geo tours?

[+Christopher geertsen]

ok so i know what a geotour generally is.

it's a group or powertrail of geocaches. that is specificly designed to get geocaching tourists or people to visit certain locations, that a tourism agency wants them to visit.

this is what i don't know!

how does a geotour exactly work?!! after many discussions with geotours and or Groundspeak, i still don't get what it is exactly???

one of the things i heard was that it costs $3000 are you serious what??!!! why would you have to pay 3 thousand to a tourism agency, or why would they have to pay 3000 as a starting budget???!!! i don't even know why it states tell us what rewards cachers might receive for doing it????!! or why i would have to give them any rewards??!! the rewards are the caches i place for the geotour. just telling me something like well a... it costs 3 thousand, or you have to get a tourism agency to create the geotur. like what the crap is that suppost to mean??!! it's really vague!! every answer to my dismay, i got to my questions was vague when i contacted noreply at geoutours!!! look i want to know the process!!! what steps i have to take!!!! and the hows and why' of geoturs!!! me being new to it, when i get told something like it costs 3 thousand and i have to get a tourism agency. or give cachers rewards for finding the geotour... a... it's just really vague??!!! what is the process? what is the steps? and why? and how? to create a geotour!!!??? i just dont get how a geotour works??!!

hoping someone can help me hear?? can you??!!

[+BlueDeuce]

Any links, reference points of these tours please?

 

Edit: Although your doth protest too much, e.g. !!! concerns me.

Edited January 26, 2013 by BlueDeuce

[+cache_test_dummies]

one of the things i heard was that it costs $3000 are you serious what??!!! why would you have to pay 3 thousand to a tourism agency, or why would they have to pay 3000 as a starting budget???!!!

A geotour is just a series of geocaches that you can visit individually on your own - you don't have to pay anything to take a "tour".

 

Your post is a bit hard to follow - where did this $3,000 figure come from?

[+tealeaf]

Paying the big bucks seems to allow corporations to ignore the rules the rest of us must follow. We just got one in New Mexico at Hyatt's Tamaya Resort. They break all the following guidelines and they are on an Indian reservation which is also a big no-no

 

From the cache placement guidelines:

 

Commercial caches are disallowed. As a general rule, reviewers will not publish cache pages that seem commercial. A commercial cache has one or more of the following characteristics:

 

1. It requires the finder to go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service.

2. It has overtones of advertising, marketing or promotion.

3. It contains links to businesses, commercial advertisers, charities, political agendas or social agendas.

4. It contains the logo of a business or organization, including non-profit organizations.

5. The name of a business or commercial product is on the cache page.

 

Artwork at Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JHZ | New Mexico

An Honored Symbol of Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JHT | New Mexico

Family Tamaya Program

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JHJ | New Mexico

The Philanthropy of Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JGW | New Mexico

Sacred Location

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JFW | New Mexico

The Bosque Restoration

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JFH | New Mexico

the Cottonwood Forest & Rio Grande

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JEZ | New Mexico

The Tamaya Journey

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JED | New Mexico

The Twin Warriors

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JDZ | New Mexico1

The Meaning of Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JB6 | New Mexico

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/91nd61d4xdeb8mu/GeoTour_NMStateCentennial.ppt This link gives the rates.

[Keystone]

For those unfamiliar with this relatively new program, click the link to read more about GeoTours. These are set up by a tourism agency, park system, chamber of commerce, preservation group, etc., in cooperation with Groundspeak. On the finder's side, your job is to enjoy the tour!

 

GeoTour caches are 100% compliant with the listing guidelines. For those interested in original source material instead of selective quoting like the above post, read the Commercial Caches Guideline in its entirety.

[+BlueDeuce]

Interesting, but I see a non-gc.com site listing gc.com sponsored caches.

