ECRDA Beach Hunt in Ocean City NJ: May 16/17, 2015

Paul in NJ

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Sep 15, 2012
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Location
Morris County, NJ
Get Ready for "Six on the Beach" in Ocean City NJ!

The East Coast Research and Discovery Association (ECRDA) invites you to its sixth annual open hunt. Join us on May 16 & 17, 2015 in family-friendly Ocean City NJ.

Hundreds of THers will compete for a truckload of prizes, including top-of-the-line detectors, a beach-load of silver, gold Reales, and more. Your registration includes two adult hunts each day, with an optional Gold Hunt, and lunch on both days. Raffles all day, too. Our popular Kids Hunt is on Saturday for junior detectorists up to age 13.

Take advantage of early registration prices -- grab the registration form at http://www.ecrda.org/2015-hunt-info.html today!
 
ECRDA Ocean City, NJ Hunt

I have done this the last two years. Nice people, good fun, lots of prizes and lunch.
I have already sent my money in for 2015.
 
I did the hut when it was in Atlantic City and it was very poorly ran. They didn't have enough people to seed the beach and let people do what ever they wanted. I heard last year that the prizes where fairly nice some people won reales. It is more expensive then the one in Atlantic city and less hunts and some of the people who hunt it were real jerks.
 
I did the hut when it was in Atlantic City and it was very poorly ran. They didn't have enough people to seed the beach and let people do what ever they wanted. I heard last year that the prizes where fairly nice some people won reales. It is more expensive then the one in Atlantic city and less hunts and some of the people who hunt it were real jerks.

Our club was only in AC for one year, 2012, when we co-sponsored it with Minelab. We parted ways after that, and our 2013 and 2014 hunts were in Ocean City, which will also be the site of our 2015 hunt.
 
Waiting to last minute to see about rain, but I think I'm going to be coming to this. Sounds like a lot of fun.


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they are fun this one might be a bit more crowded then last year because as of right now the minelab hunt has been cancelled in AC. Last year the AC hunt was 25 dollars for the one day as opposed to 95+ for this hunt. However i did hear that some of the prizes where better. If it was a bit more cost effective I would be in. I know the money goes into the hunts but for only 2 hunts a day it is almost 50 bucks per hunt. I wish some of these hunts where a little cheaper.
 
Here's more about the hunt

they are fun this one might be a bit more crowded then last year because as of right now the minelab hunt has been cancelled in AC. Last year the AC hunt was 25 dollars for the one day as opposed to 95+ for this hunt. However i did hear that some of the prizes where better. If it was a bit more cost effective I would be in. I know the money goes into the hunts but for only 2 hunts a day it is almost 50 bucks per hunt. I wish some of these hunts where a little cheaper.

Got some more details:

Prizes for the ECRDA hunt will include a dozen detectors, including a Minelab Explorer and a Whites V-3i. Last year's prizes included gold coins & bars, silver proofs, and uncirc sets, even some really cool fossils and such from the NY/NJ Gem & Mineral Show. I've added some photos from last year.

Prizes for the Kids Hunt included detectors, a couple of bicycles, hobby kits, and more. Our club will be adding more stuff right up until the hunt.

There's an optional Gold Hunt on Sunday -- one out of every 5 hunters will win. Prizes include 1/2-gram and 1-gram gold bars, 2-peso coins, and a 1/10 oz American Gold Eagle coin. And we'll be raffling off Reales and such both days.

Since Minelab won't be doing a hunt in Atlantic City, we're expecting a lot more people -- so in order to make it a really good experience for everyone (and to not drive ourselves crazy), we're capping registration at 200 hunters.

Early registration ends April 30.

Hope y'all find that helpful. ;)
 

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Well I just sent in my money for the 2 day hunt, I got my hotel reservations worked out and I got the two thumbs up from the job and cleared for take off from the wife. Now we just need some good weather for that weekend.
 
Well I just sent in my money for the 2 day hunt, I got my hotel reservations worked out and I got the two thumbs up from the job and cleared for take off from the wife. Now we just need some good weather for that weekend.

Well, the show will go on rain or shine. The 2013 hunt was, shall we say, kind of wet, but last year was all sunshine. This year, who knows?

