I am unsure if I am allowed to do this

[22400SPICA]

I had originally made this account because I just found a few geocaches with a friend the other day and I thought it was a really cool fun thing to do. I had wanted to do that as a project for a fansite I am making, to have us all leave little caches and see how many people find them and how far they go as a cute little kick off project.

I am not sure though if that would be considered promoting the site?

We were going to include a paper that had a link to a guestbook log on our site so people who were not members but found our caches could check in but is that considered promoting?

It's kind of hard for me to tell.

[+kunarion]

Travel Bugs may be better suited to your idea. Securely attach some item, including your website info, activate and place them. They typically would be placed into caches, but you may hide your TBs where you wish and see who finds them. Then they're tracked on their own page. And people can visit your page, too, but bear in mind that people who find these may not wish to sign up for another web site, or any web site. But there aren't as many restrictions on Travel Bugs as there are for Geocaches.

[22400SPICA]

Travel Bugs may be better suited to your idea. Securely attach some item, including your website info, activate and place them. They typically would be placed into caches, but you may hide your TBs where you wish and see who finds them. Then they're tracked on their own page. And people can visit your page, too, but bear in mind that people who find these may not wish to sign up for another web site, or any web site. But there aren't as many restrictions on Travel Bugs as there are for Geocaches.

I am not 100% sure I am following but I think I get what you are saying.

We had planned to make GeoCaches just like the few I found with the little paper that has the link so that anyone can sign our little guestbook if they would like to and paper to log visitors, then whatever other little items our site's members wanted to include. It is an international site so it's very spread out so we thought it would be kind of cool to see how far we reach I guess.

Travel Bugs seem really fun too though so if we are in violation and need to switch we can still do the project with those instead

[+Panther&Pine]

You need to look at the commercial guidelines for placing caches, however that guideline doesn't say anything about cache contents.

My question would be "are geocachers really your target market?" "Is this is ideal way to spend your marketing dollars and hours?".

[+kunarion]

Travel Bugs may be better suited to your idea. Securely attach some item, including your website info, activate and place them. They typically would be placed into caches, but you may hide your TBs where you wish and see who finds them. Then they're tracked on their own page. And people can visit your page, too, but bear in mind that people who find these may not wish to sign up for another web site, or any web site. But there aren't as many restrictions on Travel Bugs as there are for Geocaches.

I am not 100% sure I am following but I think I get what you are saying.

We had planned to make GeoCaches just like the few I found with the little paper that has the link so that anyone can sign our little guestbook if they would like to and paper to log visitors, then whatever other little items our site's members wanted to include. It is an international site so it's very spread out so we thought it would be kind of cool to see how far we reach I guess.

Travel Bugs seem really fun too though so if we are in violation and need to switch we can still do the project with those instead

You can place promotional items in a existing Geocaches. But if you make a cache page that is promotional (such as having web links to your site), that might require special advance approval. Also, if the plan is to ask people in your group to join Geocaching and place Geocaches, they have some work ahead of them, even just locating suitable places, getting appropriate permission for placement, and becoming familiar with the guidelines for hiding a cache. Geocaches are not temporary, the idea is that they will continue to be maintained.

 

You may place an item in existing caches, and just have the contact info, and request that it be moved to another cache if you like. It would not really be an official "Trackable", just a signature item. If it's a cool item, people may trade for them and even sign your online guestbook.

Edited September 5, 2014 by kunarion

[22400SPICA]

The goal isn't actually for people to join our site, just hopefully let us know that they found our cache. That's the only reason we would include the paper with the link on it.

The only things we want to get out of it are something for all the members to participate in together despite our distance, to be able to look at all our caches and see how much map coverage there is because we are all so spread out that it's pretty cool, and then hopefully have people let us know when they find our caches.

I am not really trying to sell anything or even put the site out there, we just want to know when people find our caches. I just wanted to be sure there was no rule violated by putting that paper with the link in the cache or with decorating them to go with our fanclub etc.

[+Panther&Pine]

The goal isn't actually for people to join our site, just hopefully let us know that they found our cache. That's the only reason we would include the paper with the link on it.

The only things we want to get out of it are something for all the members to participate in together despite our distance, to be able to look at all our caches and see how much map coverage there is because we are all so spread out that it's pretty cool, and then hopefully have people let us know when they find our caches.

I am not really trying to sell anything or even put the site out there, we just want to know when people find our caches. I just wanted to be sure there was no rule violated by putting that paper with the link in the cache or with decorating them to go with our fanclub etc.

Cache owners get an email every for every log created on their cache.

[22400SPICA]

Cache owners get an email every for every log created on their cache.

So then we can do containers decorated up with our fandom but just not include any links to our site?

[+Panther&Pine]

Cache owners get an email every for every log created on their cache.

So then we can do containers decorated up with our fandom but just not include any links to our site?