 

Edit: Well nevermind

Edited January 26, 2013 by BlueDeuce

[+Panther&Pine]

Paying the big bucks seems to allow corporations to ignore the rules the rest of us must follow. We just got one in New Mexico at Hyatt's Tamaya Resort. They break all the following guidelines and they are on an Indian reservation which is also a big no-no

 

Each nation makes its own choice on allowing caching, it is not a blanket ban that I know of.

The Navajo nation does not allow phsyical caches at this time, Southern Ute doesn't mind and currently I don't have the inside into tribal issues on any other tribes right now.

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

[+Panther&Pine]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

I've seen one in Seattle that you seem to pay for, but it doesn't seem like caching- it seems like scavenger hunt for clues with bad coords.

I have seen an interesting one about conservation lands around Seattle that might be interesting.

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

I've seen one in Seattle that you seem to pay for, but it doesn't seem like caching- it seems like scavenger hunt for clues with bad coords.

I have seen an interesting one about conservation lands around Seattle that might be interesting.

 

Are they using caches placed by the average user?

[+Panther&Pine]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

I've seen one in Seattle that you seem to pay for, but it doesn't seem like caching- it seems like scavenger hunt for clues with bad coords.

I have seen an interesting one about conservation lands around Seattle that might be interesting.

 

Are they using caches placed by the average user?

The one you pay for? No idea.I shall Google for you.

The conservation one it looks like they placed their own.

[+JL_HSTRE]

I am skeptical of the $3000 fee. One of the GeoTours here in Florida is by the Manatee County Natural Resources Department. Somehow I doubt they found that much money in their budget!

 

The "rewards" in question means you often get a geocoin for filling out a sheet to prove you found most/all of the caches in the series.

 

"GeoTours" existed before there was a part of the website to spotlight them, even if they aren't all labeled as such. Some of them are quite good too: Rockbridge County, VA has one around historic sites in the county (set up by the county visitors bureau) and the few official Georgia State Parks caches I've found make me wish I could do the entire series. If anything, the GeoTours list is still very incomplete. Rockbridge isn't on there, nor is the CCC Series or Jax Parks (Jacksonville) series here in Florida.

 

Does it matter whether a series like this is put out by an individual getting permission from the park/etc vs something done officially by a park system, visitors center, or similiar? As long as they are quality caches in quality places that's what I care about. In some places it's probably better that the caches are maintained officially there rather than by outside cachers with permission; the Hyatt Resort sounds like such a place. Maybe we'll get more NPS caches if they're the ones hiding the caches?

 

"We ask that you check-in with our concierge inside the resort before you begin the tour." If I go to a State Park to geocache I have to check in at the ranger station; several caches in Collier County, FL even have an explicit warning about that because the trailhead can be reached without passing the ranger station.

 

The one thing I agree is an issue is the Hyatt logo and link to the resort's website. But even that is on the GeoTour page, not the cache page. Guidelines only apply to cache pages. I wonder if GeoTours are set up in part to allow Groundspeak to circumvent that Guideline?

Edited January 26, 2013 by Joshism

[+Panther&Pine]

For the paid for one I get this andthis .

 

For the Groundspeak one I get this.

[+BlueDeuce]

Does it matter whether a series like this is put out by an individual getting permission from the park/etc vs something done officially by a park system, visitors center, or similiar?

 

Tell me that any of my caches are open to this level of industry, carte blanche.

[+BlueDeuce]

For the paid for one I get this andthis .

 

For the Groundspeak one I get this.

 

No kidding.

[+BlueDeuce]

Alrighty then, that answers that.

[+Panther&Pine]

Alrighty then, that answers that.

Err, so what did you decide?

Interesting idea, deal breaker or something else?

[+BlueDeuce]

I think if I placed, say for example, a George Washington cache you could certainly drop off visitors, at any price.

