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Preventing Virtual Coin Drops At Events


Hula Bum

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My other half and I have been discussing how tired we are of all the "virtual" coin dropping and logging of coins at events. It has gotten so people actually bring print outs of their coin codes and pass them out to people. For us, this is just not what events are about (unless it's an event for this purpose of course). To each his own, but we would love to "click" a button on the page and close the TB/coin part down.

 

Of course I am just talking about the organizer of the event having this control. This way GS would not be blamed for doing it, the organizer of the event would. And if you like the coin code swapping process then you could leave that section active, allowing it.

 

Not sure where this request/question should go, but thought this would be the place to start.

 

Mahalo.

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For us, this is just not what events are about (unless it's an event for this purpose of course).

 

Then don't trade numbers. :unsure: Events are a lot of things. Some like to eat, chat, cache, whatever. I like all these things! Sometimes when I chat too much I don't get a chance to eat. :P Now I have to make myself stop chatting and get a bite before everything disappears.

 

  To each his own, but we would love to "click" a button on the page and close the TB/coin part down.

 

I believe at one point the TBs/coins list were limited to 5 or 10 and there was a "more..." link. Due to a problem with this implementation, it got changed back to what it is now. I'd imagine it will make its way back at some point when the issues have been resolved. I could be wrong... I could have dreamt it.

 

edit: clarification

Edited by robert
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Personally, I don't have any coins in circulation, and the other half doesn't bring his coins to events for people to log (even though he's one of those crazy collectors with a ton of them).

 

It's not a problem per say, it's just we miss the days when events were to meet new people, share caching stories, learn about the people and so on. Now our events around here are pretty much about coins-coin trading, coin collecting, coin icon gathering, coin buying, coin minting.....

 

We would just like to have our events go back to their "roots" if you will, where it wasn't all about the coin obsession.

 

Like I said, I certainly am not looking to make it a blanket thing, just to give EACH event organizer the option to take this out of the event.

 

Maybe the coin craze is not as prevelant everywhere as it is here. Our last event had something close to 100 coins/tb's dropped on the page for people to pick up/drop log etc. I have no idea if this is the way it is everywhere, but I don't think I'm alone in tiring of this (or maybe I am!) That's why I posted to hear others thoughts.

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Then don't trade numbers.

 

We don't.

 

Maybe I wasn't explaining my thought process well.

 

I would like to be able to make my events not about coins. This is why I would like to see an option to not allow the drop process.

 

I would like to see it be optional, so if you are an organizer like me, you have the choice.

 

Does that make sense?

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Do like I did today. Make people come up to you and write the numbers down. If you ask me for the number I give you a blank stare. If you don't look at my coins then you don't get to log them. Explain to others at the event so they will know this is the proper way to do it. Be proactive. I think passing out printouts is sort of odd. I don't see the point in logging a coin you have not seen physically. I've had a few emails about logging my volunteer coins by me sending them the number via email. They get a polite "No" with an explanation of why.

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Goodness. I'm generally considered antisocial, but I manage to do all those things at an event. I even got to meet a lady from the other side of the continent who knows my brother (and she enjoyed meeting me anyway!) But, if that's all that goes on at your local events, avoid them, or start one of your own "NO COIN TRADING PERMITTED!"

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Do like I did today. Make people come up to you and write the numbers down. If you ask me for the number I give you a blank stare. If you don't look at my coins then you don't get to log them. Explain to others at the event so they will know this is the proper way to do it. Be proactive. I think passing out printouts is sort of odd. I don't see the point in logging a coin you have not seen physically. I've had a few emails about logging my volunteer coins by me sending them the number via email. They get a polite "No" with an explanation of why.

 

We don't log unless we find it in a cache, nor do we let other people log ours unless they find them out in those silly little boxes!

 

I personally think the print out thing is crazy, but our caching neighbors are def. icon crazed.

 

Like I said, this isn't about what we do with our coins, it's about what I'd like to see our events (just the ones we organize) revert back to.

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Then don't trade numbers.

 

We don't.

 

Maybe I wasn't explaining my thought process well.

 

I would like to be able to make my events not about coins. This is why I would like to see an option to not allow the drop process.

 

I would like to see it be optional, so if you are an organizer like me, you have the choice.

 

Does that make sense?

