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UK geocaching mag


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Hi folks,

 

not sure how feasable or viable this idea is.

 

Im thinking of setting up a magazine that would come out every couple of months or so for UK related geocaching.

 

Im thinking of a glossy thing that would be A5 - Im not sure how many pages as yet as im working on what would be good content etc.

 

I hope to have a number of equipemnt reviews, adverts, and offers from associated retlaiers etc.

 

Some discussion type letters page, phots and write ups of various caches and series etc.

 

Perhaps have a section for personal add.

 

Would people be interested in this?

 

What would people want from it?

 

Cheers

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Hi folks,

 

not sure how feasable or viable this idea is.

 

Im thinking of setting up a magazine that would come out every couple of months or so for UK related geocaching.

 

Im thinking of a glossy thing that would be A5 - Im not sure how many pages as yet as im working on what would be good content etc.

 

I hope to have a number of equipemnt reviews, adverts, and offers from associated retlaiers etc.

 

Some discussion type letters page, phots and write ups of various caches and series etc.

 

Perhaps have a section for personal add.

 

Would people be interested in this?

 

What would people want from it?

 

Cheers

 

Not interested personally, as I scarcely get time to keep up with everything on-line let alone on paper - but I'm sure you'd find a market for it somewhere :(

 

It might be worth aiming for content that isn't available either in the forums or elsewhere on t'internet though....

Edited by keehotee
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Personally, yes I’d love to see a UK based magazine, I love reading about our hobby, and I do much prefer paper to on-screen, but sadly I very much doubt that there are enough people of the same mindset out there to make a UK specific physical mag financially viable.

 

After all a few have tried it over the pond, where there is a much larger audience, and haven’t been able to make it stick (not that the newest one has folded yet, and here’s hoping it doesn’t)

 

I write occasionally for a crafting magazine and they are really struggling at the moment, the amount of information freely available on the internet has really struck a blow to magazine publishing :(

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Be careful of any judgments made by the number of Fors and Againsts here on the forum. The number of people reading and/or contributing to the forum is but a small percentage of the number of Geocachers in the UK and, I would suggest that people who are interested enough to read the fora, are the ones most likely to be interested in a magazine. The vast majority who do not participate in the fora, are probably not likely to buy a magazine.

 

Geocaching, by its nature, requires at least a basic level of computer literacy so everyone has access to the fora but the fact that so few do must say something.

 

Does any one have any numbers or (gu)estimate of the proportin of active cachers visit this forum and/or the various regional fora?

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I am not to sure that I would be interested. :mad:

 

The reason I say this is that I had a subscription to the popular Trail magazine. I found that after a few months the stories started to become repetitive. I'm not saying that your magazine would be the same, but when you have forum topics that are often repetitive, then I can't see how you would be able to sustain varied types of articles and stories over a longer period of time.

 

I'm sorry if that sounds negative, as it is just my thoughts. I will say that I would agree fully with Just Roger, don't take the feedback on here as the gospel on what the whole community may want or like.

 

A quick edit to say that I would love you to prove me wrong, and I do wish you good luck if you do decide to venture forward with this.

Edited by Haggis Hunter
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I agree with Haggis Hunter's post.

 

I would add that I don't think that geocaching has inherently enough of interest to write about on a regular basis if you limit it to the UK. Really, what can you say? People don't like to read about the stuff that is at all controversial; look what happens if someone posts a thread on here about cache permission, bans, or cache quality.

 

So if you're limited to UK-relevant articles and can't broach difficult subjects then it's just going to be the occasional review of gear (and you don't need a lot), caches that people like (but you might not be able to actually describe them in detail), caching days out (which can be interesting but may get a bit dull as cachers don't have real adventures), events (which is boring to read about) and a few opinions - watered down so as not to cause offence. None too exciting. The good thing about caching is that it's quite casual and doesn't require much gear or technique; but that means there's not much to write about either. It can be covered in a blog.

 

The ads might be worthwhile, but always you're up against the Web and that's a very powerful tool for advertising. I doubt that more than a handful would pay a subscription just for a magazine and if it's free it might become viewed as junk mail.

 

But as the others said, sorry for appearing negative and I hope I can be proved wrong!

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I like the idea, but then I love magazines anyhow, I dont have wireless internet, and so often while being the resident kids taxi, take a magazine to read.

I get country walking and particularly enjoy that, mainly as I like seeing the routes at the end and wondering about by next holiday and caches in the area, it makes the waiting much more pleasant.

I would buy a caching magazine, especially if it focused on a few areas and routes of caches, like country walking does.

