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WeeLurk

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This is the first time I have ever done this forum but I have something on my mind and I want to know what other cachers think. I recently attended an event(the first time I have attended an event) and I was a little disappointed with it. I did have a good time meeting some people and had a few laughs with my geo partner, but I really didn't feel like the event was that good. I do think that people put hard work into making it all happen and I commend them for it though. When I logged my attendance for the event I stated what I did not like about it. After that post several people began bashing my log. I felt as though I wasn't allowed to have and oppinion unless it was the correct oppinion. This made me feel very bad about geocaching and wanting to be part of a group of cachers. Does this happen a lot? I would love to know what everyone thinks about bad mouthing other people's logs because my feeling is that you should write your own log and not worry about what other people are saying. Thanks for listening. :)

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WeeLurk, sorry your first event had to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Cache logs are never supposed to be utilized as discussion forums. Doing so has resulted in some cache pages being locked by Groundspeak so no one can post anything. Those who were bashing you obviously felt that their spreading opinion was more important than the guidelines.

 

As to your second point, I would have to read the log you posted to offer any opinion. As a general rule, for me, I tend to avoid any negativity in event logs, opting to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. If I have concerns or suggestions for future improvements, (which happens pretty often), I'll reserve these for private communication with the host.

 

Edit to add: I just lurked on your profile, and I see that you edited your Attended log to just a smiley face. I'm assuming that someone deleted all the negative comments after your log? I'm not seeing any. I did notice other folks complaining about a poker run which did not involve finding actual caches, but rather, had each participant describe what they found at ground zero to get their cards. That's pretty bizarre. Must have been an economic compromise. Maybe?

Edited by Clan Riffster
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WeeLurk, sorry your first event had to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Cache logs are never supposed to be utilized as discussion forums. Doing so has resulted in some cache pages being locked by Groundspeak so no one can post anything. Those who were bashing you obviously felt that their spreading opinion was more important than the guidelines.

 

As to your second point, I would have to read the log you posted to offer any opinion. As a general rule, for me, I tend to avoid any negativity in event logs, opting to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. If I have concerns or suggestions for future improvements, (which happens pretty often), I'll reserve these for private communication with the host.

 

Edit to add: I just lurked on your profile, and I see that you edited your Attended log to just a smiley face. I'm assuming that someone deleted all the negative comments after your log? I'm not seeing any. I did notice other folks complaining about a poker run which did not involve finding actual caches, but rather, had each participant describe what they found at ground zero to get their cards. That's pretty bizarre. Must have been an economic compromise. Maybe?

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The poker run was done as a virtual cache type thing because it would have cost $25 per cache to place them in the park. I can understand that but we couldn't even do the poker run because some of the virtual poker run caches were far away and there was only 2 hours to do the event. We went and got a map and by the time we did all of that we had 5 minutes to look for the virtual caches. I did delete my post and make it a happy face because I didn't want any more people to respond. It is too much of a one sided conversation on there and it was making me feel bad that my oppinion could not be heard. Thanks for your reply.

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This is the first time I have ever done this forum but I have something on my mind and I want to know what other cachers think. I recently attended an event(the first time I have attended an event) and I was a little disappointed with it. I did have a good time meeting some people and had a few laughs with my geo partner, but I really didn't feel like the event was that good. I do think that people put hard work into making it all happen and I commend them for it though. When I logged my attendance for the event I stated what I did not like about it. After that post several people began bashing my log. I felt as though I wasn't allowed to have and oppinion unless it was the correct oppinion. This made me feel very bad about geocaching and wanting to be part of a group of cachers. Does this happen a lot? I would love to know what everyone thinks about bad mouthing other people's logs because my feeling is that you should write your own log and not worry about what other people are saying. Thanks for listening. :)

So thaaaaat's what that FB post was referencing... :anibad:

 

Does it happen a lot? Not at all.

 

It took me awhile to find what you were talking about.

 

You edited your log to just ": )" and no one that I saw used your username in their log.

 

The one log I did see that offered an opinion on someone else's negative log is very telling.

 

Let me qualify my remark by saying it was from one of the nicest, most level headed, Geocachers I'm proud to call a friend. I also consider NCGO like family even though I live in Texas.

 

It appears to have been a HUGE event as regular events go.

 

I don't know what you said, but what I read in reply was very restrained and to the point.

 

Care to share the WHOLE story? What did you post that you deleted to just : )?

Edited by Snoogans
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My post that I deleted said that I had expected more events at the event, that there was a lot of people yelling when we first got there and we could not figure out what was going on. I said that we almost left right then but we stayed. I said diner was not until late and there wasn't anything going on for several hours so we opted to leave. I also said that I met some really nice people but I was disappointed in my first event.

 

Care to share what the FB post was?

Edited by WeeLurk
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My post that I deleted said that I had expected more events at the event, that there was a lot of people yelling when we first got there and we could not figure out what was going on. I said that we almost left right then but we stayed. I said diner was not until late and there wasn't anything going on for several hours so we opted to leave. I also said that I met some really nice people but I was disappointed in my first event.

