van Steuben's Mackinac Island Survival Guide
Learn and Earn
Collect all six badges to avoid van Steuben’s fate and earn your place as a true Mackinac Policy Conference survivor!
Who is van Steuben?
In the spring of 1992, Church van Steuben, a promising businessman and entrepreneur, missed his ferry home from Mackinac Island following that year’s Policy Conference. A victim of technology, van Steuben’s fate was sealed when his Motorola DynaTAC died while out on a bicycle trek.
Though a technological visionary, van Steuben didn’t realize he need only walk 3 miles in any direction to be rescued. Instead he has been living in a shelter built out of business cards in a remote area of the island.
While he has grown to fear humans and civilized society, van Steuben has spent the past 20 years devising the very system of survival you now hold in your hands.
Using only a stick and some ash mixed with raspberry juice, van Steuben has painstakingly engraved numerous illustrations for each survival tip. With the last surviving copy recovered from one of van Steuben’s shelters in 2008, this Survival Guide is van Steuben’s way of sharing his knowledge with those he identifies as fellow visionaries. With these drawings, you might even be able to do him one better by actually returning to the mainland!
How do I get my badges?
Once you feel you've mastered each of van Steuben's survival tips, head on over to the Recharge Survival Zone in the Gallery of the Grand Hotel to receive your badges. When all badges have been achieved, hand in a business card at the Recharge Survival Zone and a free Survive MPC shirt will be sent to you!
Who is Skidmore Studio?
Skidmore is the creative studio behind the Mackinac Survival Guide. From concept to production – including design, copywriting, illustration and programming – Church van Steuben and his guide are products of the imagination, creativity and talent of Skidmore’s team. For more about Skidmore, visit skidmorestudio.com.