In what direction would you like to see your Gold Bash go

As I said earlier I, Peter (Mariner) and the Committee would like to hear from the forum members in what direction you would like to see your Gold Bash go.

Just a few questions.to consider.

(1) Are you happy with the date of the Bash or would you like it moved.???

(2) Having the raffle on saturday night, ok with you guys or would you like it changed to another time frame ?

(3) Same question as question 2 but referring to the Auction on the Sunday afternoon.

(4) The open Mic forum on the Saturday night, is this a good thing or not.

(5) Would you like to see more sponsors stall's, and Gem stalls??

(6) Do you want more events happening within the park and what type ??

(7) Do you want the Gold Bash every year or every second year.???

( Do we expand it to include thing like camping, 4X4 gear or just keep it to prospecting. ??

(9) Are you happy sponsoring Peter Mac or should we look at other charities and what charity each year ??

We would like to hear from you guys on this and any other thing that may help the committee to improve the Bash. Your input is very important to us so we can give you a better Bash each year.
If you don't want to put your ideas on the open forum just contact me direct.
wombat

Hi Bill,
Happy to support Peter Mac.
I notice there is much less wooden tables and benches to sit around as previous years.Use to be many more and was somehow better when most of us sit close.

Great job with Lions club and food.All prepared not to worry for food cakes, coffees. breakfast , lunches dinner.

Previous years we had Bash in a school holidays.Yes its packed in a Park but it was good for families who comes with kids.More activities for kids too.Some other family see detecting first time and get involved tru kids too.

Maybe auction is better to be on Saturday cos Sunday many people leave earlier.Before was long weekend and most stay monday too.

GoldEN

Come on everyone, 80 plus vies and one reply by one of the keen helper I must say is a bit average

Get off the couch for 10 min and give us your thoughts or is it that good it does not need tweaking??

Pete

More stalls, auction at an earlier time, more gold to melt keep it at the same time, week after grand final is a good time

mariner3800 wrote:Come on everyone, 80 plus vies and one reply by one of the keen helper I must say is a bit average

Get off the couch for 10 min and give us your thoughts or is it that good it does not need tweaking??

Pete

G'day Pete

Were still stunned with the way it was run, being our first time n all, it was an excellent weekend. Keep sponsoring Peter Mac it does great work to help people with cancer and need every bit of support they can get.

cheers dave

Thanks Dave and Jonny,

Great feedback, keep it coming people

Cheers
Pete

Wombat, was well run and found it a lot of information.
the auction could have been earlier as people did have to go earlier, prehaps if the monday was a public holiday that would not matter as much.
for us the open mic we could take or leave.
KEEP the donation going to the peter mac as is such a good cause (i might be bias as it is close to home)
Prehaps you could have a few guess the weight raffles as well. ie weight of gold and weight of lead shot!.
Well done and will be back next year.
TG

Hi Guys, let me start by saying we had a ball One thing I did notice over the weekend was alot of name tags did not have their forum names on them to work out who was who  in the many people that attended the event. For eg, Run across at least 4 daves on the name tags with no reference to who they are on the forum  to interact conversation with:)

To us first timers this would be very helpful, along with paper plates  knives and forks being supplied for the dinners would come at miniumal cost. Inovative stuff for prospectors in the stalls that stay away for longer periods probably would create interest for eg solar pannels and other dc devices that make yor prospecting camp more comfortable.

We have a gold dishing championship up in Mareeba every year using  the traditional dish with sections of junior, womens, mens novice and mens pro, they always ceate a great crowd along with participents. Also a new inclusion for the bash up for thought after seeing some members produce their finds proudly from the Laanecoorie area.  

I would like to add that would be a great money spinner for the charity of the commites choice woud be to tape off a significant area with a decent gold nugget up for grabs Now just throwing it out their everybody,I always do a guess the weight nugget every year.Ok say we do a guess the weight of the nugget over the year one choice on the weight.The winners revealed 2 months before the bash,  each member the closest ten to that weight get first shot at looking for the nugget  first if they attend the bash.  
A  cost is involved for anybody  wanting to find the nugget the closest to the weight get first shot after paying nomation. Half an hour per person per go.  which would be up to the commite to nomitate  a price per person after the weight is revealved.Just a rough thought, who will supply the nugget? I will

G'day bloodgold2

I like the idea, a guess the weight of a nugget during the year, and then detect for a nugget at the bash. Entry fee for the participants for the detect part at the bash go to the Peter Mac cause, if some of the ten closest are not there or don't want to detect then the chance to detect just goes to the next nearest etc This idea would get my vote.

cheers dave

davsgold wrote:G'day bloodgold2

I like the idea, a guess the weight of a nugget during the year, and then detect for a nugget at the bash.  Entry fee for the participants for the detect part at the bash go to the Peter Mac cause, if some of the ten closest are not there or don't want to detect then the chance to detect just goes to the next nearest etc    This idea would get my vote.

cheers dave

Guy's I like the idea about detecting for a nugget at the Bash. A fee to enter. But guess the weight may be a bit harder, as not everyone that comes to the Bash belongs to this or any other forum. Bloodgold2, this may be one reason why some people did not have their forum name on their tags,(as you mentioned earlier) because they didn't belong to any forum. But we could have "guess the weight" of a nugget there at the Bash over the weekend, charging a small fee to Reg your guess. If we get more than one person guessing the same weight they then go into a barrel and their Reg. number will be then drawn out as the winner. This means we may need 2 nuggets for the Bash.
wombat

Hi Billy,

Don't debate the great suggestions yet, just get all the recommendations together and then let the committee go through them all and how it will work??