[+Christopher geertsen]

obviously i am not going to get my question answered here. now back to the drawing board!! lol!! no one seems to even know about geotours!! wow!! i contacted the email adress for geotours and everything they told me about geotours was really vague. what they did tell me though was that i would have to have $3000 as starting budget. i would have to arrange something with a tourism agency. and yes they did say i provide the placing of geocaches and geocaching expertise and that they would use that as the geotour. all that to just setup a geotour!! wow!! if i understand correctly you need that kind of money to pay greoundspeak to advertise your caches as a geotour. also i beleive the money is used for prizes the geocachers receive for completing the set of caches known as a geotour.

 

conclusion: geotours are just a way to advertise certain locations, by using geocaches,and rewards for finding those geocaches, as a puppet. by paying Groundspeak at least $3000 to advertise them, and remember that's just the starting budget, that allows them to get rich and allows tourism agencies to promote a certain location using geocaches and rewards as a puppet. this is, according to the guidlines a direct viloation of them. it seems even geocaching.com is slowly going away from there first and formal constitution written at the start of geocaching.com.

[+Panther&Pine]

Well I'm still unclear as to who you talked to, but there might be a fee for the GeoTours listed on the site.

You could always do your own Challenge with a GeoCoin at the end of it. I just did one like that.

 

You might try asking another question "Does anyone know how to go about setting up a GeoTour like the one listed here?". Where here is a link to an example.

[+Christopher geertsen]

one of the things i heard was that it costs $3000 are you serious what??!!! why would you have to pay 3 thousand to a tourism agency, or why would they have to pay 3000 as a starting budget???!!!

A geotour is just a series of geocaches that you can visit individually on your own - you don't have to pay anything to take a "tour".

 

Your post is a bit hard to follow - where did this $3,000 figure come from?

that's the trouble i have, i don't know how and why! i simply emailed geotours, using there email adress to get answers. what they told me was really vague. one of the things they did tell me was that there would have to be a starting budget of at least $3000 to set up a geotour!!!! i just could not beleive it my self either. i wonder why?!!

[+Panther&Pine]

 

that's the trouble i have, i don't know how and why! i simply emailed geotours, using there email adress to get answers. what they told me was really vague. one of the things they did tell me was that there would have to be a starting budget of at least $3000 to set up a geotour!!!! i just could not beleive it my self either. i wonder why?!!

Do you mean www.geotours.us ?

[+Christopher geertsen]

Any links, reference points of these tours please?

 

Edit: Although your doth protest too much, e.g. !!! concerns me.

there is a link from your private prophile page i beleive. from there it will bring up a page with a video explaining it a little. in any event you can just google geotours and it should come up with a link to the page on geocaching.com about it.

[+BlueDeuce]

Any links, reference points of these tours please?

 

Edit: Although your doth protest too much, e.g. !!! concerns me.

there is a link from your private prophile page i beleive. from there it will bring up a page with a video explaining it a little. in any event you can just google geotours and it should come up with a link to the page on geocaching.com about it.

 

I believe you now.

[+Christopher geertsen]

 

that's the trouble i have, i don't know how and why! i simply emailed geotours, using there email adress to get answers. what they told me was really vague. one of the things they did tell me was that there would have to be a starting budget of at least $3000 to set up a geotour!!!! i just could not beleive it my self either. i wonder why?!!

Do you mean www.geotours.us ?

i don't beleive so. but here is there email adress and phone number below that i used to contact them. i only contacted them through email not phone. but there you have it. under the partnering tab there is a link called travel and geo tourism.

 

geotours@geocaching.com

 

+1 206-302-7721 x 403

 

Discover the full set of Official Geocaching GeoTours!.

[+Christopher geertsen]

Any links, reference points of these tours please?

 

Edit: Although your doth protest too much, e.g. !!! concerns me.

there is a link from your private prophile page i beleive. from there it will bring up a page with a video explaining it a little. in any event you can just google geotours and it should come up with a link to the page on geocaching.com about it.

 

I believe you now.

yeah from the partnering tab at the top of the site, there is a link called travel and geotourism. that's the link to the geotours and video.

