Event coins? To do them or not? Thoughts

[+tsunrisebey]

I'm in the early stages of planning a meet and greet type event here in Helena (my first one and first one attended and may morph into something more specialized). Helena doesn't seem to do much in the way of events but I see my surrounding communities doing an event here and there.

 

Anyhow, I'm contemplating an event coin, it would be nontrackable due to the cost of minting coins. For those of you who do event coins or even those of you who attend events that make an event coin, is it something you feel is worth doing or do you enjoy getting an event coin? Thoughts/comments/whatever... are appreciated. What do you like or not like about event coins?

 

I know some of this depends on the communities (we're small here and there are only a couple of people really into coins, as far as Helena is concerned). I was planning on bringing some of my coins for others to discover and to promote geocoins, and try to get people more involved in this aspect. So, I'd also like thoughts on the bringing my coins to an event comments? Do's/Dont's, how to keep your coins as secure as possible? I don't have any coins in binders, they all sit in a box that I rummage through for now. (I'm not looking for which binder method I should use, I've seen enough threads for those, I'll work on a binder or something down the road).

 

I just need to get some thoughts and opinions rolling here, anything goes, I want to make sure I think of as many angles/issues as possible while in the planning stages. I have the event scheduled for January, so I've got some time to play with here.

 

Thanks ~tsun

[+Stellar Jr.]

If you're not sure on how many people will attend and want to keep the cost down, why not

do a wooden nickel event coin. I've been to a few events over the last few months where

they had the wooden nickels made especially for the event. Even though it's not metal, I

still value an event wooden nickel coin because I was there.

 

When I take my coins to events, I do take them in a binder. I use the baseball card plastic

holders. I just put the coins in and tape the openings with clear plastic tape so the coins

don't fall out. It's not the neatest method, but it's quick to do. I've tried cutting foam but sometimes the

coins slip out of the foam opening anyways. Then I type up a sheet of the coin names and tracking

numbers for those people who want to discover them. (It's alot easier than someone writing

all the numbers down one at a time). This is alot safer than taking loose coins, because

sometimes people inadvertantly pick up a coin and take it with them, not realizing that it's

only for discovery.

[+tsunrisebey]

Do I need to turn this into a contest for people to answer?

[Theotokos]

I've only been to one event (this weekends geocoinfest) so not sure I have a lot to offer but I think a wooden nickel like Stellar JR mentioned would be nice. If you're crafty a handmade item would be nice too. We are experimenting ourselves with some polymer clay swag items. T-shirts or ball caps might also be something you could do? Of course an event coin would be real nice too but might get costly and it takes a lot of time to get it all made I think. I do think it is nice to have something to commemorate the event as too me, giving nice little treasures is what geocaching is all about - personal opinion anyway - but I don't think it needs to be a costly or difficult undertaking either. Is there someone in the area that you can recruit to help out with things?

 

Now for display of coins, I saw some nice ones at the coinfest and the one that looked most secure was a hole shaped like the coin cutout in some thin foam and then the coin and foam placed in a hard plastic hockey card holders. The baseball holders aren't as tough as the hockey ones maybe ) (kidding of course) These were very secure and I couldn't see a coin budge from it's spot.

 

Not much help but some thoughts anyway..

[avroair]

Ok I'll bite.

 

I love event coins, I like collecting them, especially if I attended the event.

 

Personally, when I make event coins I make them trackable since that's the first question that gets asked when I sell them. Many people in my area still release coins into caches so they prefer them to be trackable. Trackable also allows them to be sold in the forums. An attendee only version and a general version. I don't see the point to non-trackable event coins, if it's a GC listed event, making the coin GC trackable makes more sense to me. Think of a theme for your event and design a coin based on that theme.

 

In lieu of coins you could also do pins or buttons as a less expensive keepsake (if trackability doesn't interest you).

[+keewee]

I think some kind of event "item" would be an awesome idea that most people would really appreciate. We all know how crafty you are with clays, so maybe you want to experiment with doing a clay token for the event?

 

The one big danger with an event coin is rushing out and minting 50 of them only to find you have 20 people turn up; or you get 50 people, but only 10 want to buy the coin. Maybe, to off set the cost, you could do what I've seen other do - mint a really cool coin (it's your design so this really goes with out saying!) and do a small number in a different metal or colour scheme. Then either sell those ones for a good profit (or put them on eBay for the same good profit) and this then off sets the coin cost for the event. A bit like Avroair did for this Evil Mastermind cache.

 

Either way - I'll buy one!!

[+keewee]

 

In lieu of coins you could also do pins or buttons as a less expensive keepsake (if trackability doesn't interest you).

 

Is there any reason you couldn't get a pin made trackable?... It would just be a one sided micro with a pointy thing sticking out the back of it!

[+501_Gang]

Talk to Steve @ Hog Wild Stuff, he has a trackable pin there. I'm sure he could help lead you in the right direction if a trackable pin is what you seek.

[+GPX Navigators]

I'l bite too now that soccer & the fall tv lineup is over for the night.

 

I like event coins or coins related to specific caches (or anything Avroair does.) Event or cache specific coins are truly related to caching. No one can say they aren't. And, since most events have a theme, the coins always end up being fun. Event coins are ones I will desire to collect even if I have not attended the event. Used to believe the event needed to be attended to enjoy the coin but have changed on that stance. Hey - I'm evolving everyday.

