Children and adults from around the world filled the streets of Iowa State to compete in the 1996 Odyssey of the Mind (OM) World Finals and to spend their money — lots of it.

About 15,000 people participated in the creative competition, representing 48 states and 14 countries. The OMers converged in Ames for four days of competition to determine who among them were the most resourceful and creative.

The Odyssey of the Mind participants brought not only their creativity to town, but also their money. The 15,000 people who came to Ames had an estimated economic impact of somewhere between $3 million and $7 million. OMers filled hotels, residence halls, and even stayed with Ames residents during the days of competition.

Rich Harter of the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau said the estimated expenditure per overnight guest was around $95 per day.

“Any event of that size has an impact in multi-millions of dollars,” Harter said.

Dave Cory, co-owner of Mayhem Collectibles, said he is always glad to see the OMers come to town. He estimated that sales almost tripled when they were here. Cory said OM is one of the biggest money-making times of the year, rivaled only by the Veishea celebrations.

“We had no problem whatsoever with the kids. Everyone was pretty good,” Cory said. He said no one item was the big seller. Instead, the kids “pretty much went for it all.”

Lorna Lauridsen, co-owner of the Campustown Dairy Queen, echoed Cory’s comments. She said Dairy Queen was especially busy during the last three days of OM.

“We had a map where we would give them a [Dairy Queen] treat when they put a pin from their town on the map.”

Harold Lauridsen, the co-owner of Dairy Queen, said the profits were “about as good as Veishea. We were very happy with the response.”

ISU also benefited from the event. John Anderson, assistant director of university relations, said the university has not yet been able to tally the amount of money generated from this year’s Odyssey of the Mind. However, he said the figures should be close to the 1994 OM World Finals, which were also held in Ames.

“When [the OMers] were here in ’94, they spent about $1.75 million. That encompasses absolutely everything covered by the university,” Anderson said.

About one million of the income from 1994 went to the residence halls, while, “substantial portions went to the Iowa State Center, the [Memorial] Union and Cy-Ride,” he said.

Odyssey of the Mind is an organization that focuses on the imagination and teamwork of the participants. Students may begin participating when they reach third grade and continue to the college level. OM teams combine their ideas and efforts to devise solutions to complex problems that range from building vehicles to performing interpretations of works of art.

Each team has a coach who offers encouragement, but the students must do all the work. The teams are also required to work within a limited budget, which inspires even greater creativity. During the opening ceremonies, one speaker said that Odyssey of the Mind is single-handedly responsible for 75 percent of the world’s sales of duct tape and balsa wood.

When the OMers weren’t involved in competition, they traded pins. Each year the teams attending the World Finals bring commemorative pins that represent their states or countries.

Kids and adults spend many of their free hours trading and negotiating for the best pins. The pin trading allows OMers to get to know one another and even form lasting friendships. The extensive pin collections they amass grow to fill entire t-shirts over the years.

On the last night of the finals, the OMers gathered together at the Memorial Union to celebrate their hard work over the past few days. More importantly, though, were the friendships they had formed. As they laughed, danced and traded their last pins, the true importance of OM shined through. The Odyssey of the Mind World Finals isn’t about the competition — it’s about connection.

Anderson said he was very pleased with the reception given to the OMers.

“Iowa State and the people of Ames really went out of their way to make the OMers feel welcome,” he said. “It was another fun experience and I congratulate everyone who was involved.”