Maxamini DuckCaching

[Theo]

Hmmmm. Not sure that I can explain this right but here goes!

Those of us who have done geocaching (Beth...help me out here) are familiar with "travel bugs". These are small metal ID plates with unique serial numbers that you can attach to objects put into geocaches. A finder of an object with a travel bug can go to www.geocaching.com and, via serial number, look up its origin and the many (cache) stops the object has made in its travels. A map is shown for each travel bug with the route it has taken overlaid on it. The finder is then obligated to move the travel bug object to a different location and "release" it into another cache. Some of these travel bugs have circled the globe!

So, what if we do this:

Someone out there must know someone that can design and manufacture a special "Maxamini Duck" that would be durable, and resist fading in the outdoors (fresh AND salt water, other liquids, UV, etc.). Each duck would carry a unique serial number and instructions to visit a website for "processing" this valuable quacker (imprinted somehow).

A web site would then be set up (www.MaximiniDuck.com?) to allow the finder ("Maximini Duck Hunter") to register the Maxamini Duck serial number and the location where the duck was found. Like the geocaching site, a map with the Maximini Duck point of origin and its travels would be displayed. The Maximini Duck Hunter would then be obligated to re-release the duck in a new location.

Now, here's the kicker:

Maximini Ducks (with their unique serial number) would be available for purchase online. The proceeds would be donated to the official Maximini Duck charity defined for the country of their purchaser (e.g.; Make a Wish for US, Whiz Kids for UK, etc.). We might also encourage each subsequent finder (Hunter) to make an optional a donation (on the website via PayPal) to the charity when they register the duck as being found.

The website could track the total amount of money raised by each duck's "catch and release" activity and also show total donations by the Maximini Duck purchaser. That way I can see how much money all MY ducks have raised for charity!

The website could also track the "standings" of the number of ducks found by the Maximini Duck Hunters. My gracious, if this catches on people might actually be prompted to go out to the world's water ways searching for Maximini Ducks!

OK. Your honest opinion...too much caffeine for Theo today?

Theo

[pezboy]

I think you had better get started.

[MetalMiniMayhem]

that's a great idea... it's a bit ambitious, but if you've got the fortitude to do it, I'm al about it... let me know if you do, I will certainly buy a few of them.. . got some great place to get them on their way..

[AprilWhine]

Theo that is astounding! I'll buy some ducks if this gets started.

[Jester's mom]

Theo,
I don't think you have had to much caffeine it is a great idea. I would buy some ducks.

Angela

[NoNo]

I've heard of geocaching, have wanted to try it for a while. That sounds like a great idea. That way we can keep the spirit of Ed alive by finding new and exciting places off the beaten path. I'll see what I can do about getting my hands on a copy of ArcMap or ArcView. If I were really ambitious, I'd learn ArcIMS, which is a way of creating interactive maps online. I'll ask around, see what kind of info I can find. Maybe my mapping skills can come in useful afterall!

[pezboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by NoNo

Maybe my mapping skills can come in useful afterall!

You should hang around with Harvey more often...maybe some mapping skills will rub off onto him. That guy gets lost more than you can imagine...and he has a GPS.

[NoNo]

*Sending good vibes Harvey's way*

[GadgetGav]

Theo, you've certainly been thinking things through. I assume you knew that by posting, you'd be in charge of the whole thing...! Sounds, like a great idea.
Is Jason reading this thread..? He's a web programmer and may soon have too much spare time on his hands... Maybe he could help out. (Not wanting to push him into anything though!)

[bethandlouis]

Talked with Louis about this, he does web site design, and he said it should be simple enough. As I was talking to him we were trying to figure out how to get the ducks their unique tracking information. My initial idea was to adopt a where's George approach-you go to the website and register a duck and the website gives you a serial number unique to your duck put it on the duck and release. If anyone is familiar with bookcrossing it is pretty much the same idea. Then I started to think it would be neat if we could make a charity donation and get the same effect. I think Theo has a great idea but if we adopt the geocaching travel bug idea so no one has to store a whole bunch of ducks and we can have a variety of ducks in the wild. The only problem is that the normal travel bug tag is a little too large to attatch to something that is more or less going to be in the water may not be good. They would make land based launchs well though. So if we could design a pin-wink wink- that maybe can be attatched to the ducks that way any one can buy any duck and put a pin on it registering with the service and then off to find happy people. For people not familiar with travel bugs see here

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=141922

This idea provides little inventory space to upkeep and, perhaps, a smaller initial investment. I also like it because we can have a variety of ducks around the world.