BTW, early registration ends April 30. We've also arranged discounted lodging; see our website for details and the registration form.

http://www.ecrda.org/2015-hunt-info.html
 
ECRDA 2015 Six on the Beach Review

On May 16th and 17th we attended the East Coast Research and Discovery Association (ECRDA) 6th Annual Hunt, “Six on the Beach” in Ocean City, NJ. This is a review of the event.

For this hunt, there was no competing Minelab hunt taking place in Atlantic City, so the event organizers expected a larger than normal turnout. In anticipation of the larger crowd, attendance at this event was limited to a maximum of 200 adults, plus kids. The cost for the event was $80 per day if you registered early for both days, $95 if you only signed up for one day and $125 per day if you waited till May 1st to register. Average price per day, $100 per person.

As expected, things were jam-packed on Saturday, but attendance was reduced on Sunday. Estimated crowd on Saturday was clearly at the 200 person limit, on Sunday, perhaps about 125. So let's call the average daily attendance at 165 people, not including kids.

Things started off on the wrong foot right away when the ECRDA failed to provide enough chairs for the event. Despite the fact that the ECRDA event organizers knew this event would be crowded, despite the fact that they capped the participation at 200 per day, they failed to provide enough chairs for people to sit in. No more chairs were provided despite repeated requests by the hunt participants. One ECRDA staffer suggested that we “take it up with the city”.

The ECRDA organizers also declined to provide enough food and water for the event. One staffer told me they would have provided bottles of water in the morning, but then “it would be all gone by lunch time”. Really? All gone? ECRDA could not afford to go out and buy enough cases of water at $7.00 per case to provide water in the morning and cover lunch too?

And when lunch came around, there was pizza, sausage and baked ziti for everyone – but God help you if you took more than one slice of pizza. A particularly nasty old woman in a florescent green shirt yelled at one of our group when he took two slices of pizza at one time (one was for his wife). This same shrew also screamed at my girlfriend when she tried to take a bottle of water (for her friend).

Now, bear in mind the numbers I discussed at the beginning of this review.

165 people per day, times $100 per person = $16,500 per day
Two days in this event = $33,000

ECRDA took in approximately $33,000 at this event, and spent some of that money on prizes. Top prizes were metal detectors worth about $6,500 plus additional smaller value prizes. Let's assume that another $5,500 was spent on other items and smaller prizes, that adds up to $12,000 in prize expenses.

Where did the remaining $21,000 go?

Well, it certainly did not go to provide adequate seating for the crowd. ECRDA told us that there were no more seats available in Ocean City that weekend because of other events taking place. Really? The organizers could not have called up a local party rental store and paid for about 50 chairs to be delivered? How hard would that have been? Or how expensive?

And certainly the money did not go toward providing adequate beverages or food for the crowd. From the scowls and screams of the ECRDA organizers each time a hunt participant took an “unauthorized” bottle of water, soda or slice of pizza, you would have thought it was like Oliver Twist at the children's orphanage, pleading, “Please sir, I want more!”

It was THIS BAD!!!

At the end of the event, I'm sure that all the ECRDA staff were patting themselves on the back for another hunt well done. Well guys, don't uncork the champagne just yet. This event was unorganized, it was sloppy, it could have and should have been done a lot better. When you are expecting a large crowd, be prepared. Have plenty of food and water available. Provide adequate supplies of bottled water from the beginning of the event all the way through to the end. Provide adequate seating. If necessary, get on the phone to a local party rental store and get more seating. If necessary, get on the phone and order more food and more water. And provide some training to your people, so that they smile and act in a friendly manner toward the hobbyists who are paying the bill for this event. If your people cannot put on smiles on their faces and be kind and courteous to their fellow MD'ers for two days, then they should not be working at this event at all.

There were many other people, besides myself, who commented on the overall hostility of the ECRDA staff, particularly regarding the manner in which the food and water were handled. It was disgraceful, unacceptable and made the participants feel unwelcomed.

As to the hunt itself – it was well done. On this score, the ECRDA shined. The rules were clear, the hunts were fun, everyone seemed to have a good time. This year tokens were hidden in the sand, and each token was exchanged for a ticket which went into the drawing for the big prizes. That was fun. The more tokens you found during the hunts, the better your chances of winning a new metal detector. Definitely fun for the whole family. And speaking of the whole family, the ECRDA even gave out shiny new bicycles to some lucky kids who participated in the kids metal detecting hunt. I have to give credit where credit is due, and the actual hunt part of the event was done flawlessly and perfectly.

