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Geotour Coins No longer available / aged and dying geotours?


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I have noticed that some geotours are aging dramatically.

 

1. Some no longer have coins/prizes available

2. Some have A LOT of archived caches that are still in the download/bookmark lists

3. Some seem to have a MIA "owner"

 

Is there a way that GC.com could make it easier on themselves (and us as their community) to keep up with JUST the active geotours and listings?

 

Thanks!

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It would nice if the individual GeoTour landing page did 3 things that it currently doesn't:

1) show the difference between an archived cache, and a disabled cache. Currently both appear on the list, and they're identical, ie, title in blue with strikethough.

2) the download did NOT include archived caches.... disabled maybe, but not archived

3) also nice would be Date of Last Find on that page.. I'd take that over Date Hidden

 

I don't think running out of premiums or coins is an issue, though updating the GeoTour page with that info would be nice.

I've never seen that done, but I have seen it mentioned on individual cache pages. I've also seen GeoTour owners buy more coins when they run out of the first batch.

 

A GeoTour has to renew, which has costs, so the truly abandoned will disappear at some point when no one pays the bill ;-)

Edited by palmetto
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One case in point in my neck of the woods: the Captain John Smith geotour, GT7.

 

- Apparently out of coins for over a year

- Nine caches listed on the CJS geotour homepage are archived, seven of which were killed off by reviewers after no response from CO

- Twelve of the remaining caches are tagged as needing maintenance, some for more than a year.

 

It's a shame, because they are fun caches with a great theme and have taken me to some cool spots. But every time I see one in an area, I wonder whether it's going to be in good shape, a box of mush, or even there at all. Not cool for a geotour.

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I am hopeful that GS is learning from prior GeoTours, and has created (and continues to update) a GeoTour list of best practices for organizations that sponsor GeoTours.

 

I like doing GeoTours, but as mentioned above, some don't age well. Looking at GeoTours, I see a number of them put together by a conglomeration of people, companies, organizations and agencies. Individual cachers may be placing the caches, with the GeoTour being sponsored by a local tourism agency, and a company or two paying the bills. The person at the company that setup the payable has left, and the new person just pays the bill when it comes in. The logs go directly to the cacher, who may or may not still be active, or in the area. The local tourism bureau runs out of coins, but doesn't let the CO's know, so they can update the cache page. Anyhow, my point is that with some GeoTours, there are lots of moving parts, and they can get out of sync with each other. Best practice might be one or more email distribution lists for all of the parties involved. One for everyone and possibly one for the sponsors. These can be used by the groups and/or GS.

 

To me, best practices would be for the cache owner on the cache page to be the actual cacher that placed and will maintain the cache. The GeoTour organizer should create a GC.com account, and place a watch on all of the caches in the GeoTour. If they see a problem, they can reach out to the CO to get it resolved. If the CO can no longer maintain the cache, the GeoTour organizer can work on getting the cache adopted by another cacher.

 

The organizer(s) should be encouraged to monitor this area of the forum, and to routinely search for their GeoTour in the entire forum.

 

I would hope that GS is contacting the GeoTour organizer on a routine basis (automated script), showing the total number of caches, find counts, DNF counts, the number with outstanding NM and NA logs, asking if rewards are still available, reminding the organizer on how to maintain the GeoTour web page on GC.com, etc.

 

Anyhow, my 2 cents worth, and I probably owe change back on that.

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I just came across this forum thread, and so much of what has been said still applies today!

In addition to an archived cache showing up, new caches created for the Geotour are not always on the passport, and SO many that I did were missing. No code, or cache just gone. DNFafter DNF and no action taken for months.

This is one of the main reasons I don't like the policy on awarding the GeoTour souvenir. Too many things going wrong that are completely out of the hands of the person wanting to complete the GeoTour.

LOTS of great caches! But too many not being taken care of.

 

Another issue I had was that driving late at night I checked the list of "partner" hotels we could stay at, and stayed at one on list. The next morning I went to find the cache that of course would be at the "Partner cache", and there was none listed! Archived. But we ONLY stayed at that hotel because it was on their list for extra points. Made me mad!  Things are not being updated.

I still had fun, and I'm SO glad I did the Geotour, but I wish things could be fixed.

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