[+Panther&Pine]

 

i don't beleive so. but here is there email adress and phone number below that i used to contact them. i only contacted them through email not phone. but there you have it. under the partnering tab there is a link called travel and geo tourism.

 

geotours@geocaching.com

 

+1 206-302-7721 x 403

 

Discover the full set of Official Geocaching GeoTours!.

Well that page is clearly designed to hook in folks that want to advertise their area, not really for the average hider. It is rather like the Gieco TB thing to me.

GS can charge people to advertise with them, what do you think they do the banner ads for free too?

[+Christopher geertsen]

Paying the big bucks seems to allow corporations to ignore the rules the rest of us must follow. We just got one in New Mexico at Hyatt's Tamaya Resort. They break all the following guidelines and they are on an Indian reservation which is also a big no-no

 

From the cache placement guidelines:

 

Commercial caches are disallowed. As a general rule, reviewers will not publish cache pages that seem commercial. A commercial cache has one or more of the following characteristics:

 

1. It requires the finder to go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service.

2. It has overtones of advertising, marketing or promotion.

3. It contains links to businesses, commercial advertisers, charities, political agendas or social agendas.

4. It contains the logo of a business or organization, including non-profit organizations.

5. The name of a business or commercial product is on the cache page.

 

Artwork at Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JHZ | New Mexico

An Honored Symbol of Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JHT | New Mexico

Family Tamaya Program

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JHJ | New Mexico

The Philanthropy of Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JGW | New Mexico

Sacred Location

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JFW | New Mexico

The Bosque Restoration

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JFH | New Mexico

the Cottonwood Forest & Rio Grande

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JEZ | New Mexico

The Tamaya Journey

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JED | New Mexico

The Twin Warriors

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JDZ | New Mexico1

The Meaning of Tamaya

by Tamaya Journey | GC41JB6 | New Mexico

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/91nd61d4xdeb8mu/GeoTour_NMStateCentennial.ppt This link gives the rates.

 

you have got that right for shore. except the coorperate buisness in this case is geocaching.com i beleive.

[+Christopher geertsen]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

are you for real?

[+Christopher geertsen]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

I've seen one in Seattle that you seem to pay for, but it doesn't seem like caching- it seems like scavenger hunt for clues with bad coords.

I have seen an interesting one about conservation lands around Seattle that might be interesting.

 

Are they using caches placed by the average user?

i beleive so.

[+Christopher geertsen]

Does it matter whether a series like this is put out by an individual getting permission from the park/etc vs something done officially by a park system, visitors center, or similiar?

 

Tell me that any of my caches are open to this level of industry, carte blanche.

i don't think so.

[+Christopher geertsen]

I am skeptical of the $3000 fee. One of the GeoTours here in Florida is by the Manatee County Natural Resources Department. Somehow I doubt they found that much money in their budget!

 

The "rewards" in question means you often get a geocoin for filling out a sheet to prove you found most/all of the caches in the series.

 

"GeoTours" existed before there was a part of the website to spotlight them, even if they aren't all labeled as such. Some of them are quite good too: Rockbridge County, VA has one around historic sites in the county (set up by the county visitors bureau) and the few official Georgia State Parks caches I've found make me wish I could do the entire series. If anything, the GeoTours list is still very incomplete. Rockbridge isn't on there, nor is the CCC Series or Jax Parks (Jacksonville) series here in Florida.

 

Does it matter whether a series like this is put out by an individual getting permission from the park/etc vs something done officially by a park system, visitors center, or similiar? As long as they are quality caches in quality places that's what I care about. In some places it's probably better that the caches are maintained officially there rather than by outside cachers with permission; the Hyatt Resort sounds like such a place. Maybe we'll get more NPS caches if they're the ones hiding the caches?

 

"We ask that you check-in with our concierge inside the resort before you begin the tour." If I go to a State Park to geocache I have to check in at the ranger station; several caches in Collier County, FL even have an explicit warning about that because the trailhead can be reached without passing the ranger station.

