Moveable Cache Race

[Apty]

I've only just found out about the movables - so I'd love for as many as possible to keep going once comp is ended. I've had fun with 2 that are in the race but if I'd known earlier I would have participated in more.

[Yurt]

Well I've tailed off badly in this race. Just went to Adelaide and back overnight and got nothing. Didn't really have time, the only one I looked for wasn't there. Everyone needs to place them near airports I keep telling ya!
Should have picked up ours while there. It's run aground. A few more days and I could have.

Well who's going to win? Someone off to London tomorrow?

[caughtatwork]

I reckon somewhere in Singapore might do a few km of travel

[Yurt]

Well it will soon be over as are the summer holidays for the kiddies, teachers and anyone else who works less than 48 weeks per year. It will be good to have a review of the game and see if/when it is run next summer what improvements can be made. I think the main one would be having more participants - there's no point placing a cache unless you've got someone nearby who is going to move it a considerable distance if you are in a small, or distant from main centres, town. I think it will grow and we'll see a lot more entries and greater distances being clocked up.

Anyway this can probably wait until it's all over. Fat lady? You're up next.

[caughtatwork]

We can indeed debrief after the race is over, but I'll let you in on some of the thought processes that led to the game being run.

GCA is a niche player in the global geocaching game.

As a developer of the site I have an interest in people using the site from a narcissistic perspective, but also for the niche opportunities it offers Australian geocachers. I also think that Australians for Australians makes sense from a geocaching perspective.

Up until we introduced TrigPoints the number of finds on GCA caches was growing at a low order polynomial rate. I wanted to be able to generate interest in the caches we offer. Running a moving cache race seemed like a perfect opportunity to bribe people with a "shiny object" to use GCA as well as the fun of moving caches (well, I think they're fun). I think this graph shows the increase in finds since September (TrigPoints) and December (MCR). http://geocaching.com.au/stats/graphs/g ... cumulative We are well above the line now. Whether this continues is yet to be seen. I expect it will drop off, but the rate of increase in finds will still be higher than it was. Time will tell.

Not all of this is personally motivated either. GCA cachers who hide GCA caches are at this stage resigned to the fact that there are not a significant number of people who find GCA caches so they expect a lower rate of return on their investment in hiding a cache on GCA. We also hoped to generate interest in GCA caches such that more people would find GCA caches and then they might hide more, then they would generate more interest in being found. A process that we hoped would grow larger as time passed.

At the same time that we were interested in getting more finds on GCA caches, we were also interested to see if we could get more people finding GCA caches. i.e. Not only the same people finding GCA caches, but adding new people to the mix. Using the MCR as a tool I think we have achieved a decent increase in the number of people who are now finding GCA caches. This chart shows the number of people who FIRST found a GCA cache in the month. http://geocaching.com.au/stats/cachers/ ... th_started Over the last 2 years (back to December 2007) the rate of new cachers finding GCA caches for the first time was pretty static. Since TrigPoints and the MCR started the number (appears) to have increased. I can say for certain in Victoria (because I know the people and their habits) that there are a number of people who are now finding GCA caches that have not previoulsy done so. Not just the MCR caches, but all types of GCA caches. I think this is positive for the site and geocaching in general.

So while the race is not yet over and the ongoing rate of finds of GCA caches without the race is yet to be seen, I am hopeful that for a few dollars invested (the pathtag prizes) will return more than it cost.

CraigRat and I discuss "marketing opportunities" on a semi regular basis, but we are only two people (and both IT folk not marketers) so we always welcome feedback and commentary on the direction that the website and geocaching in Australia takes. If you have ideas, please put them up in a new thread or if you feel embarassed, feel free to PM or email either CraigRat or myself. Sometimes technology stops us, but most of the time we come to a "win-win" situation (there's some coporrate speak fo you) where the suggestion can be accommodated and the technology does not block us.

We are looking to run more games over the year, maily focussed on the GCA aspects of the game ... with prizes So please make suggestions (new thread or PM / email).

[Yurt]

Yes and well done, has boosted my GCA stats too.

One change I would recommend is that caches that have been picked up (and not yet placed) be marked as such. A cursory glance at a cache page without reading the logs and you may enter the coords for a cache that is gone as it still is shown as being at the most recent coords. It also serves as a reminder that someone has it so you can nag them. Cache holders should get a nag email after a couple of days I reckon. Just like a TB it can be "in the hands of Yurt".

This will be huge by next summer.

[blossom*]

I'd like to bring up the prizes (yet to be awarded). There were 5 set aside for the "hiders" and 5 for the "movers". Technically the hiders can also be movers and so be eligible for both categories and a lot of the moves in this game were done by the hiders.

But in order to achieve one of your goals to encourage new GCA finders, I'd like to see some sort of bias so at least 3 of the movers prizes are awarded to people who weren't also hiders and so not otherwise part of the game. So a reward for getting into the fun, even though they weren't cache owners.

I reckon that would help the next game to get a heap of extra people moving the caches around


PS Since I seem to have been left behind in this game, bring on the next idea so I can get an early start on plans and strategies

[stringy]

bring on the next idea so I can get an early start on plans and strategies

Get ready for the Cache Of The Year Award

I am slowly getting ideas and will put it into practice

[matmob]

We've certainly been left behind in this game too - for some reason we have had several DNF's - not sure why. But today we had the privilege of finding and moving Mobility Stealth - this deserves some sort of award - it's hilarious!

[caughtatwork]

I have it on good authority (as I talk to myself quite often), that there will end up being more than 10 prizes. More for finders, a couple for things that tickled me and a few others that I think are worthy.

Unfortunately I can't give everyone who played (as a hider or finder) a prize as that would be "everyone wins a prize" game and not a race.

[solomonfamily]

Well we have had fun.

I would like to work out how many kms were put on by me as part of the game - that would be fun (or scary if I told my Queen)

Thanks for the game, I think also that was a great sense of us all helping each other too.

[blossom*]

Well we have had fun.

I would like to work out how many kms were put on by me as part of the game - that would be fun (or scary if I told my Queen)

Thanks for the game, I think also that was a great sense of us all helping each other too.

Yeah, it's a great game There are so many stats you can look at and I also especially loved helping each other get the miles and moves

[PrincessDiala]

I would like to work out how many kms were put on by me as part of the game - that would be fun (or scary if I told my Queen)

I would like to work that out also, guess I could go into all the caches I moved and manually calculate them - but I'm too lazy.

[solomonfamily]

I would like to work out how many kms were put on by me as part of the game - that would be fun (or scary if I told my Queen)

I would like to work that out also, guess I could go into all the caches I moved and manually calculate them - but I'm too lazy.

Ok - so far I have
Moved 6 caches (not including our own of course)
Total kms 669.37km (all by road / foot)
Longest move 254.23km

[mundoo]

I think the main one would be having more participants

When I read the lead up to this my initial thought was 'not for me, its too hard' and so didn't enter.

After the race started and I began to read discussions and follow the google map I realised that it wasn't too hard. I started to look at locations of the caches and if any were convenient in my travels (I don't travel much btw).

Movability Stealth was an opportunity that I didn't miss. I saw Apty's tweets one day as he was caching up in the hills and realised he was in the general location of it. I rang him to tell him about it and then SMS'd co-ords. He retrieved and bought it down south. I retrieved and it was a comment by SamWalkers that gave me the clue where to place it next under the surf cam.

I regretted that I didn't enter the race. I would have had a lot of fun. I will be entering next time.

Apty also hadn't known about the race until I asked him to get one of the racers, then he started to follow and even managed to retrieve a 2nd racer and move it.