UK Mega Event Committee

It's been quite a while since we posted an update in this forum, the event is now just 4 weeks and 11 hours away! For those not in the know, since 2008 the UK has held an annual Mega Event. So far it has travelled to Harrogate, Weston-Super-Mare, Perth and Swansea, and this year the 5th Annual UK Mega is in Cartmel, Cumbria. This summer also sees two other Mega Events in England. The superb Mega Camping event, Piratemania, now in it's fifth year, which gained Mega status last year through natural growth; and this year also sees The Geolympixs enter the fold, to be held in Oxford on the same weekend. So, whilst there are plenty of Mega Events to choose from now, for the time being the "Annual UK Mega" baton will remain, as the others are English events (for now). Next year sees the baton passed on to the West Midlands team, who will in turn pass it North of the border into Scotland again. In a break with tradition, this year the event is more "outdoor orientated", we are likening it to a Country Fair. You've probably seen plenty of news stories in recent weeks about outdoor events getting cancelled, well worry not. Three of us paid a visit to Cartmel today, and we are pleased to report that despite the recent rain, the ground is rock solid, both in the Mega Event areas, and the camping areas. In another break with tradition, our camping event is being held right next door to the Mega Event, so you should find travelling to the various supporting events is easier on the wallet this year. The campsite opens up the weekend before the Mega Event, and this year it has a "Rodeo" theme. On the night before the Mega Event, everyone, camping or not, is welcome to the Campsite for our "Rodeo Night", featuring games, rodeo bull, beer tent and Hotpot Supper. You need to pre-book your Hotpot Supper, more details here http://www.mega2012.org.uk/content2/camping-event/hotpot-bookings.html'>http://www.mega2012.org.uk/content2/camping-event/hotpot-bookings.html All of our Supporting Events are now live on gc.com, a whopping 22 events over 11 days in all! The full program can be found here http://www.mega2012.org.uk/EventProgram.pdf'>http://www.mega2012.org.uk/EventProgram.pdf Published tonight was "Exploring the Dark Night", a Bat themed event. Part of this event is a guided Bat Walk around Cartmel, led by volunteers from the Westmoreland Bat Group. Places on this part of the event are limited, and are being allocated to those who get their "Will Attends" in first. In fact, since I started typing this update we've had a massive amount of will attends, so I can't promise any places are left. For those who miss out, there are other activities to do at that event, and the Westmoreland Bat Group will also be attending the Mega Event with some bats for you to get up close to. Tomorrow we are all getting together to make up the welcome packs for everyone, please please please make sure you register on our website prior to the day, otherwise we might not have a welcome pack available for you. We look forward to seeing everyone in 4 weeks, and a good proportion of the Mega2012 team will be at Piratemania next weekend, arrrrrr! http://www.mega2012.org.uk

After a year of planning, the day has arrived Just to give you all an update on the 'pre-registration' numbers ... 527 caching names have registered which equates to 1108 people Thank you to everyone - hope you all have a fantastic time. We will post the final head count here after the Mega event ..... or should we say, when Shauna from Groundspeak HQ has counted everyone (isn't that why she has come over from Seattle )

As all the Mega geocoins have all been sold, the Supporter Registration has been closed. Thank you to everyone that has supported us. The last of the 'supporter registration packs' were posted out yesterday. If any 'Mega Supporter' has not received one by the end of next week please let us know. Attendee registration remains open, so please visit www.mega2.org.uk to register. If you are able to make a small donation we would very grateful and you will be given the option to do so after completing the registration page. -------------- We are also looking for volunteers to help out on the Sunday (Mega Day) - just for an hour or so. The main area we will need help with is the registration desks and we are expecting this to be busiest first thing in the morning (registration opens at 10am). If you can help then please email mapleleaf@mega2.org.uk

If you're attending the Mega Event you may be interested in entering our Camo Cache Competition. Bring along your favourite camoflaged creation for display on the day, with a prize for the best camoflaged cache voted for by you the attendees. Camo Your Cache

Wow - we are impressed with the 2nd class weekend postal service - they were only posted on Saturday morning. For those that haven't received something from their postie today.... The 'Mega supporter' registration packs are currently being sent out - another batch will be posted tomorrow. If you haven't registered as a 'supporter' yet (entitles you to a geocoin) you better hurry up ... as only 30 coins left now.