 

Anyway, from what I have seen, non-trackable event coins do not sell as well as trackable ones. On the plus side event coins seem to generally be the most reasonably priced coins. You can still get some in the $7 to $8 range which the pocketbook appreciates - and yes some of those are trackable. I will go for it either way - trackable or not, well unless the coin is really that bad - but haven't come across that yet.

 

As Avroair said, if you make it trackable, you can talk about in the forums and if it does not sell out at the event you can bring it to sell here as well. I can imagine any coin you design will have little problem in selling out. Doing a general version for the non-attendees is good idea. Doubt it could hurt.

 

For our first large event last year, I did a regular pin. It was fun, but it wasn't a coin. We're still working on the SD-event coin thing which will probably come to fruition next year (one can dream, right?) In the interim we have the life jacket coins which while not event related I gave out at Saturday's event. It was a coin. It's trackable. It was fun to give out. An event related coin. Even better! Go for it.

 

So how is Montana in January? Road trip anyone?

[+WWC-World's Worst Cacher]

Here is the big thing with event coins.

 

They are pretty hard to sell after the event. Excluding megas, like Geowoodstock and Midwest Geobash. Maybe some of the Coinfest Coins . .

 

Pinz either trackable or not are a great lower cost choice.

[+Jennifer&Dean]

Fair warning- I'm not coin obsessive.

 

I like the pin idea.

 

Raynebeau in Missoula has signature pins she makes for finding certain caches. It is kinda cool to have a pin saying you found the entire TABA series- we put them on a memory board where we keep stuff we have found along the way.

 

I'm not into event coins. They just don't make sense to me as they are only "good" once and commemorate a single event that just a few folks might attend. We have a few, more because Dean thought they were cool looking than anything else.

 

Events really don't need ANYTHING for people to enjoy them. We didn't give out a single thing at our last one and had just as much fun as the prior 3 events at the Grubstake.

 

Coin discovering:

I've seen boxes of coins, bags of coins, binders and etc. It really depends on the crowd how much they welcome them (some folks think they should travel instead of being stuck in a binder- go figure). I've been handed lists of coin numbers and written them down myself but I rarely bother discovering them once I'm home. We bring our Moun10Bike coin to some events, but only when nobody else there will have one as folks like to discover it.

 

Drop me an email please (PMs don't work with this name).

-Jennifer

[+Jennifer&Dean]

Montana in January is usually fine in the lower elevations. As long as you don't try to go into the mountains you rarely encounter deep snow or dangerous conditions. It is cold, windy and icy but that is normal for winter in most northern states.

 

-J

[+tsunrisebey]

Thanks for all the comments so far, it's good to get a variety of ideas positve and negative.

 

I do like the idea of the clay sig items (Helena petroglyph? ) Personal and unique.

 

I suppose I could save the event coin and go trackable for the tsun georodeo event in 2009.

 

Ok, plenty to think about and if anyone else wants to chime in with thoughts/ideas, go for it.

 

Thanks.. tsun

[+wyohunter]

I like to have a coin showing what events I can make it too. (Or at least have really good intentions too!) Trackable or not. btw count me in on your Montana event!

[+BRoKeN W]

I think it's nice having an event coin to commemorate an event you attended, especially if you really enjoyed yourself. To me it doesn't matter if it is trackable or not. I guess making coins always depends on how big you expect (or hope the event will be) and also depends greatly on your budget.

[+nielsenc]

We have found that when we make the event coin trackable, we sell more of them. I agree with Avroair, one of the first questions asked, "Is it Trackable".

 

Start Small, make 100.

[+keewee]

I do like the idea of the clay sig items (Helena petroglyph? ) Personal and unique.

 

Precisely. They will be cherish and never given up - not even for offers of trade for a Moun10Bike!!

 

 

Ok, plenty to think about and if anyone else wants to chime in with thoughts/ideas, go for it.

 

Thanks.. tsun

 

Your welcome!

[+Nochipra]

If I attend an event I like something that will help me remember it by. If you don't think you will get many attendees at your first event then I would go with something either you make or something cheaper than a metal coin. As the event gets bigger each year, if you hold it again, then I would go with a metal coin.

[+MustangJoni]

I went to an event earlier this year and they had pathtags made. The event organizers gave them to all the attendees.

 

I enjoyed that so much. They also had trackable event coins available, but it was a large sized event.

 

I have to say that I collect event coins. I don't care if they are trackable or not. Some of my best event coins are not trackable - like the Hogwarts event, the GeoPoker event, etc.

[+Rockin Roddy]

It really isn't hard to sell enough to recoup the cost. I had 100 trackable coins made for our Lazy Hayes Days event, we didn't make much off them, but we did break even or above! One of the great things about the coins is that you can have some (like 10 or so) made for any volunteers you might have AND you could sell one of those XLEs for a fund-raiser for the event! I did just that and the coin brought something like $75 or so!

 

Of the ones, I had left over, I used them for donations or swag.

[avroair]

Up until 2005 I used to do buttons for my events. They were really popular and people still ask for them. This year at GONE we did a patch and a geocoin, the patch was so popular the geocoin didn't sell well.

 

buttons, pins, patches, geocoins all good keepsakes for an event