I would be more than happy to help out with this endevour just give us a shout!

[harveyjoseph]

Quote: Originally Posted by NoNo

*Sending good vibes Harvey's way*

Right back at ya!!

[scooperman_uk]

sorry to hear that MAXAMINI has departed from our community. my condolences and wishes go out to his friends and family. i didnt know him that well but ive shared a few chats with him through mini2.com

on another note..

Im an avid geocacher and i think the duckcache / duckcaching TM is a great idea.

[SoBroMaxaMini]

Theo, others:
I'm sure my siblings would agree with me - it's a fabulous idea. I would certainly want to buy a few (Ed was my 3rd loss in the past 4 years).

And who knows where Ed would guide these ducks. I'm sure they would end up in some very interesting places.

/Rick

[yellowmininy]

Is there a way to combine the ideas for water-bound ducks (ie an online duck registry, where you write the number on the duck and thrown it into swim for who knows where?) and a metal-tagged type 'land duck'?

[Theo]

Just finished my morning coffee...UH OH!

Regarding the serialization of the ducks:

I have been doing a huge landscaping project around our house and have purchased many shrubs and trees from the nursery. As I was watering the inventory of flora this morning, I noticed that the plants had plastic tags affixed to their branches with genus/species, care instructions and inventory number. The tags are about 4" - 5" long and about 1/2" wide. The long edges of the tag are gently serrated. One end has a punched-out slot across its width. The other end is threaded through that slot and pulled tight; the serrations securely hold the tag in place once it has been snugged-up. You see where I'm going....

As Beth has suggested, this would allow a variety of owner-chosen Maximini Ducks to be fitted with this "tracking collar". And, as Beth points out, the inventory of serialized tags would be easier to store and ship. We'd probably want a longer plastic strip to accommodate a range of duck neck sizes.

I like scooperman_uk's "DuckCaching" moniker. I guess that would make this a "cache and release" program? It capitalizes on the geocaching theory and relates it to Maxamini Ducks. And, there is no reason why a Maxamini Duck could not travel over both land and water. In fact, Maximini Ducks can be inserted into existing geocaches!

Let's brainstorm this thing a bit more before we spring into action. However, we should also be realistic about how this concept can be put into practice. In my feeble mind, there are some key pieces that need sorting:

1. the tags;
2. the web host, web space, needed bandwidth, web administrator;
3. the database back-end;
4. the mapping back-end;
5. ongoing technical support/maintenance;
6. ecommerce support (shopping cart, PayPal, inventory, fulfillment, etc);
7. identification/communication with worldwide charities;
8. DuckCaching charity financial/registration issues;
9. 327 issues we haven't even thought of yet.

My strengths that can be contributed to this effort are creativity, realism, and project management (career in prior life before teaching). Thus, I will fail miserably if I try to do this alone. That's were you come in. We don't need a rock-solid commitment at this point; we are just brainstorming. But we do need folks who have demonstrated a solid track record in their personal or professional lives handling some of the "core" needs of this hair-brained scheme. They would be asked to be the "think-tank" for the brainstorming process.

Core Needs
- Manufacturing knowledge (and contacts) in industries that would be able to produce the plastic tags
- In-depth website administration experience with the ability to design and manage the development and ongoing administration of the DuckCaching website
- Software development experience in a web-based environment that interfaces with database systems, ecommerce systems and, ideally, mapping systems
- Not-for-profit/charity experience organizing business infrastructure and, perhaps, grant-writing

I don't want to make this concept any more complicated than it needs to be, so don't be scared by the scope and depth of the core needs. It's just that during the brainstorming phase, you really need the input of experts to establish the initial and future "scope" of the activities. Don't get me wrong; I fully expect that this world be a grassroots effort. But, I believe that we need a plan that is well thought-out so that the time and energy we all donate to this endeavor has a high probability of success.

Project Stages
1 - Identify people who can represent core needs
2 - Brainstorm concept to produce/revise a proposal for general acceptance by MINI2 community
3 - Proposal revision/approval by Ed's family
4 - Concurrent development of Tags and Website
5 - Release of prototype to MNI2 community
6 - Review for changes/improvements
7 - Release to World

So, what needs to be done RIGHT NOW?

- We need everybody's thoughts and feedback during this period
- We need to identify folks who can contribute their core area expertise in a consultative manner

Please post or (for the shy) PM me if you can contribute your core area expertise. As I said, at this point there is no long-term commitment required; heck, we might decide that this is just too much to handle. I'd just like to get to the point where that determination can be made.

Thanks for reading,

Theo