2009 BorregoFest Suggestions

[THATSALEXUS?]

I think the "chalkboard" is a great idea although here in the 21st century, we use dry erase boards
While I would give my cell to anyone, I don't think I looked at it all weekend. I second the dry erase bulletin board. Run leaders could indicate any info they deemed pertinant such as parking space numbers, etc.

[Voodoo Blue 57]

Thanks Cynrat for elaborating on my suggestion. I think it is a great goal to have everyone that shows up at our events to have a Ham license but in reality not everyone will. The way you accommodated me is a tribute to the great people at OAUSA.

Since this was my first event, I want to thank all the people that welcomed me and made my trip a success. THANK YOU! To all my new friends, I'll look forward to seeing you at other events.

[justjodi]

Thanks Cynrat for elaborating on my suggestion. I think it is a great goal to have everyone that shows up at our events to have a Ham license but in reality not everyone will. The way you accommodated me is a tribute to the great people at OAUSA.

Since this was my first event, I want to thank all the people that welcomed me and made my trip a success. THANK YOU! To all my new friends, I'll look forward to seeing you at other events.

And we you!

[OLLIE]

There has to be more suggestions... Don't be bashful. The BOD will be having a post-BorregoFest meeting in a few weeks and we want to table everyone's suggestions.

[Cnynrat]

There has to be more suggestions... Don't be bashful. The BOD will be having a post-BorregoFest meeting in a few weeks and we want to table everyone's suggestions.

OK, You asked:

1. By my rough count there were about 6 rigs that were planned to be in the group camp that didn't show. Most of them didn't let us know that they wouldn't be there. This is a recurring theme, and in general it wouldn't matter except when it deprives others of the opportunity to be in the group site. The Board may want to consider some ways of ensuring more "commitment" on the part of people who are in the group site. A small deposit that is refundable when you show up would be one way that still avoids making the Fest into a commercial activity (assuming that's an issue in AB like it is in SBNF).

2. At SedonaFest Lance had route slips made up for each run that he handed out to all the run participants.

3. At SedonaFest they had a GPS Challenge event which was great fun. AB would be a great area to do an event like this. It would be a way to get people to practice and apply their navigation skills, and would give folks an opportunity to see some other areas of the park.

4. I think the comms plan got kind of confusing because of the large number of repeaters that were on the list. Maybe the problem is that there just isn't a single repeater with broad coverage of the area, but we didn't seem to ever get everyone on the same repeater.

Let's not forget the good stuff:

1. Can't say enough about how well suited this location is for us. The opportunity for everyone to camp in one location with a group this large is hard to find elsewhere.

2. Kudos to all the run leaders for volunteering to put together some great runs.

3. The Potluck was outstanding as usual. Personally, this is the highlight of these big events for us. The opportunity to put a real name and face with a screen name and get to know people in person is a large part of the attraction, and is what will build the glue that makes these sites thrive.

[OLLIE]

Excellent points Dave. Thanks for your comments.

There has to be more suggestions... Don't be bashful. The BOD will be having a post-BorregoFest meeting in a few weeks and we want to table everyone's suggestions.

OK, You asked:

1. By my rough count there were about 6 rigs that were planned to be in the group camp that didn't show. Most of them didn't let us know that they wouldn't be there. This is a recurring theme, and in general it wouldn't matter except when it deprives others of the opportunity to be in the group site. The Board may want to consider some ways of ensuring more "commitment" on the part of people who are in the group site. A small deposit that is refundable when you show up would be one way that still avoids making the Fest into a commercial activity (assuming that's an issue in AB like it is in SBNF).

2. At SedonaFest Lance had route slips made up for each run that he handed out to all the run participants.

3. At SedonaFest they had a GPS Challenge event which was great fun. AB would be a great area to do an event like this. It would be a way to get people to practice and apply their navigation skills, and would give folks an opportunity to see some other areas of the park.

4. I think the comms plan got kind of confusing because of the large number of repeaters that were on the list. Maybe the problem is that there just isn't a single repeater with broad coverage of the area, but we didn't seem to ever get everyone on the same repeater.

Let's not forget the good stuff:

1. Can't say enough about how well suited this location is for us. The opportunity for everyone to camp in one location with a group this large is hard to find elsewhere.

