Why Do You Attend? ~ or ~ Why Do You Not Attend?

[Team2hunt]

is not really the question for me. I would love to attend all of the Maine events. But it's now Summer and some of us have to plan our time, weeks or months in advance. This year I have been very busy and when I have already made plans it's hard to cancel and make an event. Then there's the " there are waaaaaayy too many events " now going on around New England. I have many friends in Maine, NH and Vermont. And it seems like there is an event every weekend somewhere. I sometimes have to choose between events, depending on where I am going to be.

The annual events are planned but the rest are hit or miss. I have planned to make the Eustis event, due to the place, and time of year. Plus we will be camping and that is an important factor for me when choosing an event to attend. Helium would be another good reason to attend.

Thanks to all of you who have put on events.

[hollora]

is not really the question for me. I would love to attend all of the Maine events. But it's now Summer and some of us have to plan our time, weeks or months in advance. This year I have been very busy and when I have already made plans it's hard to cancel and make an event. Then there's the " there are waaaaaayy too many events " now going on around New England. I have many friends in Maine, NH and Vermont. And it seems like there is an event every weekend somewhere. I sometimes have to choose between events, depending on where I am going to be.

The annual events are planned but the rest are hit or miss. I have planned to make the Eustis event, due to the place, and time of year. Plus we will be camping and that is an important factor for me when choosing an event to attend. Helium would be another good reason to attend.

Thanks to all of you who have put on events.

And thank you T2H for this wise muse...........this is exactly what I wished to extract by my post, to share with all, so we can decide what should be a go vs. a meet and greet (not so formal with not so much stuff or time involved).

Your candor is appreciated! Thanks for sharing!

[team moxiepup]

If dogs were allowed at the events we would attend more of them We hate to leave Moxie home all day on the weekends and if the events are too far away she would have to be home alone too long, so we usually avoid the far events that don't allow dogs. Outdoor events that allow dogs are our favorites. We missed a lot of events this summer because of our schedules. We were going to pop into the scrappin' event but we had some unexpected house repairs come up that had to get taken care of.
We enjoy the coffee breaks as they usually break up the work week a bit and we can catch up with everyone.

[Medawisla]

I like a bit of organization at events.

I do think that a little better job could be done promoting the events.

One thing that might be considered is to have a greeter of sorts to kind of look out for new folk and when they are found make sure they are welcomed and introduced to folk either formally or informally.

Great ideas, Gob-ler! I'm one of those organization freaks, and I really liked how at Karen's Celebrating 2008 event she laid out happenings on an agenda of sorts, that was cool! It helps new-comers see what's coming up and what to stick around for, too.

In promoting events, this comes up in another post too, a way to promote your event before you can publish it, so that those far-in-advance-summer-planners can plan for it, like KayakingLoon did, post a tread here in the forums with you're event title. People can become aware of the date, ask questions about the details, plan out potlucks, prizes, and other fun stuff people can contribute to, to make the event that much better! Use the forums, they're here for you!

I love the idea of a greeter! Even a rotation of a few different people throughout the event to be greeters; and answer that so-often-first-question: what's a travel bug? Greeters are great, because they open the person up and the greeter can figure out what the person's interest is and then introduce them to someone with a similar interest! Despite not having a greeter so-to-speak at the Pirate event, I think folks were able to mesh into the crowd easily because of the scavenger hunt that was going on; with cachers moving around, it's not perceived as though there are already formed cliques.

I'm sure everyone is wonderful, but it's hard when you just meet people.

Sure it is ltlindian. Thanks for speaking up, that took courage, and I'm sure there are other newbies who feel similar! Like others have said here, don't feel compelled to stick around if you are uncomfortable, or look at the event like you're meeting one person, even the host maybe, and then you'll find yourself easily meeting everyone! That's less overwhelming I think...

Speaking for myself, someone who usually just lurks and reads posts, the events look a little intimidating. You all seem to have a good rapport on here and know one another and the idea of walking into say the meet and greet that was 2 seconds down the road form me at BK a while back is a little unnerving. Also, probably my own fault for not asking, but I have no idea really about what goes on at the events.

Wow, another courageous cacher! Welcome, by the way. Meeting new people is always unnerving, but to put your nerves aside a little bit, just to let you and other newbies know, a lot of us may have met one another, but our perceived rapport is really just us being open in the forums. I know Hiram was legendary before we ever even met another cacher, let alone attended an event. So again, don't let the rapport alienate you, because we were once a newbie and we know how that feels

I don't do events.

You keep telling yourself that FFJ...

How about we plan a pathtag event...wouldn't that be a blast?

TOTALLY (even though I don't have a pathtag). It'd be all about meeting new people, so everyone can be a "newbie" tehehe and see who you "cross paths" with!

If dogs were allowed at the events we would attend more of them

I know some folks don't put those attribute thingys on their events pages (like dogs welcome)...but always ask the host if they don't say dogs are welcome. Sometimes the host wants to be controlling on which dogs do attend, and I know I would always want Moxie to be there!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, I'm sure they'll help folks planning events and attending events in the future!

[hollora]

If dogs were allowed at the events we would attend more of them We hate to leave Moxie home all day on the weekends and if the events are too far away she would have to be home alone too long, so we usually avoid the far events that don't allow dogs.

As a "dog" person, I totally understand. Many of the GeoDogs are well behaved and would be welcome but it is sometimes the venue location which makes an event sponsor have to deny dogs, such as our Pirate Event.

I noticed last night reading the Folk Festival information that this year - No Dogs or other Pets, except service dogs are allowed at that event either.

FYI, if the dog is a service dog - it can not be denied access - regardless.

Dogs will be allowed at the Apres event as they were last year, as long as they are on leash or under your control. We have neighbors with horses so we can't have them wander.

A great idea to post if dogs are welcome on not. Using the little icon attributes is a good way to do this.

[al'Thor]

I have not been able to attend any events yet, although I am certainly looking forward to attending some.

For me it mostly comes down to time and location. I work every other weekend so 50% of dates are automaticly out. Having only every other weekend off I usally plan family stuff and work around the house for my other weekends. I was looking forward to attending the Slipping into Summer event, but a few weeks prior we added a new foster son to our family and he was still adjusting to us and I did not want to over whelm him with a bunch of people.

Living DownEast is also a problem. So far the closest event to me was a meet and greet in Ellsworth (an hour away). I believe this was on my weekend to work as well.

Events sound like so much fun and I can't wait to hit a few, but for me if will be more than just once in a while.

[robt]

My decision is usually a decision of money and time. Sometimes I depending on how far the event is and the cost of the event I have to decide if I can afford or what do I have to give up to go. The other major factor for me is allways timing, Everyone's schedule gets so full and most of the time on a week day event I can not plan is I never know what my schedule is going to be untill I walk out the door after work. Some day I will figure out how either to be in 2 or 3 places at a time or a transporter so I can get to places quickly and cheaply I wanted to go to the Orca event again this year but could not figure out how to be in maine, montana and maryland all on the same day and partly at the same time... My Brothers Wedding in Montana won btw.... Not TAT's wedding b4 I start an ugly rumor....

[WhereRWe?]

I wanted to go to the Orca event again this year but could not figure out how to be in maine, montana and maryland all on the same day and partly at the same time... My Brothers Wedding in Montana won btw.... Not TAT's wedding b4 I start an ugly rumor....

Sheesh! You're not going to TAT's wedding???

[pjpreb]

TAT's getting married??? Congratulations!!!

[Haffy]

Hey Tom,did you know you were getting married?....