Replicated from the GGA EZBoard:

lmoseley
BigDog
(9/24/01 11:44:33 pm)
Suggestions for meeting places?

The Steering Committee would like some suggestions from the membership for places that we might hold meetings in the coming months.

Does anyone have any specific suggestions for future meeting places in the metro Atlanta area, for meetings in the first half of 2002 and beyond? Please be as specific as possible and provide as much information as possible: correct name for the facility, address and city, co-ords if available, contact people and phone numbers, etc.

Although we can probably do October outside, we will probably eventually want to move the meeting indoors for the dead of winter. Many groups pick inexpensive family restaurants like Ryans and Country Buffet which give them a room free if you guarantee 25 members who buy lunch. Anyone have specific suggestions for indoor locations?

Especially welcome would be suggestions for indoor locations that (1) are in the metro Atlanta area, (2) will hold 50 people or more, (3) are free are almost free, and (4) do not require buying things like lunches. Community meeting rooms in banks, libraries, city hall; conference rooms / training rooms in businesses or govt buildings, etc etc. Again, please provide as much specific information as possible.

Edited by: lmoseley at: 10/5/01 12:13:46 pm


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bent twigs
Unregistered User
(9/25/01 2:44:36 am)
IMAO

There were some comments made last saturday about holding the next meeting back at Yargo SP but I think it'd be nice if a different location could be chosen each month. It would keep everything fresh and introduce a lot of us to an area that we hadn't seen before.

The Sept. meeting was VERY well attended. Was this due to a sudden influx of interest in the GGA or was it because of the choice of location?? I think the location had a LOT to do with it. The main traffic arteries of metro Atlanta are of course I-75 & 85 and I-285 & I-20. If we can choose locations to meet that are close to as many of these as possible, then I believe we'll continue to have excellent attendance. (especially if erik can keep coming up with entertainment on par with the snake demo!)

As far as holding the winter meetings indoors, I have no qualms with that, but I hope we don't get too urbanized with our choices. I LOVE being outdoors in the winter. Sitting around and talking next to the warmth of a crackling campfire is just about the best GGA scenario I can imagine, however I realize that not a lot of folks share in my enthusiasm for activities in the cold frosty air.

Lastly, it might be a good idea to send e-mail invitations out to folks who are avid cachers in Georgia but (for whatever reason) haven't yet attended a meeting. Maybe a little prodding is all it will take to get (a lot) more people to come out and join us. 75 to 100 people attending the October meeting isn't out of the realm of possibility if we really work at it...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GeoMechEric
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 7:21:45 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

While it is unlikely that I will be able to make it to any Saturday meetings until the winter hits, I agree with the idea that we keep the meetings near the Interstate system that is the lifesblood of Atlanta.

As for Winter locations (indoors) my wife is a hotel General Manager and has a meeting room that I may be able to secure for no cost. I will ask her about this and get back to you Lewis via e-mail.

Eric


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
lmoseley
BigDog
(9/25/01 10:56:44 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

To bent_twigs (and all):

For the last two months, I have been e-mailing people. What I do is this: I go to geocaching.com and look at the logs for the caches I have already visited. I have a prepared script (which I will post below). As I look at the log, I pick out people whose handles I don't know, especially people with fewer than 10 "finds". For each of these entries, I right-click on the e-mail link and chose "Open link in new window." By doing it this way, I don't lose my cache page. I open 5 or 6 new windows on different e-mail links. By this time, the first new window is open, containing a text field. I paste by script in the text window, then click on SEND and move on to the next window. I then close all of the "E-mail sent" windows and repeat the process. geocaching.com will allow you to send about 20 e-mails at a time this way, then you get an error message. A couple of hours later, you can do it again.

I have sent well over 100 e-mails this way. And sending all 100 took only about a half-hour total. If every member spent 15 to 30 minutes a month doing this same thing, we would get HUGE publicity at zero cost. Feel free to copy and adapt my script, if you like.

Here's the script I was using:

===================

Hi!

I'm a fairly new geocacher and was just looking over the web log for the Tribble Mill Trek Cache, which my daughter Frogger and I logged on August 31. I see that it was an early find for you, as well.

Did you know that we have formed a loose-knit club -- the Georgia Geocachers Association (GGA) --to promote geocaching in Georgia? There are about 50 or so of us now, and we are holding family-oriented meetings monthly with a program/speaker plus time to socialize and chat.

