'mega' Flashmob Event?

[fraggle69]

I'd be up for organising one of hese suckerz. It would have to be fancy dress though.
I've thought about how to do it and I think it can be done.

Do you think groundspeak would allow it?

[studlyone]

Its certainly an intersting concept, whether or not they'd go for it would be another matter. They sent a rep to the UK Mega Event to confirm that we got over 500. There have been geocaching flash mobs in the past (Ian fondly remembers the Birmingham one) so a mega event is just something bigger.
Maybe one of our current or ex reviewers could shed some light on the rule nuances regarding a Mega Event and whether it would be achievable.

[sTeamTraen]

They sent a rep to the UK Mega Event to confirm that we got over 500.

I don't think that's correct. As far as I know, I was the only person representing Groundspeak there, and "checking that 500 people turn up" was not something I was asked to do. I don't know if they dropped a mail to Deceangi afterwards, but I would guess not. AFAIK, Mega status is granted on trust, after you've convinced Groundspeak that it's reasonably likely to happen. It took Robin a couple of months at least to get the Harrogate event a Mega icon, and he had a committee, years of solid event organising experience, and all the UK volunteers right behind him. There are a lot of "Mega wannabes" who start off with big hopes and don't get close to the required number of attendees, so this attitude is understandable. (Having 250 Will Attend logs, or however many it was, in the first week certainly helps.)

Maybe one of our current or ex reviewers could shed some light on the rule nuances regarding a Mega Event and whether it would be achievable.

For a start if you want to list a Mega Event it probably has to be listed at least six months in advance. That means that it will become public knowledge, which means that the local council and police will be interested. 500 people in the same place at one time is already a public order issue, even if they're all just reading the Bible.

Given all the moaning which there was about travelling X hundred miles to Harrogate, I wish you good luck in identifying a location that 500 people are prepared to travel to, at £1.25 and up for a litre of fuel, for 15 minutes and one smiley. I think that most of the UK cachers who really really really wanted the Mega icon and were prepared to put a dent in their budget to get it, probably already did so last weekend.

You could maybe try and tack it on to another Mega Event, but then we're starting to get into "gratuitous smileys". There's already quite a lot of discussion as to what constitutes a real "event" among the various satellite activities that occur at a Mega. Plus, with "only" 900 people coming to the Mega, would you actually have got around 60% of them to synchronise themselves at the same spot?

My guess (aka: my sincere hope!) is that Groundspeak would politely turn it down on the basis that they don't want the Mega Event "brand" to become devalued. But then probably the majority of reviewers (well, me and another one that I know of ) feel that any flash mob event devalues regular Events, and yet when one was held in Seattle, Jeremy and several other lackeys went along and said they enjoyed it...

[Brenin Tegeingl]

Being brutally and totally honest, I make that at least 3 Reviewers with the same opinion of Flash Mobs. A event is about socialising, making new and strengthening existing Friendships. One of the biggest complaints about this years Mega, was that people did not get chance to meet people they wanted to.

The definition of a Flash mob is a event at which people turn up at a specific time and location, and Mob for the specific period before going their seperate ways. Going to a pub afterwards to have a chat, means that no actual Flash Mob Event took place.

I've had someone try and submit a Flash Mob event followed by a Pub event. After discussing things with my former colleagues, we came to the conclusion that it was one single event not 2 separate stand alone ones.

I publish Flash Mob Events because Groundspeak allows them, not because I believe they have any merit. And whilst I will support any genuine Mega event in the UK. I will not support any attempt at a Mega Flash Mob event, and see all the hard work and personal risk that this years and next year committee put into the Mega made into a joke.

Deci

[studlyone]

I guess that puts that one to bed then.

[Mrs Blorenge]

I hope the replies haven't depressed you too much, fraggle69 - It looks like the scenario of 500+ cachers dressed as pirates and descending on an unsuspecting Bristol/Swindon/Glastonbury is unlikely to come to fruition.

I have actually attended one of the FlashMob Events - I went up for the one at the London Eye and nearly got "sent to Coventry" in Chat because I was prepared to defend the whole FlashMob concept. In fact somebody there described it as a rank idea. (I think that was the word they used...) I decided to go along because I wanted to say that I had actually been to one, rather than cast scorn on the whole idea without even trying one for size. It was a "different" experience, rather like the micro equivalent of the usual type of Event. Afterwards everyone dispersed in different directions and about 10 of us (including some visiting American geocachers) ended up getting steadily chilled :cheers: (in every sense of the word) at pavement tables outside a Whitehall pub. Would I attend another one? Yes, probably, if it was within 50 miles of me. But I suspect the whole idea of FlashMob events may be a passing fad. (Did I hear cheering from somewhere in the back stalls then? )

I still keep an eye on the whole FlashMob scene though and I'm a fully registered member of http://improveverywhere.ning.com/ The Urban Prankster site.