[Az-Geocaching] Magellan Cache Hunt

[William Noll]

I posted the following 'Note' on the MagellanGPS website, and thought it
should be shared here...

    Just curious... I'm wondering what the real point of all this was. Sure,
someone gained a new GPS or trip, and several earned hats, but what did
Magellan gain? Did any of you run out and buy new GPS units? Probably not.
Their press release says this is a chance to get the family outdoors
together for fun, but how many NEW geocachers did they create? It seems to
me most who arrived Friday night were hardcore, experienced, serious cachers
out to get the FTF. Any NEW cachers out there?
    Was the overall contest fair? Not exactly. Considering that there was
much anticipation and curiosity in the various hints, the cache site was
only a few blocks from houses in an upscale part of town. Since the final
coordinate release was only a few minutes after the final hint, only persons
in the area (living or working) had a decent chance at FTF. Certainly NOT
geocaching skill. The sure method to be FTF was also to use a team method -
someone monitoring a computer at home or mobile device, and calling in the
coords to another team on a cellular. Did that increase the sporting chances
of new cachers? How many out there not in the East Valley just turned off to
this whole contest?
    Did the cache location encourage you to buy the latest Magellan
handheld? Like I said, what did Magellan gain? I don't think much. There are
many ways to make it more competive and fair. Was liability an issue? If
they put it on Humphrey's Peak, and someone has an accident, could Magellan
be liable? Is that why they are in easy-to-manage geographies? Magellan
won't do this again, if there is nothing for them to gain. You may gain a
hat, but if they don't get direct-sales from this game, it won't happen
again. Just a thought. Comments?

(BTW, while my cache count is low, I've used GPS since 1996 (anybody
remember the glory days of 5-channel parallel receivers?) and currently own
three with a Garmin VISTA as my latest (love the Topo map downloads!)

William Noll





> No, I did not log into the site, why bother? I couldn't go for it
> anyway. But any details would be greatly appreciated. Elect your best
> story teller, or more than one for a variety...I'm sure there are a
> few of us who are curious and want to cache vicariously and hear all
> the story!
> Thanks
> Trisha "Lightning"
> Prescott
>
> PS if anybody tells me this is off-topic.....I'll....grrrrr.....never
> mind.