As an event host myself, (I will be hosting 11 more events before the end of this year) I feel it is my responsibility to tryyy to incorporate new folks into the group if I don't see them mixing well.

 

In this case there appears to have been well over 100 cachers in attendance and maybe closer to 200. That's a big job for a host. You really are on your own at that point unless you happen to bump into the host and ask for direction. Your best bet is to meet someone and try to participate. I don't know a cacher alive that can't fill a few hours talkin' about caching. :)

 

As an event attendee having attended over 200 events, I used to be the self appointed welcome wagon... But things have changed. The faces come and go so quickly that I mainly seek out familiar faces to spend time with at events. The new folks I spend time with lately have mostly had to approach me.

 

I have to agree in part with the opinion my friend posted in that if you attended an event, especially one that size and with that level of organization, and you left disappointed, you did it wrong. I get that some folks have a little social inhibition, but at that particular event the person responsible for your having a good time was you.

 

I hope you don't give up on that community, like me you are blessed to have one of the best organized and friendliest communities Geocaching has to offer. Give it a chance and lose some of your expectation. It's a great bunch folks at NCGO.

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I agree with everything you are saying...however my question was about the comment and not really the event. I realize that there are things that each individual can do to make their time better. I just feel like it is not right to bad mouth people for having their own opinion. I did not ask for someone to comment back to me and I also didn't expect to read posts that were responding to what I said. My geo partner and I have already sent an email to someone else involved with NCGO explaining what we were talking about in the post. This event wasn't "Free", we paid money to go and I feel like it could have been done better. If I attended a free event and decided to complain....then it would be different.

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I agree with everything you are saying...however my question was about the comment and not really the event. I realize that there are things that each individual can do to make their time better. I just feel like it is not right to bad mouth people for having their own opinion. I did not ask for someone to comment back to me and I also didn't expect to read posts that were responding to what I said. My geo partner and I have already sent an email to someone else involved with NCGO explaining what we were talking about in the post. This event wasn't "Free", we paid money to go and I feel like it could have been done better. If I attended a free event and decided to complain....then it would be different.

Okay, it sounds like you are on the right path getting in touch with NCGO.

 

I hope your event experiences are better in the future.

Edited by Snoogans
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Yes, it's perfectly reasonable to react to other people's logs. What, did you think no one was going to read your publicly posted log? Or did you think people that read your log were going to keep their reactions to themselves? Why should they keep their opinions to themselves when you didn't?

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As the main organizer of this event in the past (2009-10)and present for all of the latest event on Saturday, I was surprised to read this log. I didn't respond to it on the cache page, but it got noted at the event. The agenda was posted on the cache page and on hand in the building and in each registration package. I see an activity was posted every hour, but some were for kids which may not have held interest for everyone. As the schedule was available beforehand, maybe planning to come to the event at a better time would have been advisable? Say, at the food time when most folks are around and back at the Hall. People often vanish during the day to go caching with friends..we don't (and actually don't want to) organize group caching runs at the event. We'd rather folks stay behind and mingle and meet other cachers.

 

A large state event is often difficult as your first event. It's not as "intimately" sociable as a smaller meet and greet event. NC is very active with events, and I would recommend getting to know locals first. You've been caching for two years... go to a local event!! We are a rowdy bunch at times when together from all across the state, and the NCGO annual get together sometimes feels more like a family reunion more than a regular event... odd uncles and awkward teenagers included.

 

We had close to 250 folks at the event, and it's hard to keep everyone happy. I think we have always tried our best though.

 

Comments have been passed on to the current NCGO Board.

 

(the Poker Run had to be altered at the last minute as the State Park didn't want us to hide anything on park grounds, even temporarily).

Edited by Maingray
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If I don't care for a cache or an event they get a TFTC log. If I like it they get a real log. If I feel strong about something I will email the CO direct with my concerns.

 

Same here. In fact I can usually add that it was great to meet and chat, no matter how bad other things went. Although many friends think my chats are monologues.

 

PAul

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My view:

 

There is nothing wrong with expressing an opinion - including a non-favourable one. But with any log, it is best to tread carefully with any criticism. Owners who may have put a lot of time/effort in may take it personally.

 

And with an event, be even more careful. Even if you are being constructive, others who attended may also take it personally.

 

I've only been to a handful events; but I've only seen logs thanking or giving praise. Now I've not been to an event which I did not enjoy. But if I did, I think I would simply say thanks.

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My post that I deleted said that I had expected more events at the event, that there was a lot of people yelling when we first got there and we could not figure out what was going on. I said that we almost left right then but we stayed. I said diner was not until late and there wasn't anything going on for several hours so we opted to leave. I also said that I met some really nice people but I was disappointed in my first event.

You kind of started it with your communication choice, you complained in public, people responded in public. I don't see anything particularly out-of-line with your review (Events can be all that and more :rolleyes:), but if you post that, would you later post the private answers that people write to you? If you will delete a log, think it over before you even post it. A hit-and-run log is probably as bad as angsty replies to it.

