Are trackables rounded up for events?

[+Need me glasses]

I have just looked through my nearest 200 caches to see where all the trackables are and there are hardly any in the caches, some of those that are listed are actually not in the cache, when you check the date they were dropped in and read the logs from then onwards they are stated as not being in there.

I am wondering do they get picked up ready for up and coming events? Events always seem to have plenty on offer.

[team tisri]

A lot of trackables go missing, sometimes people steal them (don't ask me why given most of them are worthless), sometimes people take them and either forget to log them or don't realise how to log them (and the geocaching.com interface for them really doesn't make it clear how to log them for those who don't already know)

 

At events a lot of people take their TBs to help further their missions. If you're holding a TB that wants to go abroad you could either leave it in a cache and hope someone picks it up, or take it to an event and ask if anyone is going to the desired country.

 

Events are also places people check in their own personal collections of geocoins for others to discover - these coins move from event to event and are never released into the wild.

[+fbingha]

Imagine if the main tab of the geocaching.com profile page listed a count of others trackables that are in your possesion along with a list of each trackable and how long that it has been in hand.

 

This public "shaming" would encourage the more lazy of the active cachers to not sit on trackables for weeks and months. Many go missing to newbies but I see a lot of active cachers with hundreds, and even thousands, of finds holding on to trackables for months.

[BOBBLES WORLD TOUR]

The humble TB isn't treated with the care it deserves.

I would never take one to an event to swap.

Even worse is the proliferation of TBs at Mega Events that just go missing.

The organisers don't catalogue TBs and Coins efficiently.

Just look how many are left HERE some 6 months after the event.

Shameful.

Edited February 19, 2013 by JoLuc

[+Need me glasses]

 

At events a lot of people take their TBs to help further their missions. If you're holding a TB that wants to go abroad you could either leave it in a cache and hope someone picks it up, or take it to an event and ask if anyone is going to the desired country.

 

Events are also places people check in their own personal collections of geocoins for others to discover - these coins move from event to event and are never released into the wild.

 

I took a look at a couple of event lists and although there are some that want to go abroad the majority have regular missions.

This is why I wondered if collecting up TBs to take to events was just something that was a part of the event attenders fun, kind of like a status thing? I dropped 10 in, how many did you bring?

Having a large pile of trackables to help yourself to at an event would be something that I would find appealing were I to attend, so maybe that is something I will do try in the future, I will however guarantee that I would log them all correctly!

 

I had not thought about peoples own personal collections, that would add to the event list, but it was more the lack of trackables in my local caches that I was referring to than the size of the event list.

[+Need me glasses]

Imagine if the main tab of the geocaching.com profile page listed a count of others trackables that are in your possesion along with a list of each trackable and how long that it has been in hand.

 

This public "shaming" would encourage the more lazy of the active cachers to not sit on trackables for weeks and months. Many go missing to newbies but I see a lot of active cachers with hundreds, and even thousands, of finds holding on to trackables for months.

 

I like the idea of this in theory but I wonder if it would just end up with people never logging trackables in or out of their inventory?

[+Need me glasses]

The humble TB isn't treated with the care it deserves.

I would never take one to an event to swap.

Even worse is the proliferation of TBs at Mega Events that just go missing.

The organisers don't catalogue TBs and Coins efficiently.

Just look how many are left HERE some 6 months after the event.

Shameful.

 

That is shocking!

I guess even at a Mega Event there will still be newbies and lazy loggers though!

[+The Blorenges]

The humble TB isn't treated with the care it deserves.

I would never take one to an event to swap.

Even worse is the proliferation of TBs at Mega Events that just go missing.

The organisers don't catalogue TBs and Coins efficiently.

Just look how many are left HERE some 6 months after the event.

Shameful.

 

(My bolding)

 

At some events the organisers do try to record trackables as they're brought to the Trackable table or box, and they ask cachers to sign their name against each one they take. But with the best will in the world, the organisers have no control over what gets logged into their event - Anyone can log a trackable as being "in" an event - that doesn't mean it will actually be delivered to the event.

 

Sometimes a cacher will log items into the event but they'll keep the trackable with them in their bag/pocket until they hand it over to another person. I usually do this if I have a travelling geocoin to pass on - That way at least I can get the name of the cacher who takes it from me, in case of any later enquiries from the owner.

 

MrsB

[+Need me glasses]

 

At some events the organisers do try to record trackables as they're brought to the Trackable table or box, and they ask cachers to sign their name against each one they take.

 

MrsB

 

I have never been to an event but was just wondering...

 

are trackables logged in the normal way by the cacher before attending the event?

 

is the method you mention just an extra way of keeping a record of what ones were actually at the event for others to pick up?

 

is there a limit to how many trackables one cacher can bring or take from an event?

 

what happens to any that do not get picked up?

[team tisri]

Imagine if the main tab of the geocaching.com profile page listed a count of others trackables that are in your possesion along with a list of each trackable and how long that it has been in hand.

 

This public "shaming" would encourage the more lazy of the active cachers to not sit on trackables for weeks and months. Many go missing to newbies but I see a lot of active cachers with hundreds, and even thousands, of finds holding on to trackables for months.

 

Where's the sense of shame, and what would it accomplish even if it people did feel "shamed"?

 

I once held a trackable for 11 months. The reason was simple - I brought it back from a trip to the US and when I went through my TB collection I couldn't find it. I wrote a note to the owner explaining the situation (and apologising for apparently losing his trackable) only to find it in a dark corner of the suitcase the next time we travelled. So after holding it for 11 months it made its way back into circulation.

