Geocaching Event Ideas

[+iamgeek]

I am holding an event soon and need some ideas on what to do. I would like to have a few games and contests to play during our main event. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Have you played any games at an event you thought was fun? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[+TerraViators]

I've been to some good events that had a scavenger hunt race. Themed items were hidden within a few miles of the event site, with different point values. A time limit of two hours given and the person with the highest point total won the grand prize.

[+niraD]

Geocacher Bingo is a good ice-breaker. Each person gets a page with a 5x5 grid of spaces with different criteria, and you have to write the name of someone present who meets the criterion in each space. You can use each name only once. Things like: fewer than 100 finds, more than 1000 finds, owns a virtual cache, has found a Wherigo cache, has found a D5 cache, has found a T5 cache, still uses an old yellow eTrex, and so on.

 

Another game that I thought was brilliant, but it will cost money: The organizer bought a bunch of pins in 10 different designs. Each person received a lanyard with 10 pins of the same design on it. The game was to trade pins with others, until you had all 10 different designs. The "prize" was the lanyard with 10 different pins on it. Very cool.

[+FloridaFour]

Went to a Mega Event recently and they had a GPS accuracy test. They did use some kind of fancy gps to set a coord to find. Then everyone used their gps and put flags with their names on them at the spot they picked. Whoever was closest got a prize.

 

Decorate an ammo can contest. Bring pre-decorated cans or decorate them there, auction them off. The one who has the most votes wins a prize.

 

Hide something at the event coords, with a note in it, the first to find gets a prize. Do not list it or tell anyone. Hardly anyone looks for a cache at the event coords, so this is kind of fun.

 

Make a crossword puzzle, geo themed. Prizes for first 3 people who turn it in, or anyone who completes it gets put in a special drawing.

 

Prizes for people who came the furthest, the oldest geocacher, the newest geocacher, the one with the craziest caching "outfit", etc.

 

It's nice to have separate games for kids, too. Kids can get bored at events. Bring some plain containers, glue, leaves, or other arts and crafts and let them get together and decorate the container. Then raffle the containers off or let them take them home.

Edited January 7, 2012 by FloridaFour

[+DsrtMtnRox]

Geocacher Bingo is a good ice-breaker. Each person gets a page with a 5x5 grid of spaces with different criteria, and you have to write the name of someone present who meets the criterion in each space. You can use each name only once. Things like: fewer than 100 finds, more than 1000 finds, owns a virtual cache, has found a Wherigo cache, has found a D5 cache, has found a T5 cache, still uses an old yellow eTrex, and so on.

 

Another game that I thought was brilliant, but it will cost money: The organizer bought a bunch of pins in 10 different designs. Each person received a lanyard with 10 pins of the same design on it. The game was to trade pins with others, until you had all 10 different designs. The "prize" was the lanyard with 10 different pins on it. Very cool.

These sounds fun...

[+niraD]

Here's another idea I've heard about, but haven't seen played:

 

The Swag Game — Display a dozen or more assorted trade items (ranging in value from a few cents to a few dollars) on a table, each identified by a different letter. Attendees must list the trade items in order of value. A good prize for the winner is a ready-to-hide cache container, complete with a log and all the trade items from the game.

[Mr.Yuck]

Every time this comes up, I bring up the idea I invented, bobbing for film canisters. You can put prizes in them and stuff. Someone said they were going to do it once, but I don't know if they did. Yes, it's goofy, and the first time I brought it up it was a joke, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

[+briansnat]

I prefer simple events that don't involve games and other distractions. I go to events to meet and chat with other geocachers and I think most games detract from that goal. I particularly dislike events with a lot of special caches, or activities that require cachers to go off on their own. I've been to many an event that when the attended logs started rolling in I realized that I never encountered a significant number of the attendees. To me that is counter to the point of events.

 

There are a few games that encourage interaction and I don't mind those. The geocacher bingo mentioned by NiraD is one. I also attended a "murder mystery" event that encouraged interaction between attendees and that was fun.

 

But overall I prefer a simple meet and greet at a restaurant or park pavilion (in a park without a lot of caches) over food and drink. If you're worried about the kiddies, bring crayons and coloring books.

Edited January 8, 2012 by briansnat

[+Dode222]

Try hiding some small caches around the area and pretend they are geocaches.

[+Chokecherry]

I prefer simple events that don't involve games and other distractions. I go to events to meet and chat with other geocachers and I think most games detract from that goal. I particularly dislike events with a lot of special caches, or activities that require cachers to go off on their own. I've been to many an event that when the attended logs started rolling in I realized that I never encountered a significant number of the attendees. To me that is counter to the point of events.

 

There are a few games that encourage interaction and I don't mind those. The geocacher bingo mentioned by NiraD is one. I also attended a "murder mystery" event that encouraged interaction between attendees and that was fun.

 

But overall I prefer a simple meet and greet at a restaurant or park pavilion (in a park without a lot of caches) over food and drink. If you're worried about the kiddies, bring crayons and coloring books.

 

I'm on completely the same page as you. I avoid events where there is schedule of games and what not that are going to be played or activities that are going to be done. I'm there to meet up with cachers and laugh and have a casually good time.

 

You probably won't need many break the ice sorts of the games if you have a good host who will encourage discussion between people there.