WWFM – For Whom the Bells Toll Russell, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
By Tealby on 10-Nov-07. Waypoint GC16VD3

Well - now that all attend logs are now in & verified (despite the wrong dates on a couple!), and all the trackables collected, it is time to bid a fond farewell to this event. Stay tuned for another WWFM in 2008...

Excellent organisation Tealby - just so much fun to see so many people pop who must have appeared as if from thin air to any muggles.

actgranite told us about this. As he indicated I was very busy making a dip when he arrived so said "nah, gotta make this dip". 10 microseconds after he left I decided that attending was, after all, doable. Hence arrving on the bike and just making it there in time.

A Canberra GeoBarbie - food type, not the doll - would be fun to have some more time to catch up with more people for longer. Penninsula Puzzle (GCMXET) would be a good place - fun for Geokids etc. Hmmmmmm, waddaya reckon actgranite?

Came to look at the photos... nice... looked a tad warmer than Montreal. LOL!!!

Great event, and superbly organised, thanks Tealby.

My cover story of taking some photographs produced some interesting results, and some good shots too.

PS - I did offer to race mtbikeroz to Adelaide, him in his usual mode of transport, and me in mine.

He didn't seem too keen, funny 'bout that

My plans to arrive by boat were foiled at the last minute when I was told that the lake was closed...
So on the geocycle with the geohound, persuade friend geoLetcha to abandon his dip, and puff puff..
Made the photo but had to piggyback on someones record slip. Thanks Tealby!

Hi Everyone,

Here's a link to the video of the WWFM event from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This event took place at the look-out on Mont Royal, looking over the city of Montreal. Fun was had by all!

We hope that your event went well too!

http://tinyurl.com/2669x2

Check out the Melbourne WWFM event (WWFM - Eternal Flame) - they met at 4am this morning (to coincide with the rest of the world) and 33-34 people turned up!! They breed 'em tough in Victoria.

I'm still waiting for the last people to log their attendance - the log is needed to be in the podcacher.com draw for a prize at the end of the month.

BTW - a further special mention is in order - I think curseddagger gets the award for the most in his party - a total of 6 in attendance - well done!!

Once McPhan told me about this one, I thought it would be fun and not too long.

I was right.

Thanks for the cache/event.

Not sure how my cartoon was going to be taken, but went over well with those in the know.

What a great event - we eagerly anticipated this. It was fun looking like we had come to the lake just to skip stones for a while (tip for young players: round stones from a height is not a formula for successful skipping). Then spotting everyone come out of nowhere, trying not to smile too much.
We enjoyed meeting some cachers from around town, as we had only been in the game for about four weeks by this time.
Five in our group.
TNLN.
TFTC - great fun.

WOW!

Thankyou Tealby and everyone who attended.

While waiting, I spotted a few likely groups of people I thought may be there for the event, however had no idea that so many Cachers would be crossing that bridge alongside myself.
Normally I am a “low profile†Cacher but was pushed over the edge by McPhan to attend. I had the chance to meet a few of my Caching heroes, and other long-time ACT Cachers. I would have liked to have met everyone else I can’t place a face to.
Thanks Tealby for the gift, congratulations to all of the prize-winners; congratulations to mtbikeroz on his 1600th find. ZZ7

Nearly missed the event due to work but I made with 10 minutes to spare. Thanks for a fun 15 minutes Tealby.

It was interesting watching everyone walk across the bridge. I wonder what the muggles playing football the other side thought of us? Thanks Tealby

Thanks for a great event Tealby and it was lovely to meet Biggles too - just wish we had GeoTeen with us as he would have enjoyed seeing so many other youngsters. GeoJim came along and this was his first encounter with other cachers. Great to see such a big turnout and it was a lot of fun. Looking forward to next years event

Ding Dong! The bells were really loud. I also met another person who shares my name!

I had lots of fun so thanks heaps Tealby.

Thanks very much Tealby. This was great fun and I even got a cool Spiderman toy!

