+EllyScott Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Hello all! I started geocaching in 2007 and was fairly active throughout college, but took a step back for quite a while. I sit on our county's bicentennial committee and they want to have a tour of local historical sites throughout the county. Geocaching immediately came to mind. I have letters and permission from property owners, coordinates, and the history of 32 sites. I know this is a large chunk to bite off, but I have a ton of help behind me including the support of the entire county. What I'm needing is a little guidance. I'm going to visit the sites and work with the property owners to decide the exact placement and type of cache needed. The maintenance of these caches is obviously a concern of mine, however, they are all placed within a 30 minute drive of my home. The only caches that look like they are going to be close in location of previous caches are just two that are in town. I think I can sneak them in alright. How would you go about adding this many caches at once? I don't particularly want to overload anyone, including myself, but I think we have planned well enough that this project with this quantity is completely feasible. Thanks in advance for the advice! Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 I would recommend talking to your reviewer. Personally, I'd want them all published together. Give the reviewer time to look at them all, way in advance of when you want them published. Have you given any thought to a Geotour? It's a lot of work and commitment, and some money, but so rewarding too. Just something to think about. Will you please keep us posted on the progress of this endeavor? I can't wait to see what comes of it! 1 Quote Link to comment
+EllyScott Posted September 18, 2018 Author Share Posted September 18, 2018 Money definitely isn't an issue. The entire celebration, including the caches are all funded. I am not familiar with a Geotour though. Is that something that will stay around after the event? We would like this to be a lasting project for people to get to know the forgotten history of our county for years to come. Lastly, how would we find out who our reviewer is? I'd like to explain the project and get their input as well. Quote Link to comment
RuideAlmeida Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 2 minutes ago, EllyScott said: I am not familiar with a Geotour though. Is that something that will stay around after the event? Geotour will be perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment
+EllyScott Posted September 18, 2018 Author Share Posted September 18, 2018 4 minutes ago, RuideAlmeida said: Geotour will be perfect. That is fantastic! Exactly what we are wanting to do. I would definitely like to have Geocoins with our logo on them. The passports seem neat too. Quote Link to comment
+CAVinoGal Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 58 minutes ago, EllyScott said: Lastly, how would we find out who our reviewer is? I'd like to explain the project and get their input as well. Look at a few local caches, recently published, and see who the reviewer is who published them. Then email or message that reviewer through the website, outlining what you want to do. Sounds like an awesome project, and even more so that you have the backing, and funding, of the county to do it right! Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 For Geotour information, you'd want to write directly to Geocaching HQ. For guidance from your local reviewer, write to Hoosier Reviewer (assuming the county is in Indiana per your profile page). 2 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Max and 99 said: Have you given any thought to a Geotour? It's a lot of work and commitment, and some money, but so rewarding too. Just something to think about. Will you please keep us posted on the progress of this endeavor? I can't wait to see what comes of it! If you look at my profile you can see photos of 2 geocoins i earned from Geotours. It'll give you an idea of the creative reward you can offer. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 Keep in mind that the reviewer will likely want to know the maintenance plan for all the caches. They may look at your last hide and the maintenance issues that arised. A very big problem with geotours (my experience) is the disregard for caches with problems and even more so missing caches. Many geotours require a minimum number of finds to earn the coin, and that becomes very frustrating when geocaches aren't there. I've seen some with a dozen + of DNFs over a period of many many months and no response from the person organizing them. You can't earn the coin if you can't log a Find on the geocaches. Just wanted to explain a little about geotour maintenance. 1 Quote Link to comment
+Wet Pancake Touring Club Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 If you can get the funding for a GeoTour, that would be the way to go. You may want to get in touch with the Washington State Geocaching Association (WSGA), they have helped coordinate a number of GeoTours in Washington State. They may be able to give you some pointers. There is also a GeoTour & Reward Geotrails section in the forum that you may want to check out. 1 Quote Link to comment
+EllyScott Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 On 9/18/2018 at 8:47 PM, Keystone said: For Geotour information, you'd want to write directly to Geocaching HQ. For guidance from your local reviewer, write to Hoosier Reviewer (assuming the county is in Indiana per your profile page). Thank you! We are in Indiana. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 On 9/21/2018 at 3:53 PM, EllyScott said: Thank you! We are in Indiana. You really have me excited about your project, so please keep us posted! Quote Link to comment
+EllyScott Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 On 10/1/2018 at 9:58 PM, Max and 99 said: You really have me excited about your project, so please keep us posted! Absolutely! We are seriously considering a geotour. I spent the day at the library yesterday finding old photographs of the historical sites we are going to feature. We will definitely keep you posted! Quote Link to comment
+EllyScott Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 Update on this project: We are definitely doing a GeoTour! We are now figuring out who is going to fund it. We are looking at sponsorships as well as our tourism board funding it since it will be more long lasting than just our Bicentennial celebration. When I went through the cost and the pull a GeoTour has with the committee, they asked if we could do more than 32 caches! I think this is definitely going to be a fairly large event. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 For the two geo tours I did, you got bonus pts for staying at a partner hotel or eating a meal at a restaurant partner, all of which also had caches on the property or nearby, although that's really not important. But I assume the geo tour partners helped finance the geo tour, and giving people bonus pts toward earning the coin increased the likelihood of geocachers staying overnight or eating at the places that provided financing. Does that make sense? Ex. Best Western might provide finances for the project, and to encourage people to give Best Western their business, extra points were offered if you stayed at that hotel. It was a win-win situation in my eyes. I got extra pts to earn the coin, and the places that helped finance the tour got my business!. Quote Link to comment
+EllyScott Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 I'd like to thank everyone for the guidance and support with the project. We officially launch our GeoTour on May 25th! We'd love to see you there if we can! https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC87XRM_fayette-county-geotour-launch 1 3 Quote Link to comment
+Fugads Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 Super cool! I've never done an official Geotour before, but since my family is moving to that area of the country this summer, I may have to give this one a shot. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 EllyScott is in the news for the Geotour she created. Congratulations! (I didn't want to post the link without your permission) Quote Link to comment
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