[GeoStL] commercial caches
- From: Glenn Nash <GLNash@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:18:20 -0500
-
Stephen Martin wrote:
I thought in order for it to be consider commercial the cache listing has to
encourage buying there. Otherwise all the Subway caches should also be out.
Stephen
------------------
Nope.
What the guidelines say is... "*Commercial Caches*: *Commercial caches
attempt to use the Geocaching.com web site cache reporting tool
/directly or indirectly (intentionally or non-intentionally) /to solicit
customers through a Geocaching.com listing. *These are NOT permitted.
Examples include for-profit locations that require an entrance fee, or
locations that sell products or services. If the finder is required to
go inside the business, interact with employees, and/or purchase a
product or service, then the cache is presumed to be commercial.
Some exceptions can be made. In these situations, permission can be
given by Groundspeak. However, *permission should be asked /first/
before posting*. If you are in doubt, ask first. If you do not have
advance permission, your reviewer will refer you to Groundspeak."
It is the soliciting business indirectly or non-intentionally part
that makes all these caches commercial in my opinion.
I *used* to not allow anything even remotely placed near stores since
someone may */non-intentionally/ *be influenced to go buy an ice cream
cone since the cache is on the windowsill of the ice cream place and the
cache is called "57 Varieties" (or whatever baskin robins uses. I *used
*to never allow lamppost caches at walmart for the same reason PLUS it
is private property and people HAVE been arrested for caching at the
walmart. I also never used to allow caches that even mention a
business. Caches such as "Head for the border" ... at the cache you will
see a TacoBell close by. Not allowed again for obvious commercial reasons.
I used to NOT allow alot of things that, if you read the guidelines are
clearly not allowed.
A reviewer friend told me a while back, " 'Ya just have to pick your
battles carefully, fight the important ones and let the other go 'cause
ya cant fight them all". I am pretty much tired of fighting to keep
things strictly as the guidelines say they should be. Cachers will whine
'till the cows come home about how they feel that they are being
slighted because their ammobox full of fireworks at the airport wasn't
published or the cache inside the ice cream place is all in good fun &
I must be an ass (well that is true but thats another story) or that I
clearly cant read because billy bob 2 states over just did the same
thing or I have permission so I don't need no stinking 0.1 mile density
rules... and on, and on, and on nearly every day it is something else.
Most often it is from cachers that know the guidelines better than I do
and know better. It's all about how far you can push the envelope and
what you can get away with. So, in the case of commercial caches, I
started using a more liberal interpretation of the commercial guidelines
some time ago. Apparently there are a lot of reviewers that cant seem
to understand the "non-intentional" portion of the guidelines so I am
using what seems to be commonly used and it cuts down on my complaints.
A cache that says "come to tacobell, buy a taco and ask for the cache"
will not get listed for obvious reasons but if a cache mentions "go past
the tacobell about a mile and the park will be on the right" it is now
OK. The T.B. was used only as a landmark and no one was asked to go
there. "Ooooh a tocobell, we can stop on the way". Even the mention of
tacobell makes me want to stop but thats just me. Doesn't seem right
to me but it has passed muster with groundspeak (for the moment) so I
let it go. "I wrote this on my subway sandwich wrapper so i would
remember so here is the cache" ..... Nothing says I need to go there so,
what the heck. Seems just like the (non)taco bell cache to me and so
here they are.
For caches on private property like parking lots, it really depends on
a lot of things. If the cache does mention that there is permission and
does not mention the business, OK. If there is no permission and it
mentions the business and it is a new cacher, they may not be aware of
some things and I will explain. If things seem OK, then we sometimes
proceed. Many times they are not up to the risk and back out.
A lot of the guidelines are pretty matter of fact but their application
is not so easy. The interpretation of the guidelines also changes over
time. Commercial caches are one of those case by case, moment by
moment things. If there is a cache or cacher that will not work with
me on an issue and insists on giving me problems now I just send them up
to groundspeak and they say NO and that is the end of it.
Anybody know much about boats? I wanna buy a boat and a house on the
lake and a slip at the marina, a bar would be nice too. Anybody have a
job that pays a lot of money where I can work from home with no real
talent or knowledge of anything? I wanna go back on vacation. :-)
I have lake vacation pictures in the works, will post the link when i
get them ready.
-
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