Thank you thank you!!!

Our team of 4 attended this one with the thought that there may not be many people however we were gladly mistaken.

What a great idea for an event.

Thanks Tealby for arranging.

A very pleasant evening walk from my new abode in Civic. Many thanks Tealby - my first event cache.

Thanks for organising such a great event Tealby. It was fun meeting some familiar faces again and some new ones. Top spot for the event too. I just wish I could have got to talk to a few more cachers. Macca's was a good finish. CT

Woo hoo! Look at all these cachers that came out of nowhere!

Geokids certainly enjoyed this and it was great to put a face to a couple of names.

Many, many thank Tealby for organising this.

Honorary FTF! (Cheers for that)
What a well planned event. Loved the idea and everyone was on time and made for a good instant crowd!.
Thanks for the event and the prizes. Hope to catch up with everyone at another event, where there is no time limit!.
Well done Tealby!

Thanks Tealby, was a fun 15 minutes! Love the coin I won too, a great token for my caching days! Was nice to meet a couple of new people, shame we didn't have time to meet more. Was great to see so many people turn up though.
Thanks again for the fun
(PS: Will have to try and catch up with frebbles on the first to find tally now!)

Excellent event, Thanks Tealby. Good to meet so many new faces.
Didn't think I could get here on time as I had a prior appointment laying a 4.5 star cache down in Namadgi, but was glad I got here. Had some quick chats with a few (nice to finally see zaszsa7 and many others too) and the maccas afterwards was really good just to sit down and relax and meet "old" geocachers and also meet "old" friends, eg, Super-T, The Hill 4 (er, 1), and many others including nm7s9 - who I found out, we lived near each other in Adelaide and undoubtedly played table tennis against each other circa 1970, in the very hall in Adelaide (Upper Sturt) where I have just laid a cache.
So, Thanks Tealby for the well organised and great event.
PS - No bike this time, I was both stuffed and used the car to get there in time.
PPS - My 1600th - Coooeeeeeee.

570 6pm

Thanks Tealby for a great fun event!

It was excellent meeting new, and old, faces but I was disappointed that I didn't get to chat to all the new faces that I wanted to.

Thanks very much for the beautiful geocoin.

*Overall Experience: 5*
http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/Rating

Rated: for Overall Experience

Well, what a concpicuous feeling this is. Walking to this place with 50 or more seemingly random people converging on this one spot. it is certainly a spectacle!! Thanks for this Tealby and all cachers that attended it certainly was a good afternoon. The "after party" or dinner at Maccas was an interesting time and heard about other interesting events.
Good fun,
Biggles303

What a great event, thank you for all the work put in Tealby. Loved the idea makes me feel like a young kid!
StevenWill is a party of three and we all attended.
Thank you Tealby!

w00, that was fun! thanks.
P.S. I had a +1 with me (geowife)

Hey Tealby, that was fun. We only discovered the event last night by 'accident'. Didn't know about Maccas afterwards and already had another booking so we couldn't make it to get to meet more people.

It was good to meet some other cachers

TFTE Mr and Mrs Whereis attended (2)

What a buzz - I couldn't stop giggling as I was walking across the bridge!

What a fantastic turnout - you certainly exceeded all of my expectations. I was anticipating up to 30 attendees. In the end I counted 66 people and one dog in the photo (there were a few hiding right at the back, so I hope I didn't miss anyone). From the logs there appear to be 43 registered cachers, assuming all the kids log separately, which I would encourage you all to do, because podcacher.com is going to give away a few more prizes to those in attendance.

Congratulations to the event prize winners:
1. SecretSquirrel-BJC (special 2007 Aussie GC - trackable)
- he has already activated it so all attendees can now discover it
2. hayleylou (special 2007 Aussie GC - not trackable)
3. frebbles (Tealby FTF prize)
And also to BigON for winning the Aussie GC for the 1st Caching Invest-Mint draw.

Also, congrats to mtbikeroz on his 1600th cache!! WOW!