 

If you have concerns about a cache, write to the Cache Owner instead, using a Profile PM. And now that you know that the locals speak their minds in their logs (go figure :ph34r:), don't post reviews anymore.

Edited by kunarion
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I agree and disagree with all of these posts. I understand that people would take offense to someone saying an event wasn't great when they put time and effort into making the event happen. I didn't reply to anyone else's logs though and I believe that my little log would not have been a big deal if other people did not make it a big deal. It feels like everyone else is allowed to say good comments but honest comments are not allowed.

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I agree and disagree with all of these posts. I understand that people would take offense to someone saying an event wasn't great when they put time and effort into making the event happen. I didn't reply to anyone else's logs though and I believe that my little log would not have been a big deal if other people did not make it a big deal. It feels like everyone else is allowed to say good comments but honest comments are not allowed.

 

Welcome to Geocaching, you are catching on really fast. I found out its best to be fake. Works out nicely.

Edited by SwineFlew
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I agree and disagree with all of these posts. I understand that people would take offense to someone saying an event wasn't great when they put time and effort into making the event happen. I didn't reply to anyone else's logs though and I believe that my little log would not have been a big deal if other people did not make it a big deal. It feels like everyone else is allowed to say good comments but honest comments are not allowed.

 

..and your opinions were passed on, and it sounds like you contacted the organization as well. All opinions in the past have been looked at and acted on.

 

I think log opinions are fine personally. Just expect some pushback that's all. If you delete after the fact, then it just looks silly.

 

The fee was for a meal ticket, not for event attendance. You should be concerned about the food quality not whether the event was good or not.

 

Here's another way to put your event review forward, for the same event: http://debaere.blogspot.com/2012/09/ngco-fall-fling-2012.html (not my blog nor did I help to organize this year)

Edited by Maingray
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I agree and disagree with all of these posts. I understand that people would take offense to someone saying an event wasn't great when they put time and effort into making the event happen. I didn't reply to anyone else's logs though and I believe that my little log would not have been a big deal if other people did not make it a big deal. It feels like everyone else is allowed to say good comments but honest comments are not allowed.

 

WeeLurk - Here's the thing. This has nothing to do with honesty and whether it's allowed in your personal log files. It absolutely is. But I feel like there are a few things that you're missing:

 

1. This event, like most state-wide events, is huge. It takes months of planning, dozens of volunteers who give time, money, objects (for raffles and auctions), and a frenzy of work. For you to pop in as a self-proclaimed event-newbie and post ONLY negative comments, that is absolutely taken personally.

 

I was one who responded to briefly referenced the two negative logs. I was polite and respectful, but I absolutely stand by my words. If you feel that the organizers didn't do a good job, then maybe you should step up and help out. Did you offer to help in any way? I sincerely doubt it. And honestly, your superlative comment in here about "well, I paid to be there" and how it would be different if it were a free event? Even more disrespectful. You paid for what, a meal ticket? Other people supported NCGO by their donations and purchases. So if paying for a meal ticket gave you the right to snark about the event, then the people who actually gave more had every right to snark back.

 

2. One of your complaints was the "people were yelling". That building had weird acoustics, and there were dozens of people laughing and talking and greeting each other. If an announcement had to be made, it had to be made loudly or people would not be able to hear it. At that point, then we have complaints that "I didn't hear the announcement! You should've been louder!" That was a no win situation.

 

3. Weekend long events have schedules for most of the time, but there is nearly always a period of time in the middle of it in which people can chill out and chat, go take a nap, hunt some local caches, offer to help out in the kitchen, or whatever else they want to do. Many of our cachers are not from the local area, and this allows them to go hit some of the caches with high favorite points, or even take a dare on climbing a tree!

 

4. If you come into an event without knowing other people, there is a modicum of responsibility that lies with you. Just inside the front door on the left was the auction/raffle area. I know for a fact that Nicole and Ashley, two of the friendliest cachers around, never left that area except for a bathroom break, in which time they were covered. All you had to do was say hi. They could've explained the volume, pointed you towards the registration desk. Your packet contained a Bingo game card to get you started meeting people; if you are unaware of how the game works, Karen and Victoria were working the Registration Desk, and both of them would've been delighted to assist you.

 

New cachers are always welcomed with open arms and a huge smile at NCGO. There was no reason for you not to have had a great time this weekend, as nearly every attendee did. But the responsibility to handhold and guide you through the event does not lie with the organizers. They did their side of things by providing schedules, information, and the Bingo card. You need to do at least a little bit of work too by approaching people and asking questions.

 

People will comment back and forth occasionally in logs; it really isn't that uncommon. But when you trash an event that people worked so hard on for so long, when you did nothing at all to help or even better your situation, what else did you expect? I'm not trying to trash you, and while you may not think so, I actually hope you try again next year when Fall Fling is flung again. But you asked why people felt the need to speak against your negative comments, so I felt the need to answer.

 

Cheers!

 

Kel On Wheels.

