Event Coins -

[+Cach-U-Nuts]

If this has already been covered then please point me in the right direction

 

I've got some questions about event coins and wanted to get some opinions. Is it proper to sell event coins to the masses as a preorder sale - or should event coins just be offerd at the actual event, with any left over coins offered afterwards to the general public?

 

Wouldn't an event coin have more trading appeal if it were 'only' available to purchase at the event? And is that important to folks?

 

Should event coins be trackable?

 

Is there a general rule of thumb as far as "how many" coins should be made for events? Obviously it depends on the event... a small group event vs an annual state event -

 

Just wondering how the geocoin addicts feel about this topic, looking forward to your thoughts, thanks..

 

~ Mrs. Cachu

[+ChileHead]

it's not an event coins if it is sold to the general population in my opinion. Of course if you have extras AFTER the event then it seems reasonable to open up sales.

[+Marky]

Geowoodstock was sold to the masses as a pre-order. I think that one turned out pretty well.

 

The real question you want to answer is: What do the event attendees want?

 

Or maybe you should ask this first: Who is your target audience?

 

Probably a fair number of them know about geocoins but not all of them might be aware of geocoin collecting. A pretty big percentage of geocachers never visit the forums, so may not even be aware of how popular geocoin collecting has gotten.

 

The CCGC CITO event model was pretty cool. They sold the regular version to the masses and gave away the LE version at the event via the proceeds from the regular version sales. I have no problem with this model. Instead of giving the LE version away, it could be offered for sale at the event to event attendees with the remaining unsold LEs being sold afterwards.

 

--Marky

[+AtlantaGal]

An event coin should have the coin sold at the event primarily and first. Then if any are leftover, those can be offered to the coin community. This has been done most recently with the Frozen Bone Cache Zone coins.

 

Another example is the Midwest Open Geocaching Adventure coins. These have a special metal only available at the event and also a low-run standard coin available for presale to the caching community. The orders will not be delivered until after the event. So event attendees get their coins first.

 

In order to get a decent price break, usually at least 300 coins are minted. So knowing in advance there will be leftovers rolling out to the community isn't a bad thing and they will sell. You can fund some of the coin production costs by anticipating the leftovers and selling those as a presale with delivery after the event.

 

With such a low run of coins, the coin would still have just as strong of an appeal because not everyone will be able to purchase them because there are not enough to meet demand.

 

Leftover event coins will sell better and faster if they are trackable, however, to the true coin collector tracking makes no difference since it's a feature not used by collectors who are similar to myself.

[+nielsenc]

I like the Hobo coin, which was done for an event in your neck of the woods. I traded to get mine. This gives people who go or who are sitting on the fence to go an extra 'incentive' to go.

 

If you tie it to an event, I am pretty sure people would buy it if they go, even if they aren't coin collectors. With a run of 100 coins running anywhere from $300 - $400, a turn-out of 25 - 50 people, you could easily sell 100 coins. You *know* the collectors will snap up the rest for trade fodder.

 

nielsenc

[+team_wolfje]

I agree with the price break. Coins are expensive!

 

Also, you should consider making different metals: one for sale (ie bronze) and one Limited Edition (ie Silver).

The LE should then only be available for teams at the event itself.

 

That way I think you should please both crowds.

[+Shop99er]

If this has already been covered then please point me in the right direction

 

I've got some questions about event coins and wanted to get some opinions. Is it proper to sell event coins to the masses as a preorder sale - or should event coins just be offerd at the actual event, with any left over coins offered afterwards to the general public?

 

Wouldn't an event coin have more trading appeal if it were 'only' available to purchase at the event? And is that important to folks?

 

Should event coins be trackable?

 

Is there a general rule of thumb as far as "how many" coins should be made for events? Obviously it depends on the event... a small group event vs an annual state event -

 

Just wondering how the geocoin addicts feel about this topic, looking forward to your thoughts, thanks..

 

~ Mrs. Cachu

When we throw one of our events, here's what we do.

 

We only make 100.

 

We sell the coin at the event for exact cost. You have to attend the event to get one that day. We've had one cacher try to pull a fast one, and get someone to pick up one for him (he didn't want to attend), but that scheme failed.

 

Anyway, once the event is over, we used to announce them as for sale for $X in these forums. Not sure how we're gonna handle that for the Spring Fling, with the new rules. And, we would put 1 on that e-place. And, I keep a few to trade.

 

We always limit them to 1 per caching household. For example, we have a family of 6 up here that caches under the same team name. They get 1. There are several married couples here that cache under 2 different names. They get 1. Some folks don't like this rule, but it ain't their coin. I'm trying to get them to as many different folks as possible, post-event.

