scidawg

Keystone, thank you for your input. I don't frequent the boards very often, in fact due to life getting in the way, I haven't done much caching at all lately, so I was unfamiliar with any discussions regarding the "law" on cruise ships. I feel like I am pretty familiar with the guidelines, I just always interpreted the commercial cache ban as being intended to prevent businesses from using the geocaching resources as free advertising, etc, not to prevent some fellow geocachers who happen to be traveling on the same itinerary from having an event. Apparently I was wrong. Still not sure I see the harm in it, and dprovan made some good points in their post but I obviously accept the decision. I do feel that this cache being initially published and the other current thread about the neighborhood cache point out some glaring inconsistencies in the volunteer review process that are problematic, but not my circus, not my monkeys, I guess. We will have our meet and greet anyway, it just will be amongst those cachers on the roll call and will have to get a Belize smiley some other time. Happy caching!

Glad to hear it! Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well. I wonder if it is one of the Reviewers who contributed to this thread, or someone else to whom you refer? Other than Keystone, I don't know who are reviewers and who aren't but I have noticed someone (not Keystone) seems to be the self appointed moral authority of Geocaching.

Glad to hear it! Further update...just got an email from GC Headquarters that the event has been reported as not meeting guidelines and has therefore been retracted. Reading back through the thread, I think we can all figure out who reported it. Thanks a lot. Oh well.

Well, the event was approved this evening, so I guess it's ok by the rules after all. I'll be sure to post back on how it goes as well as the caching on Roatan and Cozumel .

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-) At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet. Another consideration is that "private" events are typically not permitted. Designing an event for a small group of people who are already on a cruise together isn't in keeping with the spirit of what geocaching events are supposed to be. They're meant to be open gatherings of geocachers, not de facto temporary geocaches for travellers. I don't know anyone else on the cruise, so it is not for people who are on a cruise together in that sense. On the roll call message board we discovered that several of us were into geocaching so thought it would be a nice chance to do a meet and greet with some fellow cachers. To me, that is what every event I have ever attended was about. Oh, well. I completely agree and think it's unfortunate how some events are created in order for geocachers to acquire a certain souvenir, or that some feel that the event won't get enough attendance unless a whole bunch of caches are published nearby to entice people to come to the event. I've never been on a cruise but wouldn't there be some way to enough announce a meet-n-greet for while the ship is cruising? Nobody will get a smiley or a souvenir for it but if the point is actually to have a meet-and-greet does that really matter. As a certified country collector I understand the desire to get a find in a new country but sometimes you just have to work for it. I've been through the airport in Nairobi Kenya five times but still don't have a find there because I haven't yet left the airport. I don't think that requiring an event be available to local cacher (that's aren't on a cruise...or can't go through airport security without a boarding pass) is unreasonable. We will have the meet and greet regardless, we have already discussed it on the cruise forum site. It would be nice to get the smiley, but not the end of the world. Hopefully will get to check off the other two countries we are visiting. And I will post an update if I ever hear from the reviewer.

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-) At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet. Another consideration is that "private" events are typically not permitted. Designing an event for a small group of people who are already on a cruise together isn't in keeping with the spirit of what geocaching events are supposed to be. They're meant to be open gatherings of geocachers, not de facto temporary geocaches for travellers. I don't know anyone else on the cruise, so it is not for people who are on a cruise together in that sense. On the roll call message board we discovered that several of us were into geocaching so thought it would be a nice chance to do a meet and greet with some fellow cachers. To me, that is what every event I have ever attended was about. Oh, well.

OK, I can see your point there. Although, I suppose the folks that work there could attend as well, so technically you don't have to be a passenger ;-) At any rate, after a week it would be nice to get some official feedback from the reviewer instead of it being ignored. Oh well, guess we won't get to check Belize off of the country list just yet.

New island? ;-) Perhaps newly developed would have been a better choice of words ;-) Not to argue, but here I have quoted the event requirements from the listing guidelines. An event is a gathering of geocachers, facilitating the social aspect of geocaching. It is organized by geocachers and is open to other geocachers and those interested in learning about the game. It takes place at the posted coordinates, includes start and end times, and lasts at least 30 minutes. Events with several elements, a sequence of events, or events that are near the same time or location and intended for the same audience should be submitted as a single event. Additional waypoints may be added to the event listing for the locations of event activities. Events must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event date. Events are usually published no more than three months prior to the event date. Events may be published up to six months prior if an overnight stay is expected by attendees or if the event is designed to attract geocachers from beyond the local area. After an event has occurred, the listing is to be archived by the geocache owner. An Event Cache should not be set up for the purpose of gathering geocachers for a geocache search. If an event is already organized outside of the geocaching community or it will happen without a Geocaching.com listing, it is likely not an Event Cache. Examples include concerts, fairs, sporting and scouting events. Event Caches, like other geocaches, will only be published if they meet the commercial cache guideline. Geocache owners can include basic information about the location on the geocache page, even if it is a commercial location. Event listings may request donations or charge a fee to cover legitimate costs of the event. A list of sponsors, without logos or URLs, may be on an event listing. Event listings may only mention sales of event-related Geocaching.com trackables. Listings may include a link to a non-commercial event landing page. Attendees may be required to register at a separate registration page. Where does it say that the event has to be accessible by all geocachers? That might be convention, but it doesn't seem to be listed as a requirement.

