how do i create a massave evnt everyone wants to come to?

[+trektek2002]

i am looking for good advise.

[+Cache & Keri]

Give away cash to all that attend!

[crtrue]

Give away cash to all that attend!

 

I was thinking the very same thing as the page loaded...interloped again!

[+Shop99er]

To make things go easier get a theme. That helps to define the look and sometimes the flow.

 

First thing to do is determine about how many people are going to attend. A tough thing to do. We plan for X amount and usually get about double that. Once you've figured out how many to plan for, find yourself a venue to hold it in. If it's during cold and wet weather find a place that will hold that many people inside. If it's in the summer an outside venue will work just fine.

 

Things to coinsider for a venue are parking, rest room facilities, play/game areas, electricity, water.

 

Once you have a theme and a location think about a date. Weekdays generally don't work for anyone other than those within close driving range of the event. Weekends you need to make sure you're not bumped up against any other events or holidays.

 

You bring them in you gotta feed them. Pot luck or catered? If you go pot luck you need extension cords, plug strips (for crock pots), tables to sit food on, lots of garbage cans and bags, plates, napkins, forks, spoons, cups.... just bring everything in your kitchen and you should make out fine.

 

Gotta water them. We've found that they want water and lots of it. Bottles or a cooler..it always goes dry. You'll need plenty of ice and coolers if you supply pop. Forget the cheap store brand pops. People don't drink them. Kids like punch if there's no pop and adults, at least a few, will look for coffee.

 

Once they're parked and fed they are going to want something to do. The more you can entertain the kids the happier the adults are. Which isn't to say that the adults don't want to have their own games to play.

 

In order to know who is playing all these games you'll need name badges. Caching and real names. It helps to start conversations.

 

Think of a really great kids party meets an adult party. You need decorations, games and you need to make sure everyone feels like the party if for them. Cater to their needs. Make it memorable for everyone.

 

That's a start.

[+Ziggy Crew]

To make things go easier get a theme. That helps to define the look and sometimes the flow.

 

First thing to do is determine about how many people are going to attend. A tough thing to do. We plan for X amount and usually get about double that. Once you've figured out how many to plan for, find yourself a venue to hold it in. If it's during cold and wet weather find a place that will hold that many people inside. If it's in the summer an outside venue will work just fine.

 

Things to coinsider for a venue are parking, rest room facilities, play/game areas, electricity, water.

 

Once you have a theme and a location think about a date. Weekdays generally don't work for anyone other than those within close driving range of the event. Weekends you need to make sure you're not bumped up against any other events or holidays.

 

You bring them in you gotta feed them. Pot luck or catered? If you go pot luck you need extension cords, plug strips (for crock pots), tables to sit food on, lots of garbage cans and bags, plates, napkins, forks, spoons, cups.... just bring everything in your kitchen and you should make out fine.

 

Gotta water them. We've found that they want water and lots of it. Bottles or a cooler..it always goes dry. You'll need plenty of ice and coolers if you supply pop. Forget the cheap store brand pops. People don't drink them. Kids like punch if there's no pop and adults, at least a few, will look for coffee.

 

Once they're parked and fed they are going to want something to do. The more you can entertain the kids the happier the adults are. Which isn't to say that the adults don't want to have their own games to play.

 

In order to know who is playing all these games you'll need name badges. Caching and real names. It helps to start conversations.

 

Think of a really great kids party meets an adult party. You need decorations, games and you need to make sure everyone feels like the party if for them. Cater to their needs. Make it memorable for everyone.

 

That's a start.

 

Very well put! It makes me want to go out and put another event together. My first event had a "Poker Run" theme to it. Good luck on what ever you come up with.

[+Team Shydog]

just bring everything in your kitchen and you should make out fine.

And I thought I was the only one who did this

[+fairyhoney]

Yes, pay attention to Shop99er. He and his wife put together great events.

[+Shop99er]

Yes, pay attention to Shop99er. He and his wife put together great events.

