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The time I could have used the most help when I was caching was when I brand new, in fact I almost returned the GPS unit and said forget this since I had no idea how to enter coords. I also remember silently cursing a reviewer when writing up my first hide.
So my question really is how can we at the WGA do a better job in assisting newbies so that they can have a better initial caching experience?I think that most people will probably have their first caching experiences before they stumble onto our site. I did, but on the other hand I’m always pleasantly surprised at the number of people who come to the boards and talk about how excited they are to try geocaching. Welcoming atmosphere is one thing, and I think we have that cornered. I really think we have the kind of forums where a newbie can come in and not be made to feel like one. We have a new member forum that does see activity.
But, that’s all without lifting a finger. To improve a new cacher’s experience we have to know that they exist, which is going to mean them coming to us. We have the WGA banners available for cache pages, and googling Wisconsin geocaching will get you here in the end. So virtual presence isn’t a problem in my eyes. The one thing I can point toward is having more events around the state so that those new cachers have somewhere to come and get that shiny new unit figured out, talk to like-minded people, etc. You don’t see a lot of wallflowers at geocaching events because it really is a social sport.
That’s going to take more than just the board of the WGA though. Events can be posted, and hopefully will be, but if we increase the number of WGA events we’re going to need volunteers, as no matter how much the board makes themselves available they’re also not a 24/7/365 volunteer event staff. To make events scattered around the state we’re going to need people in those communities to stand up and represent.
As long as we’ve been adding specialized forums, why not something like “Ask a Cacher”? It might be the easiest way for someone to get an answer to a question rather than trying to choose an appropriate forum. Pin it right at the top of the list too 😀 .
I think the board would do well (I’m sure they already have been) to keep their ears to the ground to find new opportunities to reach out to those folks who know nothing about us as an organization.
For example: for the past two years, the LaCrosse Sports Commission has hosted a geocaching event. I know Brian has been on here to let folks know of it, but we attended, and I didn’t see anything there to let people know about this resource right here. We did as participants, but it would be great if somehow, even the print presence were available.
A second thought: many of us keep coming across geocaching in spots we wouldn’t have expected. A good case in point is a brochure I picked up in the teacher’s lounge just today for this business:
If you go to the website, geocaching is one of the listed activities, with the comment that “an experienced geocacher” is one of their members. I don’t know who she might be, but I’d like to know if she’s part of the WGA and lets interested folks know about us.
Basically, I think it’s up to the organization to reach out where we see possibilities and continue to welcome newbies into the fold. I like the idea of an “ask the cacher” forum Seth suggests. We have a newbies corner, but that seems to be more to find each other.
I think Seth mentions the first hurdle that we face is that many cachers have their initial experience geocaching long before they find the WGA site. I know that at the bottom of the WGA Forum page there is a list of “who’s on-line” and shows who the most recent person to register with the WGA. I only wonder if GC.com has some resource we can tap into to show who the Wisconsin cachers are as they register with that site.
As far as what can we do to educate the new cachers once they find us here at the WGA, here is an idea that we may persue.
There are many cachers out in the organization that have held Geocaching 101 events as well as advanced topic events such as Marc and his Puzzle event series. There are also those who have given presentations to other groups to introduce the sport of Geocaching. The one thing that we could do (I say “we” as the WGA members, not necessarily only the BOD) is to compile some of this educational material in a location available to the members. Perhaps another link on the page to educational materials. What that could do is to bring together some standard content that all new cachers could learn about the sport. While many meet up with new cachers in the field, and relate to them much of what they need to do or how they perceive the sport, some place to give them some solid basic teaching and tactics may keep these new cachers who have a difficult start to things interested and willing to keep trying.
I went over a year without knowing that I could enter coordinates on my GPSr. While this didn’t stop me from caching, once I learned I could do that, my interest picked up and it became more fun than it was before.