Yes. Although depending on your fandom you may have well designed caches stolen by enthusiasts. Also remember to make them weather proof, caches are supposed to be out for the long term.

[22400SPICA]

So then we can do containers decorated up with our fandom but just not include any links to our site?

Yes. Although depending on your fandom you may have well designed caches stolen by enthusiasts. Also remember to make them weather proof, caches are supposed to be out for the long term.

Okay, thank you so much for clarifying. And yes we will definitely make them weatherproof. We plan to do the project for New Years so we have time to put real work into them and find a good place to put them and go through all of the prerequisites ahead of time.

[+Harry Dolphin]

And remember that maintenance is important. Somehow, this reminds me of a nearby series put out by an eighth grade class, with an ecology agendum. None of the cache finders have been back to do maintenance. Many have been archived.

[22400SPICA]

And remember that maintenance is important. Somehow, this reminds me of a nearby series put out by an eighth grade class, with an ecology agendum. None of the cache finders have been back to do maintenance. Many have been archived.

I was thinking about that, how often should you go back to clean them up and make sure they are in good condition? I was thinking of doing it as an annual thing, like we set them up and then go and clean them up and update the contents every year. But should we do it more often than that?

[+Chief301]

I had wanted to do that as a project for a fansite I am making, to have us all leave little caches and see how many people find them and how far they go as a cute little kick off project.

 

This is the part I'm a little uneasy about. Are all your members actually Geocachers? Does your fansite actually relate to Geocaching in some way? Placing, owning, and maintaining a Geocache is a long term commitment. You have to be prepared to respond to any maintenance issues and make repairs as needed, not just for a week or a month but for as long as the cache exists. They are expected to have some permanence. Are all your members prepared to do that?

 

Owning a Geocache requires more commitment than just a "cute little kickoff project". I'm not saying don't do it, just to think about your motivations for hiding a cache. Geocaches should be hidden and maintained by dedicated Geocachers, and expected to be viable caches in their own right, not just a one-time throwaway gimmick to advertise another event or group.

[22400SPICA]

I had wanted to do that as a project for a fansite I am making, to have us all leave little caches and see how many people find them and how far they go as a cute little kick off project.

 

This is the part I'm a little uneasy about. Are all your members actually Geocachers? Does your fansite actually relate to Geocaching in some way? Placing, owning, and maintaining a Geocache is a long term commitment. You have to be prepared to respond to any maintenance issues and make repairs as needed, not just for a week or a month but for as long as the cache exists. They are expected to have some permanence. Are all your members prepared to do that?

 

Owning a Geocache requires more commitment than just a "cute little kickoff project". I'm not saying don't do it, just to think about your motivations for hiding a cache. Geocaches should be hidden and maintained by dedicated Geocachers, and expected to be viable caches in their own right, not just a one-time throwaway gimmick to advertise another event or group.

I wouldn't just assume they are all willing to do that, not everyone will participate. They will all have to go through staff and have their caches approved beforehand. I will make it pretty clear that is it a commitment and that we need to maintain them, that's part of why I want to do it. I don't expect everyone to do it.

[+Harry Dolphin]

And remember that maintenance is important. Somehow, this reminds me of a nearby series put out by an eighth grade class, with an ecology agendum. None of the cache finders have been back to do maintenance. Many have been archived.

I was thinking about that, how often should you go back to clean them up and make sure they are in good condition? I was thinking of doing it as an annual thing, like we set them up and then go and clean them up and update the contents every year. But should we do it more often than that?

 

I do maintenance as geocachers tell me it is needed. I've got two to check on nearby. One is wet. Okay. The other had a DNF. She probably just couldn't find the first stage...

I have some I haven't visited in eight years! (Of course, I have some where someone logged a find, but the cache was missing... That does not help, but some cachers are liars.)

Hope that helped. I usually rely on geocachers to let me know if maintenance is required.

[22400SPICA]

I do maintenance as geocachers tell me it is needed. I've got two to check on nearby. One is wet. Okay. The other had a DNF. She probably just couldn't find the first stage...

I have some I haven't visited in eight years! (Of course, I have some where someone logged a find, but the cache was missing... That does not help, but some cachers are liars.)

Hope that helped. I usually rely on geocachers to let me know if maintenance is required.

That seems like a good plan, maybe we'll do annual maintenance just as a continuation of our project and as needed in between. I wouldn't let them get like the ones I found on campus here, one was just almost gross.

[+niraD]

I was thinking about that, how often should you go back to clean them up and make sure they are in good condition?

How long is a piece of string?

 

My first cache needed maintenance a couple times a month, and eventually I had to archive it. But I learned a lot trying to maintain that cache. My current caches need maintenance much less frequently. I've replaced both containers--one because the camouflage was wearing out, and the other because someone broke it. One was disabled for several months thanks to construction that kept getting delayed. But other than that, they haven't needed much maintenance.