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What does SNG stand for?


Creeker

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Official

NSPN Private

+----------+----------+

RSVP | usual |occasional|

+----------+----------+

Show-n-Go |occasional| usual |

+----------+----------+

The "usual" boxes are what we ordinarily call "Official NSPN" and "Private" trips. But the "occasional" combinations are not only theoretically possible, they have their uses and do happen.

For example, on Bob Burnett's Triumphant First Return to the area (2003?), we ran an official NSPN trip in Gloucester Harbor to which everyone was invited, without prior sign up. So, it was an Official Show-n-Go. (As the official leader of that trip, however, it was a bit of a nuisance to get all the names and data written down in duplicate, from scratch, on the beach.)

An organizer might use the Private/RSVP format if they want to guarantee some contact with the participants beforehand, say to insure someone actually planned to show, to coordinate time and venue, or to communicate about the level of the trip and make sure people are well warned of possible conditions. (Whether the latter would expose the "organizer" to more legal liability than a Private/Show-n-Go I'll leave to the lawyers.)

I'm mentioning this not to be pedantic, but to help dispel some confusion that often arises, and to help make folks aware especially of the Private/RSVP option, which can be useful.

--David.

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It is interepreted by the bulk of members and readers as a trip that someone proposes to take, a "Show and Go". On such trips the proposee has the option to request and/or ignore RSVPs an doesn't guarantee that they will be there. In essence, the proposee may choose not to "Show". On such trips attendees have the option to RSVP or simply show up at the declared time; if they RSVP (requested or otherwise) the proposee may let them know if circumstances have called off the trip. From a liability point of view, all attendees are responsible for assessing the conditions, etc. and making a decision whether to pariticpate and assume no assistance from the other paddlers. From a practical point of view, the postings or other means of communication include information about weather and/or other attendees and participants assume responsibility for each other as a courtesy.

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I actually think that Mr. Lewis was too brief in his explanation of the term SNG vs private trip---I'm not sure he covered all the possible permutations of the terms.

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>I actually think that Mr. Lewis was too brief in his

>explanation of the term SNG vs private trip---I'm not sure

>he covered all the possible permutations of the terms.

Quite right. Please see my upcoming book -- Theory and Practice of Show-n-Go and Private Trips Throughout History, Volume 1, Tripping in Ancient Greece and Rome -- publication expected in May 2007, just in time for the new season.

Now, gotta get back to writing...

--David.

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Theory and

>Practice of Show-n-Go and Private Trips Throughout History,

>Volume 1, Tripping in Ancient Greece and Rome

Rats; starting with Ancient Greece. I was looking forward to your treatment of Noah's journey as the provisioning details would be of great interest, but I suppose that leaves more room for a thorough treatment of Odyssus's journey which hopefully will include a description of the appropriate BCU strokes for navigating Charybdis and Scylla.

Ed Lawson

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When the change in nomenclature to "Private Trip" was made, it was declared that there would be no more official trips that did not follow the rules for official trips, ie., posting on the calendar, RSVP mandatory, screening of participants by the trip leader(s), etc. NSPN has only one type of official trip now and all others fall under the "Private Trip" category.

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>

>Now if we used a different model... ummm... just speculating

>;-)))

>

Just as an observation of trips happening this past summer season and not to throw a grenade in the room, it would seem SNG or private trips have become the mode or model of trips available to those looking for paddling opportunities on the NSPN website.

As an aside, I personally believe anyone planning on joining a SNG/ private trip should be capable of determining whether a trip is or is not within a level of difficulty they want to try which means doing some homework and understanding what conditions are like on the date of the trip. When I saw folks asking SNG/private trip posters what the NSPN level the proposed trip was and if they had the skills to go on the trip, I must say it gave me pause to post a SNG/private trip. As a rank beginner, I did not mind asking others to go along on a trip assuming we were all making informed choices and taking the risks we willingly accepted, but I really did not feel competent to guide or make decisions for others nor to put those who would likely be along who had more experience and skills in the position of doing so either.

So it seems to me there may well be a segment of the membership whose expectations concerning SNG/private trips may not be in harmony with the concept and that might be a problem. I rather suspect this coming summer will tell us all a great deal more on this topic.

Ed Lawson

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