GGA's Webpage:

www.ggaonline.org

GGA's EZ Board discussion forum:

pub78.ezboard.com/bgageocaching

GGA's September meeting will be next Saturday, 9/22, in Cobb County (event cache on geocaching.com)

www.geocaching.com/seek/c...sp?ID=5795

If you haven't heard of the GGA, please drop by the website and/or our September meeting. If you already know about the GGA, I'll see you there.

Weather forecast for Kabul, Afghanistan: Tomorrow, expect hot, windy and dry, with temperatures near 3000 degrees F, winds of 750-800 MPH, with some problems with melting glass and collapsing buildings.

Edited by: lmoseley at: 9/25/01 6:15:53 pm


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avatar
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 11:04:51 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

I know we try to keep this group as non-political and generic as possible but would anyone have any objections to meeting in a church fellowship hall? As Youth Director at a church in Conyers I could probably get it for free. It might be too close for the one in October but possibly for the winter...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ErnieB
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 11:09:49 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

If you want to go south of Atlanta, and make the name GEORGIA Geocachers Association mean what it says, I propose that we have meetings all over the state. I can secure the Museum of Aviation for a meeting. It has both indoor and outdoor facilities, and if you want to keep the nature theme, they have one building displaying the local environment and early native american life. It's about an hour and a half drive from the 285 loop, but its well worth a visit.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avatar
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 12:20:27 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

Way to go, Ernie! I like that idea. It would make a good "field trip" for the kids...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJLacy
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 2:38:36 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

quote:

---

It's about an hour and a half drive from the 285 loop..

---

I have no problem with the idea of scattering the meeting across the state. But living 2 hours north of Atlanta, a trip of 3 and 1/2 hours is more than I want to spend to go to a meeting. But it might allow people who don't want to spend multiple hours going north to be at a meeting. And of course if you do have one that far south, you need to have a meeting 1 1/2 hours north of at Atlanta, so people not willing to drive south to the Atlanta area can have a chance at a meeting.

But I have been to the Museum of Aviation and it is a cool place. We got to see the SR-71 there, which is a cool plane.

Edited by: AJLacy at: 9/25/01 2:41:08 pm


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ErnieB
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 3:00:46 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

Great, we can then go up to your area and have one in the mountains. How far are you from Toccoa? That's a great area and I know a spot that would welcome us for a meeting. You get this one and Gossamhyrr can do the NW meeting!!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJLacy
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 3:11:00 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

quote:

---

How far are you from Toccoa?

---

about a mile and a half from downtown. What spot are you thinking of?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
lmoseley
BigDog
(9/25/01 4:31:39 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

Guys and gals... all suggestions are welcome, and all will be considered, and we probably will occasionally have meetings away from Atlanta... but, realistically, MOST of our meetings will be held near where MOST of our members live, and this means metro Atlanta.



Weather forecast for Kabul, Afghanistan: Tomorrow, expect hot, windy and dry, with temperatures near 3000 degrees F, winds of 750-800 MPH, with some problems with melting glass and collapsing buildings.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJLacy
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 5:39:13 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

Just be careful you don’t create a self fulfilling prophesy

Having meetings in metro Atlanta because most members live there, then most of the geocachers attending the meetings are from metro Atlanta because the meetings are held there.

Now I don’t know that is happening because most of Georgia’s population lives in metro Atlanta. But it seems like a good idea for one to at least be held in south metro Atlanta. That would still be in reach for me, and give the geocachers from south Georgia an opportunity to come.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
rlacy
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 7:35:02 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

I am going to but in my two cents worth into this.

I know of people that will not go into metro Atlanta because they can't stand the traffic. Also some people will not drive 100 miles to get to the meetings. Don't get me wrong cause I drive that to get to them and I am sure others do too. If we (the GGA group) were to have the meetings in other place other than the metro Atlanta we might get others to go to the meetings.

As AJLacy said we could still go to ones in south metro Atlanta, but if it goes futher south than that we will most likely not have the opportunity to be at them.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
erik88l r
Administrator
(9/25/01 7:36:08 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

Is there perhaps a location on the south side of Atlanta that would be easily accessable to both Macon and Atlanta?
I'm not too familiar with the area around Peachtree City but there are probably some good spots there.