There will be confirmations sent shortly and as I'd not received your message from Friday, I checked the system and spotted a slight problem that is now sorted - everything is working now.

Coin Artwork should be available on the Mega Event website very shortly. A suitable number of coins will be produced to cover those ordered by Supporters.

Yes, this coin is the only 'official Mega2' coin that we are planning on producing ..... and is only available to those who register as supporters

The first additional event has been published. This being the proposed CITO event on Steep Holm. Many more details are available on the cache page Steep Holm CITO Event

The Mega2 website has gone live this evening. Click here to have a look. We really need your support, so please register as a supporter NOW

Weston-super-Mega The UK Mega Event Committee are pleased to announce that the UK's Second Mega Event will take place on Sunday 9th August 2009. After much consideration, visiting and discussion we have booked The Winter Gardens at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset for the Event itself. Further events are being planned for the rest of the weekend, including a Camping Event at a close by location. Transport wise Weston super Mare is just 4 miles from junction 21 of the M5, there are trains direct from Paddington (2.5 hours), Bristol airport is 16 miles away, with a bus service. Weston offers a wide range of places to stay and places to eat. Details of these and of the local area can be found at Visit Somerset Further details of the Event and associated events, as well as booking details etc will be published shortly. This event is not, at this stage, confirmed as a Mega event. You can contact the organisers at mega@mega2.org.uk

"We need you !" was the annoucement we made seven months ago... Today you came and I can announce that the official number of attendees that signed the event log was 928 ! Well done to you all... The UK Went Mega today. On behalf of the committee we hope you have all enjoyed your day(s) up in Yorkshire and have found some amazing caches. Personally I have made so many new friends over the last week and I look forward to seeing you all again hoepfully soon ! Robin Harrogate Hunters Mega Event Committee

It is my understanding that to discover a coin or TB, you will have to see the item, and not just sit at home with a peice of paper...... and therefore we are not intending to prepare a list to publish to put in the welcome pack. We are however providing a specific room in the hotel for TB's and a room for Geocoins, with various tables marked with various destinations where cachers can discover these items (and swop them of course)

A cacher has volunteered the use of a PA system... the only problem... its in South Wales !!! Any volunteers with space in their car to pick up and drop off after the weekend !

On another point... We desperatly require a PA system... Can anyone help !!!! Please contact me Robin Harrogate Hunters

The hotel are providing a buffet style meal - for details see our web pages - To order complete your details on the page.. The hotel will then contact you back for payment and send you a voucher. From discussions made with the hotel the hotel are doing as much as they can to accomodate us (the Manager has been fantastic) and food WILL be availiable on the day (from their restaurant and snack menu's), BUT and this is a big BUT, if 800-1000 people all decide to turn up and eat you will be disappointed as it is physically impossible to serve this quantity over a 2 hour lunch time ! Even just finding a particular person who has ordered food in the hotel on the day would be impossible with 800 people wandering around ! Hence we went for buffet. In fact the hotel said..."We need to have pre-bookings because even a hotel of this size does not keep cutlery and plates for 800 to eat at once... we need to get some from other hotels in the chain" This is the reason we laid on pre-booking... yes a limited menu, but the hotel was worried that 800 people would suddenly order different menus in 2 hours ! Try catering for 800 - 1000 people over a two hour slot... This is not mass catering at this hotel, they pride themselves on good quality individual cooked meals. When I had discussions over food the initial price for food was around £15 per head for a single course... normally these functions cost £20-£30 per head ! It took me a lot of persuasion to get the food cost down and a further course added ! There have been quite a few pre-bookings so far. I would strongly recommend you pre-book from the menu given, that way you will be guaranteed to eat. Last year when we held the North Yorkshire Meet here I siad to the hotel no one would be eating, however once the food started to appear well over half of the 120 cachers ate ! The food quality is fantastic as most of those will confirm. There is a link on our web page to pre-order food, but if you have any problems or queries contact me direct. Pre-ordering food will be availiable right up to a couple of days before.... I can confirm that pre-ordered food did not stop on 1st July ! (if our website is wrong we will get that altered) Robin One last thing... can I please ask you not to complain about the food arrangements, we have been so lucky in getting this venue in the first place... a lot of strings have had to be pulled !!! After all the hotel is the experts in this sort of event and we have to go with their suggestions... I know from the numerous meetings I have had with the hotel they ARE trying to do their best to get this event off the ground.... after all we are not paying the normal room rents (£4000 for the hotel for the day !) To try to get a venue to hold 1000 people, with all facilities in a busy part of the year is almost impossible, and I give my full thanks to the hotel who have allowed us to hold this event. In fact I do know they have turned away a wedding/ function due to us, which would have given them income ! Many Thanks to the hotel