I know of one veteran cacher that still doesn’t enter waypoints but is a real caching animal and can manipulate the coords in his head so he knows exactly where he needs to go. This information could also and most likely should contain some basic cache submission information. I agree that submitting a cache report and having it kicked back can be frustrating when you thought you had it all okay to go, but sometimes the best layed plans can go bad. Whether due to placement, proximity to other caches, unauthorized content, whatever. Some initial guidelines would be nice to have from those who have gone through the rejection before (check the puzzle cache thread for more on this).Now deciding on what content would be standardized, that might take some work.
Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.
My proposal is Education!
Our Geocaching 101 classes, held primarily in Greenfield and Waukesha have been very well received. It is not only a presentation but an opportunity to find a variety of caches with an experienced geocacher. It would be great to see more classes held across the state to give others this same experience. We have an Education Committee so it could be a task to collect/ develop presentations and make more available here on the website. The next step would be asking members from the various regions across the state to take on a class and make it happen. I know there are many Parks & Recreation Depts anxious to host classes.
As mentioned by AuntieNae, the availability of education through Geocaching 101 classes offered by fellow cachers or classes offered by Parks and Recs are the most beneficial for Newbies.
Several of us have held GC 101 classes or have helped out State, Co and local Parks & Recs Depts with the classes they would like to hold, one of which I will be doing in March for a Milw. Co. Park.
Getting the word out there is beneficial also. The WGA welcomes any advertisement of classes either via calendar for official GC events or within the forums. The best the WGA can do is encourage current cachers to lead newbies to the WGA site and have newbies utilize the site, ask questions and/or for help to lead them in the right direction.
Currently the WGA has HTMLs that people can place on their Cache pages, to help lead cachers in the right direction. We also have a Community Education Committee, which is a forum situated in the Leadership Forums. Cachers who are interested in helping out with Community Ed, can ask to join that committee. We frequently get requests from organizations looking for help with clases that the communitee can attend.
Thanks for the question!!
I’ll start out agreeing with Renee on this one. Educational programs such as hers get newbies off on the right foot and are a big reason for the steady influx of new cachers in the Milwaukee area. Getting some WGA support for these programs would be a good thing! One of the things we can do is try to coordinate these training programs with local libraries, schools, and park and recreation departments. We’ve done this sporadically with the DNR at state parks (who are always looking for programs during the summer to fill their calendars), but I suspect we would get a lot better results if we worked with local organizations in urban centers, rather than state parks which tend to be more remote.
A more “off the wall” idea might be setting up a “mentoring” program for new cachers. This is, of course, dependent on getting them to come to the website, but I suspect a program where a new cacher could ask for a mentor and members could choose to take on that role would be successful. Think about how hard it was to find that first fake rock, that first nano, that first suspension cache, and that first fence post hide. Having a more seasoned cacher along to help with those first few tricky ones might keep some of these people in the sport. Plus, we can always use a few more friends to cache with, right?
I also have to agree with Renee (AuntieNae) and Dave (Team DJ) on this one. I think that education opportunities are key and because I believe that I assist at classes as often as possible as well as offer opportunities to groups that express an interest in the sport. I do want to add my extra two cents in here as well. . . As an organization we need to be proactive and purposefully offer a greeting to new people and assistance to them. We need to find ways to help new cachers in our state as well as a way to welcome out of state cachers to WI. I try to do this as an individual by replying to logs written to my caches when I see a new caching name or a mention of being new to geocaching or to the area. Mayber an outreach committee would work to fill this need.
I think that one of the primary goals of the WGA should be to help new people learn the ropes, and assist new people along the way.
I propose revitilizing the Education Committee to work with groups in education, and making training available. This committee did excellent work for about a year, but has recently grown dormant, and we need to get it going again. This will likely call for soliciting new members to the committee interested in helping with the educational process.
I also propose starting a new Membership Committee. This committee of board and non board members would reach out to new cachers and find out what help they may need, and offer that. That might include classes in GSAK and kind of a geocaching 201 type thing to learn the tricks of the trade that make caching more enjoyable than just printing out a paper GC page and manually entering coords.
The membership committee should also be sending out welcoming emails to new members of the WGA as they join, and ask them what questions they may have and find out what help they may need.
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