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Encounter with the Lawman.


Sissy-n-CR

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The other day, we were scouting spots for some urban caches and a police officer drove up and asked us is we were alright. Of course, we said yes. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to educate a local peace officer about our hobby. I started off asking if he had heard of geocacing, no. Do you know what a GPS is, yes. About that time the radio interupted us and he had to scoot.

 

So, I thought about developing a business card sized handout because almost invariably we have to write down the URL and such. I can easily do the layout, but I've got a little bit of writter's block for the copy. I want to do what's called a fold-over. It's 4' tall by 3.5" wide and folds horizonally across the middle to become 2x3.5--the size of a business card.

 

Here's what I've got so far:

The front says something to the effect, "What are these fools doing under those bushes? THEY'RE CACHING--Geocaching!"

 

Inside top:

What is geocaching? It's a relatively new hobby involving tens of thousand of GPS enthusiasts in over 150 countries that combines hiking, navigating, scavenger hunting, and the outdoors. We hunt a "cache" hidden just about anywhere outdoors by following the coordinates posted on the internet like at http://www.geocaching.com. The cache consists basically of a container, a logbook to sign, and trinkets to trade.

 

Inside bottom:

How to identify a geocacher. A cacher will generally have a GPS unit on him, along with a printouts of descriptions of the caches he's hunting that day, sometimes a logbook, and many times "trade items." The trades items are relatively inexpensive objects of practically any description, anyting from foreign coins to toys to stickers to small camping goods. Mostly a geocacher can be identified by the fact they are wandering around staring at an electronic device or looking in some really odd places.

 

I'm thinking about leaving the back blank for user customerization or taking of noting.

 

The above copy is very wordy and the text will have to on the small side.

 

Any ideas on how to be more succinct?

 

CR

 

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Markwell

 

I made a few of these last year and have given several of them out (even placed a couple packs of them in caches). They do a good job of explaining the game too. You might want to check the text, see if it says everything you want to say.

 

Also, I re-created these in Publisher 2000. I can transfer them to an Adobe pdf and email them to you if anyone's interested.

 

Bret

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44

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quote:
Originally posted by CYBret:

http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=3000917383&m=3010984583&r=1210984583#1210984583

 

I made a few of these last year and have given several of them out (even placed a couple packs of them in caches). They do a good job of explaining the game too. You might want to check the text, see if it says everything you want to say.

 

Also, I re-created these in Publisher 2000. I can transfer them to an Adobe pdf and email them to you if anyone's interested.

 

Bret

 

__"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again."_ Mt. 13:44_


I am also interested. Could you send me the file?

 

A day without sunshine is like ...night.

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We had thought about a flier type thing.. Then rethought the whole thing. We didn't want to blow off interested parties with a long winded explaination, or to waste time with those who had only a casual interest.

 

We decided that less is more....

 

we made up a business card that has our team name: Trudy & the beast on the top, the GC logo on the left and our avatar on the right. down the center of the card it simply says "If you don't meet us on the trail, Look for us on the net.

 

We wanted to keep it simple. If they are interested, they can go to the web and polute their brains to the extent that they want. icon_biggrin.gif

 

We just installed new skylights. The folks in the upper flat are upset.

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I can attest that I have personally taken it upon myself to educate those that work with me about Geocaching icon_smile.gif

 

Also, check out this thread Markwell where you will find that a lot of us that are officers Geocache.

 

And lastly, I got to meet an officer last night when finding a cache.... you can read my log entry here.

 

Jeff

http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com

http://www.NotAChance.com

If you hide it, they will come....

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Folding Card

 

It's a pdf file, so it should work out for just about everyone. if not, let me know.

 

Print out the sheet on some card stock, then re-print it on the other side. Hopefully both sides will line up fine (they did for me).

 

Bret

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44

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Here's what I got so far. Remember, I'm looking for a card that is geared towards informing the authorities, be it the police, security, land managers, or even just really nosey people, about our hobby. Not really something for recruiting.

 

Here's what I got so far:

The left image is the front. The upper right is the inside upper. The lower right is inside lower.

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Once it's complete, I can make it availible in PDF, EPS, or CDR10 files.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

CR

 

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Sissy-n-CR, nice thread, and a great start on your copy. I can definitely make use of something like this, since I seem to attract curious constables.

 

If I could offer an editing suggestion, please consider changing the phrase "hidden just about anywhere." Might a law enforcement official read this and wonder about railroad tracks, public buildings and all the other spots that are off-limits to cache placement? Would words like "carefully and creatively hidden in the outdoors" work better here?

 

Just my two cents. Thanks again for your work.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

If there's no accounting for stupidity, then why do I need to file a tax return?

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quote:
Originally posted by jeff35080:

_Would words like "carefully and creatively hidden in the outdoors" work better here?_

 

In my professional opinion, yes, that may be a good thing to do.

 

Jeff

http://www.StarsFellOnAlabama.com

http://www.NotAChance.com

If you hide it, they will come....


