I have always found that the social aspects of an event were the biggest draw for me.
I don't feel the need for much of anything else. However, some gatherings feature all
the extra stuff you listed in your post. Demos on carving and bookbinding are always
a popular and tend to raise the bar on quality for future boxes hidden in your area. I
prefer these things to be relatively unstructured, but that's just me. No need to get
fancy; just spend time with friends and have fun! Funhog

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, Mandy Benett wrote:
>
> Can anyone give me some ideas for making an event more interesting, >

I would agree with Funhog -- the social aspect is the biggest draw
for me and the opportunity to do a little boxing at a place I may not
have otherwise been to. Event boxes and time for folks to seek them
are also a primary draw -- perhaps you could place a few little
goodies inside some of them (i.e. coupons, etc.) or make up a game or
some kind of a riddle for finding the boxes (i.e. kind of like a
scanvenger hunt) if you are looking for something more than routine.

Too much stuff going on can be overwhelming and chaotic, especially
once you get a couple dozen people attending. In general people want
time to visit and exchange stamps with one another and do some
boxing. Workshops are nice and at the events I have attended, they
have always been well received. At the first Great Lakes Gathering,
one of the attendees did a workshop on micro/urban letterboxes. This
was really fun because it was out of the ordinary.

SpringChick



--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "funhog1" wrote:
>
> I have always found that the social aspects of an event were the
biggest draw for me.
> I don't feel the need for much of anything else. However, some
gatherings feature all
> the extra stuff you listed in your post. Demos on carving and
bookbinding are always
> a popular and tend to raise the bar on quality for future boxes
hidden in your area. I
> prefer these things to be relatively unstructured, but that's just
me. No need to get
> fancy; just spend time with friends and have fun! Funhog
>
> --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, Mandy Benett
wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone give me some ideas for making an event more
interesting, >

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "SpringChick"
wrote:
> I would agree with Funhog -- the social aspect is the biggest draw

I'm only there for the Pepe gossip. (just kidding)
Actually, I really enjoy seeing other people's stamps, and visiting a
new area. I'm not fond of large gatherings and after a while, I shirk
away from exchanging.

One very big no-no at a gathering (IMHO) is running up to someone and
shouting the question/answer/number to their personal traveler in
their face as if...

my most favorite gathering experience hands down was this fall's
mystery gathering. Nice. Good location, nice small crowd, and nice
time of the year despite the drizzlies. Good planning and company all
around.

In the future, I'd personally like to see less emphasis on the hoards
of boxes at events. It puts some folks on the spot to produce ten
million event stamps. not really cool in my book.

Just meeting folks and enjoying the day is quite enough for moi.

phyto

phyto_me@yahoo.com writes:


> my most favorite gathering experience hands down was this fall's
> mystery gathering. Nice. Good location, nice small crowd, and nice
> time of the year despite the drizzlies. Good planning and company all
> around.
>

So can you say what about the planning of that gathering made it so good?
(Thus speaketh someone who's planning a gathering in two weeks!)

DebBee


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

C;heck mamafox in Ct.

STAR:W+S=DRR


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, StDebb@a... wrote:

> So can you say what about the planning of that gathering made it so
good?
> (Thus speaketh someone who's planning a gathering in two weeks!)

Number Uno:
Location location location

Need I really say more?

They element of an un-stated "mystery" gathering was divine. Really,
it is quite tantalizing. I enjoyed the excitement leading up to the
gathering, the clue hints posted to the talk list. Just plain fun!


Secondly, the stamps that were carved related to the location. I
enjoyed that very much, and the historical elements incorporated into
the seasonal gathering. Well done!

Finally, the intrigue of just "who" might attend. In the northeastern
states, I always have to wonder if Legerdemaine is amongst.

phyto

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, Mandy Benett
wrote:
>
> Can anyone give me some ideas for making an event more
interesting, i.e. drawings, raffles, types of
demonstrations/classes, etc. What about prizes and give-aways?
What are some fun items for this? HELP!!!
>

We made a super sized stamp out of styrofoam, coated it with some
stenciling ink and stamped some tee shirts with a very large LBNA
logo. Sierra Sally was one of the only courageous letterboxers to
recieve the stamp.
Don

--- DebBee writes:
>
>
> > my most favorite gathering experience
> > hands down was this fall's
> > mystery gathering. Nice. Good
> > location, nice small crowd, and nice
> > time of the year despite the drizzlies.
> > Good planning and company all around.
> >
>
> So can you say what about the planning
> of that gathering made it so good?
> (Thus speaketh someone who's planning
> a gathering in two weeks!)

In addition to the tips mentioned (location, small crowd, good
season) I'd like to add a tip or two to help the planning part of it
go well. These are things I wish I had done right when planning a
largish gathering (and remember, even if you plan for it to be a
small gathering, it can and probably will grow huge without much
effort).

* Figure out how long each item on the "schedule" ought to take, then
multiply by 3. That's how long it will actually take. Then throw away
the schedule. Who wants to look at their watches?
* Look at your list of "scheduled" items, and remove half of them. No
one will have time to do all of them, and if they try it'll just make
the mood frantic (and not the casual, laid-back get-together that
everyone really loves). If you're really adventurous, remove all of
the "scheduled" items and just let things happen spontaneously. This
actually works very well!
* Load the car the night before. Try not to do anything else that
evening and get lots of sleep.

Wish I could be there!
-Red