Dont worry Haggis Hunter you are in luck... even though you can not make the official cache event on the Thursday night the hornblower does his bit every night of the year !!! So just attend on any other night... Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday etc etc and you will still be able to experiance the hornblower and also claim both the virtual and the nearby (96 feet) traditional. You can ONLY claim the event if you turn up on Thirsday !

We appologise if we have offended anyone... please bear in mind that the committee are only volunteers and that we are trying to provide a wide a choice of things to do as possible... Some things that I have organised I will not be attending myself, but I know we have been asked for them. We assumed that some of the children would have fun (i) on the day (ii) in the week afterwards joining in on this part of the event, and probably learning some technical skills in the meantime... I can remember when my daughter published a very ad-hoc movie for the recent flash mob event, the response from cachers afterwards as fantastic and I got so many emails regarding this. The whole decision to make it open to cachers was in our opinion we were sure people were going to do it anyway and frankly I think the committee have enough to do on the day anyway then wander around with a camera. We could have organised a 2 hour pub meet... so easy.. so boring ! Judging on the response cachers seem to be wanting them... after all we are giving the option. You can just turn up (or not) on the day if you so wish.... There is no obligation to anyone coming to Harrogate... May I also please point out that it was other cachers not the committee that asked for the Friday night pub event, the camping event etc. In fact they have been organised by other cachers not the committee (Thanks Haggis Hunter etc etc). The problem with the hog roast is that if we left it to the day, we could have received 10 people or 200 people, so if we had ordered a "small" pig to cater with 50 people we would have been left with the rest... yes eating pork for the rest of the week and who would pay for that... "sorry chaps" those 10 who ate can we have some more dosh please !" Yes you will be able to turn up on the day... we will be able to cope with that, but at least with pre-booking we know 90% of the numbers required May I also say that we have in exess of 110 people now pre-booked... I would have never guessed that originally ! Again I must point out that I personally have spent hours and hours (nearly 3 a day) for the last month on this event, and originally I volunteered knowing I could not even attend.... I have had to cancel a foreign holiday to make this happen ! 3 hours probably better spend enjoying caching without being critisized at every turn we try to make. Please also bear in mind this is a FREE event.... (we are not allowed to charge). We are trying to put on an event with no income with huge amounts of costs ! Personally I have laid out in excess of £400 so far and looking at the present finances I am doubtful if I will get it back ! Yes the coin sales are there to raise funds but I can say (and I am sure the committee will not mind me saying this) at this point in time we have not sold enough even to cover the costs of producing the coins, never mind re-imburse other associated event costs ! Please remember we are only cachers like you... we are learning fast... this has never happened before... we have asked for help and suggestions but little has been forthcoming from any cacher. We can only try things out... if we get them wrong, we have now learnt. We are only trying our best and If at the end of the day people come away saying... "well it was alright - nothing special " we can only say "we did our best" This reply has been made entirely by myself Robin (Harrogate Hunters) and not on behalf of the committee as I wanted to just put my reply in. Remember our slogan "WE NEED YOU !" This event(s) is for you not us... we welcome your feedback and may I personally thank Moss trooper for his feedback - again we have learnt our mistakes. (This is a true thank for this forum thread and not a snide comment !) Finally may I take this oportunity to thank every email I have received in support of which I have had plenty over the last couple of months... it is these that have kept me going [] p.s. Thanks G Force for your kind comments in the associated forum thread regarding the Hornblower []