Actually, that was Mrs. Shop99er that wrote that. She is the brains behind our events.

[+9Key]

Become involved in your local geocaching scene. Attend events in your area - meet people and make friends. You'll need their help!

[+Rockin Roddy]

Don't go overboard with activities...people want to relax and talk. Don't make them think they "have" to participate in anything, let them be their own guide as to what they want to do.

 

Some will talk the whole event , some will want to trade TBs and be off, some will go after caches. The type of event (M&G, camp/cache CITO etc...) will dictate a bit of what will be going on!

 

Our event coming up will be a weekend camp/cache event...we plan to have plenty of caches right in the campgrounds/park for attendees to get, we'll be feeding them a nice ribs dinner (OK, we'll supply the ribs, attendees will bring a dish to pass), we have a scavenger hunt planned...participants can work on that as they want throughout the weekend (or as long as they stay). Prizes and a raffle will be held, fireside talks and chatting...all the great things that camping has to offer, including the great friendship and FUN!!

[+trektek2002]

Would it be bad form if i brought in other tracking sites for fun? and for those whom gave great advise so far many thanks, and to you shop99er, super advise if only i could rate your advise it would be a 10. for form and wisdom.

[+Rockin Roddy]

Not sure what "other tracking sites" refers to, but I'm assuming they're items trackable on other sites? Sure...see them at events all the time!

 

You should set up an area for the trackables and have someone manning the area when available to the guests. Many TBs disappear from events because no one monitored the trading. Have the guests sign TBs in and out. We give tickets to guests dropping TBs off...1 ticket/1 TB. That way, anyone bringing in TBs can get their share back...and we have a drawing using those tickets as well!

[+fairyhoney]

Not sure what "other tracking sites" refers to, but I'm assuming they're items trackable on other sites? Sure...see them at events all the time!

 

You should set up an area for the trackables and have someone manning the area when available to the guests. Many TBs disappear from events because no one monitored the trading. Have the guests sign TBs in and out. We give tickets to guests dropping TBs off...1 ticket/1 TB. That way, anyone bringing in TBs can get their share back...and we have a drawing using those tickets as well!

OOH! the ticket thing is a Great idea.

[+Renegade Knight]

i am looking for good advise.

Learn to type, spell, correct your typo's and improve your grammar.

 

More people will take you seriousley (whoops misspelled that) if you do those things it increases the number of people likely to attend your mega event. This is true even if you do all the other things people suggest.

[+wimseyguy]

Why don't you come to Geowoodstock 5 next month and see for yourself? We're expecting over 1400 wild and crazy geocachers to attend our event.

[+fearthefish]

My advice is start with something simple.

 

Last December, I hosted an event two days after Christmas. I found a local pizza place that offers an all-you-can-eat buffet on Wednesday evenings. I put up the listing about a month in advance and let people know what time the buffet was and how much it would cost. Being mid-week, right after the holiday, and a good chance of bad weather (which it was), I expected no more than a dozen local people to show up.

 

Instead, I received about 50 logs from people saying that they would come. I am glad that so many people logged in advance, as I was able to reserve more space at the restaurant. About 75 people came to the even, with some coming from over 100 miles away. I'd say that the average person drove 25-30 miles to get there (and probably cached along the way).

 

A few local cachers placed new hides around the restaurant and posted them the day of the event, which helped a lot. Printouts of the new listings were available at the event. Some people left during the event to find them, and then came back. Others stopped and found them on the way home.

 

I wasn't looking to spend a lot to host the event, but wanted to be able to offer people something. So, everyone got a raffle ticket when they showed up and we raffled off a few prized during the event. I gave away two unactivated Travel Bug tags, a couple of $2 bills (a common FTF prize around here), and some ready-to-go caches made by my kids. People enjoyed those the most, as the kids painted the containers and included swag and hand-made logs in each one.

