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Category proposal: Chewing Gum Vendor Machines


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Hi,

 

let me try to propose a new category for chewing gum vendor machines, perhaps in respectively for Germany only. Don't say "no" right away, please. I know that there used to be a discussion on vendor machines in general that was refused by the Waymarking community (if this exists). But why do we need such global categories? My other proposal to categorize One Euro Stores was rejected since that is supposed to be subsumed under "Dollar stores" - why is that? If this is considered to be a global category, why don't you name it "Low Price Stores" instead? If you call it "Dollar stores", use it for what you call it: 99 cent or one buck stores but let others set up One Euro Stores ... We should leave it at that but I might add that category names should be chosen in a more sensitive way ... And well, there are things that only exist in one country like Norwegian benchmarks or so. Why shouldn't there be a category for German Kaugummiautomaten then, too?

 

Whatever, back to my current proposal: In Germany (and I haven't seen them elsewhere yet), Kaugummiautomaten reached their peak of popularity in the 1970s/1980s. There are still many of them (around my house three alone), some of them are out of order but others are refilled on a regular basis and used mainly by school students. My category doesn't want to be for vendor machines of any kind, anywhere in the world, but only for those (mostly red) Kaugummiautomaten in Germany: link to display a typical example.

 

Any comments on my proposal? And thank you for the other very friendly and nice mails in the past couple of days.

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Since I also noticed chewing gum vendor machines are more and more out of order, I would very much appreciate if that category would be allowed. In Germany they are almost a piece of culture: there are exhibitions on them and they have a much deeper significance than just »being vending machines«. If there is a category »Ghost Signs«, we should also introduce a category »Kaugummiautomaten« since they are witnesses of another time!

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Having a category that is artificially geographically restricted is not going to fly if it is one that can be global. "Crewing gum machines in Germany" is not going to make it. And I doubt a global chewing gum machine category would make it either mainly because they are everywhere here, every grocery store, walmart and many other stores have one or more in there entry.

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Having a category that is artificially geographically restricted is not going to fly if it is one that can be global. "Crewing gum machines in Germany" is not going to make it. And I doubt a global chewing gum machine category would make it either mainly because they are everywhere here, every grocery store, walmart and many other stores have one or more in there entry.

But aren't most of these chewing gum vending machines at grocery stores or shopping mall entries movable pieces, or part of the cash desk in smaller shops?

I think what alsterdrache would like to show are fixed vending boxes outside of stores and malls.

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Chewing Gum vending machines are far too prevalent. I think the chance of that category passing peer review would be slim to none. A Germany-only Chewing Gum category would never pass peer review, despite how unique and interesting those machines are. I don't want to extinguish your enthusiasm, just want to explain things.

 

Some categories were established quite some time ago, and wouldn't pass the peer review process today. It was a different approval system back then (I wasn't part of it, only learned of this thru the forums).

 

I applaud you for posting your idea in the forums-that is EXACTLY the right way to go!

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let me try to propose a new category for chewing gum vendor machines, link to display a typical example.

 

Any comments on my proposal? And thank you for the other very friendly and nice mails in the past couple of days.

 

If your photo is a typical example, these can be found in just about every grocery store across the US. Called Gumball Machines.

 

Gumball Machine

 

With that said, I see that you are trying to get something going. This looks like the THIRD new category you are involved with in the past few days. (1-Euro Stores, and Public Drinking Fountains being the other two). I commend that. With almost 1,200 categories sometimes I wonder IF there is anything left out there. But I am currently working on a few - maybe the will become categories, maybe not. Part of the fun is the research that you have to put into the category.

 

Don't ever stop trying to come up with something new, and don't be discouraged if your suggestion does not pan out. Lately we've seen some categories voted down that would have been easily approved five years ago. The idea of what is a good Category has changed over time. Commercial waymarks like restaurants and large retail stores are no longer good categories. Historical categories are always a winner, but most of these have all ready been created.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

I started this message about three hours ago and had to walk away for a while. I see others have all ready commented...

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Thanks for all the constructive replies in the past couple of days.

 

Just to clarify it, these chewing gum vendor machines are fixed installations, always outside, either on brick walls or on a metal post, often next to bus stops. I was not talking about these little plastic things that you find on bar/pub counters or so that maybe also sell peanuts ... And have you checked out the three links that findus27 posted with regard to them? These machines are something unique here and a symbol for the 1970s/1980s. Many people have childhood memories connected to them. And as I already said, many of them are demaged or out of order in the meantime but some are still in use (mainly those near schools). But well, the disussion here makes clear that this category has no chance.

 

On the other two categories jhuoni mentioned: I know Scrat33 and findus27 from the local Hamburg community in person. Have you guys realized that it is not at all easy to find a category? There is that "category tree" at Waymarking.com - but if just google a(ny) term combined with "Waymarking", one finds different categories that are not listed in the tree ... It's a pitty that Waymarking is no longer developed by Groundspeak (so their official reply on a another question with regard to this project). As far as I can see, there is no category yet for public water fountains - and I simply discovered too late that One Euro Stores can go into the category for Dollar Stores, my fault.

