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awhip80 5 years, 6 months ago.
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Witihin the next 6 weeks, the new 2020 BOD will meet to plan out 2020.
If you have comments, suggestions, ideas, or anything else you would like the new BOD to cover, please post here.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
-Henry David Thoreau
What if the WGA was to offer financial assistance to its members for events of their own creation, creating a geo tour, or hiding of quality caches, just name a few. Of course the members applying would have to meet certain criteria.
Cache me outside
A couple things that I can think would make for higher member traffic:
Develope an app for our smartphones that would be an all inclusive go to place for everything that the website has to offer. Also, while making the website more user friendly.
I also would like to see the LCG expanded to include more lonely caches. They don’t hit the current list until they are more than 3 years not found. After doing some research online through GSAK, I discovered more than 5000 caches in WI that have not been found for greater than one year. I think this would really increase participation in my favorite WGA game.
I posted this as a separate Facebook post, but adding it to the official list. As it currently stands, I am unlikely to participate in the lcg as a vast majority of the caches are over 100 miles away. I previously enjoyed playing the game when lonely caches were in my area of southeastern Wisconsin. Wondering if we can change the rules of the LCG? There are very few caches on the LCG in southeast Wisconsin. I would like to see the list expand to all caches not found in the last 3 years. I would propose we expand the LCG list to all caches not found in last 3 years. Once those are cleaned up, go back to the top 500. Alternatively, another thought, separate the lcg into 4 quadrants of Wisconsin. 200 caches each, 800 total. Keep same rules, cachers can find lonelies in any quadrant they’d like. Would allow everyone, regardless of location, to play. Thoughts?
Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.
1. Change the WGA Facebook “page” to a WGA Facebook “group.” With groups, any member can post and see their message (and replies) immediately. You can’t do that with a FB page; it’s more like what a business would have to communicate their products and services. There are at least a half dozen Wisconsin geocaching FB groups that have lots of posts on a daily basis. It pains me to think of how so many of those posts could have been on the WGA FB site if they would have had the access to do so. Why have people go elsewhere? I just now checked on the three most active FB geocaching groups from WGA members: in the past 7 days those three FB groups have posted 270 messages between them. How I wish most of those would have been on the WGA Facebook site!
2. Bring back the WGA committees that non-board members can participate in. And call them committees and promote it. If committees currently exist they sure don’t have much visibility, which makes it more challenging to inspire others to participate. They seemingly have been buried for the past several years. I feel that if there was member involvement in committees it would invest more people in the WGA activities, as well as equip and prepare for future board members.
3. Actively promote the cache rescue portion of the LCG. It’s not only underutilized, most people likely don’t even know about it.
4. Post minutes of board meetings, both formal face-to-face board meetings and online meetings. There are some things in the online meetings that likely don’t need to or shouldn’t be reported, but a greater visibility of the BOD’s actions, discussions, and topics could lead to a greater awareness and appreciation of the WGA as well as its purposes, goals, and activities.
As many of you know I’m a fan of the WGA and try to help out in many ways. Always have. Please don’t interpret the above discussion topics as negative, but rather as for what they are intended: discussion topics for the new board of directors meeting. In any case the WGA is still my favorite organization, and I’ll continue to find ways to support and promote our organization.
Per Dawn’s reminder to post suggestions on the WGA forum instead of the FaceBook LCG site, the following is a suggestion on the Lonely Cache Game. Essentially it is to stop awarding bonus points for replacing missing caches (which encourages unmaintained, often crappy caches), and instead if a cache is to be replaced within the context of the game, it should be done as the cache rescue option. Here is the copy/paste from the FB site. It’s three separate posts:
POST #1
An interesting issue with the Lonely Cache Game is that of bonus points for replacing a cache “with owner permission.” If you’ve played the LCG for a while I’m sure you’ve noticed times when people have replaced a missing cache (with the owner’s consent “ahead” of time) to receive 5 bonus points. I’d remove that bonus entirely! I think it runs counterproductive to the spirit of the game. If it’s missing, don’t replace it, even with permission. Archive it if the CO cannot maintain it. I’ve come across caches that get found less than 1x/year and have lame replacement containers that should have been archived, but someone replaced it to get the bonus points. Wrong action with misguided motivation.