2. Kudos to all the run leaders for volunteering to put together some great runs.

3. The Potluck was outstanding as usual. Personally, this is the highlight of these big events for us. The opportunity to put a real name and face with a screen name and get to know people in person is a large part of the attraction, and is what will build the glue that makes these sites thrive.

[gon2srf]

1. By my rough count there were about 6 rigs that were planned to be in the group camp that didn't show. Most of them didn't let us know that they wouldn't be there. This is a recurring theme, and in general it wouldn't matter except when it deprives others of the opportunity to be in the group site. The Board may want to consider some ways of ensuring more "commitment" on the part of people who are in the group site. A small deposit that is refundable when you show up would be one way that still avoids making the Fest into a commercial activity (assuming that's an issue in AB like it is in SBNF).

I absolutely agree about this Dave especially since I was the guy who had to tell many folks we were full and that they must go reserve there own spot. It was almost embarrassing to see how vacant the group sites looked. The only positive outcome was the fact that we still managed to fill the parking lot several times and we avoided any run ins with the Park Ranger over parking. I also thought most people drove pretty safely through the park with exception of a black FJC that thought the speed limit sign of 15mph meant 50mph.

2. At SedonaFest Lance had route slips made up for each run that he handed out to all the run participants.

Were these maps with GPS coords., can you elaborate a bit more?
I'm not sure if you saw the Event Planner that Ollie passed out to each of the run leaders Dave but it was a very extensive package including an Event Incident Action Plan which included a map, emergency contact info for nearby hospitals, sheriff, fire department, etc. Maybe next year we can give these out to each driver and include the trail slips you mentioned previously as well?

3. At SedonaFest they had a GPS Challenge event which was great fun. AB would be a great area to do an event like this. It would be a way to get people to practice and apply their navigation skills, and would give folks an opportunity to see some other areas of the park.

I like this idea too, do you see it as a separate run that people sign up for. Was this a Geo Cache event with hidden prizes or just simply orienteering?

Let's not forget the good stuff:

1. Can't say enough about how well suited this location is for us. The opportunity for everyone to camp in one location with a group this large is hard to find elsewhere.

I think everyone agrees with that statement and that is why I pushed to keep the BorregoFest name instead of a generic FallFest.

2. Kudos to all the run leaders for volunteering to put together some great runs.

Ditto, great trail runs, thanks to all.

3. The Potluck was outstanding as usual. Personally, this is the highlight of these big events for us. The opportunity to put a real name and face with a screen name and get to know people in person is a large part of the attraction, and is what will build the glue that makes these sites thrive.

Incredible food and so much more than I anticipated. Awesome turnout. I'm sorry I didn't come through with more utensils, plastic ware, paper towels and plates. I left my whole bag of this stuff sitting in the garage.

We could have used a lot more help cleaning up after the Potluck Sunday morning. I spent a solid hour cleaning up cans, bottles, throwing out food and dumping the trash. There were a couple of very helpful volunteers but I couldn't help notice several folks nearby who were packed and ready to go who just sat and watched us clean up or were shooting the breeze with others. This is a free event folks, everyone should volunteer to help clean up Maybe Bobonel's idea to provide a way to take home leftovers will help alleviate this problem next year.

Note: Friday night is usually a little more relaxed than Saturday and we get more of a chance to meet new friends and hang out with old ones. It's also a good opportunity for the organizers to introduce themselves to new Forum members. I thought it was quite odd, pretty rude actually, that the "BOD" felt it necessary to have a dinner/meeting off site and basically eliminated that opportunity for hanging out Friday evening. Maybe next year all the "BODS" plans could be rapped up before BorregoFest.

HAM rules over CB, it just does.

Overall I thought BorregoFest was a great success and thank everyone who attended.

[Cnynrat]

2. At SedonaFest Lance had route slips made up for each run that he handed out to all the run participants.

Were these maps with GPS coords., can you elaborate a bit more? I'm not sure if you saw the Event Planner that Ollie passed out to each of the run leaders Dave but it was a very extensive package including an Event Incident Action Plan which included a map, emergency contact info for nearby hospitals, sheriff, fire department, etc. Maybe next year we can give these out to each driver and include the trail slips you mentioned previously as well?

They were turn by turn directions with GPS coords of the turns. Maps were not included. They included the directions to get to the trail heads, which in Sedona can be quite a way. As a halfway suggestion it might be good to have enough copies of what the run leaders had so at least the tailgunner could also have a set.

