will 11 and 12 october 2009 be good for doing a main event

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paegle boy
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will 11 and 12 october 2009 be good for doing a main event

Post by paegle boy » 18 July 08 6:37 pm

Is this a good weeknd 11 and 12 of octber 2009 good for a main event (eg a big event but not as big as a mega)

I was think of doing it as big as 150 cacher come from all over australia come.

ps. a mega is to hard to run for paegle boy
Last edited by paegle boy on 19 July 08 6:53 am, edited 6 times in total.

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Papa Bear_Left
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Post by Papa Bear_Left » 18 July 08 6:53 pm

Jai, I don't think you really understand what running an event for 500+ cachers would entail!

It's a lot more than just listing an event and hoping that cachers from all over the country appear.

There's accommodation, venue hire, catering, activities, sponsorship deals, etc. to think about, as well as who underwrites the costs if it doesn't pay for itself.

And, frankly, if you forget to mention which month you're proposing and can't spell "weekend" or "mega", I don't think you're the best person to be volunteering for the job of organiser.

I know you're as keen as mustard, but this is a bit bigger than you can manage, I'm afraid.
Last edited by Papa Bear_Left on 18 July 08 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Team Piggy
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Post by Team Piggy » 18 July 08 6:57 pm

Umm. Which weekend and which Mega event?

Your post is somewhat cryptic? I know there is a mega event being "discussed" but at this point havent read of any dates. Not that I have followed the threads too closely anyway.

:idea: It may pay to pop some more information in your post to notify people that may not have seen other threads information, to know just what you are talking about. :idea:

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Mr Router
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Post by Mr Router » 18 July 08 7:27 pm

Papa Bear_Left wrote:Jai, I don't think you really understand what running an event for 500+ cachers would entail!

It's a lot more than just listing an event and hoping that cachers from all over the country appear.

There's accommodation, venue hire, catering, activities, sponsorship deals, etc. to think about, as well as who underwrites the costs if it doesn't pay for itself.

And, frankly, if you forget to mention which month you're proposing and can't spell "weekend" or "mega", I don't think you're the best person to be volunteering for the job of organiser.

I know you're as keen as mustard, but this is a bit bigger than you can manage, I'm afraid.
I'm with the Bear ! it took 8 people to organise and cater for 70 odd people, aaaahhhhhhh big headaches .

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Post by Jezzza_Xtreme » 18 July 08 8:32 pm

Mmm, from looking at a couple of Mega Events in the US, it is quite on the convention scale, and the few I looked at were organized and run by Geocaching Corporations/Associations for whatever state, and listings published 6 months to a year in advance.

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Post by rhinogeo » 18 July 08 10:38 pm

It sounds more like a meagre event :?

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Post by The Spindoctors » 18 July 08 10:58 pm

A spell checker is a good start. LOL. Sorry that's the editor in me.

Seriously, it's a big call to even get 500 geocachers in the one location, let alone organise them. Give it a go, but it's a big big ask.

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CaleD
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Post by CaleD » 18 July 08 11:07 pm

Mmm, by looking at the results of the poll, I can't help but think the question was a little poorly worded :idea:

I have to say I agree with PBL, though, there's a lot of organisation that goes into hosting a regular event, so holding a mega event would require several months at least of planning, getting approvals, organising accommodation... remember, you can't just have 500+ people appear in a park one morning!

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Udderchaos
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Post by Udderchaos » 18 July 08 11:51 pm

having run an event for just over 100 people i would say your crazy.

it would be a a near full time job for the main organising team for the month before the event MINIMUM.

but if you do go ahead. GOOD LUCK its a big job

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Rastas000
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What it takes to run/organise an event (precis form)

Post by Rastas000 » 19 July 08 9:05 am

This is gonna be a long post......

I run events/retreats/conventions on a yearly basis for different focus groups. (i do not get paid for this and am generally a participant as well)

Having said that, in my NOT so humble opinion, I do not believe that there is enough corporate support, nor community fiscal goodwill to run a 500+ geocaching event here in Australia. It is a BIG country, and there are huge hurdles in trying to get non-corporates to an event centrally.

To give you an idea, it takes about two years from commencement of the project to get something like this up and running...

First off, an organising committee needs to be set-up, and have appropriate folks on it who WILL work and participate (rather than the hangers on that can levitate towards these types of things)..

Firstly, Is there anything else on at that time that will clash with my event??? (lesson to self, do not program anything on State of Origin night... Even though I booked two years in advance, the night was not known until the 9 months previous.... It totally destroyed the plans for a dinner, so we made it a SOO big screen stadium event, hot dogs, pies and all) So it sort of worked out!

