Precedence

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.

A "Fast" Visit

I go on and on about how much I can't stand chain business categories, but I have to admit that as much as I hate them, I always try to post one waymark (or log one visit) to a category before I chuck the category over into my ignore list. A bit hypocritical, but I'm a slave to the grid. The thing is, I always assumed my fast food waymarks would sink into database oblivion, never to be heard from again. I was wrong.

Today I came home from a day full of sun, beach, and waymarking to see that I had visits to about 10 of my waymarks. I read through, and this guy really seemed to have enjoyed the waymarks - the fair, a BBQ restaurant, and a few more I can't remember. Then I see the last one - Wendy's. I was mortified. Someone actually logged a visit to my one and only Wendy's waymark. And here was the log - "Why?" I felt the need to email back and say thanks for visiting my waymarks and thanks for rating my Wendy's restaurant a 2, because I think it sucks too.

So the moral to this tale is - if you don't want to be associated with a waymark, don't post it folks. Will I learn my lesson and not post to the new KFC category if it's approved? Probably not. That could mess up a grid bingo! Hopefully you aren't as addicted to the grid as I am, though, and you can learn from my embarrassment. ;)

Chain Restaurant Waymarking Poll

Well, I'm moving the poll feature over to the Wayward Waymarking Website, but I wanted to post the results of this last poll here on the blog.

There were a lot more participants in this poll; probably due to the contentious nature of the question posed. My question was: What do you think of chain restaurant waymarking categories?

Happily, the results were as I expected. A full 39% of those polled agreed with me that the chain restaurant categories are a black eye to the hobby of waymarking. Ahhh... It feels good when for once folks agree with you. Following the "they suck" option were the people who truly don't give a damn either way. (I'll have to keep working on them.) Finally, dragging in at 21% are the folks who inexplicably think that waymarking these categories are a great idea.

Of course, those of you who participated know that there was a 4th option. The "give it a rest and move on, for God's sake!" crowd. A paltry 11% chose this option. Barely worth reporting. Did I mention the fact that 39% agree with me? Oh, I did. Well, just checking.

The next poll can be found on Wayward's "waypoll" page. We want to know how big your waymarking backlog is. If you have some other thought provoking things that would make a good waypoll question (the more contentious, the better) :) e-mail me at info@waywardwaymarking.com.

Poll results: One is the lonliest number

Since there were only 12 votes on the last poll, we can't exactly call it scientific, but from what I saw, waymarkers are a lonely bunch. Of the 12 voters 6 of you waymarked alone, 4 with family, 2 with a spouse, and NOBODY waymarked with friends. Is this a frightening reality of waymarkers? Poor lonely souls wandering the streets alone, GPS and Blackberry in one hand, camera in the other? It's just too depressing to contemplate so I'll move on to the next poll.

For the next poll voters can weigh in as to how they feel about waymarking fast food chain restaurants. Do you love it? Not care? Consider it a black eye to waymarking? Or do you just want me to shut up about this topic already? Let me know how you feel and vote in the poll you see in the sidebar.

The Ignore List - Thoughts from a Waymarking Snob

Last time I commented on lame categories in the forums I was called a nazi elitist and other juicy tidbits so I figure I'll rant here where no one can stop me. :)

Sometimes I think that I must have the longest ignore list on the waymarking.com website. I LOVE the ignore list feature. Right now my list is at 5 pages and growing weekly. In fact, this weekend was an "ignore list" weekend where I found myself waymarking spots so I could knock specific categories off onto my ignore list where I don't have to see them. Some of the categories are on the ignore list because I'm just not interested in them. They're fine categories that I'm sure some people love, but they just aren't categories that I really care about. However, many categories are on there because I find them useless, unnecessary, and a black eye to the hobby of waymarking.

Waymarking can be divided in many ways but most people consider it to be split along two lines: the useful categories(restaurant locations, businesses, etc.) and the interesting (historic spots, odd places, etc.) I'd like to add a third section to this waymarking taxonomy: the lame categories. Why, oh why, does anyone need to know how to find a McDonalds, Burger King, Walmart or even Starbucks, for that matter?! Here, I'll explain how you find one - drive down a freeway - take an exit off the freeway. There, you've found the aforementioned spots. I joined the Starbucks group for awhile because, I'll admit, I frequent the establishment. However, after awhile I felt the same way about it as I did about the fast food chain categories. It isn't a useful category. There are much easier and more thorough ways to find those McNuggets you crave. Try the yellowpages.com or calling information on your cell phone.

I'm not forcing my opinion of what is useful and interesting on anyone. I love Starbucks, but don't find the waymarking of them necessary. Maybe as wifi hotspots - that's useful - but not as a Starbuck's location. I just don't want waymarking.com to be thought of as an incomplete yellowpages website. Let's waymark the historic, interesting, unique, quirky or downright weird spots on this globe. Now that's useful.

Okay, I know there are a few of you dying to argue this point and call me names again, so BRING IT ON! I can take it.