We are today launching a competition for those budding cachers who are attending the Mega Cache Event The competition is the best video of the day about the Mega event, any of the other Mega Related cache events around Harrogate or just simply a video of caches you did around Harrogate. The video must be uploaded to You Tube after the event in line with competition rules. The competition will be judged in various age related categories To enter you will need a simple digital camera that takes movies For full instructions on how to create a movie, upload to You Tube and an entry form can either be obtained on the day at the event, or for pre-entries send an email with your name, age (under 18 only or specify adult) and email address and we shall send you the competition entry form and instructions. For those never uploaded anything to You Tube its easy... my daughter (not yet a teenager) took a video on her phone and uploaded on for a recent flash mob caching event... if she can do it so can you ! All the videos and the results will be linked from the event cache or our web site after the event for all to see ! Good luck, happy videoing and dont worry if you are not producing a professional cut and edited video.... there are prizes for a number of categories... Enjoy and start to experiment with your video camera / mobile phone ! Robin Harrogate Hunters Mega Event Committee

The event is getting nearer and "WE NEED YOU !" Planning is now nearly complete and we seem to have a good couple of days lined up for you. As an overview this is whats happening:- Wednesday : Walk around earthcache (caching event) at Malham Malham event Friday : They came from the North (caching event) - pub event They Came from the north Saturday: Camping Event Hog Roast Camping Event And of course the main event on the Sunday. Can I please ask cachers at this stage:- 1. As the Mega coins have now arrived in the country and are being posted to those who have requested can cachers please order and pay for their coins (dont forget there is limited supply and if you are planning to get one on the day you might be disappointed) 2. Please pre-book for the hog roast... again no on the day bookings 3. Volunteers We still need you... can you spend a little time on the day helping out ? If you have previously volunteered and did not receive an email from me this morning can you please re-contact me 4. Any questions ? Do you have any questions about anything to do with the event weekend... just drop us an email via the profile links After all its your event... we are just planning it for you.... its no good saying "why did that not happen.. we didnt expect that"... so "WE NEED YOU !" Contact us now ! 5. A plea from Mandy re 2009 Event Calendars... can those who have ordered one but not paid please contact her ! Thanks and looking forward to seeing you all on 3rd August 2008 Full details and timing will be on the website soon... www.megaevent.org.uk Robin Harrogate Hunters UK Mega Event Committee

Wow thats fab Robin Will you have both coins or just the one for general sale to all? I will bring my famous "Mega Event Calendars" too the folks at the Durham Meet will be the first to see those too Mandy Both coins will be brought and viewed and can be purchased but I will only be handing out the supporters coins... The on the day coins will only be handed out on August 3rd ! Robin could you give me the price of supporters coins please, the ones we can buy at Durham, I have folks asking for me to buy them and pass them on at another meet we are attending. Also could you give the PP addie for the Mega Event Committee if folks could pay direct to you over the next couple of days and you bring them to Durham for them/me to collect that might be easier Mandy Coins can be purchased and paid through the Mega Event web pages... the price is £5.25, with free delivery to the UK or I shall be selling them at the Durham event for cash or cheques (cheques payable to "Yorkshire Caching Mega Event" As there is no time to send me in snail mail before the weekend if cash/cheques could be "availiable" at the event then I will bring a supply there.

Wow thats fab Robin Will you have both coins or just the one for general sale to all? I will bring my famous "Mega Event Calendars" too the folks at the Durham Meet will be the first to see those too Mandy Both coins will be brought and viewed and can be purchased but I will only be handing out the supporters coins... The on the day coins will only be handed out on August 3rd !

Just to let you know that the Mega Geocoins have arrived and will be on sale at the Durham Meet... Anyone who wants to get their hands on one... bring your cash or cheque book !!! See you on Saturday ! Robin Harrogate Hunters

Another Plea.... Only 13 cachers have sent me an email requesting to eat at the hog roast ! I know that there are more out there... can I please ask you to send me booking details as per the cache page.

BIGPlea !!! Can I please ask all those who have requested a Mega Event Calendar to please contact Us4andJess and please pay by paypal for their Calender... This creates two objectives:- Firstly Mandy does not want to spend all the mega event sitting behind a table handing out calenders and having to deal with cash on the day and Secondly the Mega Event Committee are coming to the position of having to spend deposits on certain expenditure and we could do with some of the proceeds ! I am sure that Mandy will do a link under this post to her log on ! Thanks... "WE NEED YOU !"