POST #2
I’m not keen on the idea of players replacing someone else’s missing lonely caches, even though it’s allowed and even encouraged by the awarding of extra points. I feel that once the replacement is placed, it still won’t get maintained, and the location blocks new caches from getting placed there. However, I thought of a cool workaround! Part of the Lonely Cache Game is an option called a CACHE RESCUE, which has to be requested/initiated by the cache owner (or the LCG admin). Cache rescues are for either removing physical cache containers and stages by others if the cache is being archived, or a request by the CO to rescue/repair a cache that they are unable to get to themselves in a timely manner. 10 points are earned for each cache rescue. Why not discontinue points for replacing a cache through current LCG rules, but allow (as always) points earned for cache rescues? That way the rescues are still initiated by the actual cache owner (or the LCG admin), rather than involving a cache that is no longer maintained and the cache owner is inactive and long gone. Makes sense to me.
POST #3
CACHE RESCUES
Benefits of Cache Rescue Removals requested by the CO:
• Clears out geojunk: removing containers for caches that have already been archived (This can be important to land managers and parks)
• Eco-friendly, cleaning up our green spaces
• Removes cache containers that are about to be archived but for whatever reason the cache owner is unable to do so at the time
• Doesn’t have to be a lonely cache that hasn’t been found in a long time; it could be caches that are found regularly
Benefits of Cache Rescue Replacements requested by the CO:
• Others can verify that all stages of a multi are in place and readable, and repair/replace stages if needed
• Damaged containers can be replaced per the CO’s instructions for those that are doing the rescue/repair
• CO has to request the rescue, so it helps the owner, the environment, and the person(s) doing the rescue repair
• Doesn’t have to be a lonely cache that hasn’t been found in a long time; it could be a cache that’s found regularlyI know of a lot of caches that have been archived and the caches are still in place, especially if it’s a series of caches or a powertrail. If you’re archiving caches and you’re the owner, without any desire of going out there to remove your containers, why not let us earn some rescue points and help you out? Submit those caches as cache rescues to be archived (or repaired). It’s a win-win for everyone!
Per Dawn’s reminder to post suggestions on the WGA forum instead of the FaceBook LCG site, the following is a suggestion on the Lonely Cache Game. Essentially it is to stop awarding bonus points for replacing missing caches (which encourages unmaintained, often crappy caches), and instead if a cache is to be replaced within the context of the game, it should be done as the cache rescue option. Here is the copy/paste from the FB site. It’s three separate posts: POST #1 An interesting issue with the Lonely Cache Game is that of bonus points for replacing a cache “with owner permission.” If you’ve played the LCG for a while I’m sure you’ve noticed times when people have replaced a missing cache (with the owner’s consent “ahead” of time) to receive 5 bonus points. I’d remove that bonus entirely! I think it runs counterproductive to the spirit of the game. If it’s missing, don’t replace it, even with permission. Archive it if the CO cannot maintain it. I’ve come across caches that get found less than 1x/year and have lame replacement containers that should have been archived, but someone replaced it to get the bonus points. Wrong action with misguided motivation. POST #2 I’m not keen on the idea of players replacing someone else’s missing lonely caches, even though it’s allowed and even encouraged by the awarding of extra points. I feel that once the replacement is placed, it still won’t get maintained, and the location blocks new caches from getting placed there. However, I thought of a cool workaround! Part of the Lonely Cache Game is an option called a CACHE RESCUE, which has to be requested/initiated by the cache owner (or the LCG admin). Cache rescues are for either removing physical cache containers and stages by others if the cache is being archived, or a request by the CO to rescue/repair a cache that they are unable to get to themselves in a timely manner. 10 points are earned for each cache rescue. Why not discontinue points for replacing a cache through current LCG rules, but allow (as always) points earned for cache rescues? That way the rescues are still initiated by the actual cache owner (or the LCG admin), rather than involving a cache that is no longer maintained and the cache owner is inactive and long gone. Makes sense to me. POST #3 CACHE RESCUES Benefits of Cache Rescue Removals requested by the CO: • Clears out geojunk: removing containers for caches that have already been archived (This can be important to land managers and parks) • Eco-friendly, cleaning up our green spaces • Removes cache containers that are about to be archived but for whatever reason the cache owner is unable to do so at the time • Doesn’t have to be a lonely cache that hasn’t been found in a long time; it could be caches that are found regularly Benefits of Cache Rescue Replacements requested by the CO: • Others can verify that all stages of a multi are in place and readable, and repair/replace stages if needed • Damaged containers can be replaced per the CO’s instructions for those that are doing the rescue/repair • CO has to request the rescue, so it helps the owner, the environment, and the person(s) doing the rescue repair • Doesn’t have to be a lonely cache that hasn’t been found in a long time; it could be a cache that’s found regularly I know of a lot of caches that have been archived and the caches are still in place, especially if it’s a series of caches or a powertrail. If you’re archiving caches and you’re the owner, without any desire of going out there to remove your containers, why not let us earn some rescue points and help you out? Submit those caches as cache rescues to be archived (or repaired). It’s a win-win for everyone!
