Manitoba Geocaching Association

[MHz]

What weekend is GeoVenture this year...assuming there is one this year?

[glacier_ice]

Knew I forgot to update something.

It will happen on August 24th, 25th and 26th in BHP.

[ToonYogi]

What is GeoVenture and BHP? for us Beginners!!!!

[MHz]

GeoVenture is the MBGA's best event of the year and is a camping/come and go 3 day event that has been and seem to be once again this year at Birds Hill Park (BHP). We take over one of the group use areas in the park where some like me camp for the 3 days and others just stop in for the portion of the weekend that works for them. Usually most of the events are on Saturday were this is a panacake breakfast, geocaching challenge, potluck dinner, bonfire, kids games etc. Not sure what is planned for this year but I had to ask what weekend as I'm being pestered already at work as to when my vacation days will be this summer.

Thanks GI for the date info!

[glacier_ice]

You're welcome MHz. We had just set up that info recently but hadn't done anything with it until after the AGM.

For ToonYogi, here is a link to last year's archived Geoventure listing to give you a bit more of an idea.

http://coord.info/GC2Q0F3

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Also announced at the AGM, we're looking into GeoVenture 2013 happening at the International Peace Gardens. More on that when we have more details.

[ToonYogi]

I will have to check it out.. Looks very interesting

[MHz]

[glacier_ice]

Might just have to tug on your wisdom and experience when we start digging further into it.

[MHz]

Ok I feel I must stir a pot....maybe because I've been grouchy this week...likely because of lack of regular caching for quite some time now.

Orignally GeoVenture was created as a weekend long come and go event. All you had to do was show up to count the attend. Now it's seems it's more about the numbers and less about just coming and havng a good time. Where does the cacher who just shows up inbetween events or during the challenge get to log the smiley?

I tried to look back in the minutes to see when this idea came about but the posted minutes are only about 50% info and 50% references to docs the general membership can't see. There has been no dicussion with the membership in the forums either that I could find.

From other events, and meg-events, I've been to I've noted the general unstated rule of thumb is have one event for a given place and time frame and only branch off other events if they are not being put on by the same cachers (or club in this case), they are not in the same place (Pub Nite outside BHP is an example) or can give people a different icon (CITO is an exmaple).

Feel free to disput this as I don't claim to know it all. I just feel like the whole point of Geoventure has been missed somehow.

[glacier_ice]

Valid questions, for sure.

The multi event weekend was something different we wanted to try just to see if it would work and how it would work. It was talked about for last year's GeoVenture, but there wasn't enough time to flesh it all out, save for the extra CITO.

Obviously, we want to encourage greater numbers to come out and enjoy the weekend. With the re-introduction of the park entry fees, this was just one way we hoped that it would offset the potential loss in numbers. (At the time we started planning it this way, we didn't know what the daily and weekend rates would be.) With the opportunity for people to come out to more events, we felt it may be an incentive. Again, we don't know unless we try.

Cachers coming between the events? They can Choose where to put their smiley, I suppose. I found that in the last couple of years, the ones that weren't there for the entire weekend tended to show up for one or two of the activities. Those can be logged more specifically for the activity they show up for. (BTW, the challenge will be outside the park this year, we just haven't moved the icon yet.)

Agreed, the minutes are in a bit of disarray. We're working on that, but less people on the board (combined with people learning new positions) has increased the workload, unfortunately. I was hoping for more people to step up and help but alas...

Again, this year's GeoVenture is a bit of stepping outside the box and experimenting with the formula a bit to see what works and doesn't work. If we don't try, then it's just academic guessing.

[MHz]

Well I have a feeling that attendance will be down when all is said and duplicate logs (across events) are eliminated.

I think mulit-events will cause new cachers to get confused. They show up to buy a TB tag or get help with a GPS and then get told they can log the event....then they go home and try to figure out which event to log so give up and don't because none really fit.

If the exec is having a hard time getting cachers to help out or run for the board, perhaps it's because the memberhsip doesn't know what the board does or has been doing. I've noticed the 90% of the things the membership hears about for the past 2 years is published events.

At one time I did volunteer for a committee but couldn't make the first meeting. I never heard anything again until I heard at the last AGM the idea was dropped.

I think there is a communication problem between the exec and the membership. Until that's fixed, I don't think things will change any.

[AngelFreak]

I have completed an excel spreadsheet to reflect attendance at the various events over the weekend.