I get a ton of memorial benches and other memorial objects with “memorial” even in the title, wouldn’t it make sense to automatically filter out anything submitted that is titled a “memorial” being its part of the prohibited “sensitive locations” or am I misunderstanding the rules and flagging these all wrong?
Memorial benches very frequently are in public areas like parks. Why do you believe they are " sensitive"?
Frequently a memorial bench is erected in an area that the person used to frequent, or they were instrumental in getting a large public works building put into place. Automatically down voting a memorial bench I think is a miss step unless there are compelling reasons to do so such as said bench very clearly being in a private residential back yard.
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Sensitive Places aren’t a 100% Y or N ban like schools. They depend on the culture of the area.
There are exceptions for famous people.
There are places with memorials that offer guided tours, gardens, walking pathes, even parks.
There are memorials that arent active except as historical sites.
The idea is when your reviewing to becareful, but it is far trickier than say some of the other clear cut rejections.
As an aside, even some churches which are auto-accepts, really fit in the “Sensitive Places” category if you know the church doesn’t want outsiders or finds it disrespectful to be on your phone, it should be pointed out to the church how they can requst POIs removal.
Welcome to the forum @Jerad!
The review flow does list memorials as sensitive sites for rejection under “Appropriate,” so this is a great question to ask. I have a different row highlighted but is on this screen snip.
However being a memorial is not a blanket must reject, as explained in these clarifications:
So you do have to use your best judgement on nominations that are memorials. But it is good to know you read the tool tip!
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Makes sense, I had been accepting them for a long time but then at some point I noticed there was a rule against it and that got me all confused lol, but thanks for the clarification!
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This area has many things to consider.
A memorial plaque at a cemetery, of a person dead less than, say, 50 years - could have active mourners - and is not a great place to socialize, exercise, or explore. Imagine visiting your Mother’s grave on her birthday, and finding five people gathered around it playing on their phone. This plaque’s purpose is for the mourner, not the gamer.
Many “memorials” are plaques you can buy. This fundraiser is trying to sell 10,000 of them Adopt-A-Bench | Central Park Conservancy These usually don’t engage a visitor at all, and only means they have friends or family with enough money to buy one.
Another memorial (not at a cemetery) could have a carving of the person’s face, a list of their accomplishments, and an endearing story about them. This could be a great place to explore and learn about someone who helped make your community what it is.
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Here are some of my acceptances that contain the word memorial, all are appropriate in their way. I can see where you were going with this, but there are many ways that a Wayspot nomination might be appropriate and still contain the word “memorial” in the title or the description.
This plaque is on the outside of an arena that is used for box lacrosse.
Baseball diamond in a park that contains the word memorial in the official title.
A plaque on a bike path named for a notable member of the community.
This memorial is outside of a VFW in the US, and is designed for you to walk in and read the name of those who died, and pay your respects for their sacrifice.
This is one of those things that have nuance, you are correct that a portion of the nominations should never be made as they are not eligible and potentially inappropriate, but there are also many that are eligible.
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I am fairly new to reviewing, have only been doing it for a couple of weeks, so I have a clarification question, the sentence “Memorial benches can only be eligible under the criteria for exploration if they are…” is explicitly giving criteria for when they can be accepted under the “exploration” section – but wouldn’t any memorial bench in a publicly accessible location automatically qualify for the “Socialize” acceptance criteria, so even if you thumbs-down the exploration criteria, a publicly accessible memorial bench would still generally be an acceptable waypoint?
Welcome and great question! Wayfarer requires a lot of using your best judgement. To me, most benches are just not interesting, as they are just a place you can sit. But I do consider all the evidence the submitter presents in the nomination, and can be convinced.
I believe this clarification was made because so many generic plaques were being submitted - and often approved - that have no interesting reason for visiting.
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Not including the exceptions of Artistic Bench OR Famous Memorial to me there are 4 distinct placements of Memorial Benches.