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Sorry to be another voice of doom but I really think you'd struggle to compete against the internet.

 

In order to go caching you need an internet connection to download the caches in the first place and so at a stroke you can find out anything you want to know about caching, equipment and so on. The forums provide some form of interactivity with other cachers, which a magazine can never do.

 

The key question that needs to be asked is what your magazine could offer over and above what's already freely available online. If you can identify something you can offer that the internet doesn't offer, the next question is whether people would be willing to pay enough to read it to cover your printing and distribution costs.

 

Feel free to prove me wrong, but I don't see a physical magazine working at all.

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I agree about the repetitiveness of articles in walking and cycling magazines. I used to buy them, but now only if there's a really interesting article of relevance to me.

A "one off" type UK Geocaching magazine may do well. An example are the ones that lurk in the monthly mags - "How to choose a bicycle" etc. At first glance it's a monthly, but at second glance it's a "one off" and usually costs slightly more than a monthly.

A one off UK Geocaching could be published in the early spring of each year and sell over the spring and summer. It would nestle nicely in the "outdoor activities" section of magazine stands.

Just a thought.

Dave

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may get a bit dull as cachers don't have real adventures

 

Speak for yourself! I have a lot of adventures. Getting stuck down a hole ... falling in the water ... racing against time to get home in time for dinner ... being shaken down by police (or rent-a-cops, or quasi self-appointed police).

 

I might be persuaded to write a regular op-ed column for such a magazine (and relate some adventures).

 

I'd suggest A4, not A5. Postage is higher, but the authority and ad-value is greater.

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may get a bit dull as cachers don't have real adventures

 

Speak for yourself! I have a lot of adventures. Getting stuck down a hole ... falling in the water ... racing against time to get home in time for dinner ... being shaken down by police (or rent-a-cops, or quasi self-appointed police).

I might be persuaded to write a regular op-ed column for such a magazine (and relate some adventures).

 

I'd suggest A4, not A5. Postage is higher, but the authority and ad-value is greater.

Being a person who is a security officer and have to deal with all sorts of incidents and people that display all types of traits such as aggression and self importance. I can tell you that I take offence to that demeaning description of my profession!! :mad::(

 

From my experience, the people who give us 'rent-a-cops' the most respect are in fact the police. I think this is probably because they realise that we can face the same sort of dangers and abuse that they face, but don't have the equipment or the same protection under the law to fully deal with the threat effectively.

 

I put my 'quasi self-appointed police' (authoritative) stance down to the reason I have never been seriously assaulted. Well that and a lot of common sense, which is something that never fails to amaze me that not a lot of people have!!

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In principle, the idea of a magazine is good, but I fear I can only echo many of the sentiments here.

 

My initial thought was that if you were to go ahead with it, A4 has to be the size to give it competitive gravitas. But that then poses the question "do I have enough to put in an A4 mag?".

 

From a purely personal level, I rarely buy magazines (or even newspapers) nowadays, partly because most of what I seek is online and there's only so many non-caching hours in the day, and also because I find that when I do, they invariably end up behind the loo for such occasions... Without going into the finer details, I don't get to read them too often, so they just gather dust!

 

And lastly, there are so many forums about caching that I think they cover pretty much what we need.

 

If you feel you can identify a niche that these don't cover, then the very best of luck, and I'd certainly buy the first issue to check it all out.

 

Like the others though, I'm sorry to appear to pour cold water on the idea, but applaud your sense in sounding out some opinions. If your creativity is as sound as your common sense, then hopefully it has mileage!

 

Good luck.

:mad:

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may get a bit dull as cachers don't have real adventures

 

Speak for yourself! I have a lot of adventures. Getting stuck down a hole ... falling in the water ... racing against time to get home in time for dinner ... being shaken down by police (or rent-a-cops, or quasi self-appointed police).

...

Thanks for making my point so well! ;)

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As much as I prefer to read paper magazines over internet versions, I have not bought any for a couple of years, and have not renewed subscriptions due to the recession.

 

Lack of pay rises means I have had to make cutbacks on many non essential items.

 

As previously stated, any required information can be obtained from the internet as required, instead of waiting for the next issue.

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Why not try an electronic magazine in pdf format, so that people can see what it would look like and if people wanted to have a hard copy, then they could print a copy off to take with them when waiting for the kids etc. Give it a 6 month trial and I would expect that you would have enough feedback to say that you are either going into print or not.

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I'd personally would approach a magazine like trail or country walking and ask if you can do a quarterly geocaching section and try it out and see what the response would be. if it gets good feedback then they might even do a montly section in the magazine to it. if it didnt get a good response then they can just stop the section.