 

Making them available to the "public" before the event removes anything special about them, in my opinon. The folks that make the effort to attend should have absolute first chance at them. The folks that don't just have to wait their turn, if there are any left.

 

I have not and will not make my coins trackable at GC. I have several reasons, but none of them need to be aired here. For the event (and any other) coins that I have aquired, tracking is nice, but not necessary. If it's a design that I like, I don't give a rip about trackability. If I don't like the design for some reason, then I won't get the coin.

 

That help?

[+IceCreamMan]

When we did the Geowoodstock coin, we were utterly naive about the whole coin thing. We didn't even post any shiping costs because we assumed that only people coming to the event would buy them. Who needs to worry about shiping? We never even considered the likelyhood that large numbers of non-attendees would even want the coin. How wrong did that turn out to be? Most of the coins still ended up going to people who attended the event, but not by much.

 

If we had it to do over again, I would push for the standard sale to the public with the LE being distributed at the event. I would also use the coin sale to help fund the event. We raised enough with the T-shirt sales, but the coins would really have helped.

[+Kealia]

For our 2nd Annual Roaring Camp Event this year (locals know what I'm talking about) I'm thinking about doing 100 coins only. You must attend to buy the coin; 1 per person/team.

 

While I like collecting as much as the next guy, I really don't want to collect most event coins that I haven't been too (some exceptions for cool designs).

 

This event spawned last year's Santa Cruz coin and drew about 120 people so this is still a work in progress on how it will play out.

 

I just think it's nice to have something special that you have to attend to get. Although I'm not 100% against the idea of a LE for attendees and another metal for general sale to help fund the event.

 

Chalk me up as officially on the fence.

[+bikinibottomfeeders]

I personally was a little bit ticked off that I couldn't buy a geobash coin while I was actually camping out at the friggin event but everyone sitting in the airconditioning a gazillion miles away had already purchased theirs.

 

**disclaimer**

I wasn't on the forums or into coins at this time

 

I think that coins should be sold AT the event though.

[+michigan_chris]

Some event geocoin designs have been pretty cool so I think that they should be available to everyone ahead of time for coin collecting purposes. They should definitely be available at the event as well though since that is the whole point of the event geocoin.

[+Cornerstone4]

We have an event at the end of February that will have 100+ people in attendance. We wanted a custom icon for the coin, so we went with 1000 coins. They will not be for sale to the general public until after the event, but I expect to have quite a few available.

[+Renegade Knight]

First if at all possible the Event coin should be made for attendees only.

 

If that's not possible and they need to be sold to get the right economies, then the minimal number possible should be sold. Under no circumstances should the coins be released before the attendees have them in hand.

 

If the event organizers have the money they can sell any extras after the event but it does mean more up front costs.

 

Considerations:

Volunteers get a coin for helping that can be a different metal (aka LE)

Event attendee's get a specific metal.

Outside sales get a different metal.

 

Outside sales should include notice of the total number, that they would get a different metal if applicable and they should be told to keep their mouths shut if the coin is to be a suprise at the event.

 

Tracking is up to the event organizer.

Edited January 30, 2006 by Renegade Knight

[+Renegade Knight]

...You must attend to buy the coin; 1 per person/team. While I like collecting as much as the next guy, I really don't want to collect most event coins that I haven't been too (some exceptions for cool designs)....

Idaho has started a custom that is similar but with keychains and not coins. If you make a keychain you can have the "handle" custom sewen wiht the event name. Then you can put that on your caching pack as a tropy. The more you have the more bragging rights you get.

 

I've got a whopping two. Some have attended every known event and have a handful hanging on their pack as trophies.

 

It's also cheaper than coins.

[+Shop99er]

Considerations:

Volunteers get a coin for helping that can be a different metal (aka LE)

Event attendee's get a specific metal.

Outside sales get a different metal.

Our event coins aren't tracked. Dunno if they ever will be, either.

 

Starting this year, the staff will get a special coin that has "Staff" engraved into them. There will only be enough of these made to cover the true number of staff members.

 

We thought about a different metal, but the cost far outweighed the number of coins we would be making.

[+TravelingViking]

An event coin should have the coin sold at the event primarily and first. Then if any are leftover, those can be offered to the coin community. This has been done most recently with the Frozen Bone Cache Zone coins.

Just to add: we also used the Frozen Bone Coin to fund the event. So participants did not need to pay anything for food and drinks and prizes.

 

We had a limited version (250 antique silver) and a public version (750 antique copper). Both where available at the event first. Only leftovers made it into the online stores.

 

Thanks again to everyone who funded our 1/1/2006 8AM party!

 

You are all invited to join us next year!

 

Cheers!

 

Olaf