 

The one thing I agree is an issue is the Hyatt logo and link to the resort's website. But even that is on the GeoTour page, not the cache page. Guidelines only apply to cache pages. I wonder if GeoTours are set up in part to allow Groundspeak to circumvent that Guideline?

 

well from what they told me, is that i had to have a starting budget of 3,000. here is there imformation below. the link to this is under the partnering tab. it is called travel and geotourism

 

geotours@geocaching.com

 

+1 206-302-7721 x 403

 

Discover the full set of Official Geocaching GeoTours!

[+Christopher geertsen]

Well I'm still unclear as to who you talked to, but there might be a fee for the GeoTours listed on the site.

You could always do your own Challenge with a GeoCoin at the end of it. I just did one like that.

 

You might try asking another question "Does anyone know how to go about setting up a GeoTour like the one listed here?". Where here is a link to an example.

you just might as well place a bunch of caches somewhere you want people to visit. like the huge powertrail by rachael nevada along the et highway. after they were placed, the only buisness in rachael, that used to not have any customers,had anywhere from 100 to 500 customers a day just because of the powertrail put through there. yet that's not officially a geotour on geocaching.com. there is the video that talks about it in the travel and geotourism section.

[+Christopher geertsen]

 

i don't beleive so. but here is there email adress and phone number below that i used to contact them. i only contacted them through email not phone. but there you have it. under the partnering tab there is a link called travel and geo tourism.

 

geotours@geocaching.com

 

+1 206-302-7721 x 403

 

Discover the full set of Official Geocaching GeoTours!.

Well that page is clearly designed to hook in folks that want to advertise their area, not really for the average hider. It is rather like the Gieco TB thing to me.

GS can charge people to advertise with them, what do you think they do the banner ads for free too?

no. they get payed for that.

[+Panther&Pine]

Well I'm still unclear as to who you talked to, but there might be a fee for the GeoTours listed on the site.

You could always do your own Challenge with a GeoCoin at the end of it. I just did one like that.

 

You might try asking another question "Does anyone know how to go about setting up a GeoTour like the one listed here?". Where here is a link to an example.

you just might as well place a bunch of caches somewhere you want people to visit. like the huge powertrail by rachael nevada along the et highway. after they were placed, the only buisness in rachael, that used to not have any customers,had anywhere from 100 to 500 customers a day just because of the powertrail put through there. yet that's not officially a geotour on geocaching.com. there is the video that talks about it in the travel and geotourism section.

You're correct, the ET Trail did interesting things to the area. They didn't (at least as far as I know) pay for advertising. Word of mouth did it for them.

By paying GS to advertise and organise these GeoTours the organisations are paying for impressions- oh LTC Smith I never thought I'd use your global advertising class to this end. That is targeted and paid for advertising.

 

You are not compairing the same thing, series/PTs/and the like are not the same as GeoTours.

[+Panther&Pine]

 

Well that page is clearly designed to hook in folks that want to advertise their area, not really for the average hider. It is rather like the Gieco TB thing to me.

GS can charge people to advertise with them, what do you think they do the banner ads for free too?

no. they get payed for that.

Ding ding, you won. Paid advertising.GeoTours are probably paid advertising. End of mystery.

 

I'm going to solve some puzzles while drinking port now.

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

are you for real?

 

Oh yes. I gave my money, time and support. I don't expect anything in return but why in the hell would I want to keep doing it? Happy days!

 

bd

Edited January 26, 2013 by BlueDeuce

[+Christopher geertsen]

Well I'm still unclear as to who you talked to, but there might be a fee for the GeoTours listed on the site.

You could always do your own Challenge with a GeoCoin at the end of it. I just did one like that.

 

You might try asking another question "Does anyone know how to go about setting up a GeoTour like the one listed here?". Where here is a link to an example.

you just might as well place a bunch of caches somewhere you want people to visit. like the huge powertrail by rachael nevada along the et highway. after they were placed, the only buisness in rachael, that used to not have any customers,had anywhere from 100 to 500 customers a day just because of the powertrail put through there. yet that's not officially a geotour on geocaching.com. there is the video that talks about it in the travel and geotourism section.