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I agree and disagree with all of these posts. I understand that people would take offense to someone saying an event wasn't great when they put time and effort into making the event happen. I didn't reply to anyone else's logs though and I believe that my little log would not have been a big deal if other people did not make it a big deal. It feels like everyone else is allowed to say good comments but honest comments are not allowed.

 

Honest comments are certainly allowed (as long as they are polite). But there is a big difference between being nice and being dishonest. (Note : I didn't read any of the actual comment you wrote, I'm just talking in general). No, other people are not supposed to use the log as a forum, and we're certainly not supposed to attack each other in logs, but I can't know if that really is what happened. What people can do is give a different review on the same points and contradict you. So, if you say "there were no activities, I was bored" they can say "there were lots of activities and I had fun".

 

Sometimes you have to consider if your expectations are realistic, and adjust them before giving a review... This was an event run by a group of volunteers. They work for free, trying to give back to the community. Consider that when judging their work. You wouldn't review a free meal at a friend's house the same as a meal you pay 100$ for at a 5 star restaurant, would you?

 

Reading event descriptions might help you choose which events to attend in the future, but keep in mind that most event are "gather at this place at that hour, we'll spend some time together eating, drinking and chatting about geocaching. Most events don't have much more organized activities than that, except for Mega events...

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This event wasn't "Free", we paid money to go and I feel like it could have been done better. If I attended a free event and decided to complain....then it would be different.

 

Can you please add some information on this point? Because the event certainly looks like it's free when looking at the description...

 

Also, maybe you are not aware, but any fee charge at an event can only be for cost recovery (renting a hall, park access fees, food...), so even if you did pay something, you can be sure the organizers didn't get a salary for their work.

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Trash an event? My one comment about the event "Trashed" the event? No I do not want hand holding nor did I expect hand holding. I will not be attending any more events though. I talked to people and no where did I say anything about not talking to people. I stated that there was a lot of time during the event where nothing was happening. I guess that happens at every event and now I know. I bought the entire package and spent money on raffle tickets and 50/50 so NCGO got my donation and yes that does count for spending money on an event. My topic on here was about negative comments about a log that a person posted, not about how I could have done better for myself at this event. I really wish that I had never decided to attend an event, I really love geocaching but I really do not love how negative people get. My log was changed because I got tired of people making a point to call out my log and bash it. That is not being respectful of someone else's opinion. I did meet some great people at the event and I hope this in no way makes those people feel as though I do not value the meetings. I do think that a lot of people put a lot of effort into this event but it was just not what I had expected from a large event organized by an official group. That is why I said that I was disappointed. My being disappointed is my opinion. In the future I will keep my opinions to myself because obviously people are only looking for negative things to focus on.

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Trash an event? My one comment about the event "Trashed" the event? No I do not want hand holding nor did I expect hand holding. I will not be attending any more events though. I talked to people and no where did I say anything about not talking to people. I stated that there was a lot of time during the event where nothing was happening. I guess that happens at every event and now I know. I bought the entire package and spent money on raffle tickets and 50/50 so NCGO got my donation and yes that does count for spending money on an event. My topic on here was about negative comments about a log that a person posted, not about how I could have done better for myself at this event. I really wish that I had never decided to attend an event, I really love geocaching but I really do not love how negative people get. My log was changed because I got tired of people making a point to call out my log and bash it. That is not being respectful of someone else's opinion. I did meet some great people at the event and I hope this in no way makes those people feel as though I do not value the meetings. I do think that a lot of people put a lot of effort into this event but it was just not what I had expected from a large event organized by an official group. That is why I said that I was disappointed. My being disappointed is my opinion. In the future I will keep my opinions to myself because obviously people are only looking for negative things to focus on.

 

Or maybe, instead of taking your marbles and running home, you could actually help with next year.

 

The fact that you posted that you were "disappointed" with the event, and said NOTHING positive AT ALL about the event absolutely will make people feel like you were trashing it and their efforts. I fail to comprehend how you would think otherwise.

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Trash an event? My one comment about the event "Trashed" the event? No I do not want hand holding nor did I expect hand holding. I will not be attending any more events though. I talked to people and no where did I say anything about not talking to people. I stated that there was a lot of time during the event where nothing was happening. I guess that happens at every event and now I know. I bought the entire package and spent money on raffle tickets and 50/50 so NCGO got my donation and yes that does count for spending money on an event. My topic on here was about negative comments about a log that a person posted, not about how I could have done better for myself at this event. I really wish that I had never decided to attend an event, I really love geocaching but I really do not love how negative people get. My log was changed because I got tired of people making a point to call out my log and bash it. That is not being respectful of someone else's opinion. I did meet some great people at the event and I hope this in no way makes those people feel as though I do not value the meetings. I do think that a lot of people put a lot of effort into this event but it was just not what I had expected from a large event organized by an official group. That is why I said that I was disappointed. My being disappointed is my opinion. In the future I will keep my opinions to myself because obviously people are only looking for negative things to focus on.

 

Or maybe, instead of taking your marbles and running home, you could actually help with next year.

