Australia's First MEGA EVENT ???

Swampy · Post by **Swampy** » 17 July 08 2:58 pm

roostaman wrote:If you draw a line from Brisbane to Melbourne & then another line from Sydney to Adelaide, they intersect at a point about 1 hour N of Wagga, and about 2 hours S of Bathurst and 1 - 2 hrs NW of Canberra.

How about you draw a line between Perth and Cairns and then another from Hobart to Darwin and then a third from Mallacoota to Exmouth and somewhere inside the triangle is where to have the event.

You know there are cachers out there on the extremes of this continent.

Jardry · Post by **Jardry** » 17 July 08 3:42 pm

Map Monkey wrote:My suggestion put forward would be Canberra/ACT being the capital of Australia and having numerous avenues to get there. Nice and cool in June.

mm

Cool ??? More like Freezing Cold in JUne!!!

I'd expect for those travelling from interstate whether it was a long weekend date wouldn't be of much concern to them. You'd take a few days Annual Leave and make it a worthwhile trip which coincided with the Mega Event.

I also agree with the need for such an event to be near a major city for transportation - planes, trains, buses or cars!

Common sense suggests it should be when the temperature is most temperate - either early autumn (March/April) or late spring (October/November)

A formal organising committee would ned to be created - who will accept a booking from Joe Blow for 500 meals at a venue without a sizeable deposit, even if the deposit were $10/head, thats still $5,000. I doubt a venue would take on accepting bookings from individuals when someone asks to reserve 500 places. The venue may end up with only 100 confirmed bookings and cancel at the last minute, or cater for the 100 that booked, accepted other reservations, and another 100 or so turn up who didn't confirm their booking.

Such an event doesn't happen without a lot of hard work behind the scenes.

I'm full of admiration for the way Freddo and Parrothead with their helpers co-ordinated the recent state event in SA for the 100 or so that attended. Imagine five times the organising work!

Rathter than trying to "decide" where it should be, the decision should initially be WHO will be involved in organising such an event.

I suggest we should be calling for expressions of interest from cachers who would like to be involved in organising a mega event together with cachers who have organised larger events in their own state with a view to forming an organising committee.

The organising committee would then determine the format for the mega event, what is required in terms of accommodation needs, venue needs, proposed activities for the event, etc, which would then determine WHERE it will need be held based on the collective expertise of the organisers.

Regardless of WHERE it will be held - the location will never be suitable for everyone.

Likewise, we can all say we love to have a Mega Event, but until such time as cachers put their hand up to be involved in the preliimary organising of such an event - it won't happen.

Jardry

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 17 July 08 4:44 pm

just to be clear this is going to be a "Main Event" which may or may not escalate into a Mega event.

Huurtle · Post by **Huurtle** » 17 July 08 7:23 pm

mtrax wrote:just to be clear this is going to be a "Main Event" which may or may not escalate into a Mega event.

<br>
I'm not sure where 'main event' came from. The thread is about A Mega Event. Needs to be marketed as such... And They WILL Come...[/b]

Jardry · Post by **Jardry** » 18 July 08 1:09 pm

This is a link to the FIRST UK Mega Event - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_de ... 7a74a71b13

Quite surprising that it has taken so long for the UK to conduct a Mega Event given there population is significantly greater than Australia's.

Would seem that we will have a job on our hands to get the numbers up for a Mega Event.

Jardry

crew 153 · Post by **crew 153** » 18 July 08 1:20 pm

I think that once you announce it as a Mega Event you will get interest from overseas cachers as well which will help to swell the numbers.

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 18 July 08 4:00 pm

looks like they did some sort of Poll.. to choose the date.. perhaps thats somewhere to start.

Alansee · Post by **Alansee** » 18 July 08 10:29 pm

Swampy wrote: You know there are cachers out there on the extremes of this continent.

<p>
And if they were to organise a Mega Event I am sure that the people would come!

Richary · Post by **Richary** » 19 July 08 1:09 am

Whatever it is, and wherever it is, some serious planning will be involved, despite paegleboy's innocence. You can't post an event like this and expect hundreds of cachers to fly in from interstate for the afternoon and then go home.

I would suggest the earliest would probably be around Anzac Day next year, or maybe Australia Day if enough people get organised. But to get people to want to attend will require a lot.

Maybe some suggestions from people - what would make you travel a thousand kilometres for an event would be helpful. Apart from the interaction with other cachers what would be the incentives to make you spend $200 each way on petrol?

Skippy&lambchops · Post by **Skippy&lambchops** » 19 July 08 1:45 am

Easter would be better with 4 days up your sleeve

mtrax · Post by **mtrax** » 19 July 08 9:00 am

just looking at some of the activities and stalls, I wonder if there are many geocaching businesses in AU or would we need to get camping or related companies interested.
ie what is there expectation of people when they get to such an event, presumably apart from the usual meet and greet stuff, some presentations eg GPS, Paperless tech, and other h/w right?
so before we get to the date we need to aquire a committee and a budget ..ie this is going around and around..
Has anyone got some experience in organising events?
I would assume we would need some building or indoor venue to house these things (incase of rain/wind , + need for power etc..)

so to the questions:
what activities would you like at events?
what topics or presentations?
which companies would you like to invite ?

Rastas000 · Post by **Rastas000** » 19 July 08 9:14 am

Easter is fraught with problems for any event organiser....

It is a date where there is usually significant family commitment and it does not help that the world shuts down on Good Friday.

Long weekends are better BUT not all long weekend fall on the same day in differing states.

I ran a convention in Queensland some years ago, and chose a public holiday available to the southerners that was not on in Queensland, to allow for travel and the like for those coming a long way.

Also, location is key... I would not entertain a weekend away where It became a challenge to get there. Also, one has to consider the bulk of the active population, where people may want to go to, and above all, where people want to go to.

The process of organising something like this is HUGE, and the organisers have to have a local contact/worker (preferably most of them)

Bottom line is, I, as a thin blooded Queenslander, am not wanting to camp in Canberra/Wagga Wagga or the like in any months between march and September.... But winter in the north is another matter.

See my point????

Zytheran · Post by **Zytheran** » 24 July 08 6:03 pm

As much as I hate to say this, I think it needs to be in Sydney if we want a good chance of getting 500 people.
If the year was 2012 or something, yep, anywhere, 500 wont be a problem by then, the hobby will have grown enough to support that number.
However if we are talking 2009 and 500 people then convenience for travel will be the only way to get 500 people. As such Sydney is the most central and most likely cheapest place to get to for those flying, which will be a lot of people.
I think we'd be relying on a lot of very cheap airfares to get enough people.
It also has enough range of accommodation that isn't an excuse to not go.
This is all based on the premise of how to get the most people to one location in the cheapest/easiest manner in 2009.
Perhaps Canberra but I'm not convinced it's really more central from a traveling hassle/cost point of view.
My 2 cents worth.

Udderchaos · Post by **Udderchaos** » 24 July 08 6:27 pm

im with Z there.

sydney is only a 10hr drive for us which we would more than likely either do or drive to melb then hop on a plane.

Team Piggy · Post by **Team Piggy** » 24 July 08 7:14 pm

I personally think finding a smaller town is an option. It is a lot easier to get the local commuinty, council etc behind it.

I attended an event June long weekend in Hay, the council supplied gear, the Police were involved, Halls were given for free, Hotels booked out entirely by the different states groups etc.

Well worth thinking about, easier to deal with small town minority than large cities.

Geocaching Australia

Australia's First MEGA EVENT ???

Easter Mega Event????