It started a long time ago, by another group of heroes in fact... I cannot remember their names... but the heroine who led it was an invincible Ice Tanker that could herd entire zones...
I picked up the slack, organizing Shard Task Forces every October weekend - Saturdays/Sundays - because back then you had to PLAN for those damn things. Especially Dr. Q. That one AT BEST could take you 8 hours to finish.
When the game sped up the time you would get the phone contact, that made life a little easier. The creation of the Ouroborous portal shortcuts back to Paragon City helped a lot to speed up the long travel times. Today, there are Team Teleports available as purchase items that can help entire teams jump from door to door, as long as everyone on team had it...
So the Shardtober Event goes through each of the four Task Forces - Dr. Quaterfield, Sara Moore, Justin Augustine, Faathim the Kind - and it usually helps to plan ahead so if you want to run them, make sure:
1) You are minimum Level 40 for the first two TFs, then Level 44 minimum for the last two TFs
2) Purchase or have a temp Jet Pack - or else have the Flight powerset for travel needs
3) Purchase the Team Teleport temp power
4) Unlock the Ouroborous shortcut
5) Trick or Treaters for Firebase Zulu because when ToT opens the doors on the military bases count
If you have questions, please ask!