One of the things that irritates me is this belief that once something has been done on Waymarking.com within a category, or on the Website as a whole, people feel it must always be done that way. You know the argument - "There are already so many fast food categories that it would be unfair to start saying no to new ones," or "we've never allowed that in the category so we can't start now - that would be unfair to people who have had similar waymarks declined." Well big, flippin' WAHHHH. I think people can learn to deal with the change. No one's going to quit waymarking because a category chose to go a different direction, and if they do, well, did we really need such a big baby on the site, anyhow?
Don't get me wrong. Precedence can be very helpful for a group's officers when deciding whether to approve or decline something. If a group has determined a certain borderline type of waymark shouldn't be accepted, it makes it easier to review when that type is posted in the future. But sometimes, when a precedence is regularly being challenged, maybe the group should go back to the drawing board and see if maybe the category requirements need tweaking.
The fast food/commercial waymarking groups are the ones that originally started my pet peeve with this whole issue of precedence. Over and over in the forums I read "but it wouldn't be fair..." Grow up people! Waymarking needs to stay flexible and evolve as the site grows. If something gets tried and doesn't work then move on. Don't continue a bad decision just because it might hurt someone's feelings if the site changed its approach. Most people know my issues with chain waymarking, but I have more of an issue with people who are so rigid that they can't look at the full picture because they are so focused on the "but we've always done it this way" mindset. Be openminded. Look at issues from multiple perspectives. Change will not kill you - trust me.
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Waymarking is essentially an all ages scavenger hunt that uses a GPS device. There are hundreds of categories, found on waymarking.com, and waymarkers attempt to find a location that fits the description of the category. Here on my blog, I'll share my thoughts and adventures in the geeky, wacky world of waymarking.
Wayward Waymarking
This is our website, featuring tools, tutorials, waymarking book reviews, polls, and other fun features. Join the fun at www.waywardwaymarking.com
About Me
- Hikenutty
- I created and manage the Website, www.waywardwaymarking.com, a companion site to waymarking.com that features info, tools, and more for the waymarking community. When not working on the Website or out waymarking, most of my time is spent with my husband, teenage son, and our waydog, Frodo.
Posts
Featured Waymark
Hakone Ropeway, Owakudani to Togendai, Japan
This ropeway is one of the longest aerial trams in the world, running a total length of 4,035 meters/2.5 miles. The waymark was posted in the "Aerial Lifts" category by S5280ft.
This ropeway is one of the longest aerial trams in the world, running a total length of 4,035 meters/2.5 miles. The waymark was posted in the "Aerial Lifts" category by S5280ft.
wayphotos
www.flickr.com
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Wayshots
My favorite waymark shots
This is a set of my own waymarking photos on Flickr
Waymarking Flickr group
This is the Waymarking Flickr group's collection of photos
This is a set of my own waymarking photos on Flickr
Waymarking Flickr group
This is the Waymarking Flickr group's collection of photos
Wayblogs and other links
Elle the Waymarker
Haunthunter's waymarking blog
Mr. O
Mr. O's live journal about his waymarking adventures in the state of Ohio
Team TGF's Blogspot
Waymarking and geocaching adventures of Team TGF in South Africa
Where in the World is Rose Red?
Rose Red's waymarking adventures in Washington, Oregon and beyond
Wayfun
Find other great links on our Website's link page
Hikenutty's Dog Rescue Blog
Okay, this has nothing to do with waymarking, but it is my other blog
Haunthunter's waymarking blog
Mr. O
Mr. O's live journal about his waymarking adventures in the state of Ohio
Team TGF's Blogspot
Waymarking and geocaching adventures of Team TGF in South Africa
Where in the World is Rose Red?
Rose Red's waymarking adventures in Washington, Oregon and beyond
Wayfun
Find other great links on our Website's link page
Hikenutty's Dog Rescue Blog
Okay, this has nothing to do with waymarking, but it is my other blog
3 comments:
When suggesting improvements to categories to be open, I often hear "That's not what I intended for the original category". Well, that's fine for when you created it, but the real question is "What do you think now?" Most times I wasn't in the group when the category was created, so I couldn't have made the suggestion. I'm always looking to improve things.
I've seen more people quit groups because of lack of change, than for the action of changing (myself included). My feeling now is that's the wrong way to go. If you feel strongly about something, quitting isn't going to change it.
One solution to the fast food/commercial waymark categories is to create generic categories, to stop the brand proliferation: i.e. "Fast food places", "Grocery Stores", etc. It would be difficult to get another brand approved with the all-inclusive category in place. The problem is that I wouldn't want to have to approve them all.
I never thought of the whole generic approach to chain categories. That's the best option I've heard of so far, though. Waymarking has a great filter so if people really think they need to use waymarking to find that McGutbomb they are desperate for and can't check their phone or Nuvi, or whatever, do a search - set the location and then filter with the name of the chain.
As for the rigid group leaders - one of the problems I see here is that people (who lead a category) don't think of a category as group managed. They think of it as their category that the group helps them out with. Once the category is on the site, it's no longer "your" category. It's part of the site and they are part of a group that manages it. A good leader doesn't have to push their weight around.
I know, I'm preaching to the choir here.
Amen Sister!
McGutBomb, I love it!
I'm also fond of "Toxic Hell", although I do like the crunchy taco shell in the soft one...
Smiley's suggestion to lump 'em all together sound good to me, but I don't think one group should have to be responsible for all that reviewing.
On the other hand (Back to rigidity) when some of the sticks in the mud become inflexible it does tend to set up an opportunity for YET another category.
The one I'm thinking of is Drive-In Theaters. When they declared they would no longer accept closed ones, SearchN wasted no time getting a category just for them up and running. I was glad to help in that effort.
I also made a suggestion with the vintage gas pump category to expand to include all petroliana (never did get a response). Now there's a category for vintage service stations.
Also this past year, getting no response from the managers of the Lincoln HWY marker category to see if they would expand their category to be more like all the other HWY categories forced me to start one for all the POI along the Lincoln.
Then of course, some of you are more than familiar with the story behind the two Neon categories...
I guess the point I'm trying to make is there's always a way to work around these rigid people.
It's just, we shouldn't have to.
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