 

Other times I've rounded up bugs at the beginning of a long trip abroad and asked the owner if they are happy for me to hold it for several weeks to move it abroad and usually they are delighted. When I return home it takes a while to move on several TBs in an area where most caches are film pots and keysafes. You wouldn't see that on your page that just said I was holding 10 TBs and I'd had them all for at least 8 weeks.

 

There are all sorts of reasons why people hold TBs for a long time so your proposed stats page would only tell one half of the story.

[+The Blorenges]

 

At some events the organisers do try to record trackables as they're brought to the Trackable table or box, and they ask cachers to sign their name against each one they take.

 

MrsB

 

I have never been to an event but was just wondering...

 

are trackables logged in the normal way by the cacher before attending the event?

 

is the method you mention just an extra way of keeping a record of what ones were actually at the event for others to pick up?

 

is there a limit to how many trackables one cacher can bring or take from an event?

 

what happens to any that do not get picked up?

 

Usually, cachers who plan to attend the event log trackables into the event perhaps a week, or a few days, before the event.

 

There's no written obligation for event organisers to do anything to check/note/catalogue trackables at their event but for a typical small event (e.g. at a pub, or in a park) there's usually a box or a specific table where arriving trackables can be placed. Then all attendees can have a look at what's there and discover them, or take one or two to move on, if they know they can help the mission.

 

There's no limit to how many you can bring, or take, from an event but cachers are usually polite and fair - I've never seen anyone grab the whole lot away.

 

At the end of the event the organiser usually looks around to make sure that no trackables have fallen on the floor or got left behind in the area. They either press them into the hands of the last to leave, or take them home themselves.

 

 

MrsB

[+Seaglass Pirates]

Round ere these parts I have found - both with my own and others TB's - that a lot go missing in the mits of newbies. We followed a newbie around a series the other day. They failed to find a cache and logged a needs maintenance on it. Apparently it is missing/damaged. They log that they found a bag with the log in which was mush so did not sign. We were following them around the same day. We found their printout (a screen shot with the caches mapped and their username on it) which they had dropped. They hoovered up TB's as they went. Dont know how many they got and have no idea if they will log them out or if they have already. Anyway the cache could be seen from 20 feet away so not missing at all.

 

We have had a pain with a gift TB, given to us as a thank you. It was activated months ago and has been in the hands of 2 people and has moved 11 miles. The first person to pick it up held it for two months. Ignored the email we sent at one month. So sent another at 2 months. "Hi just to remind you to release our TB as soon as you have had a chance as you have had it two months, best wishes etc"

The reply was a toxic abuse email that claimed an injury and "Got any suggestions for that have you!!!" to which the reply was very simple .... "yeah dont go caching today and post pictures of yourself at the cache and get caught out in a lie" .... "oh too late". We then said we would have to invoice them for the cost of the TB and the thing we had made to go on it. It was put out later that week.

 

To be picked up by another person who was very polite at the one month email, also a newbie, has held it for two months or more now and I have given up. TB's do get hoovered up round here by ardent TB collectors and are placed in the events in open trays with a log book. Its always full at the beginning of the event and empty at the end. On the ones we have been too which is not many. As far as I am aware the events over this way really respect the TB placed in them. However there are a lot of newbies springing up and clearing them in the area. In fact we have been to series after series lately. Two TB's in this one ..... no. A TB in this one .... nooo.

 

For missing TB's there is a (and we have used it and it worked) rescue service. Volunteers register and go look for them for you in the nearby caches. I would put the link but no doubt I will incur the wrath of someone or other for breaching some rule I had no idea existed. But it can be found by searching using obvious terms.

 

And nope its not all newbies, some old and bolds do it too. But this is just our experience and only in the last two months.

[team tisri]

One other thought where events are concerned - since they are known to have large numbers of bugs if someone has lost a TB it's an easy way out to log it into an event so they can just claim someone must have taken it and not logged it.

 

When I thought I'd lost a coin (as described further up) I considered that as an option before deciding it was pathetic and that I should just man up, admit I'd lost the coin and offer to replace it. That said if someone had done the right thing in the past and received abuse for their efforts it's easy to see why they might be tempted to just make a virtual drop of a bug to avoid a recurrence.

Edited February 21, 2013 by team tisri

[BOBBLES WORLD TOUR]

One other thought where events are concerned - since they are known to have large numbers of bugs if someone has lost a TB it's an easy way out to log it into an event so they can just claim someone must have taken it and not logged it.

 

So true.

Another reason for event organisers to make their event just more than a day of chin-wagging and getting an icon.

Surely TB security cannot be that hard to achieve at events.

I know it's an extra burden most could do without, but responsibility can weigh heavy.

[team tisri]

One other thought where events are concerned - since they are known to have large numbers of bugs if someone has lost a TB it's an easy way out to log it into an event so they can just claim someone must have taken it and not logged it.

 

So true.

Another reason for event organisers to make their event just more than a day of chin-wagging and getting an icon.

Surely TB security cannot be that hard to achieve at events.

I know it's an extra burden most could do without, but responsibility can weigh heavy.

 

Taking basic care of trackables is one thing but to expect the organiser to check in every single TB that was supposed to be there and then sign out every single one to whoever took it does seem a bit much. It doesn't help that anyone can log an "Attended" log and drop a bug in at any time and, with the best will in the world, if someone logs a "Will Attend" and drops a bug in only to find they can't actually make it they may not register the fact they need to log the bug out again.