1st) On a trail.
I’m very likely to accept these. They tend to fit the same logic on why a trail marker is acceptible. They motivate people to continue on the trail (exercise) and can be a necessary rest stop for disabled and/or parents with small children. They can also be a gather spot for runners to meet for a run together. Let’s meet at XYZ bench on trail, is something i’ve done. I’m a big vocal supporter of accepting these types of benches and will vote for them.
2nd) in a park
This can be used as a gather/social point in a park. It’s iffy for passing, but sometimes does. I tend to look at park and see if this seems like a spot I’d tell my children to meet or as a parent, sit and watch them play and talk with other parents.
3rd) in front of a business
This almost never passes. Sometimes businesses will put a bench in front, but I almost never see these pass.
4th) it’s not the Bench that is nomination. Sometimes a memorial bench will be used as a Man-Made (Required) Anchor for something else. A park with no sign will pretty much guarantee passage using a bench as anchor. A scenic view will sometimes pass, depending on how good your pictures and the view is.
Memorial Benches are iffy to varying degrees depending on your local reviewer culture.
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I am the opposite.
Then it is not a great place to be social per criteria
Completely and wholeheartedly agree with this. As I said, it is on the submitter to convince me there is something special about the bench that merits it being a Wayspot. This is a great list of ways it could.
Why? Not every country uses trail markers along trails, we have a 50 mile trail in my state that has zero markers. What it does have is rest stop memorial benches along the way. And the benches are definitely unique to that location as each plaque is different and unique to that location.
Does a bench on a trail serve this exact same paragraph about Trail Markers?
I’d say yes it does.
And that doesn’t even include the importance of these rest stop benches for the disabled or parents
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And I say it does not. A bench is there to stop, not to encourage you to keep going. Thank you so much, though, for illustrating what I was telling the OP to
but we have strayed away from the discussion on “memorials”
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This is where local culture and local judgement. Usually in this case, it’s not a singular bench, but I’m fairly open to group of benches as one wayspot. I know of one local park where there are 4 or maybe 5 of these gathered around a playground equipment. There are always groups of parents at those benches chatting while the kids play. Definitely designed to encourage gathering. But again, mileage varies and I am talking about multiple benches as 1 spot rather than each individually.
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love these! definitely a place intended for social gathering. submit and accept them!
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You have a fairly interesting distinction in your views that is difficult to wrap my ahead around as it appears fairly contradictory.
You liked the idea of a bench serving as a physical anchor for a view
But don’t like the idea of a bench serving as a physical anchor for part of a trail.
The trail is what is eligible and what Niantic says is eligible in the trail marker clarification… The bench just serves as a physical anchor for a unique location the same as a trail marker does.
Mind you, everything is just opinion, I just find your distinction between bench as a physical anchor for a view and a trail unusual.
“Memorial” is a very gray area as others have pointed out.
To add more to this, I know of several sports arenas that have the word “Memorial” in their name, eg. War Memorial Auditorium. I’ve also seen theaters similarly named. Bridges and other public structures may also contain the word “Memorial”. Then we have memorials and monuments in public spaces. Most of these could be fine submissions.
The whole wayfarer process is often very subjective. “Use your best judgment.”
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There are always different ways of looking at things. 
I have been very ill in the past and knowing there was another bench a short distance away encouraged me to keep going. 
Being able to sit on a bench enabled some people to stop for awhile and chat. That was great exercise and socialising.
Locally there are now several schemes to fight loneliness and other mental health conditions by encouraging strangers to sit on a bench and socialise.
A humble bench can have a lot of benefits that fit criteria.
I’m not saying it applies to every bench ( who knows it might only apply to a handful) and personally the little plaque is totally irrelevant most of the time, but like so much in Wayfarer the context and the story behind an object is important.
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This!
I don’t know how this conversation circled around from my statement here explaining that you can’t blanket reject all memorials.