You're correct, the ET Trail did interesting things to the area. They didn't (at least as far as I know) pay for advertising. Word of mouth did it for them.

By paying GS to advertise and organise these GeoTours the organisations are paying for impressions- oh LTC Smith I never thought I'd use your global advertising class to this end. That is targeted and paid for advertising.

 

You are not compairing the same thing, series/PTs/and the like are not the same as GeoTours.

ok so it's not the same thing, but you can still get the same result compared to geotour. a series of caches can attract people to a location just like a geotour can. take for instance, again the town of rachael. yet it was not a geoutour. it may not be the same but can have the same or similar result

[+Christopher geertsen]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

are you for real?

 

Oh yes. I gave my money, time and support. I don't expect anything in return but why in the hell would I want to keep doing it? Happy days!

 

bd

i was not trying to offend you.

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

are you for real?

 

Oh yes. I gave my money, time and support. I don't expect anything in return but why in the hell would I want to keep doing it? Happy days!

 

bd

i was not trying to offend you.

 

Trust me on this, you're not.

[+Ambrosia]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

are you for real?

 

Oh yes. I gave my money, time and support. I don't expect anything in return but why in the hell would I want to keep doing it? Happy days!

 

bd

i was not trying to offend you.

 

Trust me on this, you're not.

I'm sorry that you're so upset by this.

 

I feel that Groundspeak is free to use "advertising" (a lot of the geotours are set up by non business, tho), and if some of that advertising is a cool geocache series rather than a banner on the website, then I'm all for it.

[Keystone]

obviously i am not going to get my question answered here. now back to the drawing board!! lol!! no one seems to even know about geotours!! wow!!

Perhaps you missed my earlier post? It's like, the only post in the thread that you didn't quote back at least once. Please go back and read it, as my post was a genuine effort to be helpful and to let people know what you were talking about by linking to accurate information. I've been a volunteer moderator here for ten years and a friend of the Lackey who runs the GeoTours program for about the same amount of time. Do you have any specific questions we can help you with?

 

this is, according to the guidlines a direct viloation of them. it seems even geocaching.com is slowly going away from there first and formal constitution written at the start of geocaching.com.

This is false; please read my prior post and the link to the listing guideline that contains an express reference to GeoTours as an allowable exception to the commercial caches guideline. Please slow down with your posts and re-read what's been said so far. Thank you.

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm pretty sure if these are tours, I'm not playing anymore.

are you for real?

 

Oh yes. I gave my money, time and support. I don't expect anything in return but why in the hell would I want to keep doing it? Happy days!

 

bd

i was not trying to offend you.

 

Trust me on this, you're not.

I'm sorry that you're so upset by this.

 

I feel that Groundspeak is free to use "advertising" (a lot of the geotours are set up by non business, tho), and if some of that advertising is a cool geocache series rather than a banner on the website, then I'm all for it.

 

Couldn't agree more.

[+Christopher geertsen]

obviously i am not going to get my question answered here. now back to the drawing board!! lol!! no one seems to even know about geotours!! wow!!

Perhaps you missed my earlier post? It's like, the only post in the thread that you didn't quote back at least once. Please go back and read it, as my post was a genuine effort to be helpful and to let people know what you were talking about by linking to accurate information. I've been a volunteer moderator here for ten years and a friend of the Lackey who runs the GeoTours program for about the same amount of time. Do you have any specific questions we can help you with?

 

this is, according to the guidlines a direct viloation of them. it seems even geocaching.com is slowly going away from there first and formal constitution written at the start of geocaching.com.

This is false; please read my prior post and the link to the listing guideline that contains an express reference to GeoTours as an allowable exception to the commercial caches guideline. Please slow down with your posts and re-read what's been said so far. Thank you.

i have already read your first post in this topic. and have read already the geotours link you gave in that post. but that's just not enough to answer my question. how do i go about creating a geotour?