Then there is the research into the venue/s accommodation (various types) and even if you are doing the camping only idea, then you have to have toilets and showers for everyone, what about waste disposal, catering (or resupply) potable water.... and the list goes on!!!

Then there is the problem with paying the deposits for the bookings you will HAVE to make, or the hire of marquees, table chairs lighting, stages, flooring, coordinating the trade aspects of the show, entertainment....

Then there is the INSURANCE..... and the incorporation costs (coz I would not do this without being an incorporated body with limited liability) and the list goes on!!

Most large venues/locations now require security to be in place....

Now, I am not trying to rain on the parade of anyone who wants to go down this road, rather, I am trying to dampen the road so that dust will not rise... (oh, and that is another thing (the cost of water to keep dust down at the event site if camping is the aim))..

A mega event would ideally have to be planned out 2 years in advance, have significant commitment from a group to underwrite the costs, have a planning group of active and enthused people working on it, a group of attendees willing to front up the dollars so that there can be a working capital, a proper promotional profile, corporate support/sponsorship et al...

Just to give you an idea, the last 500 person event I organised, excluding the accommodation/travel costs of attendees, excluding the keynote speaker costs, was over $75 000 dollars... now, that is ONLY $150 per head to attend (we charged more like $198 per head) which gave us a little profit a seed funding for the next event (but deduct airfares and accommodation for the keynote speaker, incidental costs of registration and ongoing business costs of insurance, it continuance, phones etc, still left a profit of only $18K all of which is committed to deposits for two years from now for the venue and the like.

The surveys we conducted after the event showed that the over all cost (on average for the participants to come (from all over OZ and some NZ) was, for 3 nights accommodation, food, travel and the like was just under $1000.oo!!! Is that something your target audience can afford?? How long do I need to give them notice to attend (to program their time and to arrange leave)

Our event was running from Friday arvo to sunday arvo, it included a dinner (extra cost to participants), it was combination indoor/outdoor activities (ie marquee costs etc) it had low risk activities and there was some entertainment included at the dinner and the getting to know you night Friday (live music, magician, comedian)...

You need to ask yourself... is my target audience going to commit to the event? Are the able to pay for such an event? Will I get corporate/government support? what is my target cost per attendee? can I make money to cover costs and contingencies?

And also, am I personally prepared to get all sorts of criticism for doing this?? Oh, and if you are running it, you will NOT enjoy the event!!!

Hope it puts a perspective on the reality, rather than the original thoughts of "if you say it, they will come" event mentality that works for a lunch gathering and a couple of games!!

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Post by GhostGums » 19 July 08 9:37 am

I have been involved in running conferences in the past (as a volunteer) and totally agree with Rastas100. Once you get past 200 delegates it is surprising how few venues there are around that can accomodate those numbers. The there is the insurance...

I am all new to this, so this may be a stupid question, but does it have to be held in the one location? Can it be held simutanelously across a number of locations perhaps somehow linked. Will still require some organisation but most of this can be done through local committees set up for each venue. Apologies if its a stupid question. :D

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Post by Jardry » 19 July 08 9:40 am

Rastas,

An excellent well complied post. Your points are all valid. An event doesn't just happen - a lot of thought and effort goes on behind the scenes to make it appear as if it just happens.

As its unlikely the GCA community will be able to underwrite a Mega Event, maybe the powers that be in GCA could, just as they have with allowing locationless caches to be listed on GCA, create a new icon for a Main Event which would require only 100 participants as opposed to the 500 that Groundspeak requires for a Mega Event.

100 participants is an achievable target and it would be unlikely that more than 1 or 2 per year would or could be conducted in each state due to the organising that is required for an event even at on this lower scale.

Regards


Jardry


PS - should this thread be merged with the other thread for continuity purposes?

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Post by Team Piggy » 19 July 08 11:21 am

I see the original post has now been changed and 'partially" spellchecked.

This unfortunately has also killed any POLL that was originally attached so this thread is pretty well useless now.?

Should probably be closed and started again. (After having a read here on how hard it is to run an event of over say 70 people)...

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tronador
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Post by tronador » 19 July 08 9:39 pm

My question would be how much management or organisational experience does paegle boy have? Is something like this even feasible for 1 person to organise?

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Post by Udderchaos » 19 July 08 10:42 pm

just a FYI, the SA june long weekend event have been pulling 100+ people for the past 3 years? maybe 2 years...

but still even 100 it took us many months of planning and i dont think the usual SA event crew will argue with us. BIG task

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