~erik~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJLacy
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 8:18:26 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

I have never been to Panola Mountain Conservation Park but it is on the Southeast side of Metro Atlanta and looks interesting.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ErnieB
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 9:45:25 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

quote:

---

about a mile and a half from downtown. What spot are you thinking of?

---

You can probably guess, but its the Baptist Conference Center on Lake Louise.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ErnieB
Registered Geocacher
(9/25/01 9:49:57 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

quote:

---

Is there perhaps a location on the south side of Atlanta that would be easily accessable to both Macon and Atlanta?

---

Hummm, well, the Tanger outlet mall at Locust Grove is about the center point between Warner Robins and North Atlanta. Bring the wives and a washtub full of money!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gossamyrrh
Registered Geocacher
(9/26/01 8:50:11 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

If you hold the meeting at Mary Mac's Tea Room, I will be the first person there. The food is awesome, they don't neccesarily have private rooms, but large groups of people meet there all the time. The check starts at about $9.50 a head, which may be more than some are willing to pay.

Figure our where our non-Atlanta residents live, and ask them how we can assist in helping them attend meetings. If it comes down to it, I have crash space.

Or maybe we should change our name to the North Georgia Geocacher's Association.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ErnieB
Registered Geocacher
(9/26/01 9:09:35 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

How about chapters????

North chapter of the Georgia Geocachers Association
South chapter of the Georgia Geocachers Association
Atlanta chapter of the Georgia Geocachers Association

etc...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LoCache
Administrator
(9/27/01 8:21:34 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

I imagine at some point, this is exactly what we will have. We started the GGA, and so far, I think the majority of geocachers in Georgia are in metro area atlant (as seen by cache placement), BUT at some point chapters may spring up all over. Generally anyone from Columbus to Tennessee won't mind making a road trip to a meeting anywhere in the GENERAL Atlanta area, as we have proven with the excellent attendance of people like Ernie, and the Lacy's. A South Georgia Chapter for the lower half of the state may well be needed at some point.

OR the people who live to far away may choose to participate electronically on the web site.

Either way, I think moving the meetings around to various parks in the Metro, and just outside metro area is good. I kind of like Bent Twigs idea of keeping it near the main routes through Atlanta....have one up 85 somewhere, then 75, then 20 west, then 85 south, 75 south, 20 east and so on.

Hmmm...much to think about.
Geo


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avatar
Registered Geocacher
(9/27/01 9:50:51 am)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

I grew up not far from Panola Mountain and was in High School when thay opened it. It's been a few years since I've been there but they do have several pavilions. It would also be an excellent site for a couple of caches at some point in the future.

Edited by: Avatar at: 9/27/01 9:54:57 am


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
erik88l r
Administrator
(9/27/01 2:55:14 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

I was at Panola Mountain Park about a month ago. That's where I first saw the "snake show" and invited Stephanie to do a similar demo for our group. I remember seeing on their web site that after Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain in Lithonia this was the third biggest rock park (for lack of a better term) in the state.
I remember driving thru some questionable neighborhoods to get to the park, but once there it seemed very nice. I was surprised when someone ran out of the woods to my car to request $2, but he smiled when he saw my annual park pass.
I had the impression that in this part of town the voluntary payment for parking didn't work! Anyway, the park looked fine, there were many people there enjoying the pavilions for family reunions and the like. There is an "interpretive center" that has a pretty good sized meeting room. It's possible that that's available for rent in the dead of winter as an alternative to the pavilions.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gossamyrrh
Registered Geocacher
(9/30/01 3:37:51 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

A group I used to be involved with had a lot of gatherings at Indian Springs (I think it's a state park). There's an awesome BBQ joint up the highway from it, too.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJLacy
Registered Geocacher
(10/1/01 7:33:06 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

I think it is time to make a decision, so that members and especially potential members can make plans. Of all the places mentioned I can make except “Museum of Aviation”. I suggest in the interest of time the Steering Committee just pick one.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
lmoseley
BigDog
(10/1/01 11:07:39 pm)
Re: Suggestions for meeting places?

The location for the October meeting has already been scouted, reserved, and, now, has been posted.

We'd still like your suggestions for future locations.


===================
Q: How do you clear out a bingo hall in Kabul?
A: "The number is B... fifty-two, B... fifty-two!"