Where: The Brownlows cafe, Ashridge Estate, nr Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 1LX. 01442 851670.
When: Saturday July 26th, from 2pm 'til 4pm. (Monument open 11am-4.30pm, Cafe open 8am-6pm)
Who: Anyone into caching, whether they've an interest in the Geolympix or not, as there will also be general caching chat and the swapping of both travel items (TBs and coins) and outragious caching stories. New to caching or cache events? You'll be made especially welcome.
How: Ample free parking on site, or it's a nice walk up from Tring Railway Station. Find England's 2nd Oldest Cache and the UK's Oldest Puzzle Cache while in these woods!
Why: With the success of the 2012 Oxford Geolympix we're keen to host another Mega (or better?) in the South East of England- probably in the Beds, Bucks or Herts area. This event marks the formal start of the 2016 planning programme and will be used to discuss all aspects of the event and its satellite meets and featured caches, covering the following points. (Notes will be taken!)
i) Ambition. What's the reason for holding another Geolympix, apart from wanting to build on the success of the first? What do we hope to achieve from it?
ii) Location. A venue/setting needs to be appropriate to the size, nature and ambitions of the 2nd Geolympix. Suggestions welcome.
iii) Challenges. A very successful feature of the 2012 Geolympix was the 11 in 11 icon challenge, where we gave visitors the chance to find 11 different cache types (Trad, Multi, etc) in 11 hours. Since this may not be possible again due to changes in Groundspeak policy we need another 'hook' for the event.
iv) Satellite Events. With Morning, Afternoon and Evening/Night slots, what range of caching experiences can we add to the programme to enhance the experience of visiting cachers? What's not been done before?
v) Dedicated/Featured Caches. In 2012 we had the Marathon Series of 100+ caches in five rings, the Cyclerama series of caches and others (inc. FTFrenzy caches in/around Oxford, the Solar System series and AAND-based caches). How can we top those, and what with?
vi) Additional Features: What else can we offer visitors to the area. Good YOSM locations, Landmarks and Tourist Attractions? What about non-cachers in a family; what can we do for them?
vii) Who's In? Several people have already been asked to be members of the 2016 team, including some returning from the 2012 organisers. But we need more people to sign-up to give their time, energy and yes, even cold hard cash (returned when we break even!) to the project. Please attend this meet if you feel you'd be able to contribute at least two of those three to it - or even if you're just curious!
More Info: The Geolympix has a Facebook group (Geolympix2016) but as it's a closed group (spies everywhere!) under Groundspeak rules it can't be directly linked to from this page. However, the @Geolympix Twitter feed carries a lot of the same infomation about 'what's going on' and can be seen by non-Twitter account owners.
Can't make it? Don't worry, we'll hold "Geolympix 2016 Discussion Meet #2" some time in early 2015, I suspect. We're keen to get the wishes of the caching community at the heart of the 2016 Geolympix so we're always open to suggestions even if you can make this - or other - meets.
"Please Join Our Team!"