Satellite event

[+gmarkusic]

Just a quick question since I am having a hard time finding the answer in the help section.

 

Does anyone know how far an event has to be from a mega event to NOT be considered a satellite event?

 

Thanks

[+The A-Team]

Just a quick question since I am having a hard time finding the answer in the help section.

 

Does anyone know how far an event has to be from a mega event to NOT be considered a satellite event?

 

Thanks

I don't think there's a set distance and that you'd get a different answer depending on which reviewer you ask. Your best course of action would be to contact the reviewer who published the Mega Event and ask them.

[+cerberus1]

Agree with The A-Team, ask the Reviewer.

IIRC, it just says additional events for the same main day and "area" aren't eligible.

I believe it'd be up to that Reviewer to figure what makes up the "area".

[GrandPotentate]

Speaking as a person who has been to a "satellite event", I would ask yourself one question.

 

Just how many people are going to be willing to travel from the mega-event to my event?

 

If your event is only 20 to 30 minutes away I would guess a significant percentage would go so they could log as many different kinds of finds in 1 day. The satellite event I went to had hundreds of people show up, and the event organizer did nothing to warn the restaurant that this was going to happen.

 

I would recommend that there be no other events within a 45 minute drive of the mega-event

[+Bigmada]

..... If your event is only 20 to 30 minutes away I would guess a significant percentage would go so they could log as many different kinds of finds in 1 day. The satellite event I went to had hundreds of people show up, and the event organizer did nothing to warn the restaurant that this was going to happen.

.....

 

That sounds like a nightmare for restaurant staff and event attendees.

[+MissLatitude]

What about an event that is 4 days long, per geocaching rules the days before/after can have events as long as they don't interfere with any official side events...so the distance should not be an issue? Correct?

[+wimseyguy]

I think questions like this might force the reviewers to determine intent.

If the side event is intended to draw attendees from the Mega it isn't likely to be published.

If the side event is able to stand on its own and draw from another portion of the community it may be published. The main factors they'd likely consider would be distance and time from the Mega event.

 

I'll assume the post above me is referencing MWGB? The guideline only applies to the actual date of the mega, not the full weekend so day before/after events are fine provided the organizing committee agrees with them. They now have some input with the reviewers' decisions.

 

Here's the Help Center article that addresses this issue.

Edited June 30, 2017 by wimseyguy

[+MissLatitude]

Here's is what they say about "side events" (by the way...our event is not a side event. It's an event we have been holding the second Thursday of the month for 9.5 years! (Watch for our celebration of 10 years coming in January)

 

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Unofficial side events (not hosted by the main event organizers) on the days before and/or after the Giga-/Mega-Event day may only be published if they don't conflict with official side events.

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MWGB does not have any side events on Thursday AND the time I was looking at 5-7 there wasn't even anything on the schedule!!!!!!!!!!!! (ok, I think that's enough exclamation points!)

[+The A-Team]

It's pretty late in the game to be sorting this out (an Event for July 13 would need to be submitted no later than today), but maybe you could contact the Mega organizers and see if they can host your monthly event in July? Then there wouldn't be any issues with conflicts and you'd probably get lots more attendees than normal.

 

Just a thought.

[+MissLatitude]

It's past time to get the event published. I originally submitted it on June 6th.

I asked several questions and they have still not answered them. It is basically, play by their rules (not the posted ones, rather the ones of the day) or don't play at all cause it's their bat, their ball and their ball field. BUT without other players they will not have a team.

[GrandPotentate]

Here's is what they say about "side events" (by the way...our event is not a side event. It's an event we have been holding the second Thursday of the month for 9.5 years! (Watch for our celebration of 10 years coming in January)

 

-----

Unofficial side events (not hosted by the main event organizers) on the days before and/or after the Giga-/Mega-Event day may only be published if they don't conflict with official side events.

-----

 

MWGB does not have any side events on Thursday AND the time I was looking at 5-7 there wasn't even anything on the schedule!!!!!!!!!!!! (ok, I think that's enough exclamation points!)

Aren't your events usually in the greater Cleveland area?

 

Here is another of the guildlines for hosting side events:

The side event locations must be able to accommodate an appropriate number of geocachers (restaurant, park, etc). This number is judged in relation to the number of main event attendees.

I am fairly familiar with the area the MWGB takes place in, and I can tell you that there are no restaurants and very few parks within a 30 minute drive that could handle 150 people (5% of attendees) showing up for an event. As the manager of a restaurant, I would be very upset if someone brought in that many people at one time and would not agree to being a part of anything like it in the future.

I have been the organizer of events, both inside geocaching and outside, and the number one thing that MUST be done is to select a venue with enough space. If it's too small you run the risk of upsetting your attendees and ruining your reputation with the venue staff.

 

Several years ago I was at one of the unofficial side events at MWGB, the "organizer" did nothing to prepare the restaurant for the number of people that were going to show up. Even with most of the people showing up just to sign the log book and leaving, it was utter chaos and the manager wouldn't allow us inside.