Absolutely it makes sense. In theory. :P

 

People go to events for a variety of different reasons. If people want to come and have a good time and share numbers then fine! It doesn't really bother anyone (well maybe a few people, obviously!) That's what I meant when I explained that people go to chat, some to eat, some to cache, some to share numbers. If people are having a good time, does it really matter? Aren't events hosted for people to have fun? Isn't geocaching supposed to be fun?

 

We have had that many dropped into an event as well, many by one person! It's kind of lame but that's how people have fun. I just bring mine and let people log 'em, in fact there's a warning on the coin pages to not drop into caches or events.

 

:unsure:

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I even got to meet a lady from the other side of the continent who knows my brother (and she enjoyed meeting me anyway!)

:P

 

Almost the same thing happened to me!

 

At a recent event I saw a couple (FlyinV) with a nice binder of coins. I went over to talk to them since I was curious about their collection (didn't have mine with me) and wanted to see some coins in person that I had either seen online or had traded for and was waiting for them to arrive.

 

After talking to them for a few minutes, I found out that I went to a neighboring high school to Mrs FlyinV (we would have been at the same school had one not been changed to a Sci-Tech school) and we grew up living fairly close to each other, knew the same areas, and that I had cached with her brother (FlyinV don't live in Maryland, so this was another weird thing!) a few times at events that the club I belong to holds.

 

Would I have talked to them if they didn't have their coins? Probably. But because of my interest in the coins as well I was drawn to them quicker than I maybe would have otherwise.

 

Events are fun, even with a page full of coins!

 

:unsure:

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I'm sorry I have to disagree with Hula Bum. Someone brought their coins to an event I hosted and graciously allowed all of us to look at them and record the numbers. This was the first time several of us had seen the coins. It is a good ice breaker for conversation too. Some people don't find it real easy to just stroll up to strangers and start talking. This gives a nice neutral, yet mutual ground to strike up a conversation. In fact, I met Robert (who has posted here) in Pennsylvania (he lives in MD and I live in VA) - we shared coins and shared the day caching w/ two of my other buddies from Virginia.

 

If and when I host another event, I only hope that people to bring their coins to share. As long as people are enjoying themselves at my event and are participating I don't care what they do.

 

Coins are just another fun part of Geocaching!!!

 

:P

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Last weekend we had an event in our area, and I was talking with some people (newbies) and they were expressing their curiosity if all events were about coins. Wasn't sure what to say, LOL.

It's hard because a number of people around here, and I'm sure elsewhere feel as I do, but they don't frequent the boards, so their voice isn't heard.

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I'm sorry I have to disagree with Hula Bum. Someone brought their coins to an event I hosted and graciously allowed all of us to look at them and record the numbers. This was the first time several of us had seen the coins. It is a good ice breaker for conversation too. Some people don't find it real easy to just stroll up to strangers and start talking. This gives a nice neutral, yet mutual ground to strike up a conversation. In fact, I met Robert (who has posted here) in Pennsylvania (he lives in MD and I live in VA) - we shared coins and shared the day caching w/ two of my other buddies from Virginia.

 

If and when I host another event, I only hope that people to bring their coins to share. As long as people are enjoying themselves at my event and are participating I don't care what they do.

 

Coins are just another fun part of Geocaching!!!

 

:laughing:

I think everybody is missing the intent here. The intent is not to allow the coins to be dropped/picked up in the event - not to disallow coins themselves from coming.

 

Do I collect coins? Yes.

Do I bring them to events? Only if I've gotten something rare to show people that might not have it?

Do I allow logs on my coins? No. I believe that you have to FIND it not SEE it to claim a find.

Do I virtualyl log coins? No. Same reason as above.

 

Now, that's the way I do. I don't care what others do and won't tell them HOW to play or have fun.

 

But, as the event owner I don't want to get 200+ emails for my event that say "bug drop" "bug pick up", etc.

 

People can still bring thier binders and share them. This won't stop anybody from doing that but it will prevent the cache owner from getting a ton of annoying alerts/emails.

 

And again, I collect as much as the next guy but prefer to chat casually about coins and more about caching <_< .

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I was at the same event as Hula Bum and Kelia. I don't trade or collect the coins. I had a good time talking with newbies and others about caching. I even went to the Coin event last month and didn't talk about coins and was engaged in conversation all evening.

Edited by Wacka
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But, as the event owner I don't want to get 200+ emails for my event that say "bug drop" "bug pick up", etc.

