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Posted: 04 April 07 11:30 am
by Bronze
Ok, So lets do that then.

Draw up a shopping list.
Lay the cards on the table.
Draw a line in the sand.
Call for tenders...

Whatever needs to happen, lets make it happen. I'm all for stability and assurance that caching globally and nationally is going to be here for a while. I'm sure there are plenty of people here happy to second that.

I still don't want to lose sight of the big picture but lets take care of the most important first as there is little we can change about the future of GC other than to prepare for sudden and significant changes in it.

Posted: 04 April 07 11:44 am
by caughtatwork
I agree. With everyone.

The tricky part about getting something going is that people are getting it for free now and don't want to think about payment, or being involved, or thinking about it.

It's all too hard when they can sit back and take what they're dealt.

Let's make the first thing happen. A shopping list. For what? Functionality, servers, payment for coders?

Posted: 04 April 07 12:47 pm
by swampgecko
Form an Australian Association of Geocachers.

Hand the forum over to them, charge a membership fee, which gives voting rights to subscribed members, and that money raised would in part go to funding the site.


At some stage, a way of funding the site must be found, Ideology, as generous as they have been, Can they be counted on to be funding the site long after they have lost interest? If they are funding the site within the next five years I'll be very impressed and grateful, but we shouldn't have to rely on them forever

Posted: 04 April 07 3:32 pm
by Bronze
Another forum enjoy has opted to have a rolling banner add at the top of each page. Every 5 seconds it scrolls over to another supporter.

So in the buy and sell there would be GPSr sellers and they all share a 5 second exposure with the other supporters. The more there are the cheaper it becomes for them.

In the photography category there might be businesses that also have their banner scrolling around and around every 5 seconds. It's not utopia but it a good fix. These can be companies and businesses that are here every day and have been referred to in threads when people ask where can I buy a gps.

Divide the number of supporter by the cost of the hosting and address etc and we still have a free forum but with appropriate advertisements.

The other option is to charge and then you have the worry of exclusion and limited growth. Perhaps if Geocaching Dinners are held to raise the money or maybe expos to showcase GPS products and caching gear etc where an entry is charged or a site fee for display.

There are numerous ways to raise the money. There are a few that come to mind quickly.

Who's in the position to co-ordinate and drive all this change?

Posted: 04 April 07 6:46 pm
by riblit
The reason this forum moved was that ideology offered to host it to remove advertising banners that were displayed at its old location.

Posted: 05 April 07 12:12 am
by Bronze
Yes but...

:D

Posted: 05 April 07 9:43 pm
by The Spindoctors

Posted: 05 April 07 10:16 pm
by CraigRat
Spindoc Bob wrote:Back to my Doomsday prediction: http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/s ... 76651.html
EVERYONE PICNIC!!!!!
.....
I MEAN, EVERYONE PANIC :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:

:P

Posted: 06 April 07 4:37 am
by Bronze
NO STAY CALM!!!!!!!!

It's All Going to be ok. Please take your seats. Besides I don't have any mountains to run to.

Now thats a good example of looking ahead and thinking through the problem. Thats exactly what I proposed in the conception of this thread. I want people to think ahead and seriously consider all the possibilities and come up with ideas on how each should be addressed in the event of...

Posted: 06 April 07 11:56 am
by The Spindoctors
As I mentioned in my first post, there are alternatives if the GPSr system failed. The most likely is a form of Letterboxing.

Posted: 06 April 07 1:13 pm
by CraigRat
Spindoc Bob wrote:As I mentioned in my first post, there are alternatives if the GPSr system failed. The most likely is a form of Letterboxing.
Now you are just being silly :lol: :lol: :lol:

Posted: 06 April 07 2:32 pm
by The Spindoctors
Seriously. Without GPS satellites, you would use the same types of clues as they do in their hobby. I wouldn't be into the whole stamp thing, but it would like very similar to it.

Interestingly, before geocaching, many summits (including Australia) had logbooks in containers hidden amongst the cairn. Bimberi Peak was one of them.

Posted: 08 April 07 8:43 am
by mtrax
Spindoc Bob wrote: Interestingly, before geocaching, many summits (including Australia) had logbooks in containers hidden amongst the cairn. Bimberi Peak was one of them.
Really, was this a climbing club or just some tradition?

In Australia we are probably slightly better off than most countries as it looks like most other International site leverage mostly of GC (single point of failure)