And a big welcome to Sol de lune - our newest cacher in attendance, who only started caching on 27th Oct. Watch out - this caching game is highly addictive!

If you want the list of trackables to discover please send me a quick message & I will reply with the list (it is in Excel format).

Like many others, I wish there had been more time to put faces to some of the caching names I have come across. I hope there were not too many people confused (like me) about the Maccas meeting spot - I didn't realise the one near the old Target had closed when the extensions to the Canberra Centre were done, so Biggles303 & I had a long walk, but we got there in the end.

Lastly - I think the podcacher folks are already planning to have another one of these next year, so stay tuned...

Wow.....only be 'caching' for 2 weeks, but the hook has taken hold. So may people there and 1st thought was 'are all these people placing caches???'

Cheers for an interesting time and thanks to those who said hello. Look forward to future events.

Myself and GEO-wife were there.

Cool event, and great to meet some new people and put faces to the and chat to some of the names i keep seeing on logs around the place . Thanks Tealby for organising this awesome event!

J!////`/

Yes JezzzaXtreme, there is a FTF for this event - but the person who gets the honour will be chosen randomly in the prize draw.

As mentioned previously, there are 2 Aussie GCs up for grabs (only one is trackable), plus one of my Tealby cat FTF prizes - whoever scores that can claim the FTF for the event.

Bug drop

Very fun. MedicalMarcus and I arrived early and waited on the end of the island, I was very surprised at the amount of people that turned up, didn't expect that many. Good to meet the very few people we had a chance to talk to in the time we were there,

Thanks for the Event, Jezzza Xtreme

Rated: for Overall Experience

My first event cache & my first WWFM experience all rolled into one.

It was very cool to see everyone making their way to GZ as the bells tolled and move away equally quickly as 6:15 ticked over.

Thanks for organising this Tealby! I didn't realise that there would be quite so many cachers there.

Unfortunately Fore!, Shadow! & Huxley the geo-hound were unable to attend due illness. I'm sure they'll do their level best to make the next event.

wasn't sure i'd make it in for this but got there in the end. great turnout and good to see some familiar faces and lots of new i hadn't met. thanks for organising this tealby, i enjoyed it.

Fantastic!

That was heaps of fun... especially watching the look on a few muggles faces as we all marched across the bridge!

There was no way i expected to see that many people there, well done!

ps, our party consisted of the five of us and a friend so 6 in total just for the records

pps, and which maccas was it that we were supposed to meet at? there is only 2 in civic... one in the mall (which was closed) and one near barry drive/nourthbourne ave which tealby informed us was not the right one?

ppps, thanks!

A most enjoyable, albeit short event! I was amazed at the turn out – so many new faces! Left nothing, took Choo Choo! (And a couple of photos!) Thanks for organising Tealby!

That was good fun, I really enjoyed it. It was great to put some "new" faces to names, such as Robwoozle, Hayleylou and Frebbles, and to finally meet Allrounder (who has been caching longer than I have, but we'd never met till now). And of course to see some familiar faces again. I just wish I was better at remembering the names

It was amazing how many people popped up, there didn't appear to be that many loitering around beforehand. It must be all that practice at being 'stealthy'.

Thanks Tealby for organising, it was great that there were prizes & swag, even though I didn't score any. Lots of fun, I wish I could have seen the look on the faces of any watching muggles!

TNLN

Cheers
Bewilderbeest

Thanks Tealby,
It was a blast.
Your organisation was impeccable.

Really good to catch up with old acquaintances like MtbikerOz, and just as much fun to meet up with a whole heap of new people.
The Maccas was listed in the notes as being Cnr Cooyong and Mort Sts. I didn't realise there were any others.
Some of us made it there, and got a longer chance to chat, which was a great end to the event.
Thanks to all.

Had a bit of fun meeting some of those whom until now are names on caches and in log books. Thanks for the event, I enjoyed it. Attended with my eldest Geokid.