 

I've already plugged in that change--it works really well. I appreciate the feedback, Daddy Leprechaun!

 

Any input from officers would be helpful. After all, that's really who this is targeting.

 

CR

 

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quote:
Originally posted by Cwlutterloh:

Thats a nice card you came up with CYBret!


 

Thanks, but as you see from the link I posted in my first reply, they were originally put together by Geospotter. I managed to change a few things, but kept them pretty much the same.

 

Kudos to all the creative cachers out there who come up with these resources for the rest of us!

 

Bret

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44

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quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

Here's what I got so far. Remember, I'm looking for a card that is geared towards informing the authorities, be it the police, security, land managers, or even just really nosey people, about our hobby. Not really something for recruiting.

 

Here's what I got so far:

_The left image is the front. The upper right is the inside upper. The lower right is inside lower._

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/72057_2400.gif

 

Once it's complete, I can make it availible in PDF, EPS, or CDR10 files.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

CR

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/72057_2000.gif


 

I like the direction you are going. You said that it is specifically for law enforcment, but I think it's a pretty good explanation for anyone. Looking forward to the final result.

 

Keep on Caching,

 

Bluespreacher

 

"We've got the hardware and the software, the plans and the maps ..." -- Citizen Wayne Kramer

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I really like the card CR N Siisy came up with. I would be VERY interested in some of those. My only "2 cents" worth would be to change Global Satellite System to Global Positioning System to be accurate. Again, I love the fomat and layout and would be interested in the cards themselves or the file so I could make my own! Cache on!

 

"Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine."

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I've heard of too many cachers getting the police called on them, especially with heightened security. Nosy Nellies walking their dogs thinking that a cacher is a terrorist. It would be nice to have something to hand to the officer while I'm stammering like and idiot, before I get hauled in. icon_frown.gif

 

I didn't see a link to where we could download a modifiable version of a PDF or Word doc. Does someone have one of these I/we could download it from your website?

 

Thanks!!

 

WISearchers

 

Have GPSr, will travel.

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Here is the finalized version in PDF. Simply download Acrobat Reader, if you don't already have it and print from that.

 

One-sided printing: (PAGE) Use this version if, you only have regular paper to prevent ghost images from the other side, or your printer will not register properly front-to-back. 2 to a sheet. Simply print, cut them out, and fold.

 

Two sided printing: (FRONT - BACK) Use this one if you have a heavy or card stock paper and your printer can register front-to-back properly. This will make something closer a business card.

 

Feel free to give feedback.

 

Enjoy!

 

CR

 

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Originally posted by WISearchers:

I've heard of too many cachers getting the police called on them, especially with heightened security. Nosy Nellies walking their dogs thinking that a cacher is a terrorist. It would be nice to have something to hand to the officer while I'm stammering like and idiot, before I get hauled in. icon_frown.gif

 

 

I want a card that says: I'm just GeoCaching, but those guys with the dogs, I think THEY'RE terrorists!!! hehehehehe.

 

Ah well, just a quick daydream....

 

icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

 

"Trade up, trade even, or don't trade!!!" My philosophy of life.

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quote:
Originally posted by Sissy-n-CR:

Here is the finalized version in PDF...


 

Great job!

 

Do you mind if I (eventually) serve this file up on our web site for general consumption? How do you want to be given proper credit, since it is your work?

 

Do you take special requests (like an editable version that can be re-rendered with our group logo, or a version with our logo already added)?

 

This is such a great idea... Thanks!!!

 

- Nate

www.geocky.org

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quote:
Originally posted by hoys:

Great job!


 

Thanks!

 

quote:
Do you mind if I (eventually) serve this file up on our web site for general consumption? How do you want to be given proper credit, since it is your work?

 

I don't mind at all. If you want to give credit, just give it to "CoyoteRed" and a link to my profile would be nice.

 

quote:
Do you take special requests (like an editable version that can be re-rendered with our group logo, or a version with our logo already added)?

 

I can do that. Can't promise anything on speed, but I can do that. Just send me what you want and I can drop it in.

 

As for editing though, anyone with CorelDraw 10 and above should be able to open the PDF file directly if they have the proper fonts installed--it's only Dom Diagonal BT Bold and Arial. Plus, I can provide bitmaps in GIF format at various bit depths and resolutions so folks can use whatever photoprocessing software they have to drop in their own copy and graphics.

 

CR

 

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quote:
Originally posted by Aristocracker:

Great job on the cards, CR, you've clearly spent a lot of time on them.


 

Thanks!

 

quote:
Can you tell us the Ames stock number of the card stock you are using so we can be sure to buy the one's that fit your design?

 

Actually, these both are for plain stock. I use a ruler and a razor knife or Exacto to cut mine out. When cutting the ones with the little "ticks," cut only from tick to tick, not edge of the paper to the other edge. This will keep the perimeter intact and you'll not cut off the other ticks before you need them.

 

CR

 

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