 

just my 2 pence worth.

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Im thinking of setting up a magazine that would come out every couple of months or so for UK related geocaching.

 

Newspapers and magazines are struggling these days.

 

I think you'd be very lucky to create a magazine that was financially viable, especially for a hobby that is predominately web-based in the first place.

 

Although to answer your question, personally speaking I haven't bought more than one or two magazines for over a decade (and one of them I bought electronically and only because my brother was in it), so I doubt I'd buy it.

Edited by needaxeo
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I thought id hoik this up the list again as its still something im keen to look at.

 

I think with the growing populartity of caching then there could be a market for this. I dont expect to make money out of it, but do it more for the fun of it and putting something back into the hobby.

 

If anybody in interested in helping review cahce trails - submit articles and letters etc then please contact me.

 

I have been chatting to a printer and think I may be able to get a good deal on this.

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This forum (and the other Groundspeak forums), GAGB forum, SE, NW and South Wales (and occasional dips into the other UK regional forums,

 

Latitude 47 Blog,

 

The Online Geocacher,

 

then GAGB, UK & Ireland GC Reviewers Community Tea Bar, Latitude 47 and three or four other 'geocaching related' groups and retailers on facebook...

 

For all these reasons I don't feel the need for a UK Geocaching magazine.

 

But thanks for the thought!

 

MrsB :)

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I thought id hoik this up the list again as its still something im keen to look at.

 

I think with the growing populartity of caching then there could be a market for this. I dont expect to make money out of it, but do it more for the fun of it and putting something back into the hobby.

 

If anybody in interested in helping review cahce trails - submit articles and letters etc then please contact me.

 

I have been chatting to a printer and think I may be able to get a good deal on this.

Want a proof reader? :lol:

I think it would be a lot of hard work to make it work, and although I like the idea, I would prefer to see something like a well crafted set of blogs with articles from the likes of drsolly and Happy Humphrey, regular Interesting history/ harder terrain (with photos and maps)/ puzzle honing features (without giving away any cache's secrets) interviews of certain cache setters, upcoming Events feature and a bit more of the kind of thing that doesn't fit easily on a cache page. The reason I would like to see it presented like this is so it retains some of the community feel of the forums.

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I thought id hoik this up the list again as its still something im keen to look at.

 

I think with the growing populartity of caching then there could be a market for this. I dont expect to make money out of it, but do it more for the fun of it and putting something back into the hobby.

 

If anybody in interested in helping review cahce trails - submit articles and letters etc then please contact me.

 

I have been chatting to a printer and think I may be able to get a good deal on this.

Want a proof reader? :lol:

I think it would be a lot of hard work to make it work, and although I like the idea, I would prefer to see something like a well crafted set of blogs with articles from the likes of drsolly and Happy Humphrey, regular Interesting history/ harder terrain (with photos and maps)/ puzzle honing features (without giving away any cache's secrets) interviews of certain cache setters, upcoming Events feature and a bit more of the kind of thing that doesn't fit easily on a cache page. The reason I would like to see it presented like this is so it retains some of the community feel of the forums.

 

Seeker magazine.

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I thought id hoik this up the list again as its still something im keen to look at.

 

I think with the growing populartity of caching then there could be a market for this. I dont expect to make money out of it, but do it more for the fun of it and putting something back into the hobby.

 

If anybody in interested in helping review cahce trails - submit articles and letters etc then please contact me.

 

I have been chatting to a printer and think I may be able to get a good deal on this.

Want a proof reader? :lol:

I think it would be a lot of hard work to make it work, and although I like the idea, I would prefer to see something like a well crafted set of blogs with articles from the likes of drsolly and Happy Humphrey, regular Interesting history/ harder terrain (with photos and maps)/ puzzle honing features (without giving away any cache's secrets) interviews of certain cache setters, upcoming Events feature and a bit more of the kind of thing that doesn't fit easily on a cache page. The reason I would like to see it presented like this is so it retains some of the community feel of the forums.

 

Seeker magazine.

Yes, just like that! Just took a quick peek at the first one, fantastic job, thanks! :-)

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I'm looking forward to seeing the first issue at the Geolympix later this month; I've not come across a copy yet. UK Cache Mag has a stand at the event and will be selling copies for £2.99 I believe. (Price included for information only; it is not a solicitation or invitation to purchase.)

 

Congratulations on getting thus far. I hope you'll be able to switch to a free-to-consumer, paid-for-by-advertising model in future as that's the way I'd personally see the magazine succeeding in the long-run. It's great that there's already an excellent distribution network out there. Copies could be passed to cachers via caches and cache events..?

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