Flash in Folsom - a Flash GeoMob Event
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Saturday, August 25, 2007
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Flash Mob (FLASH mawb) n. A large group of people who gather in a usually predetermined location, perform some brief action, and then quickly disperse. —v., —adj. (from http://www.wordspy.com/words/flashmob.asp)
Want to play a part in local geocaching history? Want to act a little stupid in public? Want to meet other local geocachers? Want an excuse to go geocaching in the Folsom area? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then come join us for a flash mob event. I think this is the first flash mob event in the greater Sacramento area.
DATE: Saturday, August 25, 2007
TIME: 12:00 noon to 12:15 PM
WHERE: at the posted coordinates
WHAT: 15 minutes of fun!
What to bring:
1 – Yourself, friends, and family. This is located at a public location. Your furry friends should probably stay away (sorry PWP and Maggie).
2 – Your geo-garb, geo-swag, geo-bling for wearing/displaying during the event. At the very minimum, you should have your GPSr. Other items may include RCGDS, NUTS, GEBS awards, geocaching clothing, and anything else you can think of that is geocaching related. A bit of craziness is encouraged.
3 – Your sense of adventure and fun.
SCHEDULE (note: all times are based on my Garmin GPSr – Magellan users may experience a 30 second time lag – sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Prior to 12:00 Noon: show up early but don’t be obvious. Stay away from the zero point and pretend to be a muggle. Try to blend in. Keep your “geo-ness” out of sight and under cover.
12:00 Noon: Brave Sir Robin and some other Splinters will appear at the zero point and display some geo-items (you will know them when you see them). Participants should converge on the site, grab a log sheet, sign it and put it in the designated box. Then grab a name tag, add your geo-name, and slap that baby on.
Important: You must be present and sign a log sheet during the designated times to claim credit for the cache. No exceptions.
12:01 PM: Greeting Time – Once you are logged in, try to say hey, hello, howdy, or howdy do to everyone with a name tag. This is your chance to break the ice and get to know (briefly) some of your fellow geocachers. Try to talk to someone you don’t know. Be sure to mill around a bit – no hovering in one place for more than 30 seconds allowed.
12:07 PM: We will vote for the person displaying the best geo-attire. A cheap and meaningless prize will be issued.
12:09 PM: Cheap and non-substantive snacks will be passed out. Pick up your trash please!
12:10 PM: 3 Logs will be picked out of the box at random and more cheap and meaningless prizes will be given out (you know you want one.)
12:13 PM: A group photo will be taken next to the fountain. Please listen to the photographer and be quick about it. It will be posted on this cache page after the event. Smile everybody!
12:15 PM: That’s it, we are done. Pick up your stuff, clean up your mess, become a muggle again, and scram! Thanks for coming, glad to see ya, now go away! No loitering allowed.
Note: There are lots of excellent caches in the area and some good food (or drink if you prefer). Meeting before or after the event is strongly encouraged (just not at ground zero).
Travel Bugs: TB's are welcome but please don't drop them off and expect someone to grab them. This is only a 15 minute event and there won't be much time for trading. Please be sure to find a trading partner during the greeting time. Thanks.
POST EVENT COMMENTS:
First and most importantly, a very special thank you to the following folks:
Trevor (TRAKD) – this was his idea and he was very supportive. This couldn’t have gone off well without him.
Shelly (Salmon Falls Widow) – Another great supporter and was instrumental to getting people signed in.
John (Patrick Star) – what did you do again? I’m kidding – he saved my but cuz I forgot to print out the schedule. Good thing Mary is around to keep you headed in the right direction – bless her.
Scott (– 40 –) - what would I have done without the Rocket Scientist?
Harry (Guido O) – thanks Harry for bringing the camera and being our photographer.
Jodie (Adrenalynn) – our other photographer (un-planned but very welcome).
As far as I know, this was the first Geocaching related flash mob event in the Sacramento area. There have been these kinds of events in a few other parts of the country but not around here. Congratulations to everyone that attended for helping to make local Geocaching history.
Today’s event went by in a flash for me. We were officially in and out in 14 minutes and 32 seconds. All you great folks that attended made it easy and a lot of fun. I shook so many hands that it all started to blur. I met many new cachers today and I am happy to meet your acquaintance. Perhaps we will have some time to chat at future events or in the field.
All in all, I counted 98 people in attendance. This number is based on the log sheets and I am sure I missed some. Wow!!! I never imagined we would get that kind of turn out. This truly was a mob. And I gave most of you a kiss (chocolate that is).
One final note: I finally found out what is under Jeo’s kilt. I didn’t want to know but he stood up on the fountain and stripped. I am happy to report that the rumors are not true – he was actually wearing shorts (much to my relief). Oh, and congratulations to Jeo for finding over 4,000 caches – you rock!
Thanks for coming everyone. Should we do this again?
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