 

Set up and clean up were pretty easy. I had one table with name tags and the log book, and another table for Travel Bugs. The restaurant took care of the rest. It went so well that I will probably host another one at the beginning of the summer. Also, by doing a smaller event first, I now know people in the area that I can ask for help should I decide to do something larger in the future.

 

Good luck with your event, and have fun!

[+unimoggers]

I'm too bossy to add any advice. I always boss our attendees around. Do THIS! Find THAT! Go HERE! Now go THERE!

They're all tired of me. Ask AVROAIR!

[+trektek2002]

1. i speak better than i write or spell.

2. what wonderfull advise - keep it comming.

3. still need more ideas if you want to share.

4. not nessecery to share if you dont want to.

thanks to all who posted so far.

william

[+trektek2002]

and i was refering to money tracking and book tracking sites. i was also hoping to get a board game site to come out to.

[+Rockin Roddy]

Post it and they will come! Our event has now turned into a larger gathering than I had bargained for! It seems that MiGo and the DNR are going to make an announcement at our event...with the press and DNR bigwigs (and of course MiGo as well). We've recently worked a deal with the DNR to allow caches placed (for free) on S.P. lands!

 

How many will 150 lbs of ribs feed anyway?

 

We posted an M&G last year expecting maybe 30-40 people...more than 60 people showed up. Make sure you have a back-up plan! Always plan for a set amount, then add another 20 or so people! You may STILL be shooting low, but not as low as you might have been!

[+wimseyguy]

My professional advice is to plan for 1/2# of bone in meat per person minimum. So 150#will only feed 75 guests.

[+scoutboy]

There is some event planning information that might be useful at

 

http://www.geoscouting.com/resources.html

[+Kiwi Nomad]

Thanks for this thread I have just had some great ideas for an event.

Had wanted to hold one but didn't know where to start.

[+simpjkee]

I dont plan on hostng. I'll just attend events other cachers host. and there are quite a few in AZ

[+Robespierre]

A. I've not had involvement with geoWoodstock, but here are some impressions. It was first held in a well-populated area, there was nothing else like it, perhaps the name helped, but the #1 factor, I believe, was the huge number of caches. Perhaps it also got into support of forum people and local club people who wanted to meet like the GeoBash did.

 

B. I was able to spend one day at the first Midwest Geobash, and the reason I made a big effort to be there is because of Forum contact with other Cheerios (see Off Topic), and contact with COG cachers in Ohio and some NEO cachers, and a few NWO cachers, all in Ohio. I believe it was an instant success (and it was hot! hot! and miserable) because of these types of contacts. It had plenty of caches in the area, too, but was more rural. It's a campout.

 

C. The third, which our team loves, LOVES, is the one run in the Cleveland area by SerenityNow and the Fraggles. It is totally family run. It is so completely well organized. It takes about 7 hours. It is a race. This year the theme is "Dude, Donde Esta Mi Chevy," and they have to limit the size to around 300 every year. It is multi-media, this year it's catered..... but it has developed over the years because of the terrific organization/media prep. It's a whole lot of fun, and it draws from several states and Canada. Of course it's in a populated area. And it's more about teams, one vehicle only, which you bring with you.

 

IF I WERE TRYING TO DESIGN A LARGE EVENT: (like the Bash), I'd recruit a committee from as many smaller organizations around as I could. I'd have each get involved in the gc forums and talk about it a lot. I'd plan it a year in advance. I think I'd try a winter event - but facilities would be a major consideration here, but the summers are getting crowded. I'd included some form of competition, but I would not make it rigorous like orienteering. That would exclude a lot. However, 200 people is one thing, and 1000 is another. One great puzzle cache would be interesting, for people who had conquered all the smaller steps/caches. I'd talk to the people like SerenityNow, Bjorn74, some Nashville cachers, who had actual experience with larger events.

[+JAYMEDINC]

This is just the thread I have been looking for. I plan to host my first event in October. Nobody has posted here in almost two years. Any new advice that I should keep in mind?