3. At SedonaFest they had a GPS Challenge event which was great fun. AB would be a great area to do an event like this. It would be a way to get people to practice and apply their navigation skills, and would give folks an opportunity to see some other areas of the park.

I like this idea too, do you see it as a separate run that people sign up for. Was this a Geo Cache event with hidden prizes or just simply orienteering?

Each contestant was given a sheet with a bunch of GPS waypoints. For each waypoint there was a picture of a rig at the location. You had to find the waypoint, position your rig so tht you could duplicate the photo in the directions, and take the picture as proof you were there. Obviously that means each team needs a digital camera in addition to their GPS. They wanted you to duplicate with a reasonable degree of accuracy - so sometimes doors were open, or lights were on, etc. There were also a couple bonus locations where they gave you clues but not GPS coord's. One was an interesting pattern in some rocks that was up a side foot path to a view point. Another was to get a photo of one of you jumping in a lake.

The waypoints were arranged so there was no way that you could hit all of them in the time alloted, so a big part of the game was choosing the right strategy to collect the most points in the alloted time. It was a lot of fun and great practice for using your GPS.

[gon2srf]

2. At SedonaFest Lance had route slips made up for each run that he handed out to all the run participants.

Were these maps with GPS coords., can you elaborate a bit more? I'm not sure if you saw the Event Planner that Ollie passed out to each of the run leaders Dave but it was a very extensive package including an Event Incident Action Plan which included a map, emergency contact info for nearby hospitals, sheriff, fire department, etc. Maybe next year we can give these out to each driver and include the trail slips you mentioned previously as well?

They were turn by turn directions with GPS coords of the turns. Maps were not included. They included the directions to get to the trail heads, which in Sedona can be quite a way. As a halfway suggestion it might be good to have enough copies of what the run leaders had so at least the tailgunner could also have a set.

Thanks for the details Dave. Trail head maps and GPs coords would be good for late arrivals, not that I want someone on my run who can't make the original meeting place and time. Having said that, the Christmas Circle meeting fiasco is a good example of how the trail head info could have helped several people out.

3. At SedonaFest they had a GPS Challenge event which was great fun. AB would be a great area to do an event like this. It would be a way to get people to practice and apply their navigation skills, and would give folks an opportunity to see some other areas of the park.

I like this idea too, do you see it as a separate run that people sign up for. Was this a Geo Cache event with hidden prizes or just simply orienteering?

Each contestant was given a sheet with a bunch of GPS waypoints. For each waypoint there was a picture of a rig at the location. You had to find the waypoint, position your rig so tht you could duplicate the photo in the directions, and take the picture as proof you were there. Obviously that means each team needs a digital camera in addition to their GPS. They wanted you to duplicate with a reasonable degree of accuracy - so sometimes doors were open, or lights were on, etc. There were also a couple bonus locations where they gave you clues but not GPS coord's. One was an interesting pattern in some rocks that was up a side foot path to a view point. Another was to get a photo of one of you jumping in a lake.

The waypoints were arranged so there was no way that you could hit all of them in the time alloted, so a big part of the game was choosing the right strategy to collect the most points in the alloted time. It was a lot of fun and great practice for using your GPS.

Sounds like a lot of fun. Your group was pretty small, do you see this as a separate run/activity. I can't imaging doing this with 40 rigs but maybe if there are 5 or 6 GPS lists made up, each one having a different starting coordinate it work for a large group?

[Cnynrat]

Sounds like a lot of fun. Your group was pretty small, do you see this as a separate run/activity. I can't imaging doing this with 40 rigs but maybe if there are 5 or 6 GPS lists made up, each one having a different starting coordinate it work for a large group?

Here is a link to a PDF of the directions for the Sedona GPS Challenge. Lance had Expeditioneers put the contest together.

http://www.expeditioneers.com/Expeditio ... enge-3.pdf

I would see it as an alternate activity to the traditional runs. With a larger number of contestants the key would be to stagger start times, and have enough widely dispersed waypoints to encourage different strategic approaches by the teams. Given the scope of AB a contest that was basically a day long activity would be possible, but you could also do something shorter if desired. At Sedona we ended up doing this on Sunday morning, and IIRC we were given 2 hours. The original plan was for it to be a 4 hour contest.