[NSLP1]

Here is my take on it…

I see that there are some members that have been avoiding the forums because of what appears to be a minority of others perceived (correct or not) attitudes and negativity in some of the posts. Why not try and ignore such postings and continue to post constructive messages in response to the other posts?
If everyone that tries to be polite in their postings leaves, there will not be much to counteract the negativity and will lead to more potential members possibly avoiding the WGA because of what they see in the forums. Don’t let the forums get overtaken by negativity. What new potential members see here is how they will view the entire WGA. First impressions are very hard to counteract, so lets try and make more of them positive.

If we ignore “flame-bait” and keep messages polite and on topic, it will be obvious to even a new browser that the negative posts not representative of the majority of WGA members. I know there can be disagreements regarding many issues, but I think we can make a better effort in making our disagreements less personal in nature.

I do know it can be easy to misunderstand the meaning of some posts due to not being face to face with a person. You can’t stop someone mid post here to ask for a clarification before they make their next point as you could in person.

I’ve been participating in various computer forums for a very very long time (over 20 years, yes… I’m a computer geek/nerd/etc) and I can’t say I have ever seen a forum where there were not such issues.

I would also like to make a request that we more prominently post our forum guidelines. If we actually have any, because I can’t find them on the site. I know we don’t want to end up with heavily moderated boards, I’m sure the moderators themselves don’t want it. but maybe we can all try and self moderate better. Sometimes a quick “take it into e-mail and off the boards” message may be enough.

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Mike of team: Not So Lost Puppies

[NSLP1]

Thanks MB.

I really wanted to make sure that I could do our event at no charge to attendees.

Sometimes you just have to think abit outside the box for hosting an event. I was looking and everything that was nearby home did want to charge for facility usage.

I think I may have been able to have it at one of the Madison public libraries, and even had wireless there.

But it certainly didn’t hurt for me to ask at work. They said sure you can have a user group meeting here. Since I’m the network admin, I was able to get it all hooked up myself for providing internet connectivity for it. (with permission)

Looks like it went very well also. But we didnt’ get to cover too much of Cachemate, so we will be planning another one that will quickly cover the PQs this time. We will cover GSAK and Cachemate much more. (and provide detailed notes for the PQs for those still new to them)

[NSLP1]

I guess one of the minority here using a Magellan MeriGold. I did some research when I was shopping and found it had more of the features I wanted at a lower price than some of the others. Bought it just after getting another boat, so we wanted something that had the largest screen for a handheld, mapping, and SD card memory slot for very quick uploads of data and maps.
I did purchase DirecRoute, though I agree with many others that it doesn’t usually choose the best route, but I mainly got it for the more detailed maps and POIs. Autorouting can be a help for heading into a new area, though it isn’t always optimal routes, it still gets you there.

[NSLP1]

Thank you all for the kind words.

Yes, we are planning to have another one that goes further into the PDA side, we ran out of time for most people to go into that. next time we will go through the PQ stuff quicker and provide detailed handouts for that section.

When would be a good time for another class? I was thinking maybe May? or maybe mid-late April? Now that we saw how many brought notebooks, we will try and have more electrical hookups.

We will be working on putting together an article on paperless that could be put up on this site.

Thank you again,
Mike and Candi
Not So Lost Puppies

[NSLP1]

I was asked about coin collections…

Yes, you can bring your coin collection to share. There will be enough space to have collections out for people to check out.

I have update the event cache page to include that information as well as reformatted things and provided some other links of interest.

[NSLP1]

By the way…
where is the info on what sorts of messages are permitted? I looked for a ‘guidelines’ type link but didn’t see one. Though I did see that according the FAQ the Announcements forum is just for Moderators and Admin’s posting messages, and that no replies are allowed.

[NSLP1]

I will make a note to use the For Sale forums for any future announcements, unless it is determined that such posts should not be posted in the future.

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Mike of team: Not So Lost Puppies

[NSLP1]

Hey, thats ok. I understand. I didn’t fund it with my own dimes, so it would likely be considered a commercial post.

How about a posting that just says that the information about the coin is over on the GC forums? would that be acceptable, even if it was a fully commercial coin? maybe a link to the GC forum topic? I wasn’t sure if was an annoucment or a for sale since I wasn’t directly selling it, more announcing it?

But I understand if it is not allowed.

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Mike of team: Not So Lost Puppies

[NSLP1]

March 4th, 2006 10am Prairie Du Sac, WI http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=30219f58-e8d6-417f-b18b-2052db0427fa

Paperless training with demo equipment.
I’ll show how an inexpensive Palm M500 will work extremely well for paperless caching (typically around $50 range on ebay)

I have 3 palms (2 M500, 1 M515) that will be available at the event for training purposes, they will be available afterwards for purchase as well.
(Pricing will be comparable, if not less than recent e-bay auctions, but you get to try before you buy.)

[NSLP1]

3/4/06 Going Paperless Prairie du sac
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=30219f58-e8d6-417f-b18b-2052db0427fa

[This message has been edited by NSLP#1 (edited 02-15-2006).]

[NSLP1]

March 4th 10am it is
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=30219f58-e8d6-417f-b18b-2052db0427fa

There will be edits to this as I get the time to do a nice HTML description, as well as post some additional coordinates. I don’t recall exactly where the listed coordinates are from, I’ve been using them in GSAK when I want to know where caches are in relation to work. They are pretty close, but I’ll get better ones later this week (No GPSr with me at work usually)

[This message has been edited by NSLP#1 (edited 02-15-2006).]

[NSLP1]

I am going to be hosting a paperless caching training event on March 4th in Prairie Du Sac, time to be determined yet. if you are further interested in learning about it. It is currently only listed in the Announcements forums.

I will be focusing on GSAK, Cachemate and Palm PDAs.

[NSLP1]

Please make sure that if you place a cache on private property that the neighbors are well informed about it, and even the local law enforcement. We had an unfortunate experience with a private propery cache because the neighbors did not know about it, nor did the local law enforcement. Had my wife not stayed in the car for it, we would have been confronted by an officer with his gun drawn in the middle of the woods.

[NSLP1]

I thought they were listed on the GC geocoin forum for sale at one point. but I can’t find it now. I think i didn’t get one because of the shipping costs, or missed the sale.

[NSLP1]

Ok, I haven’t scheduled a dedicated paperless event yet. But I will do some quick training at the Team Badger Winter Festivus and Breakfast
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=63c7d575-5b30-48fd-9f00-6e598c844640

I will have a notebook computer with a bunch of caches loaded up, and the Palms for demonstration will be loaded with cachemate (they will be “reset” if purchased)

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