2016 considerations for Spring Fling

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SuchaNana
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2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by SuchaNana »

conversing at a recent M&E, a suggestion was brought up about using the Johnny Appleseed Park in Lima... upon further investigation, found that this is an umbrella for Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District!... who among us knows the area?... which of the twelve parks would suit NWOGEO's needs best for a Spring Fling?
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Chaenorrhinum
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by Chaenorrhinum »

If we want to continue the tradition of a pot luck/cookout, it looks like Allen Co Farm Park is the only enclosed facility available for rent. It is $175 for five hours on weekends; we're usually at Litzenberg longer than that. It would be $245 for the seven hours we usually take from setup through cleanup.

Additionally, geocache permits in that park system expire on June 1. This means that new caches placed for Spring Fling would last less than a month, which may run afoul of Groundspeak's guidelines for cache longevity. The other options would be to move Spring Fling into the summer, or to ask the park district for special allowances.

Lima is a long drive for our northwestern corner, as well as for the Michiganders among us; it is almost 1.5 hr from Wauseon and about the same from Temperance, MI. It is over an hour from Tiffin or Maumee.
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by jslagle »

I still say we consider White Star in Gibsonburg - we always had fun there.

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mdwalsh19
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by mdwalsh19 »

If I may ask. Why not just stay at Litzenberg?

Is there a reason for leaving? :D
cachergirl27
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by cachergirl27 »

Litzenburg costs $150 to rent the barn. We used to get the rental for free since the parks were willing to barter the fee for a GC101. They are no longer willing to do that. So once you add the $150, plus the cost of meat/buns/drinks, it gets pretty expensive. We instituted a $5 entry fee this year to help negate the cost, and got some negative feedback on that. So......we would have choices to make if we're going to continue using Litzenburg, or any place that will charge that much. We could not provide the meat/buns/drinks, we could continue to charge the $5 and hope enough people show to break even, or we could find somewhere not that expensive, or willing to barter their fee, or continue to go in the hole on this event. Note that NWOGEO does not provide any of the doorprizes. Luckily attendees are nice enough to provide them. I need to talk to Wood County Parks at some point. We did have someone talk to White Star, and it costs as much as Litzenburg. We are definitely welcoming ALL ideas so feel free to throw some out! :)

To be a bit more transparent, here is the 2015 Spring Fling accounting:

Here are the expenses & incomes for the 2015 Spring Fling.
Expenses:
Barn (Yogi57) $150
Food (NWOGEO) $86.60

Income:
Admission $250
50/50 $ 65
50/50 Donated back $ 20 RedHatJudy won the 50/50 & donated back $20 of her $65.
_____________________________
Total $98.40
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Team ForPawz
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by Team ForPawz »

I'm coming from the perspective of never having been at a spring fling, but I have been to an event at Litzenberg. I'm also newer to the organization, and just trying to learn more information so that I can do my best to help.

Does the facility have to be indoor? Can we work with an outdoor shelter? It might change the menu a bit...but we can work with that!

The Metroparks have hosted 2 geocaching events at Oak Openings in the last year...maybe we could work out something with them? Maybe they might be more receptive in allowing us to hide a certain amount of geocaches for a special one year event. It would bring them more visitors, and might bring new cachers out from the area (there have been lots of newbies in Toledo lately...even newer than US!!!)

I think what would help us to help you...is to know what definitely doesn't work...what the limits are...what the average number of attendees on any given year might be...and what the maximum number of attendees that we would cut it off at is...

