+Birdman-of-liskatraz Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 I've been directed here by Mtn-Man as the UK forum isn't considered an appropriate place for such a discussion. Our local caching group often raises money at its events for a local charity, normally the local Childrens Hospice. Many other UK events do the same for many worthwhile causes. I'm sure the same happens in many other countries. I fully accept that we can't ask for money/donations/sponsorship within the forums and that's fair enough. But why can't we say that at our last event we raised £100 for the local branch of the "False Legs for three legged Hedgehog Society"? Just to let everyone know how we did? or mention that cachers from 3 Counties are taking part in an event to raise money for the local Air Ambulance, that's not (and I quote) begging or soliciting in my book. Can this be looked at please? Thank you Link to comment
+Jan and the Percey Boys Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 or mention that cachers from 3 Counties are taking part in an event to raise money for the local Air Ambulance, that's not (and I quote) begging or soliciting in my book. Whilst I do not wish to get involved in the discussion - I would like to point out that the air ambulance has previously had to help a cacher in distress out Setting of the Devil's Flute Link to comment
AZcachemeister Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 While your charity(ies) may be innocuous, uncontroversial, and even desirable beneficiaries, allowing any charity to be mentioned sets a precedent for inclusion of noxious, highly controversial and very undesirable charities to also be allowed. I won't make up any examples, because they might actually exist! Who is going to decide WHICH charities are worthy and which are not? It gets very messy. Best not to go there at all. I.E. Perhaps I am totally abhorred by three-legged hedgehogs, and believe they should all be put down rather than given artificial limbs. Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 The guidelines allow for such citations, as long as Groundspeak approves them before the cache is submitted. Have you asked TPTB for approval? Link to comment
+Birdman-of-liskatraz Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 The guidelines allow for such citations, as long as Groundspeak approves them before the cache is submitted. Have you asked TPTB for approval? Nothing to do with cache pages - my question relates to forums - the mention of Charities on Forum pages isn't allowed. Link to comment
+uktim Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 or mention that cachers from 3 Counties are taking part in an event to raise money for the local Air Ambulance, that's not (and I quote) begging or soliciting in my book. Because a cahiong forum isn't the place to discuss what we did at the weekend. Unless we went caching We could ask for a UK chatroom for non-caching talk Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 The guidelines allow for such citations, as long as Groundspeak approves them before the cache is submitted. Have you asked TPTB for approval? Nothing to do with cache pages - my question relates to forums - the mention of Charities on Forum pages isn't allowed. Have you considered simply discussing this issue in your local, non-GC.com forums? Link to comment
+Birdman-of-liskatraz Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 The guidelines allow for such citations, as long as Groundspeak approves them before the cache is submitted. Have you asked TPTB for approval? Nothing to do with cache pages - my question relates to forums - the mention of Charities on Forum pages isn't allowed. Have you considered simply discussing this issue in your local, non-GC.com forums? Yes - indeed that's what we do - but it doesn't answer the question - whys it so bad that it can't be mentioned on the GC forums? Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 in a nutshell, Groundspeak is a private company and as such Groundspeak can set whay ever policy they care to. I do not know the reason for policy re. mention of charities in the forums, it is their company and they are free to run it as they please Link to comment
+FulThrotl Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 The guidelines allow for such citations, as long as Groundspeak approves them before the cache is submitted. Have you asked TPTB for approval? Nothing to do with cache pages - my question relates to forums - the mention of Charities on Forum pages isn't allowed. Have you considered simply discussing this issue in your local, non-GC.com forums? Yes - indeed that's what we do - but it doesn't answer the question - whys it so bad that it can't be mentioned on the GC forums? many organizations have a policy of not endorsing, supporting, or having any opinion on outside issues..... there is good historical precedent for this, as some organizations have become rife with controversy to the extent that they ceased to exist.... the organizations, that is, not the controversy, which remained alive and well.... after the demise of the organization.... the short version is, "shoemaker, stick to thy last"....... FulThrotl Link to comment
+tozainamboku Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 many organizations have a policy of not endorsing, supporting, or having any opinion on outside issues..... there is good historical precedent for this, as some organizations have become rife with controversy to the extent that they ceased to exist.... However that is not the case here. Groundspeak, the corporation that owns the Geocaching.com name and host these forums, has endorsed several charities in various ways. Most notably has been the Unite for Diabetes travel bug to promote Diabetes awareness. Groundspeak has two policies that are being questioned here. The first prohibits the placement of caches that solicit or promote religious, political, charitable or social agendas. Groundspeak has decided that geocaching is light, fun activity and geocaches listed on Geocaching.com are not to be used as a platform for an agenda. Of course Groundspeak reserves the right to grant exceptions. The second policy is from the forum guidelines 8. Commerciality and postings with a larger agenda: It is Groundspeak's desire to maintain forums for the purpose of promoting the activity of geocaching and GPS usage. As a result, we intend to limit forum discussions that promote a commercial, social, political or charitable agenda insofar as the agenda does not reasonably relate to the activity of geocaching and GPS usage. Therefore, threads or posts perceived to have been made with the intent of promoting any of the above agendas will not be permitted. Please note that our Volunteer Forum Moderators are authorized to exercise their discretion in providing some reasonable latitude for forum discussion postings relating to local events and issues in local discussion forums. Notwithstanding the above, Groundspeak reserves the right to include or permit the inclusion of limited commercial content in this forum, in its sole discretion. This thread is partly due to a disagreement between Groundspeak and some of the moderators of the UK forum regarding the interpretation of the policy. The OP is asking for a clarification from Groundspeak on whether any mention of charitable involvement by members of a local geocaching group is permitted. I think this kind of mention in the regional forums could hardly be seen as Groundspeak endorsing any particular charity. Link to comment
+baloo&bd Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 Groundspeak has two policies that are being questioned here. Clarification, only one policy. The one regarding the forums is the only one the OP questioned. Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 ...why can't we say that at our last event we raised £100 for the local branch of the "False Legs for three legged Hedgehog Society"? Just to let everyone know how we did?... Good question. It's not soliciting. It's simply a fact. The problem would be opening a thread to proclaim that fact specifically. The fact isn't broken but the thread itself being specific would run afoul of the rules on solicitation just by it's specificity. PS: I passed the gallon mark at the + Link to comment
+The Hornet Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 Just to clarify that at the time the disagreement took place there was NO mention of charities at all in the FORUM guidelines. There was a prohibition on COMMERCIAL solicitations but not charitable ones. The guideline quoted above has only just been created. While I can understand why blatant solicitations might be frowned on I am very disappointed that the mere mention of a charity is considered such a no-no. Especially considering some of the things that do get discussed. Link to comment
+benh57 Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I've been directed here by Mtn-Man as the UK forum isn't considered an appropriate place for such a discussion. Our local caching group often raises money at its events for a local charity, normally the local Childrens Hospice. Many other UK events do the same for many worthwhile causes. I'm sure the same happens in many other countries. I've never heard of charity soliciation at geocaching events here, and i wouldn't want to be solicited at one. It doesn't seem like the place for it. Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 ...why can't we say that at our last event we raised £100 for the local branch of the "False Legs for three legged Hedgehog Society"? Just to let everyone know how we did?... Good question. It's not soliciting. It's simply a fact. The problem would be opening a thread to proclaim that fact specifically. The fact isn't broken but the thread itself being specific would run afoul of the rules on solicitation just by it's specificity. PS: I passed the gallon mark at the + Wow. I didn't know that you could drain that much at one time. You should sit down and have a cookie. Link to comment
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