These are great suggestions in cleaning up the LCG. It is clear that most of us that currently play the game think that there are a few things that need to be tweaked a bit in order to make it more user friendly and available for more people throughout all of Wisconsin. I also really like the suggestion from another post stating that there should be more member involvement with WGA committees. For instance, it would be nice to see the LCG committee comprised of one or two BODs and at least three members in order to get some improvements made to the game.
We would like to see a WGA Grand Event. Something special for the members, separate from the regular yearly events. A buffet lunch or banquet to celebrate the most successful State group in America!
Administration of “WGA Awesome Games” and “Cache of the Month” on the website. I have noticed that a few of these games are either no longer being played through the website or it has been quite some time since updates have been made to lists associated with the games. If they are no longer played or updated, maybe they should be put to rest to make more room on the page for something new and exciting or to simply free up room for areas that are getting traffic and attention.
We would like to see a WGA Grand Event. Something special for the members, separate from the regular yearly events. A buffet lunch or banquet to celebrate the most successful State group in America!
That’s sounds fantastic! Where could we hold such an event at a very low cost to the members? 😉
Administration of “WGA Awesome Games” and “Cache of the Month” on the website. I have noticed that a few of these games are either no longer being played through the website or it has been quite some time since updates have been made to lists associated with the games. If they are no longer played or updated, maybe they should be put to rest to make more room on the page for something new and exciting or to simply free up room for areas that are getting traffic and attention.
I assume that you are referring to the WGA State Park Series finders list and the 2018 TB Race. I agree, those should probably just be removed. The BoD has been talking about the Cache of the Month for at least 2 years. It has been tweeked a few times, but it just doesn’t seem to be able to gain any traction. I think that it may be going away soon, too.
All opinions, comments, and useless drivel I post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the WGA BOD.
We would like to see a WGA Grand Event. Something special for the members, separate from the regular yearly events. A buffet lunch or banquet to celebrate the most successful State group in America!
That’s sounds fantastic! Where could we hold such an event at a very low cost to the members? 😉
I agree that it sounds fantastic, but you bring up a couple good points, awhip80.
1) How much would the average WGA member be willing to pay for a banquet meal?
Would a pot-luck be a better option?
2) Where do we hold it so that it is reasonably accessible to everyone in the state?
Our fall picnic in 2018 at Devil’s Lake SP was well-attended. Would the WI Dells area be a good choice? Lots of
accomodations and camping choices in that area. A bit of a long drive for those in the northern parts of the state.
How about Rib Mountain/Wausau area? There is a nice new building at Rib Mountain SP.
What about a series of smaller events around the state? You could attend one near you or travel around the state.
Maybe one in each of the state parks (just kidding).
All opinions, comments, and useless drivel I post are mine alone and do not reflect the opinions of the WGA BOD.
How about these: suggestions:
Geocache Log Photo of the Year – Picture must be from an online geocache log; it makes it more closely tied to geocaching (but hopefully no spoilers?)
Geocache Log of the Year – It could make for some fun and interesting reading, and might inspire people to write more creative logs. This could potentially be voted on by the board only or by the general membership.
Russ, would you be willing to be part of the LCG committee?
Disclaimer : All posts are the opinion of the poster and do not in any way reflect on the WGA Board of Directors
How about these: suggestions: Geocache Log Photo of the Year – Picture must be from an online geocache log; it makes it more closely tied to geocaching (but hopefully no spoilers?) Geocache Log of the Year – It could make for some fun and interesting reading, and might inspire people to write more creative logs. This could potentially be voted on by the board only or by the general membership.i like this idea
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
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