 

People can still bring thier binders and share them. This won't stop anybody from doing that but it will prevent the cache owner from getting a ton of annoying alerts/emails.

 

Now thats really annoying the last event i attended there were more bug logs ie pick up drop off logs than there were attended logs. It rapidly of dropped of my watchlist.

It would be nice if i could choose to only recieve attended / will attend logs for event caches.

NB

Never going to log a coin unless we find it in a cache, or the new seen log is created.

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...

 

I would like to be able to make my events not about coins. This is why I would like to see an option to not allow the drop process.

 

I would like to see it be optional, so if you are an organizer like me, you have the choice.

 

Does that make sense?

Yes, but I don't see how you'll be able to control what people are doing or talking about most of the time. I mean if your imvolved in the conversation then maybe you can steer it, but just 'don't talk about coins' is almost bound to backfire ("hey, why doesn't bob like coins??"). If people want to trade numbers and 'find' coins they've never seen, you won't be able to stop them.

 

While the topic is on events, and things that annoy us. Would it be possiable for the cache owner to NOT receive notice everything posted to an event? A hundred coin drops, in addition to normal stuff would drive me nuts... Yes I know whenever 'spoting' or whatever gets going it will cut out some logs, but there will still probably be LOTS of emails to trash. If I have an event on a watchlist to see who coming, I always remove it before the day of the event. But AFAIK there is no way for cache owner to avoid get them all :laughing: (well except maybe changing their email <_< ).

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Like kealia said, I'm not talking about not having coins at events, that was never the intent here, not trying to control that. Would just like to see a way that my watch list/event owner page wasn't bombared (and thus my email too) with hundreds of emails about drops and retrieves. But I would still like to see who was coming/what people had to say about the event.

Edited by Hula Bum
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OK, so maybe a modification from the original request.

 

How about the option for an event owner to NOT get notifications?

That way we can check the page itself for updates on who's coming, etc. but won't be bombarded with "bug drop" emails.

 

That's the original intent anyway. Just because some don't like the virtual drops and grabs doesn't mean that others shouldn't be able to do it (maybe just not at my event :tired: ).

 

But in all seriousness; how about the option for an owner to NOT get notifications for thier event? A simple checkbox to turn it off so those who want to get them don't haveto do anything or change thier behavior.

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My other half and I have been discussing how tired we are of all the "virtual" coin dropping and logging of coins at events....

This site has come down on virtual TBs and Virtual Coins. If you get one of those lists and report it there will be that many less virtual coins passed around.

 

Of course then other couples will discuss how tired they are of having their parade rained on. That's the trade off.

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OK, so maybe a modification from the original request.

 

How about the option for an event owner to NOT get notifications?

That way we can check the page itself for updates on who's coming, etc. but won't be bombarded with "bug drop" emails....

That's a good idea. I really don't need to see 200 TB's moved in and out of my event. As the event owner I'm interested in who's attending.

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Perhaps it's just that I'm burning out on the coin thing. Maybe I'm just grumpy! :P

Is it because your bank account like mine is being drained of money for the new coins that have come out this month??

 

That is making me a little grumpy too..... :D:P

 

I went to an event yesterday and the host mad a printout for everyone, she emailed it the attendees. I am logging the ones I looked at. That way it would be the same as if I wrote the number down myself.

 

I do have to admit I do not like how long my profile page is getting though, I think there may be too many icons.... :)

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OK, so maybe a modification from the original request.

 

How about the option for an event owner to NOT get notifications?

That way we can check the page itself for updates on who's coming, etc. but won't be bombarded with "bug drop" emails....

That's a good idea. I really don't need to see 200 TB's moved in and out of my event. As the event owner I'm interested in who's attending.

 

Bumpity bump bump :laughing:

 

Any more thought on this? Have an event coming up and not looking forward to the hundreds up "picked up TB" & "bug drop" notes being emailed to me.

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OK, so maybe a modification from the original request.

 

How about the option for an event owner to NOT get notifications?

That way we can check the page itself for updates on who's coming, etc. but won't be bombarded with "bug drop" emails....

That's a good idea. I really don't need to see 200 TB's moved in and out of my event. As the event owner I'm interested in who's attending.

 

Bumpity bump bump :huh:

 

Any more thought on this? Have an event coming up and not looking forward to the hundreds up "picked up TB" & "bug drop" notes being emailed to me.