 

 

Maybe it's just me but his comes across as "if you think you can do any better why don't *you* try hosting an event" rather than reading what the OP wrote in the log and accepting it as constructive criticism.

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Trash an event? My one comment about the event "Trashed" the event? No I do not want hand holding nor did I expect hand holding. I will not be attending any more events though. I talked to people and no where did I say anything about not talking to people. I stated that there was a lot of time during the event where nothing was happening. I guess that happens at every event and now I know. I bought the entire package and spent money on raffle tickets and 50/50 so NCGO got my donation and yes that does count for spending money on an event. My topic on here was about negative comments about a log that a person posted, not about how I could have done better for myself at this event. I really wish that I had never decided to attend an event, I really love geocaching but I really do not love how negative people get. My log was changed because I got tired of people making a point to call out my log and bash it. That is not being respectful of someone else's opinion. I did meet some great people at the event and I hope this in no way makes those people feel as though I do not value the meetings. I do think that a lot of people put a lot of effort into this event but it was just not what I had expected from a large event organized by an official group. That is why I said that I was disappointed. My being disappointed is my opinion. In the future I will keep my opinions to myself because obviously people are only looking for negative things to focus on.

 

Or maybe, instead of taking your marbles and running home, you could actually help with next year.

 

 

Maybe it's just me but his comes across as "if you think you can do any better why don't *you* try hosting an event" rather than reading what the OP wrote in the log and accepting it as constructive criticism.

 

OK, fair enough. My apologies for my tone, as that isn't what I was suggesting.

 

I was, however, suggesting that, if a person is so "disappointed" by an event that perhaps he or she should volunteer to help planning the next one instead of simply complaining in a log. Because, quite frankly, saying, "I was disappointed" is not constructive. Constructive would be, "I noticed that the volunteers had to yell to be heard over the conversations and the laughter. Perhaps next time, we could try..."

 

The OP's log equated to someone attending a party and then posting, "Man, that party sucked" on Facebook and not expecting the other attendees, nearly all of whom had a blast, to be surprised and supportive of the people who busted their collective tails to make the party happen.

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I agree and disagree with all of these posts. I understand that people would take offense to someone saying an event wasn't great when they put time and effort into making the event happen. I didn't reply to anyone else's logs though and I believe that my little log would not have been a big deal if other people did not make it a big deal. It feels like everyone else is allowed to say good comments but honest comments are not allowed.

 

Welcome to Geocaching, you are catching on really fast. I found out its best to be fake. Works out nicely.

 

Really SF? You must be really insecure.

 

To WeeLurk,

 

You have been around at least a couple of years, so you know geocaching is an all volunteer sport/hobby/activity. Without the good graces of other cachers this activity wouldn't exist at all...

 

Sometimes it's best just to be polite. No fakeness is needed. There are better places (like your local forum or better yet email) to air out opinions than on an event page where most folks are giving thanks to the host. The words family, and family reunion are your que to go for polite.

 

I personally don't think you did anything wrong and I know from behind the scenes that there are no hard feelings. Give a local event a try. Don't be discouraged. NC is an awesome place to be a geocacher and attend events. You'll see.

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Seems to me that the OP was more upset that there wasn't an outpouring of agreement and somehow thinks that they can publicly comment on an event and noone should have an opposing comment on their log. They implied that they just didn't think the online log was a forum to comment on others logs, but somehow I seriously doubt they would have started a thread on these forums, if there was agreement instead of opposing opinions on the event online log. I have no issue with constructive critisism, but you need to understand what your opening yourself up for. Sometimes tact is the better solution if your not prepared for the backlash.

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As someone who's done alot of volunteering, I would be offended by any type of criticism. I don't think an event log is the right place to complain. It takes alot of time away from oneself and family to put on an event and even if there is a charge it is doubtless anybody is making a profit, they are lucky to cover costs at best. Very few people like to volunteer these days, you are lucky anybody puts on events.

 

I understand you may not have enjoyed yourself. I understand it didn't go perfectly. My opinion? Write a short polite log including whatever you may have enjoyed.

 

And THEN start planning your OWN event.

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(male-half) Wow...this thread has seriously opened up a can of worms and I appreciate everybody's input. This weekend seemed to have hurt a lot of feelings, both in and out of this house and we need to put it behind us.

 

I would like to apologize to anyone who has ever hosted an event and had to have an attendee state publicly that they did not enjoy themselves as much as they thought they would. We never meant any disrespect to anybody involved with the event or the many hours of work that they had put into it. In hind-sight, stating it on the log may not have been the wisest case for us. We should have sat on it for a day and emailed the Event owner privately then post a simple "yes, we were there and we liked it" for attendance. I have since been contacted by one of the coordinators and we are discussing things that I felt needed to be addressed. Our post was edited for the realization that the majority of people do not care to read an opinionated log.