Just a suggestions

Pete

Thanks Davsgold, it was just a thought mate that might create some fun and interest as guess the weight always does on the forum.
Hi Bill, yeah mate didn't really think about the non members at the bash it was just an observation that's all.

Mate the way I was thinking rough of course is that members to the forum get the chance to pick the weight of the nugget during the year that will be buried at the bash. The first five or ten for eg that pic the closest still have to pay to enter but get first go or maybe an extra 5 min swinging for the guess the weight.So in actual fact they will see a pic of the nugget months before they dig for it. Non members can still have a go as long as they have a detector and the money for entry like everybody else  Being first in line with the closest weight is just part of the many fringe benifits of being a member of the forum

One thought that did cross my mind was interference from detectors so for more than one opperator to swing at a time there might need to be 2 taped off areas seperated to get maxum participation and hence more entry fees. Maybe 30 min per person would be to long it was just a thought but any person can enter as many times as they like proving they pay the entry again.

Anyway guys all just ideas, reckon if prospectors see the nugget a few months before on the forum and know it is in the ground in the taped areas they will have a go for sure. If not found over the weekend all entry tickets at the end get put in a barrel and a participant is drawn or an auction?Anyway food for thought?

The only thing I would like changed is the talks etc to be in the afternoons as I like to go out in the mornings for a swing. So I missed all the events in the mornings. Maybe start them at lunchtime?
Think bloodgold2 idea of the nugget hunt, guess the weight would be a goer.
The forum names on name tags....yes, maybe have a pen for the person to add it, I know poor Melissa was flat out just getting their first names on the name tag.
Great weekend, looking forward to next year
Tarnia

We had a few people asking us how to find the forum web page,
JEFF!!!!! We need hats or something with the web address on them
I would buy one and wear it at the bash.

Great idea BG2

Hey Wombat... Why 2 nuggets????? You don't have to answer that question.

Wombatroo.. Go night detecting instead
Great idea about the extra pens so we can write our own names down.
Melissa did a terrific job, I would have had writers cramp after only doing 20 names.
I am sorry Melissa if I upset you about not writing some forum members names on their tags

I need a good

It would be nice to have the auction earlier as so many had to head home to go back to work the next day.
Ok that's all I can think of.

Come on fellow members and newbies, jump on board and give us your ideas,
as this is your forum as well...

Hey Jen you must not have seen me in the evening not a good idea

wombatroo wrote:Hey Jen you must not have seen me in the evening not a good idea  

   oops sorry.... I forgot about that

OK ladies no wondering of the topic please.
wombat

Oops sorry

I really enjoyed the bash, especially catching up with people.
I thought the raffle had less better prizes then previous years, but obviously a few people did a lot of work to get the prizes you did.
While i like listening to the legends session i enjoyed the talk from Phil the engineer of Minelab more. Maybe some room to freshen up the legends slot with some other talks/presentation.

There were a few newbie type people there that came and went after a brief look and i think it would be good to attract more newbies and even half interested general public. To that end, i think it would be good if a few more introduction to detecting activities were run and grouped during one day around the gold and relic tours. As well as the gold and relics tours there could be a  couple of scheduled demo sessions on an intro to detecting and different detectors (including a relic detector) with a basic run down on detector setups, settings, digging targets/centring, etiquette and minimal impact detecting, filling in holes etc. A demo of safety gear such as a PLB, snake bite kit, and simple things like a water bladder backpack as a detecting kit would not hurt with the number of "prospectors" getting into trouble lately. Maybe some long term detect users experienced with each detector  or the dealers might be interested. Putting minimal impact detecting techniques/mentioning miners rights etc into a demo can't hurt our cause. The couple demo sessions would be scheduled not to detract from the gold and relics tours. The parks Victoria guy could do a short presentation on where to detect and how to detect in parks with minimal impact (it would be good bridge building).

A guess the number of SDC micro nuggets in a bottle competition or nugget weight comps $2 entry etc would be another no hassle activity to run for the punters.

A warning to attendees that value their sanity to stay away from the campfire sessions down near the grey water pond would also help.

But at the moment the date format and level of activities at the Bash is good and probably at a level that is just manageable by the small group of dedicated volunteers to run and would need more people planning and working on activities if the bash is to expand slightly.
Thanks to those who put in the big efforts to make it happen.

Thanks Guys & Gals For your feed back. This is what we need so we can plan a head.
Please keep our ideas coming. Also read each others ideas as you may come up with some thing great with the thought of others ideas as a foundation.
wombat

Hi Bill,

Better late than never.........