Would we go back again? Sure. Other than the Atlantic City Minelab hunt, this hunt is really the only game in town on the east coast. And we had fun with our friends while we were there, despite the poor planning and organizing of the event. But hopefully by next year the ECRDA will get its act together and be properly prepared for the crowds. Better management of this event and better organization are needed in order to avoid the problems of this year. And the ECRDA people need to learn to smile and be friendly and positive to the people who paid to enjoy this event. It seemed like some of ECRDA staff actually hated being there. I hope the seating, food and water problems are completely resolved for next year's event, otherwise the participants will be the ones who hate being there, and they won't come back again the following year for another poorly run event.
 
I don't go to this hunt because I went to the hunt they sponsored in 2011 and it was poorly ran. My friend went to this years hunt and told me about it. The problem I have with it is if you found a token you were given a ticket for a chance at a prize. This is where I have a problem with it. If you find a token you should have the feeling if excitement of know you will get a prize not the hope of getting one. I was also told that the top prizes were an etrac and a v3i which are very nice detectors but I was also told that on Sunday there were seven detectors and about 5 were Ace 250s. So with what you spelled out to be 33,000 dollars they could have spent some in mid to high end machines. The previous hunts in AC where done by the sjmd club and almost all the the money made from the hunt was put into the prizes.
 
So to sum up, StratV3i - You liked the hunt, a lot, but you're complaining that you didn't get enough free pizza, and that maybe you had to stand while eating it? You aren't being entirely fair.

Seating:

We thought the city would have provided more chairs, but we didn't know until the hunt was underway that there simply weren't going to be enough. We, too, repeatedly requested more chairs on both days. We were then told, repeatedly, by several city workers, that we had to share with several other events planned (including a jazz concert) for that weekend.

As for simply renting more on the spot -- had we known, in advance, that the city would short us, we might have made arrangements. But on the day of the hunt? On a weekend? Good luck with that.

The free lunches we provided:

I was on the lunch line both days, and I neither saw nor heard any "screaming". Yes, we asked each person to limit themselves to one slice of pizza, because -- as you concede -- there was plenty of other food available. We tried to accommodate everyone as best we could, and there was, in fact, enough water for all; nobody went thirsty, or hungry.

I would note that we are all detectorists, like you -- and that we are all unpaid volunteers who put in months of planning, culminating in two very long days of hard work, at our own expense, to make the hunt fun for everyone. (Well, almost everyone.) A little understanding would go a long way.

Next year, we'll try harder. That's all anyone can ask. And if you want to help out, we'd welcome you -- and you can find out what it's like from our side of the table.
 
I don't go to this hunt because I went to the hunt they sponsored in 2011 and it was poorly ran. My friend went to this years hunt and told me about it. The problem I have with it is if you found a token you were given a ticket for a chance at a prize. This is where I have a problem with it. If you find a token you should have the feeling if excitement of know you will get a prize not the hope of getting one. I was also told that the top prizes were an etrac and a v3i which are very nice detectors but I was also told that on Sunday there were seven detectors and about 5 were Ace 250s. So with what you spelled out to be 33,000 dollars they could have spent some in mid to high end machines. The previous hunts in AC where done by the sjmd club and almost all the the money made from the hunt was put into the prizes.

It's been four years since the 2011 hunt, Briman; a lot has changed. And it's too bad you weren't there, instead of relying on second-hand recollections, because your friend is wrong about a few things. I should know; I'm one of the organizers, and like the rest of the volunteers, I put in two long days to make this hunt enjoyable for everyone.

We seeded a lot of tokens in each hunt, and every token was worth a prize. Maybe your friend didn't check out the prize cases, or he would have seen them: gold and silver ingots and coins, tons of proof and commemorative sets, 14k jewelry, and a lot more. Some tokens were eligible for a raffle, but MOST were redeemable for prizes. I must have handed out dozens of proof sets from my station, and I wasn't the only one handing out prizes.

We gave away about a dozen machines over the weekend, too -- including some Minelab Go-Finds that were so new that some dealers didn't have them yet. No, "about 5" were not Ace 250s on Sunday; your friend's memory is flawed.

