Geocaching creative crowdsourcing project

[meganparadox]

Hey guys, I'm in film school right now and working on a project created entirely by crowdsourcing, AKA a film project that is created entirely or mostly from public participation. In short, I'm interested in doing a project that involves participation from geocachers to go into the final project.

 

Basically, the concept would involve me hiding geocaches (or putting notes in existing ones) with questions on them for whoever finds the cache to write an answer to. The questions ultimately depend on what the overall concept for the project would be (ideas are the notion of "nature 2.0"/importance of nature and how it meshes with new technology or simply nostalgia, memory, childhood, natural places lost over time, etc.) I would also put a disposable camera in a few caches, encouraging finders to take a photo and write a note. I would need no further contact information unless the participant is interested in seeing the finished project or interested in completing more micro-tasks, like filming short video clips, for the film after the initial geocache find.

 

I'm interested in seeing what the geocaching community thinks about this idea and how many people would be willing to participate, hypothetically for now. On a larger scale and with more time, this could even expand to more than my local area if enough people are into the idea.

 

Feedback would be much appreciated!

[+cerberus1]

Answering questions and taking a pic are additional logging requirements, and no longer allowed.

- If someone chooses to, they can do either or both, but they only need to sign the cache's log.

 

Not sure how others feel, but if someone was putting notes seeming like an agenda in my cache, it'd go into the circular file, with the other carp that accumulates in time.

[+AustinMN]

And a disposable camera? Looks like SWAG to most people. You might get 5% of them back...or 0%.

[+DanOCan]

And a disposable camera? Looks like SWAG to most people. You might get 5% of them back...or 0%.

I don't know, disposable cameras used to be quite common in caches with the owners returning occasionally to develop the film and post the pictures to the cache page. I think if it's properly marked it has a good chance to surviving.

 

As for the topic? Hmm, not sure. I might participate in some of the activities if they didn't involve a lot of effort.

[+niraD]

I don't know, disposable cameras used to be quite common in caches with the owners returning occasionally to develop the film and post the pictures to the cache page. I think if it's properly marked it has a good chance to surviving.

I saw a few disposable cameras when I first started (2006), but it's been a long time since I've seen one. I think the advent of smartphones (aka, a camera in my pocket) has made them somewhat obsolete. You might be more likely to get good photos by just asking people to take a photo with their phone and post it.

[+Wet Pancake Touring Club]

What about attaching your questions (good, sturdy, laminated) to a travel bug? Geocachers that are interested could post their answer and/or photo iwhen logging. Participation by the geocacher would, of course, be optional. Also, the travel bug might move around, possibly getting to a more diverse population. Last, you wouldn't have to manually maintain a list of all the people that were interested in your final project, just look at the logs on the travel bug.

 

Skye.

[+wmpastor]

And a disposable camera? Looks like SWAG to most people. You might get 5% of them back...or 0%.

 

Looks like a mystery to anyone under age 16. No micro USB port?? This is some defective junk or a toddler's make-believe camera! (Retro "disposable camera" gets disposed of in nearest trash can.)

[meganparadox]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Of course participation would be optional. I would think that there would be a good number of people who would be interested by some weird, thought provoking questions put in a cache among a bunch of plastic toys. I would also make small print outs explaining the project with my e-mail for anyone interested. And the whole point of crowdsourcing is for people to get involved by performing "micro tasks;" very little effort involved.

 

You're right about the disposable camera, but I've come across a few caches that still have them. I'm 21 and they're certainly not foreign to me, I'm guessing anyone too young to know what it is would probably be with a parent who did anyway. But the smartphone thing is a good idea-- I could just guide them to shoot me an e-mail with a photo or clip if they'd be interested.

 

I know geocaching and art projects don't go really hand in hand together, thanks for your opinions!

[meganparadox]

What about attaching your questions (good, sturdy, laminated) to a travel bug? Geocachers that are interested could post their answer and/or photo iwhen logging. Participation by the geocacher would, of course, be optional. Also, the travel bug might move around, possibly getting to a more diverse population. Last, you wouldn't have to manually maintain a list of all the people that were interested in your final project, just look at the logs on the travel bug.

 

Skye.

 

Great idea, thank you! I haven't been geocaching for a while now so I'm forgetting I can do stuff like this. I'm excited to get back in the game while doing this.