(1) Are you happy with the date of the Bash or would you like it moved.???
The date works well - after the Victorian school holidays and far enough away from the Melbourne Cup. Perhaps have a TV screening Bathurst for the petrolheads.

(2) Having the raffle on saturday night, ok with you guys or would you like it changed to another time frame ?
Saturday night's fine. Perhaps a little earlier if there are so many prizes again.

(3) Same question as question 2 but referring to the Auction on the Sunday afternoon.
A daytime auction works better as the atmosphere is more upbeat IMHO. Maybe a little earlier but not so early that it constrains the Sunday. I wonder if those who have a long (interstate) trip ahead stay for the Sunday night anyway so no great issue. For the "locals", departing at 3 shouldn't be too great a problem.

(4) The open Mic forum on the Saturday night, is this a good thing or not.
Does go on a bit.

(5) Would you like to see more sponsors stall's, and Gem stalls??
A place for information and brochures from the sponsors would be interesting.

(6) Do you want more events happening within the park and what type ??
This is a difficult question and touches on the core question "what is the Bash about?". As an example,the "token hunt" activities are central to the Wedderburn Jamboree, do we need to duplicate them here? Conversely, the kids' token hunt is a good way to get non-prospecting adults introduced to the activity. Another kids activity (and possibly adults as well at a different level of complexity/sobriety) would be a treasure hunt with directions and/or a map to follow.

(7) Do you want the Gold Bash every year or every second year.???
Every year is ok.

( Do we expand it to include thing like camping, 4X4 gear or just keep it to prospecting. ??
A stall and perhaps talk from Lyle Eyles from Maryborough would be interesting. A discussion of things like developments in fridges, solar, cooking, torches etc would be relevant and another common thread for the Bash participants to debate.

(9) Are you happy sponsoring Peter Mac or should we look at other charities and what charity each year ??
Stick with Peter Mac, particularly as the chap on Friday night said, the Bash money goes to a specific need rather than just into the pot.

Instead of the Panel (and with absolutely no offence intended to the participants), a Quiz/Trivia activity could be fun. Not a long drawn out affair but quick moving with prospecting/geology/regulations/history/local/forum questions. Small prizes at the end.

It would be useful to have the Admins of the Forum be pointed out if they're at the Bash.

I'm happy to help with getting my suggestions to happen if required.

Adrian

Tarnia it was hard doing the registering, and giving the registerees a brief run down on the gold forum, I am now a member (lol) so I can give them more info. I am hoping to have some pamphlets/ stickers/ business type cards with the Facebook Laanecoorie Gold Bash Page and the Forum details

I would like to see this to happen:

As first couple years (sure the number was small) but it would be great we have a central camp fire (or similar) place we all go in evening instead sitting in small groups.

Camp is big enough and maybe with a park owners we have a designed area to sit around and drink and bla bla our detecting stories.

We have every year new members and it will be great for them to join at this central place.

Great place to relax in evening, meet new friends, have a laugh and maybe take some newbies under the wings in the morning for detect ( or our interstate visitors).Some might not have a detector with them or they are first time in Victoria so it will be easier for them to join some of us locals.

GoldEN

Guinness World Record Set Over the Weekend

A new world record for the most people panning for gold was set at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California on Oct.25, 2015. The new world record is 235 which beat the old record of 100 panners set in 2009 in Romania.

Special thanks to the Hemet Valley Chapter for volunteering at the event and to our very own Brad Jones for the coverage!

http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ea2ced07e0963e54f189cf4d9&id=22bea5e202&e=a217f5b6a9


Activity idea??

Can't really add much or comment having not made it down to one yet but something that might be worth considering is setting up a fundraiser on a site like Gofundraise to allow people that can't make it to still be able to contribute something towards it? Peter Mac is set up on Gofundraise for this type of thing.
https://www.gofundraise.com.au/beneficiary/petermac

My wife has as much interest in gold detecting as watching grass grow. So the only way I can get her to attend is to give her some other interest. Can I suggest a bus tourist tour of the region and stopping in for lunch for say day one. And day two a tour of the wineries with some lunch chucked in. Depending on size a mini bus or larger would do the job. All prepaid to the contractor well before the Bash may swell the numbers to include the other half and allow some of the men folk to attend.

On the Saturday night after all is done(in the hall) how about inviting the wineries along for some wine tasting to round the evening off.

It was my second Bash, many thanks to all the workers and organisers.

Thoughts...

October is a good month, it gets pretty hot after that.

As a visitor to the area I try to get in local detecting while there. Its a bit difficult mixing this with the sessions one wishes to attend. My thought would be morning detecting, including training sessions, going out in groups to rake, clear rubbish, etc, experiences with other detecting gear, going on your own, etc etc.

Afternoons (also when getting hot) have the lecture sessions.

Exhibits can be all day.

Best wishes to all, especially the maker of the pick I won in the raffle...

Tassie

I'm glad you like the pick. I hope it digs out lots of gold for you. Supplying a couple of the picks i make is my small contribution to the bash. A big thankyou to everyone who helps or donates to the bash to make it the wonderful event that it is and i hope it continues for many years to come. Cheers Grumpy.