#430 at 1800

This one was fun I rocked up about 5:45pm and sat in the car trying to read my novel, although I didn't get very much done. With a few minutes to spare, I got my stuff out of the car and got ready, putting on my Cat-In-The-Hat hat when the bells started.

Great to see so many faces, some of which I knew and lots of people who I didn't recognise at all.

Had fun chatting a bit longer at McDonalds afterwards

Thanks to Tealby for organising this one

Gret fun. Thanks for the inspirational cache event, Tealby.

Novel idea Tealby, thanks. Thought I might come to Maccas very briefly but wasn't sure where, then ran out of time. Enjoyed the 15 minutes though - my split personality will be apparent, with the other Winglen logging caches in Bathurst at the same time! Thanks

My second event cache. A lot of fun seeing some of the names in the area and getting a chance to meet you. Dropping in my personal coin. Thanks for putting this one together.

We had a bit of trouble holding the kids back before the bell tolled, but otherwise all went well. Good to have a chat or two, a laugh or two and then disappear.

Thanks Tealby for organising such a fun event.

904. That was fun. Only trouble was that there wasn't time to swap the war stories. Or even get around to those I knew, let alone meet new people. Even CoolAid and McPhanKid had fun. (That's 3 for McPhan)

Great fun Tealby, thanks.

Rated: for Overall Experience

I thought I was going to be stuck at work all day and miss the event, luckily everything came together in time to get there with a few minutes to spare. I spent those few minutes having a pleasnat chat with the S's and MtBikerOz, then the bells the bells. Cachers suddenly appeared from every nook and cranny and certainly made a crowd. Apart from a few inebreted fellows we appeared to have the island to ourselves. Several prize draws ensued and I was very pleasantly surprised to win a raffle prize draw from Tealby's mint cache. A couple of group shots and everyone disappeared promptly on the sound of the bells again.
I got so caught up in the event that I forgot to look for the other nearby cache again.
Thanks for organising this Tealby and it was great to meet many more individual cachers and groups, more faces for ID's.
TTFN

TB drop

With my final uni assignment submitted, I'm hoping to attend. I will be travelling to New Zealand on Monday if any travel bugs need to get there.

[This entry was edited by The Hill 4 on Friday, November 09, 2007 at 10:04:36 PM.]

My last note before the event tomorrow - dropping off a few more trackables. I know it is a long shot, but one wants to go to Germany & one wants to go to the UAE, so if anyone can assist with either of these goals please let me know so that I can reserve them for you.

Hopefully some other TBs & GCs will be available at the event too - I have a log of all the trackables & would like to keep a record of who takes what. This is a bit of an experiment & I am not sure how hard or easy this will be, but it would really help if you can give me the tracking numbers for any you plan to leave before the event (ie preferrably by email tonight).

I also have a few new coins from my own (small) collection that I'll be bringing along if anyone wants to discover them.

See you tomorrow! The bells had better be ringing!!

Dropping in two coins rescued from the top of Gingera!

TB's.

Is there FTF for event caches?

Dropping in a few trackables .

Garr! I'm terrible with these TB's...

Slowdad and I have to work on Saturday but we will try to attend.

I just watched the Canberra Flashmob pillow fights - very funny - but I expect our gathering will be a little more sedate! If you want to get an idea of how geocachers behave, have a look at:
http://www.podcacher.com/?page_id=415

If anyone is interested in videoing this event please let me know - a US cacher is planning to compile all the video/photos of all 81 (yes 81!) WWFMs - I don't think he realised what a mammoth task he'd be taking on when he first volunteered.

I will have my digital camera & tripod at the event for a group photo at the end. If you want to bring your own still camera you are more than welcome.

It looks like there will be an optional gathering at the city Maccas for any interested parties after the WWFM concludes. I will mention this again at the event.

BTW - there is now a 2nd WWFM in Australia - Rhinogeo is hosting one in Melbourne, but he has chosen to go with the simultaneous timing - so they are meeting at 4am on Sunday morning!! Aren't you glad I modified the timing for Canberra!