 

Remember the Challenges, those that were abolished in December 2012? I liked them, they had some potential for creativity and education, too. I set up almost 90 "listings" and 49 managed it to be published before everything was vaporized in 12/12. In invested a lot of spare time into that project and lost everything with the decision to abolish them with short notice. Therefore, many (not all) of these "listings" could be transferred into Waymarks. This is what I'm trying to do right now. There is even a category for tasks that have to be photographed but the main focus of my Challenges was to lead the people to intersting places like a leveled village right in Hamburg, an ancient oak, the place where they shot some scene of 007's "Tomorrow Never Dies" in hamburg, or to answer the question where Hitler's marble of the Reichskanzlei went (they used it to renovate a subway train station) - these either already are or could be future Waymarks. The only question each time is: what category should I use for a topic?!

 

Well, for now, I give up to create new categories. But I hope that I could explain that I didn't try to create one just for its own purpose but to close an assumed gap. One last remark: In a relatively large city like Hamburg, there are only 6 to 8 active Waymarkers. In order to unfold some current activity, I hoped to promote Waymarking a little bit.

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Remember the Challenges, those that were abolished in December 2012? I liked them,

 

I really liked Challenges, too. That is what drew me from Geocaching to Waymarking.

 

Signs of History :a leveled village right in Hamburg,

Historic Trees or Exceptional Trees :an ancient oak,

Movie Locations :the place where they shot some scene of 007's "Tomorrow Never Dies" in hamburg,

 

Don't have a clue on this one, but I'm sure someone can suggest a place: or to answer the question where Hitler's marble of the Reichskanzlei went (they used it to renovate a subway train station) -

 

Well, for now, I give up to create new categories.

 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!

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<Big Snip>

 

There is even a category for tasks that have to be photographed but the main focus of my Challenges was to lead the people to intersting places like a leveled village right in Hamburg, an ancient oak, the place where they shot some scene of 007's "Tomorrow Never Dies" in hamburg, or to answer the question where Hitler's marble of the Reichskanzlei went (they used it to renovate a subway train station) - these either already are or could be future Waymarks. The only question each time is: what category should I use for a topic?!

 

 

The category structure is daunting to say the least. If you think you have something interesting and don't know category to submit feel free to ask here. There are some of us here that have a pretty good knowledge of the categories. You will most likely get a category or two or five to post to.

 

007's "Tomorrow Never Dies" in hamburg, - James Bond - 007

Edited by BruceS
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Have you guys realized that it is not at all easy to find a category? There is that "category tree" at Waymarking.com - but if just google a(ny) term combined with "Waymarking", one finds different categories that are not listed in the tree

I just copied the contents of the Category Master List to a text file to count the entries, and it contains all of the currently active categories, including the newest: "Carriages and Coaches on Permanent Display". Can you give an example of a category you've found using Google that isn't on that list?

 

As for finding a category, I've found the category search to usually do a good job, although the 35 categories that were created since Natural Lakes (February 2012) can't be found through that search.

 

BTW, it should be noted that while this page says there are 1072 categories and there are 1072 in the master list, there are only 1071 on the category grid. I wonder which one is missing? "Carriages and Coaches on Permanent Display" is on there.

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BTW, it should be noted that while this page says there are 1072 categories and there are 1072 in the master list, there are only 1071 on the category grid. I wonder which one is missing? "Carriages and Coaches on Permanent Display" is on there.

 

Seattle Art and Seek is not on the grid. That was a special category by Groundspeak in cooperation with the Seattle Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and it was decided that category should not be on the grid.

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Remember the Challenges, those that were abolished in December 2012? I liked them, they had some potential for creativity and education, too. I set up almost 90 "listings" and 49 managed it to be published before everything was vaporized in 12/12. In invested a lot of spare time into that project and lost everything with the decision to abolish them with short notice.

 

I think more and more, that Groundspeak will do the same with Waymarking one day.

With no development of site, it will continue to loose users, bleed and shut down.

:mad:

 

.. your category proposal is sympathetic, but under current rules not viable :(

If I could decide about WM strategy, we would have here special grid of NON GLOBAL categories with all the local subcategories like this one. Without any fights between continents, all of us would be allowed to play game locally and globally.

But WM site works as it works .. year 2007, it's just miserable :(

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I don't think Groundspeak is going to dump Waymarking.com anytime soon! We need to think of ways to make it more viable, and I believe that means reaching out in ways that take us beyond our geocaching roots. But, that is a topic for another thread.

 

Category creation is certainly more and more of a challenge. That is partly due to the changing winds of what "the community" deems worthy. We are more international than ever, for one thing. While we do have many country or regional specific categories, that is different from restricting a category arbitrarily. While I think there is a place for more limited, niche categories, that is a different question.

 

And thee is no question that the organizational structure is a mess. That was partly intentional and partly just due to the organic development that was set in place. That quirkiness is part of what gives Waymarking its character, but also a source of frustration to most of us at times.

 

Keep pushing the boundaries.

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