 

Delete em all and make it clear you will delete them all :ph34r: or ask people not to drop them back in i e retrieve them from each others inventory rather than dropping back and retrieving into the event.

Or ask for all tb logs to be back dated to before the event keeping the event logs together.

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OK, so maybe a modification from the original request.

 

How about the option for an event owner to NOT get notifications?

That way we can check the page itself for updates on who's coming, etc. but won't be bombarded with "bug drop" emails.

 

That's the original intent anyway. Just because some don't like the virtual drops and grabs doesn't mean that others shouldn't be able to do it (maybe just not at my event :ph34r: ).

 

But in all seriousness; how about the option for an owner to NOT get notifications for thier event? A simple checkbox to turn it off so those who want to get them don't haveto do anything or change thier behavior.

 

Human nature being what it is to go "Oh yah, I forgot to include___ so I'll post an additional note"...

 

I think this would require a new category for posting a type of note into the event/geocache page which will allow the option to be enabled to ignore bug or coin drops. Right now as it stands, a note is a note and can't be separated out to "this is a bug/coin drop" and "this one isn't a bug/coin drop". I'm not sure how many categories are allowed for posting types, but I think a new category in this direction is not a bad idea. Then the page owner can plug in the option not to send out notices regarding such drops and pickups unless that becomes part of the notice of will attend/attended.

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OK, so maybe a modification from the original request.

 

How about the option for an event owner to NOT get notifications?

That way we can check the page itself for updates on who's coming, etc. but won't be bombarded with "bug drop" emails....

That's a good idea. I really don't need to see 200 TB's moved in and out of my event. As the event owner I'm interested in who's attending.

 

Bumpity bump bump :ph34r:

 

Any more thought on this? Have an event coming up and not looking forward to the hundreds up "picked up TB" & "bug drop" notes being emailed to me.

 

Simple solution - create an email filter to automatically delete any incoming messages with "retrieved", "placed", or "grabbed" in the subject line. To narrow down the scope to just your event, include the name of your event in the filter as well. You will then see no logs for bugs or coins associated with your event in your email, but you will get the "will attends" and such that are important to you as a host. Problem solved.

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Simple solution - create an email filter to automatically delete any incoming messages with "retrieved", "placed", or "grabbed" in the subject line. To narrow down the scope to just your event, include the name of your event in the filter as well. You will then see no logs for bugs or coins associated with your event in your email, but you will get the "will attends" and such that are important to you as a host. Problem solved.

 

Yes, I'm aware of this work-around but it doesn't fix the heart of the problem. This gets them out of my inbox but still clutters up the page with somewhat annoyinig and worthless notes (I realize this wasn't part of the OP, sorry).

 

Also, with Jeremy's recent comments about virtaul drops/pick-ups and maybe changing things to "SEEN" vs. "FOUND" this is still something I'd like to discuss.

 

The other option is to post a large note on the page stating that these shenanigans ( :ph34r: ) aren't allowed, but we all know that won't stop it.

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I've generally stopped dropping my coins into event caches. One reason is that if I do, it will generate 200+ emails to me (since over 200 trackable geocoins that I own just got dropped in a cache). Why would I want to subject myself to this. I did this once recently on a lark, and it took over 30 minutes for gc.com to spew emails at me. Plus, I dropped some that I didn't intend to drop. I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon.

 

The travelbug/geocoin list on an event cache is pretty useless these days anyway. Other than the first few that show on the page, it's a pain to page through hundreds of travelbugs and geocoins to see which ones are still in the cache.

 

I think Hula Bum's idea has merit. Maybe there should be a new log type added called "Bug Drop" that wouldn't generate any emails or log entries on the cache page (but would generate a drop on the bug/coin page).

 

Also, it might be an interesting idea to be able to 'ignore' some of my geocoins that are in my collection that people grab now and then. That would save me a few hundred emails after an event. :ph34r:

 

--Marky

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Looks like I need to move the "spotted" log type to the top of the work queue. A "spotted" log would work the same way, count wise, as a dropoff.

 

Might that go hand in hand with a "drop and retrieve" log type for TBs (perhaps not generating a notification to the cache owner/watchers or TB owner/watchers) - useful if you are using a personal coin to track your distance (or am I going to get Markwelled on this :ph34r: )

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Might that go hand in hand with a "drop and retrieve" log type for TBs (perhaps not generating a notification to the cache owner/watchers or TB owner/watchers) - useful if you are using a personal coin to track your distance (or am I going to get Markwelled on this :ph34r: )

 

Couldn't you just do this with an all finds pocket query?

