Changes

[Team Black-Cat]

Congratulations to all candidates on your nomination! I’ll start things off with a nice, easy question for all of you.

Geocaching has changed somewhat in the past ten years. Do you think that the WGA has kept pace with the changes, and if not, what direction do you envision the WGA taking in the future?

[The Crippler]

It is my opinion that the WGA has done an excellent job with keeping up with all the changes of the last 10 years. One area that needs to be addressed is how to engage the occasional and younger cachers more. These are the cachers that may only find occassion to cache a few times each year because their lives are filled with many other things. These cachers are clearly who Groundspeak is paying attention too and so should the WGA. Another area to explore is looking at joint partnerships with neighboring geocaching associations in terms of either pooling resources or working on regional events. It is also clear that a formal educational program for local officials and law enforcement would be an area that could be strengthened as well.

[Barry Butrymowicz]

Over the last 6 years that we have been geocaching, the game has changed quite a bit, locationless, virtuals and webcams, have become Waymarks. (Still to this day have not figured out that site myself) and GC as a whole seams to be shifting towards a simple container hidden somewhere. The WGA has evolved quite a bit since then, Working with the state park systems to be able to place caches on DNR Land, The Cache of the Month Awards now by Geographical areas, and Just the upgrades to the Site itself.

In the future, now that the WGA has divided the state into 5 geographical area for the COTM, I would like to see a WGA sponsored event at least once a year in each of the areas. I do understand that logistically that this can be quite a distance for some to travel, but a board member should try to attend each of these events also. Willingness to travel should also be part of being a BOD. GC.com is only getting bigger and better, and we are on keeping pace with them.

[zuma]

The biggest way that geocaching is changing is in the type of person who caches and the way that they cache. When I started caching, the game was populated by a combination of outdoors people and technology people, all using dedicated gpsr devices.

The trend now is for many more casual geocachers, people who may not be tech savvy (other than owning a smart phone) and who may not be very interested in other outdoors activities either. This is fueled by the ease it has become to find a couple of caches using a smart phone, and never actually hold a gps in your hand. These casual cachers. using smart phones as their primary geocaching device, are very different to the techie outdoors people who were first were attracted to geocaching.

This trend is going to grow at a much faster rate over the next 2 years, compared to the past 2 years, as smart phones penetrate more of the market. GC.com recognizes this fact, as evidenced by the way they are making their site more and more smart phone friendly. Garmin recognizes this too, and is the main reason that they are starting their opencaching site, a site that I suspect that they will make as smart phone unfriendly as they possibly can.

So, to answer your question, how does this change affect the WGA. First of all we need to understand the trend, and understand that a lot of this new breed of geocacher has no more interest in joining a geocaching association than they do an “Angry Bird Forum” or any other smart phone game group. It is just too small a part of their life for them to actually want to join any state association.

And second, we need to understand that while 2 large annual events each year met the needs of the people who first got started in geocaching 10 years ago, this is no longer the case. We need to move towards having more events, smaller events and regional events in all parts of the state. This is the main reason that the board worked hard last year to sponsor 12 different WGA events last year, including the traditional 2 large events, 7 CITOs, the new winter event, the pancake breakfast and one regional event.

zuma

[Northwoods Tom]

New guy on the block here!

Forgive me if I pull a “done that, don’t work” comment. I will echo but expand on some key points I’ve experienced or see.
1. Getting young members involved. Lets come up with programs to get geocaching in the schools. If not for GizFinder and his class I took in Appleton 2 summers ago, this teacher would still be behind the curve. Workshops for educators, donated GPS units to schools, local workshops. When I brought in my GPS units to my class and the kids started using them, it was great! I created more geocachers that have now taken the hobby home. It’s a drop in the bucket, but it’s a start.

2. Local law enforcement has to be educated. I’ve been working with police for almost 30 years in EMS yet even I felt like a second class citizen when I got pulled over by a police officer near Wausau after finding and signing a cache. Even after I explained what I was doing, showed him the GPS and cache, he still ran my license and plates.

3. The Lonely Cache page and Cache of the Month are WINNERS! I love the regions and plan on seeking out those winners when I travel those areas. I tend to place caches in out of the way places and The Lonely Cache Page puts those hides back on peoples radar. I realize why the regions are broken down the way they are but is there a better way? Should a geographical distance be considered?

4. A WGA sponsored event in each geographical area is a win-win situation for everyone! How about a session on how to run an event! Even small groups getting together more times in more locations throughout the state can be a plus. Sessions on the technology which is changing faster than I type are needed. Look at the posts, people need questions answered on how to utilize it. I’m going to get to my regions events as a member or board member (unless the ferry boats not running…)!

Tom Hokkanen

[Northwoods Tom]

5. Don’t know why I forgot this one last night, but it slapped me in the face this morning. Baby Boomers! Watch the news, read a paper (Boy, you can tell I’m in that group.). It’s a growing demographic. More leisure time, money to spend on their hobbies, looking for activities that involve getting out and doing healthy activities like walking and hiking. I think this is going to be a big group in the coming years that will be looking at this activity to see “what does it offer for me”? Lets be ready.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

Thanks for the question Brian.

I have been caching for half of the time that you have mentioned, but I have seen many changes in that time. From the types of caches offered, to the types of people planting and finding them. There has also been a rise in the variety of geocaching related web-sites and listing sites.

I believe the WGA has kept pace well. I had only two concerns in the past, one that our web-site was getting dated, and two, that we here seemed to only cater to geocaching.com.

However, in the past two years, the past year especially, I’ve sen these things changed, and I’ve participated in those changes by serving on the committees. Our logo is new and fresh, as is the web-site, with many, many more changes to come. I believe we will be leading the way in this area very soon!

As for my old concern on geocaching.com being our primary source, I feel now that this is only true, because it’s what the members choose to make it. Most of us use GC.com as our primary, so that is going to be what we talk about primarily. Makes sense. And any member is more than welcome to post about other listing sources at any time, and I’ve seen this recently.

So yes, I believe we are keeping with the times, and are headed in the right direction. The WGA has many, many great volunteers right now, all working very hard to make it the best it can be.

[Averith]

Over all I feel that the WGA has adapted well to the changing face of the game. Areas that I feel we could improve upon are:

1. More outreach to youth groups (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc…)

2. Increased use of “social media” like Facebook, and Twitter. (which we are beginning to do)

[AuntieNae]

Geocaching has definitely changed and evolved over the years. I have also seen and been part of the WGA also changing.

I really think we need to get more members involved .. it might take that “each one .. reach one” asking for help so we can accomplish more than what the Board of Directors can do. More regional events + more CITO events + more members getting involved = success.

[Scrappy Scout]

Geocaching has changed a lot since we started caching. It has evolved to where some people are caching for numbers and others are caching for fun and some caching here and there. I think the WGA has kept up with the times but needs to improve. Some areas we need to improve on are but not limited to:

1)Getting the younger crowd to get involved and keeping them involved.
2)Keeping the older/experienced members.
3)Getting news or other media organizations involved and showing them the importance of what the WGA does and stands for.
4)Getting the public involved with events like CITO or meet and greets.

Those are some of the ideas that I came up with at this current time.

[Author]

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