Only one week to go now....

Get onto youtube and look for "Canberra Flashmob".

There's a group of people that did a pillow fight in Floriade and Garema place a few weeks ago, I vote no pillows, but you can see the effect on the videos, I hope lots of people show!.

Sorry Tealby but we will be in Bathurst this weekend, we will be moving to Canberra next week though so I'm sure we'll catch up with everyone soon. I haven't yet had my own event, might be a good chance to meet everyone.

What a novel and fun idea!... Can't wait to see the looks on peoples faces

Ok - Corner of Cooyong and Mort it is

At this stage frebbles and I should make it. Looks like a fun idea!

McDonalds?

I had to think of somewhere that could take a number of people, and would be open at that sort of time.
I'm more than happy to accept other suggestions.
Very much more than happy - McDonald's coffee isn't exactly my favourite !
So, where are we all meeting afterwards then, come on people's post up

I'll try to make it along, sounds like fun.

We'll attend.
How many would be interested in going to McDonald's at the Corner of Cooyong and Mort St in the city to actually have time to meet properly, after the event?

At this stage, we'll be there!

Just have to be organised enough.

A couple of extra notes about the event:

1. There will be a box of "swag" for any kids that attend - they will be welcome to take an item - no swap needed. Hopefully this will encourage some of the reluctant youngsters to come along & help swell the numbers.

2. Forthferalz is sending me a couple of the 2007 Aussie GCs to give away (one trackable & one not) - I believe these are special versions that were not available for sale, so it is a great prize.

3. The podcacher folks (who initiated this world wide series of events) are also planning to offer some prizes - but there are now 67 events being held around the world, so the chances of winning one of their prizes would be fairly slim!

4. I will also have one of my special Tealby signature items as a prize draw - Tankengine & McPhan already have one, so they are excluded from this draw!!

5. Newer cachers are particularly welcome - don't be shy - geocachers are a friendly bunch. I hope this will be the first event for lots of people (and you will get a new icon for your attendance) - 15 mins is not a lot of time even if you are shy!

I realise that this event clashes with the Bathurst 24 hr event, but that was unavoidable due to the world wide nature of this activity. For the local cachers who are travelling to Bathurst, I hope you have a really great time & I look forward to hearing/reading some of the tales of your adventures.

I know that the nature of flashmobbing means these things are very short lived. In fact 15 minutes is HUGE for a flashmob.
But that leaves very little time to actually MEET any of the other cachers there.
So how about a second location for those who want to get together with enough time to actually meet the other cachers?

The bell tolls for me!
Interesting cache near here! I've found it, yet I don't know where it is!

I have a theory as to how the cache, very near this event, is both the easiest one to find and can also be the hardest one to find. It is a matter of inches, or maybe even just centimetres that can make it invisible.

As a persistant DNF'er of this nearby cache, I am more than happy to (quickly) discuss the ins and outs of this area at around 18:00 hours or thereabouts.

Fantastic idea Tealby , we'll be there!

Sounds cool, Reminds me of the stunts the American group Improv Everywhere likes to pull, especially their 'Mp3 Experiment. http://www.improveverywhere.com/ . Most likely coming.

hmm Bathurst 24hr or Canberra event..

I'm so there! Sounds like so much fun and really random!

My sister runs the Sydney Flashmobbing, it's a heap of fun, but has been very hard to get off the ground in Canberra (people are too conservative here), so glad to see another Flashmob event occuring down here.
Not sure I can be there until I see what my work roster is.

Last time I said I would attend an event I ended up working! So this time will only do my best to attend thank mate. Stevenwill

Sounds like a big bucket of fun I'll do everything I can to make it!

ooohh sounds like fun! We'll be there ...

If all goes to plan, I'll be there. Maybe we can out number the muggles and all log a note or found for 'the bells' at the same time while we're there, possibly set an ACT record for the amount of people to log an existing traditional cache at the same time?. Alterior motive, I still haven't found the darn thing [:o)]
See you all there. TTFN

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