Here is the complete text of the regional events policy. It is long and boring so I wanted to keep it out of my initial post. 🙂 The latest version of the policy will be maintained in the wiki.

WGA Regional Events Policy

Whereas the Wisconsin Geocaching Association is interested serving the interests of geocachers everywhere within the state of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Geocaching Association would like to encourage the development of regional WGA events. Therefore the WGA has developed the following policy to define regional WGA events and outline rules regarding how they are approved and executed.

1. All regional WGA events need to be approved by a majority vote of the WGA Board of Directors. Approved regional events shall be allowed to use the WGA name and logo in advertising and in the cache page listing. Regional events must include “WGA” or “Wisconsin Geocaching Association” in the event name, with the remainder of the name dependent on the event location and nature of the event. The words “campout” and “picnic” cannot be used in the name of the event.

2. WGA regional events can be held any time during the year desired, except during the month of May and the month of September (to avoid conflicts with the existing state-wide WGA events).

3. WGA regional events must include at least one Board of Director member in the planning of the event (a Board member sponsor). The chief planner does not need to be a member of the Board of Directors, but should be an individual trusted by the Board to plan an event in the best interests of the WGA and geocachers in their region.

4. Regional events shall be allowed to use any and all existing WGA equipment for the event, with the event organizers responsible for transport.

5. Regional events will be listed on geocaching.com using the Wisconsin Geocaching Association user account. The Board member sponsor will be responsible for creating the event cache listing and will handle all updates to it. Regional events shall conform to all the guidelines set forth for WGA events by the WGA Board of Directors.

6. Requests for WGA regional events can be made by any WGA member by submitting a written proposal to the Board of Directors. (Submissions can be made electronically via email or private message to any Board member.) Required information in a WGA regional event proposal include:

– Date of event
– Location of event
– Description of event
– Estimated attendance
– Board member sponsor(s)
– Names of other WGA members helping with the event
– Necessary equipment or promotional support (GPS download equipment, online registration system, nametags, mention in email newsletter, etc.)
– A budget of all anticipated expenses for the event (see below)

7. Those planning a WGA regional event will submit a proposed budget for the event as part of the written proposal. The budget should describe any anticipated use of WGA funds in detail. WGA funds may be requested for things like shelter reservations and supplies; however it is not necessary that this be done. Smaller regional events that have no expenses or do not wish to use WGA funds may note this in their proposal in lieu of a formal budget. All funds collected at any WGA regional event will be forwarded to the WGA Treasurer for placement in the general WGA fund.

8. Proposals for WGA regional events must be made at least 4 weeks in advance, and ideally 8 weeks in advance, of the proposed event date. Proposals for events scheduled in less than 4 weeks from the submission date will not be considered for approval. The Board reserves the right to not consider proposals submitted less than 8 weeks prior to the date of the event.

9. Organizers and planners of WGA regional events will be asked to submit a short summary after the event. This post event debriefing should include what went well, what could have gone better, how many people attended, what lessons were learned for next time, and how WGA goals were furthered by the event. The post event debriefing should also include a final accounting of expenses and revenue from all sources if WGA funds were used.

@cheezehead wrote:

@Jeremy wrote:

1. All regional WGA events need to be approved by a majority vote of the WGA Board of Directors. Approved regional events shall be allowed to use the WGA name and logo in advertising and in the cache page listing. Regional events must include “WGA” or “Wisconsin Geocaching Association” in the event name, with the remainder of the name dependent on the event location and nature of the event. The words “campout” and “picnic” cannot be used in the name of the event.

HUH? 😕 😕
And the reason for this would be……..???

Yes, the reason for this rule was to avoid confusion with our annual statewide events. But on second thought, it may be excessively restrictive.

We always specifically brand the statewide WGA events as Geo-Picnic (tm :D) and Geo-Campout. So I think there would be no confusion if we specifically excluded the use of those, plus required “Regional” to be used if “Picnic” or “Campout” were also in the name.

Thanks for the feedback guys!