 

We had very big hopes for the NCGO event. We have been caching for about 8 months together and had never run across others who shared our favorite hobby. I still very much plan to be a part of NCGO and volunteering for future events. That may suprise some of you, but at the end of the day, geocaching is still our favorite hobby and we still want to make friends to share it with and even as bad some people sound online I'm sure they are very nice in person. We may just put geocaching on the back burner for a little while in order to let things simmer down.

 

Again, we never meant to hurt or upset people with our post. We gave our honest opinion about things in order to try to improve them for the future, nothing more. We still do firmly believe if first time event goers aren't enjoying themselves at an event, maybe there are improvements that can be made. After all, the lifecycle of any organization depends on new membership.

 

Any further comments that are unconstructive and mean will likely be ignored and disregarded because frankly, I don't really care and I refuse to let the female-half get upset over nonsense. I'm also more than willing to share a beer with anyone who wants a decent discussion.

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Interesting opinions about this topic. We attended a small meet and greet and were disappointed. Besides the two of us, the only other new folks were my wife's son and his wife. After saying hi to the host, we were pretty much left out of the talking. The rest of the folks there knew each other and hung out together. We felt the host had an obligation to at least attempt to get us all engaged with one another, especially us newbies. We met at a diner some 60 miles from home. After we had all sat down to order food, 5 or 6 more folks showed up but the host didn't even bring them around to introduce us. It was clear the latecomers knew everyone else.

 

Did I log a complaint? No. It would serve no useful purpose. Will I go to another meet and greet or similar get-together? Probably not in a year or two, if at all.

 

Anyway, had I logged how bad it sucked for the two of us, I'm sure there would have been some who would come to the host's defense. I would expect no less and wouldn't complain about it if they did.

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<snip>

I was one who responded to briefly referenced the two negative logs. I was polite and respectful, but I absolutely stand by my words. If you feel that the organizers didn't do a good job, then maybe you should step up and help out. Did you offer to help in any way? I sincerely doubt it. And honestly, your superlative comment in here about "well, I paid to be there" and how it would be different if it were a free event? Even more disrespectful. You paid for what, a meal ticket? Other people supported NCGO by their donations and purchases. So if paying for a meal ticket gave you the right to snark about the event, then the people who actually gave more had every right to snark back.

<snip>

A first-time event attendee shouldn't be taken to task for not helping out, irregardless of whether they complained about something. Helping out at an event is, and should always be, optional.

 

To the OP: Geocachers are just like people everywhere. People tend to get defensive in response to even mild criticism (I know I do sometimes, too). Don't judge the whole community by those who responded to your log. And, more importantly, don't judge all geocachers by the responses you see in this forum (the forum is definitely not representative of normal people). :)

 

It is a shame that you can't give an honest criticism without getting picked on for it. But, you have to admit, they are giving what is undoubtedly honest criticism of your honest criticism. (I agree logs aren't the proper forum for that.)

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WeeLurk. Yes these people worked hard and you may have been disappointed. And Yes maybe some of us may have appeared to be mean, rude, or A-holes-intended or not, but EVERYONE has a point. I think you should have voiced your concerns at the event rather than posting on the event page. I have learned-from the few events I have been to-that they are not what you would expect, and I don't really like being around people I don't know so it's a big step for me to attend one, not to mention hosting one. I guess what I'm trying to say is everyone will take a different experience from these events. I might like that there was 4 hours to go find caches but you might think it's too long. Just don't worry about it, give it at least one more try before you say you won't go to another one. Maybe even offer to help at one-it's a good way to meet all the cachers. I'll bet by next Tuesday everything will be back to normal. Just don't keep bringing it up,and ignore it if someone else does. Geocachers are some of the nicest people I have met.

Edited by T.D.M.22
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This is the first time I have ever done this forum but I have something on my mind and I want to know what other cachers think. I recently attended an event(the first time I have attended an event) and I was a little disappointed with it. I did have a good time meeting some people and had a few laughs with my geo partner, but I really didn't feel like the event was that good. I do think that people put hard work into making it all happen and I commend them for it though. When I logged my attendance for the event I stated what I did not like about it. After that post several people began bashing my log. I felt as though I wasn't allowed to have and oppinion unless it was the correct oppinion. This made me feel very bad about geocaching and wanting to be part of a group of cachers. Does this happen a lot? I would love to know what everyone thinks about bad mouthing other people's logs because my feeling is that you should write your own log and not worry about what other people are saying. Thanks for listening. :)

 

As someone who is pretty involved in NCGO activities I feel bad that you didn't have a good time at the annual Fall Fling event. Especially if you bought into the package and got meal and raffle tickets. I saw the original text of the attended log, heck it was posted while most of us were still at the event enjoying the amazing meal that some of the volunteers put together for us. You are certainly welcome to share your opinions, but you shouldn't be surprised when people don't agree with you. If you are going to post them in public then expect the rebuttals to be there too.

 

Sure there was some yelling, you were inside a large mess hall that had seating for over 100 people, and there isn't a PA system there. So in order to let people know when activities are starting, or encouraging bidding on silent auction items Ranger TJ falls back on his Marine training ;). If the noise inside was so oppressive all you had to do was go outside; it was a beautiful mid 80's day and there was plenty of shady spots around and new friends to meet at the outdoor activities.

