Geocaching is a very social activity and connecting with my caching friends is what has kept me going all these years. Although events are a common occurrence Mega (or the even rarer Giga) are a lot less frequent by comparison. Although according to the guidelines the target audience should be 500 or more attendees exceptions have been made and 200-300 is not uncommon these days. Although Kansas City has an active caching scene it has never had a Mega event before now.
Part of the reason behind that is all of the red tape bureaucracy and layers of expectations for the host. It essentially becomes a part time job dealing with local business owners, tourism bureaus, Groundspeak (geocaching.com's parent company), the reviewers, web developers, volunteers, etc. And despite all of that this (which equates to a second job) it doesn't pay anything. It usually takes someone with an altruistic drive or a big ole ego to see it to completion. Kansas is lucky to have Ryan (semmels123) who I believe falls into the first category.
Organizing his 3rd Mega event he brought Geocoinfest to KC. As the name would imply it celebrates the trackable aspect of the game and brings coin minters, resellers and enthusiasts from all over America. Although I wouldn't count myself in any of those categories I was excited to have a Mega on my home turf. I signed up to assist with the development of the BBQ tour and supported him at each of the auxiliary events by forking over moola for coins.
Starting on the Wednesday before with a delicious buffet at KC Joes and running through the long weekend cachers from near and far were offered a variety of supporting events with the big one being on Saturday at the Prairie Fire museum. I was able to participate in much of it bonding with local caching friends and catching up with those I haven't seen for a long time from far away places. Although I don't suspect KC will have another Mega for quite a while I am proud to have participated in this one and will cherish the adventures I had.
9/5/2021