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Might that go hand in hand with a "drop and retrieve" log type for TBs (perhaps not generating a notification to the cache owner/watchers or TB owner/watchers) - useful if you are using a personal coin to track your distance...

Couldn't you just do this with an all finds pocket query?

You could if there were an option to enter the time a cache was found into a log. As it is, though, there is no way to sort multiple logs entered on the same day, so the All Finds PQ can't be used to track distance.

 

Shame, isn't it? ;)

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Might that go hand in hand with a "drop and retrieve" log type for TBs (perhaps not generating a notification to the cache owner/watchers or TB owner/watchers) - useful if you are using a personal coin to track your distance...

Couldn't you just do this with an all finds pocket query?

You could if there were an option to enter the time a cache was found into a log. As it is, though, there is no way to sort multiple logs entered on the same day, so the All Finds PQ can't be used to track distance.

 

Shame, isn't it? ;)

Seems like its a pretty common thing to do and likely to become more so as the coins get more popular.

 

Thinking more about it, it is very much symmetrical with "Spotted" - and maybe "Visited" would be a better name for it than "Drop and Retrieve". They are both a way of marking a TB's short term movements while not changing their current status. For "Spotted" the current status is either "In the hands of..." or the "In cache ..." (slight issue with "Unknown" perhaps?) whereas for "Visited" I think the current status would have to be "In the hands of..." to make sense otherwise allowing a "Visited" log would be inappropriate. Of course it would require a means of specifying the cache waypoint on the TB log screen which would make it a bit more complicated to program so I suspect that it is less likely to get done soon than "Spotted" unless there is some shared code that would be useful for both features.

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Might that go hand in hand with a "drop and retrieve" log type for TBs (perhaps not generating a notification to the cache owner/watchers or TB owner/watchers) - useful if you are using a personal coin to track your distance...

Couldn't you just do this with an all finds pocket query?

You could if there were an option to enter the time a cache was found into a log. As it is, though, there is no way to sort multiple logs entered on the same day, so the All Finds PQ can't be used to track distance.

 

Shame, isn't it? ;)

 

Not really. You should be able to come after the fact and manage the sort order on your own.

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I don't really have a problem with looging bug or coin numbers especially if I find something interesting. It helps me to remember something that I saw but was unable to move on for some reason. For example I was at a picnic and someone brought a garden gnome that came with its own 5 gallon bucket to carry it in. Now its not every day you see a TB that big it is unusual. I took the number so I could log it, and knew it was impracticale for me move the TB along. Unfortunately I lost the number before I could log it.

 

The problem I have is hypocrisy that some folks show. I was at an event in Denver and saw a few cool TB's, I was going to move one down the road but wanted to log a couple of others for posterity. A couple of other people at the event felt what I was doing was wrong and sent yet another person to explain to me that I was "not playing the game right". Ok fine I thought, no problem. But then a few weeks later what do I see? Alog by the person who complained about how I was playing the game, logging a GeoCoin in and out! Guess there is a double standard for some folks.

 

Ok that s my rant.

 

Play the game how you like, log if you want, log if you don't. If you are interested in numbers than cool, if not then cool. If its a way to spend time with your family or get exercise than cooler yet!

 

Do it how you want to just have fun.

 

Dan

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Play the game how you like, log if you want, log if you don't. If you are interested in numbers than cool, if not then cool. If its a way to spend time with your family or get exercise than cooler yet!

 

Do it how you want to just have fun.

 

Dan

 

I don't disagree with this - I just don't want the way others do it to affect me ;)

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There are workarounds to this problem.

 

I make it an exception to drop off TBs and Geocoins at events. You won't see me doing that until after the event, when an actual exchange took place or someone wanted to log a rare Geocoin that I have in possession.

 

There are TB and Geocoin descriptions that specifically state they NOT be dropped off in events, so if people wish, they just grab it from each other and the last person to hold it does the final grab.

 

I'm in the minority, but hopefully, more people will be doing this so this annoyance can be minimized to those who host the events.

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I am still hoping that someday the owner of a cache/event, will have more control over these things (like not allowing tb/coin in the event/cache, could also be useful in areas where they tend to "disappear often). Low on the priority list I know, but a girl can wish!

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