 

It is a shame that the poker run didn't go off as planned with real temporary caches, but the State Park rangers killed that idea at the 11th hour. We have had a difficult relationship with the NC State Parks from early on in geocaching history and this was one more issue.

 

I'm surprised we didn't meet as for most of the day I was the only attendee who could sign one of the geo-bingo squares, so I got to meet lots of cachers I didn't already know. The geo-bingo is one of the best ice breakers out there.

 

I look forward to buying you that beer at a regular meet n greet event sometime in the future.

Edited by wimseyguy
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The logs are not the place to 'review' an event for quality. If you didn't have such a good time, try to find at least one nice thing to say...and leave it at that.

The logs are even more not a place to comment on other people's logs, those who did were WAY out of line. At most they should have said 'sorry to hear that WeeLurk didn't have a good time'...and leave it at that.

 

Personally I find that the larger events are just too much of a circus for my liking. I will probably never (willingly) attend a Mega-event.

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I don't think it is resonable to reply to other people's logs. I think that they can have their own opinion too, just leave my post out of your post. It is not a forum it is a log on a cache.

In the case you've raised, it sounds to me like there was an ugly argument, and of course that's wrong and so no wonder you object.

 

But to the general question, I'm all for people commenting about other people's logs. It's the virtual equivalent of talking to someone you meet at GZ. Yes, there are good reasons to keep logs from becoming forums, but a single response to a single log doesn't rise to that level. If the response was itself an Attended log, then I can't really imagine any reason to object at all.

 

Any log, response or not, can be rude or otherwise out of line, of course, but that's another issue.

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I was at the event in question. I am in a similar positon to WeeLurk in that I did not know many people at the event. It was, however, not my first event so I had some ideas of what to expect.

 

I am not a social person by default. I am highly introverted, which means social situations are work for me, and they wear me out. Geocaching events, of which I've been to 9-10, including this one, are really the only social events I actively seek out - mainly because cachers are so awesome to hang out with (in general).

 

An event like this can be tough to feel involved with, mainly because there is a decided lack of focus, and everyone else seemed to already know each other (this is the nature of the beast, and not a comment on this event specifically). There are plenty of things to do, but there is nothing that says you have to do any of it, so the onus is on the individual to take from the event what they will, and get involved as they see fit. Honestly showing up out of the blue kinda feels like going to a family reunion on your wife's side of the family for the first time, but your wife didn't make it. It can be awkward, but once you break the ice it is highly rewarding.

 

Cachers also tend to fall on the geeky side of the spectrum. This means that some of them have certain personality traits that... let me just say they have a tendency to wait until others show interest in their activities before they take the time to be welcoming (I learned this during new employee training at my company - a place full of really smart, highly interesting, geeks). This is, of course, an amazing over-generalization (and said with love, and is also self descriptive), and I say this only to point out that when you are in the company of geeks, it is up to you to express interest and get involved. This is why the very first thing I did was grab the Geo-Bingo card and started filling it in. It allows an 'in' to meeting people and a discussion point, and it shows you are taking an interest. Otherwise at an event like that you are just one more face in the crowd.

 

I do agree that, in retrospect, this event did seem to have some built in assumptions that people had a general idea of what was going on, so a new person to events would have a tendency to feel lost. I think the general assumption was that people would take it upon themselves to ask questions if they were confused. I am really sorry that you ended up feeling out of place, and I hope that you use it as an opportunity to learn a bit about the community of Geocachers, and so the next event you attend an event you will have more insight as to what to expect, and can have a better time. Cachers really are a great group of people, and generally friendly.

 

Another thing to remember is that as a geocacher everyone at an event is a member of your tribe, even if you have never met them. You are always welcome to be, and are encouraged to be, an active participant, and to make yourself part of the group. It is a skill you have to learn (at least I did), but one that will serve you well at future events. Events are what you make of them.

 

I really hope you give events a second chance. Once you get used to them, they can be a great deal of fun.

 

Cheers!

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I agree and disagree with all of these posts. I understand that people would take offense to someone saying an event wasn't great when they put time and effort into making the event happen. I didn't reply to anyone else's logs though and I believe that my little log would not have been a big deal if other people did not make it a big deal. It feels like everyone else is allowed to say good comments but honest comments are not allowed.

 

Welcome to Geocaching, you are catching on really fast. I found out its best to be fake. Works out nicely.

 

Really SF? You must be really insecure.

 

To WeeLurk,

 

You have been around at least a couple of years, so you know geocaching is an all volunteer sport/hobby/activity. Without the good graces of other cachers this activity wouldn't exist at all...

 

Sometimes it's best just to be polite. No fakeness is needed. There are better places (like your local forum or better yet email) to air out opinions than on an event page where most folks are giving thanks to the host. The words family, and family reunion are your que to go for polite.