[Keystone]

how do i go about creating a geotour?

1. Partner up with a local tourism agency, land manager, chamber of commerce or other organization interested in promoting visits to the area by establishing a GeoTour. You could help with hiding the caches, maintaining them, etc.

 

2. You and your partner would then contact Groundspeak using the contact information you've already located, and strike a deal for an appropriate program.

[+Christopher geertsen]

obviously i am not going to get my question answered here. now back to the drawing board!! lol!! no one seems to even know about geotours!! wow!!

Perhaps you missed my earlier post? It's like, the only post in the thread that you didn't quote back at least once. Please go back and read it, as my post was a genuine effort to be helpful and to let people know what you were talking about by linking to accurate information. I've been a volunteer moderator here for ten years and a friend of the Lackey who runs the GeoTours program for about the same amount of time. Do you have any specific questions we can help you with?

 

this is, according to the guidlines a direct viloation of them. it seems even geocaching.com is slowly going away from there first and formal constitution written at the start of geocaching.com.

This is false; please read my prior post and the link to the listing guideline that contains an express reference to GeoTours as an allowable exception to the commercial caches guideline. Please slow down with your posts and re-read what's been said so far. Thank you.

just because it's an exception or allowed, does not mean it does not go against the guidlines. it does go against the first guidlines given!!! when the the guidlines were first created there were no such thing as geotours being in there. simply because geotours did not exist then!! they were started up, oh around now!! still against the first guidlines given. and changing the guidlines is also gainst the first guidlines given!!!

[Keystone]

Thanks for educating me about how the guidelines work.

[+Christopher geertsen]

Thanks for educating me about how the guidelines work.

your welcome! lol...

[uperdooper]

so, geocaching.com isn't allowed to change their own guidelines?

 

if every business was like that we would still be driving around in model-Ts and all FORD cars would be black.

[Mr.Yuck]

obviously i am not going to get my question answered here. now back to the drawing board!! lol!! no one seems to even know about geotours!! wow!!

Perhaps you missed my earlier post? It's like, the only post in the thread that you didn't quote back at least once. Please go back and read it, as my post was a genuine effort to be helpful and to let people know what you were talking about by linking to accurate information. I've been a volunteer moderator here for ten years and a friend of the Lackey who runs the GeoTours program for about the same amount of time. Do you have any specific questions we can help you with?

 

this is, according to the guidlines a direct viloation of them. it seems even geocaching.com is slowly going away from there first and formal constitution written at the start of geocaching.com.

This is false; please read my prior post and the link to the listing guideline that contains an express reference to GeoTours as an allowable exception to the commercial caches guideline. Please slow down with your posts and re-read what's been said so far. Thank you.

just because it's an exception or allowed, does not mean it does not go against the guidlines. it does go against the first guidlines given!!! when the the guidlines were first created there were no such thing as geotours being in there. simply because geotours did not exist then!! they were started up, oh around now!! still against the first guidlines given. and changing the guidlines is also gainst the first guidlines given!!!

 

You know, anytime Groundspeak makes an exception to their guidelines, and there is huge money to be made all around, people tend to wig out. This is a little known fact here in North America, where the overwhelming majority of the posters to this forum are from, but a couple years ago, Groundspeak "made an exception" for a series of commercial caches by the international corporation Timberland. You know, they make boots and outdoor gear and stuff?

 

The Feedback forums were still around back then, and basically the whole Continent of Europe went into a crazed frenzy, and the feedback forums almost exploded.

 

European Cacher: "Groundspeak, you are hypocrites for publishing caches that are against your own guidelines. Greetings from Germany" (sorry, I had to throw in greetings from Germany)

 

Groundspeak: "Yes, but we made an exception. We reserve the right to occasionally make exceptions."

 

European Cacher: "Money grubbing American Hypocrites."

 

You get the idea.