As for these wild-eyed guesses about the profit we made: Frankly, it's none of anyone's business, but we don't clear as much as you want to think -- because we do, in fact, put all of the registration fees into buying the prizes. It says so on our hunt registration form, which you didn't read.

All of us who worked that weekend are detectorists, like you; we think we have a pretty good idea what a good hunt should be, and we try our best every year to make it one. All we can do is promise to try even harder, every year. Try it yourself, and see what you think!
 
ECRDA 2015 Six on the Beach Review

Paul,

Thanks for your comments on this. I know you did a great job with the hunt in 2014. But something was clearly off the mark in 2015.

I did enjoy the hunt, and I reviewed that part fairly, I gave credit where credit was due. You guys did a great job on that part.

I did not write “complaints”, I wrote a review of this event. There was no “free” pizza or beverages offered at this event. All participants paid for this event. “Free” is not the correct word to use here.

ECRDA knew about this event months in advance, and thought the city would provide more chairs, but nobody called the city to confirm this, or to check on availability of chairs for that weekend. Nobody called to check with the city to see if there would be competing events. No plans were in place in the event of a shortage. That's part of proper planning, and it was not done for this event. Did anyone call any local party planners to check on the availability of more chairs? No.

The cavalier comment about my having to stand while eating my pizza completely misses the point, and ignores the fact that there were women, children and some elderly people at this event as well. Does ECRDA even care if they had to stand around all day in the heat, with no water available and no place to sit? Apparently not.

Regarding the PAID lunches which were purchased as part of this metal detecting event, I was there and watched as the ECRDA staff admonished anyone who took an extra slice or bottle of water. I was right next to my girlfriend when one of your staff (the aforementioned shrew in the florescent green shirt) yelled at her as she tried to obtain a bottle of water for another participant at our table. And I was not the only one who noticed this hostility, other participants saw it as well. Maybe you missed it, but we certainly did not. Again, the manner in which the ECRDA staff treated the hunt participant was disgraceful.

I would also like to point out that my wild-eyed guesses are what other people call “math”.

There were three ways to pay for this hunt, $80 per day if you registered early for both days, $95 if you only signed up for one day and $125 per day if you waited till May 1st to register.

$80 + $95 + $125 = $300 / 3 averages out to $100 per person per day.

Conservatively estimating the attendance at 165 per day comes to

165 people per day, times $100 per person = $16,500 per day
Two days in this event = $33,000

Again, math.

If you disagree with my numbers, please feel free to provide the actual numbers, but please don't tell hunt participants that “Frankly, it's none of anyone's business”. Hunt participants who paid the fees for this event, traveled to this location and paid for hotels over the weekend deserve to know that their fees were spent properly toward this event, and not just adding to the profits of the ECRDA coffers. You guys could not even provide adequate bottle water for this event and you're telling us that how you spent the money is none of our business? Wrong. It IS our business, and ECRDA should have done more to provide for the people who were paying the bills.

Note to Briman: You are correct. Tokens went toward paper tickets which were then placed into a jar for a drawing at the end of the day. Also, regarding the prizes on Sunday, I was there, and I walked right up to the detectors with a friend to look over the big prizes for that day. There were exactly FIVE ACE 250s, one V3i and one small child size metal detector. Your friend's memory is not flawed. And neither is mine.​

ECRDA should know that you just can't take money from people, treat them this badly at an event, and then expect that nobody is going to talk about it. The ECRDA people who were rude at this event need to learn to treat us better next year and not scream at us over the food and water. Oh, and seats would be nice too.

I'm not backing off of my review on this event at all. Everything I said about this event was correct, fair and accurate. But I also think that Paul did a great job on this event in 2014 and I have confidence in him that he and his team will rally and do a great job again in 2016.

I'll be ready to write my review next year and let you know!
 
I am not sure I will ever do a hunt that is put on by this club again I did one when they were in AC in 2012 and it was for lack of better words horrible. The seeded hunts where run poorly the token prizes where good and if you found a token you got a prize but many of the top prizes where friends with the people in the club and some of the seeders where hunting in the hunts. Also they moved the gold hunt that year when it was on there schedule to be on Sunday. Instead of the gold hunt on Sunday they had the kids hunt and there were only 2 hunts for adults. I didn't complain but I didn't think it was right because I paid almost $100 for 2 hunts when it should have been 3 hunts. And after hearing the reviews I have heard I will most likely not do another hunts by the club
 
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