 

I personally don't think you did anything wrong and I know from behind the scenes that there are no hard feelings. Give a local event a try. Don't be discouraged. NC is an awesome place to be a geocacher and attend events. You'll see.

No, not insecure. How many people do the "white lie" when it come to writing online logs? Its a good share of them out there. I do feel that doing the white lie is being fake and yes, I use the white lie plenty of time. How often you use the white lie when you want to be nice to everybody? So, it goes a long way to be fake or pull a white lie on some issues because some people are ready to pick a fight over every little petty things.

 

I like to add that I feel criticisms are good to a point but the problem is that some people cant handle criticisms without getting ugly. It helps know what people are really thinking and make the event better the next time.

 

I feel that too many cachers are wearing their heart on their sleeves because the way they get ugly when they hear any form of criticisms.

 

I see some rebuttals on that event page way uglier than the OP post.(I got a feeling the OP log wasnt that bad)

Edited by SwineFlew
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I still very much plan to be a part of NCGO and volunteering for future events.

Woot! I suspect you'll discover schmoozing with your caching peers to be the best part of this quirky little hobby. When you host your own event, keep it simple. Trying to closely organize geocachers is akin to herding cats. Post it and they will come. Fire up the grill, burn some hot dogs, have attendees introduce themselves, then sit back and relax. It's a guaranteed win.😉

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thanks for the party :-)

or

No thanks for a very bad planned party !!

 

---

 

TFTC

or

No thanks for a very bad cache !!

or

found it.

 

----

 

a clever man once said :

if you cant say anything positive, say nothing.

 

---

 

Being honest about stuff, BEFORE asked, is not always the best way to make new friends.

if a close friend ASK for your opinion, you can start to ask back : do you really want to hear how I feel,

it might be bad, so be prepared...

 

---

 

Some events are bad planned, but just be prepared to get the best out of it,

hang out, there is always alot of people who wants to hear about latest cool cache experiences in the area,

if you feel you are a good planner and organizer, why not make your own even and show people how it can be done ?

or help others out, like ask in a friendly and positive way, if they want your work and time and good ideas for free :-)

who will say no to that ?

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I do think that a lot of people put a lot of effort into this event but it was just not what I had expected from a large event organized by an official group.

 

Here was the activity list:

 

9 a.m. Registration (and pre-sold merchandise pickup) begins

 

10-1 Ammo box painting

 

10-1 Turn in odd container swap containers

 

10a.m.-1p.m. Kids carnival games (lollipop tree, duck pond, ring toss, etc.)

 

10-Noon Geo-Poker Run

What's a Poker Run? There will be 5 nearby temporary caches where sealed envelopes of poker cards will be hidden. At the start, you'll be given the five cache coordinates and a time limit. After you collect an envelope from all five caches, you'll return to the event coordinates (with your envelopes still sealed) and make the best poker hand from the cards you've collected (no trading allowed). Prizes will be awarded for the three highest hands!

 

2 p.m. Pinata!

 

2:30 p.m. Pick up different odd container (if you turned one earlier)

 

3:30p.m. Dinner at the mess hall

 

5 p.m. Closing and silent auction/raffle winners

 

8 p.m. Gate closes and locks for the day.

 

All Day Activities (10 a.m.-3 p.m.):

 

GeoBingo (meet some new folks)

GPS accuracy game

Visit the Trackables station

Silent auction and 50/50 raffle

NCGO information booth

Pickup cornhole, horseshoe, and bocce games

 

 

What did you expect? The biggest misconception that new folks that come to a large state event have is that they will be part of some organised large group that goes out caching.

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I will not be attending any more events though.

 

Don't do that.

 

I recommend doing two things:

1: give events a second chance. Next time choose a smaller, more local one tho.

2: plan and host a small event of your own. No need to jump into doing something big, a get together at a favorite ice cream shop or coffee house would be fine. Keep it short and simple. It will help in multiple ways- you'll get the hands on experience, plus perspective, of hosting an event; you'll get to meet others on a somewhat more intimate level; it will help mend any scorched bridges.

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>Here was the activity list:

 

WOW, sounds like a SUPER cool event to me..

 

---

 

We attended a VERY different event yesterday,

no caches, just hang out and chat with all the others from the area,

it was a SUPER event, all got exactly what they came for :-)

I think that is my win criteria, if something is exactly what I feel I expected

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Well, I have definately learned a lot from this experience. I learned a lot about myself and my interactions with other people. This entire thing has made me feel sad and I wish I could go back and make it all go away. I love geocaching and it is hard to have the faces behind the logs think bad things about me. I think I met NCbiscuit at the event, I recognize her picture. I think she did a wonderful job arranging this event and the more I learn, the more I know that it was exactly what everyone wanted in an event. There have been several other people that have been so kind to us about this and I wish I could go back and talk more with these people and really get to know NCGO. I'm not sure if I will ever be a geocacher again. It hurts me to think that I have made people angry and I don't want to be the bad geocacher. Thank you all for posting comments on this forum. I do take all of the advice offered and I did understand what everyone was saying. I guess I will just have to see what happens in the future.

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