April and I are here to help whenever our schedule allows...we are definitely going to be geocachers for a long time to come, and we want to get more involved.
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by cachergirl27 »

Those are great questions, Jeff! We typically would have the event indoors because it's Spring (Apr/May) and you never know what the weather is going to do. We have had a couple beautiful years, and definitely some wash outs. Great idea about the MetroParks! They do like to have geocaching events, and if someone would like to approach them about doing a barter for an event/facility trade, I think we could get the event staffed. At one time, the Findlay faction of NWOGEO would host the Spring Fling, and the Toledo faction of NWOGEO would host the Shindig, but it seems there's not a whole lot of folks in Findlay anymore, exception being McCombRef who steps up & hides the caches, and Yogi who steps up to get the facility.
Generally we have 45-75 people attend the Spring Fling, and these folks do come from all over. We see a higher percentage of Tiffin/Marion/Lima cachers at this event than we do at the Toledo events, so moving it north could affect that population. We generally don't "cut off" attendance at these events, but we have been pretty close to capacity at the Shindig. We would need a building/shelter that would be able to host 75-100 people.
I appreciate the questions & feedback, and if anyone else has something to add, PLEASE post it! :)
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by Mr. Team Doxie »

One thing to remember....is that you will NEVER make everyone happy at any given time. If someone wants to complain about a $5.00 fee to help pay for the venue, then so be it! They are normally the same people that will buy $25.00 lottery tickets and have absolutely NOT A CHANCE in hell of winning anything. But, they do it anyway! They will spend $15.00 a day in fuel for a chance at a new FTF, ANNNNND think nothing of it! $5.00 a person! Seriously? Negative feedback? SMH! It is a time of fellowship with others that share the same interests. I vote to leave it alone (at Litzenburg) and tell them to plan ahead. 30 people at $5.00.......the building is paid for. The rest of the money can go towards the meats! :blowup: Nuff said!
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cheechgang
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by cheechgang »

With enough notice I can work on saving up the $5. Litzenburg is fine.
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by jslagle »

cheechgang wrote:With enough notice I can work on saving up the $5. Litzenburg is fine.
You just don't want to trudge through the woods after dark in a swamp with me at White Star like Craig did :P
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cheechgang
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by cheechgang »

jslagle wrote:
cheechgang wrote:With enough notice I can work on saving up the $5. Litzenburg is fine.
You just don't want to trudge through the woods after dark in a swamp with me at White Star like Craig did :P
Anyplace is fine with me. I missed the White Star event so I can not comment on facilities for a group.
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Swing Dancer
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by Swing Dancer »

I am happy with continuing at Litzenberg. I think we would be hard pressed to find any place cheaper that has a large enough area to hide 10+ "enjoyable" caches that meet gc.com requirements and not have to go through some crazy permit process or try to get a waiver on a permit policy. And if I start saving 60 cents a month right now I can just about come up with the cover.

Now, with that said, I don't know who was complaining about the cost, but maybe if it was a specific demographic, ie. large families, we could come up with a cost break of some sort.
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Chaenorrhinum
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by Chaenorrhinum »

IIRC, there is an age cutoff below which we don't charge. I was out front threatening kneecaps collecting admission this year, and I didn't receive any complaints or even comments on the charge from large families.

I'm a pretty frugal person, and I have no inner quandary about spending $5 and bringing a dish to share in exchange for all-you-can-eat lunch, a bunch of nice caches, a hike in the woods, a chance at winning decent prizes, and spending the day with my caching friends. In this hobby, we spend about that on a trackable tag (twice that on a coin), or a couple gallons of gas, or an upgraded data plan on our smartphones for phone caching, or a fast food meal in the middle of a cache run. Heck, if you're doing a lot of caching, that's probably only a month's worth of disposable batteries.

I personally like Litzenberg as a location. I've never been to White Star, though, so I don't have another location to compare it to. There is nothing saying that NWOGEO is limited to only two events a year, either...
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by M0M0f5 »

I have one of those large families. $5 a person isn't much (we can't even eat at Mc Donalds that cheap), but maybe some would like a family limit? We could cut out the cost of the food and add those to the potluck list? Knowing ahead of time was a big plus for me. I don't usually carry cash. Litzenburg is a nice area and I can't think of another place that would be as welcoming with all the caches we get to place every year.
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Re: 2016 considerations for Spring Fling

Post by cachergirl27 »

I think the majority of people like Litzenberg. It's on my list o'things to do to contact Yogi to see if we can't get something nailed down before all the good dates are gone.
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