectation is The Teenager will be on her cell phone most of the night, allowing for unsupervised and haphazard handling of the candy by the youngsters. Preliminary modelling shows high upside for those stealth-following this group. Rocco Raccoon gave a thumbs up to this, stating, “Jack pot!” Mama Cat added, “Bingo!”

2. Trick-or-Treat Candy Analytics

The earlier mentioned Hawkeye Commission presented the latest analysis on the region's candy type per location. A graph was shared with the Committee per request by Kitten [Figure 1]. Crafty asked the representative from Hawkeye why there hadn’t historically been more Butterfingers in circulation on Halloween night given, according to Crafty, it was the best candy on the market. The Hawkeye rep said they would investigate this and get back to the Committee. Rocco Raccoon interjected, asking for the meeting minutes to reflect that Almond Joy was, in fact, the best candy. Mama Cat meowed loudly at this while waving a half-eaten Almond Joy wrapper in the air, in apparent support of Rocco’s request. The Hawkeye representative, in a move to reach consensus among the Committee, noted the Peterson’s annual yard party is a consistent source of candy harvesting, and that it's possible Butterfinger and Almond Joy will both be well represented there this year. An agreement was made to study 2021’s outcome for future analysis.

Figure 1 – Regional Candy Type Dropped Per Location

3. Logistics Plan – C.A.N.D.Y.

Regina Raccoon of Holiday Logistics, Inc., the consulting firm hired by the Committee to draw up plans for candy security, presented the final recommendations to the Committee on their CANDY plan – Creating Advantage in Night Drop Yield. These are estimations derived from numerous mock run-throughs of trick-or-treating which were then fed through an AI algorithm to achieve best practice for transporting dropped candy to safe jurisdictions. Ricky Raccoon was most concerned about the accuracy of these recommendations and expressed to Regina that just because she broke up with him two months ago doesn’t mean she should sabotage Halloween with bad information for all the animals in the immediate region. He suggested that she tread very lightly. Mama Cat stepped in and asked Regina and Ricky to tend to personal matters outside of the meeting, to which Regina replied, “He started it.” There was a brief scuffle at this point in the meeting, which called for a brief pause, but the meeting resumed in due time after a much-needed bathroom break was enjoyed. Regina continued to present the following recommendations:

According to Holiday’s algorithm, the method of handling the candy immediately after capture from the ground is critical to a successful harvest. Regina listed two methods as optimal, and two that likely would result in failure to obtain the candy.

Successful candy handling:

1. Mouth Grab: quickly grabbing the candy by mouth and running with it to safety.

2. Front Paw Grab and Bolt: grabbing in front paws and dragging it to safety.

Risky candy handling:

1. Hockey Puck Method: a recent popular trend in candy capture where you treat the candy as a hockey puck and swat it side-to-side across the street to eventual safety. Regina stated that while videos of this method tend to go viral on social media, the AI calculations showed it results in lowest yield because it draws too much attention to the animal in real time.

2. Sitting Pretty Technique: where the animal runs to the candy and immediately sits on top of it with the intention of hiding it. This method is being phased out after last year’s debacle on the north side of town where several raccoons were seized by animal control after refusing to move from Sitting Pretty in the middle of the street.

Recommendation by Regina was made regarding the Decoy Transfer technique for safe movement of candy to nearby woods or brush. Regina shared that Holiday Logistics now recommends this as the optimal method for safe candy removal, both in terms of the candy and in terms of the animal. The Decoy Transfer is best executed with three or more team members, with one of them always acting as a decoy while the other two move the candy in a staggered escape route. The Committee nodded in agreement, as this has proven anecdotally to have the highest yields and least casualties.

The Committee thanked Regina for her presentation, however Ricky Raccoon refused to concur.

4. Presentation of the Annual Animals-Are-Awesome Altruism Award

This year Mama Cat and Kitten presented the A6 award with unanimous consent to Scooper Mole-rat. Kitten acknowledged Scooper’s tireless work on the community underground tunnel that houses, among many important things, the Hunger Fund's Halloween candy for the northern region each year. Scooper was present to receive the award and thanked the Committee for the honor, throwing out handfuls of dirt to the meeting attendees in a gesture of gratitude.

5. On-site We Care information huts for Halloween Night

Willow the Deer announced that the We Care stations will be set up again in 2021 for anyone needing safe harbor, up-to-date reconnaissance, hydration, or a little rest during the TOT event. She wished all the area animals a fruitful and safe TOT candy harvest this year, and reminded participants to be mindful that the children responsible for accidental candy drop are the ultimate heroes of the night. Willow suggested a silent thank-you to each child be said in the hearts of the animals. “After all, our harvest is their harvest minus some,” she said. The Committee gave her an informal round of applause after this.

6. Meeting adjourned

With no further agenda, the Committee moved to adjourn the meeting, giving all in attendance big fist bumps in the air and the annual cheer, “We. Can. Free. The. Can. Dee.”

They all shuffled out of the building in animated good cheer.