Old schools

[+jmsantafe]

I was contacted by a group member about creating a new category, and they told me to go on to forums and start a topic to get advice. Anyone have some?

http://www.Waymarking.com/groups/details.aspx?f=1&guid=23d08bea-f4a3-4566-9c93-f117e420c639

[+Benchmark Blasterz]

PLEASE accept this post in the spirit in which it was intended:  To be genuinely helpful and encouraging to a fellow waymarker. Please understand that those of us who have been doing this for years see a lot of novice waymarkers come here and propose categories that will never pass peer review, so they give up and go away.  I don't want that to happen to you.

I was once a novice waymarker myself, and I made mistakes.  I was appreciative of the kind advice and patience from waymarkers I respect and who helped me appreciate the differences between Waymarking and geocaching -- Waymarking can be so much more than just finding and posting.  It can preserve history, tell compelling stories, and preserve the echoes of the past.  It can document change over time, and progress. Its about art, culture, creativity, travel, -- and you don't have to open anything wet or stinky.

 I think you need to take a deep breath, get out there, and learn more about Waymarking and how Waymarking works first before you start proposing categories. Get a feel for the game and it’s intricacies, and how the criteria are interpreted. Waymarking has changed a lot over the years.  Fast food categories, once common, will NEVER pass peer review now.

Why do you like Waymarking? What draws you to it? Figure that out, and this will guide you as you start the journey.

My starting advice is to get into the Waymarking hobby slowly, and learn more about it before you jump into category owner mode. You have posted a total of 2 waymarks, both within the last week. You have visited 28 waymarks since Thanksgiving. You also have a proposed category In peer review that has been a existing category since 2006.

Waymarking is not Geocaching - you can be a perfectly successful waymarker and never own a category.  One of the things  we see with novice waymarkers is that they want to own a category right now, when it’s best to really get into the game first, and gain experience. It’s also not easy to get a category through peer review. 

With respect to your Old Schools category, we have an existing category Former Schools that will cover all the abandoned and repurposed schools you envision for your category, and so that part of your category is redundant, and will most likely not pass peer review.

All you have left without those is a category for schools over 75 years of age, some of which may be still in use as a school. I would not support this category because it would require taking photos of active schools and perhaps of children.  I also think that a school is not necessarily interesting just because it is old. The 3 photo requirement will turn off many waymarkers.

Description:

This waymark category is about old schools, abandoned, or still functioning.

Expanded Description:

The waymarks that should be placed in this category are school houses, (Regular buildings allowed) that are over 75 years of age. if the school is no longer active: waymarks can still be placed, but please try and find as much information as possible. Colleges count, elementary schools count, basically all school except for daycares, and small child learning centers.

 

Instructions for Posting a Old schools Waymark:

You must include information about the school, and at least 3 pictures. Information includes, what grades the school teaches, (taught) when the school was built, who founded it, (If possible), and what year the school closed (if applicable).
Again, the SCHOOL BUILDING MUST be over 75 years old. If the school system is over 75, but the building is brand new, the waymark may not be posted.

Please join us and grow in the hobby. Come participate in the discussions here, and go create more waymarks of your own.  Look at the grid of existing categories, and see which one really grabs your interest, and go out Waymarking in it.  Ypu will find that you will see the world differently and in more detail than you do as a nonwaymarker.  You will notice things that you would never have noticed before -- and therein lies the fun (and function) of Waymarking

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2017 by Benchmark Blasterz