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. We kinda pulled this together last minute as we are on a cruise stopping on a new private island which hasn't had any caches hidden on it. There are several cachers on the roll call for the cruise so we thought we could do a quick event in order to be able to get a smiley for Belize.

newbie cacher left this log on one of mine (a lampost on the top deck of a multi story parking garage) [Caches Found] 9 Found it Found it 02/14/2015 Well we kinda found it. We found the spot but no geocache . According to all the pics we are in the right place but no treasure. Then to top it off, posted a needs maintenance log. Another cacher found it the next day, before I could even get over to check on it.

I listed an event last Wed (11/23) it is now Monday and I have heard or seen nothing from the reviewer. The event is for 12/7. Is this normal. Any caches I have listed previously have had some action in a day or so at most.

yes, that was apparently the problem...I usually use firefox, but our firewall at work was temporarily blocking everything but IE. Now that firefox is working again, problem is gone. THX

When I click on a map of a traveler it centers the map on Seattle and doesn't link the stops the way it used to. Anyone else seeing this?

Interestingly, while the original log for mine read as above, it has been edited to the more politically correct version below: Found this at Geocaching Headquarters! Here in Seattle, in addition to having HQ, we have some remarkably prolific folks when it comes to discovering and moving trackables. Looks like this one was picked up awhile ago in that hunt, but not logged right away, so I'm glad to see it resurfaced! Kudos to the gentleman who finally returned it to HQ. I'm trying to help out a little by recording the reemergence of this one and others like it, by leaving it at HQ for other visitors to move, dropping it in a cache, or handing it off to another geocacher. Let's see where it ends up next! Hey, if that keeps the feelings from getting hurt and the bugs coming back, more power to those involved

A very sound, reasonable and fun (for the owners and watchers) approach. Sad that most wont put in the effort to do it your way. Keep up the good work, Ma and Pa!

I agree with this comment as well. Some cachers pick up a trackable and hold it for months and "visiting" every cache they find. Some cachers won't have a problem with it, becasue it collects miles. For me personaly, I like that people see my Trackable. And that as many cachers move it along as possible. I don't like it when people hold on to it for months. Also most times the Trackable would "visit" something, but in real life he wouldn't have been there. That is why I have on my Trackables pages: ### Plz. no "visited logs", then the journey of the TB is more clear. Thank you. But to answer your question: I think the function is just used for: A: Let the Trackable owner know the Trackable is still active. B: For people who have there own Trackable and use it to show the route they took when caching. Real visits, with a log or note would accomplish the goal of letting the owner know it's active. Autolog visits do nothing. In fact, check out this example, my bugTB2R78R Despite my requests not to have it visited mindlessly on it's page, one user has now had it for about 18 months, visiting it to 200 caches with not a single comment. Do they still have it? Who knows. Are they actually taking it with them? Who knows. This is a perfect example of how these auto visits are meaningless. Every trackable this cacher has in their current inventory gets visited to every cache they find. Probably a setting on the app they are using. For all I know they don't even know it's doing it. I've emailed once and got no response, so I'm just hoping someday they drop it off, but the point is, the logging of visits tells the owner nothing, unless you take the time to post a note or picture or even better, both.

The sad thing about that one is, by the looks of the discovery log seeing it in a cacher's hand, yet the bug still logged in a cache, it appears to have already gotten buggered up again. Hopefully the cacher who retrieved it will log it properly.

Yes, mine was one of them. It has been well known for several years that a particular cacher was hoarding travel bugs. The story I heard was that the cacher might have some OCD traits and couldn't part with a bug without taking the "perfect photo". Other cachers from the area and folks from Groundspeak have been working for several years to get the hoarded bugs back in to circulation. Looks like there has been a breakthrough. Yeah! Thanks to all who have played a part in getting these bugs back out there.

Got notified this weekend that my bug, missing in action for 3 years has been freed. Thanks to the efforts of all who have been working with the hoarder to get the bugs turned loose. Hope others fare as well. Now hopefully TB2QX9B can get on with reaching those summits.

this one GC15RQB

Well, had I gone ahead and posted a Needs Archived, I expect they would have dealt with it. As it was, I suppose there was a tiny chance the cache owner found a pre-existing hole in the tree that perfectly fit the cache container Had the owner not taken action or responded, I would have posted a NA.

Well, for what it's worth here is my recent experience. Found a cache in a botanical garden, that was clearly drilled into a tree trunk (the hole being the exact size and depth as the container and covered with an ornament hung on a screw). I didn't claim the find, though I signed the physical log, and emailed the original reviewer asking if I should post a needs archived. The reviewer stated they would prefer not to play referee and asked me to email the cache owner. I did, quoting the appropriate guidelines and the cache owner archived the cache within minutes, as well as another of their caches, which I hadn't found but must have used a similar hiding method. So sometimes it works just as it should.

Yes, he could, but it probably wouldn't do much good. I did exactly that with one of mine, and the person holding it has had it for a year and visited it to every cache they find, as well as ignoring 2 emails 3 months apart asking them if they still have it. Sounds like you want to be considerate, but sadly many don't.

Here is my 2 cents, and an example, in my opinion of how visiting should not be done. As a previous poster said, if the visit ties in with the mission, is meaningful or interesting, by all means visit and say something about it in the log. Add a picture. Tell the story. On the other hand, here is a bug I moved awhile back, TB4JWBG. Not long after I dropped it, it was picked up, and visited to about 250 caches over a year, mostly in the same area, with not one word written in any of the logs until the final drop. Not much interesting about that, IMHO.

No, you don't have to assume that. You could exhibit a little patience and follow the generally accepted convention of waiting a few days. I agree if it is going to be a week or more I can't expect someone to wait, but it really won't kill anyone to give the previous logger a couple of days. Anything less is just someone justifying what they want to do anyway.