Jeremy Vechinski – jvechinski

[Jeremy]

Campaign slogan: Just Do It!

Campaign platform: There are 3 main areas where I would like to see the WGA improve by undertaking a number of action items. Most of the action items are small tasks that can be fairly easily accomplished if we “just do it”. I feel the sum of these small actions would be a significant step forward for the organization.

Greater Communication And Interaction Between WGA Board And WGA Members

• Promptly publish meeting minutes and summaries of all Board discussions (even informal online discussions). The membership has been treated like mushrooms by the Board as of late… I believe many are getting tired of living in the dark and eating garbage.
• Maintain a record of all official Board votes. I would like the Board to adopt an electronic voting system. This system would make the complete voting record of each Board member publicly available for the first time. Right now it is impossible for the membership to gauge the effectiveness of Board members, figure out which ones support their views, or hold Board members accountable for their actions by potentially voting them out of office (because their actions aren’t known!).
• Create an online “suggestion box” where members can provide their opinions to the Board anonymously.
• Publish an email newsletter regularly (at least quarterly) to make sure less active members (i.e. those that don’t check the forums every day) are kept informed of what is going on with the WGA and geocaching in Wisconsin. The idea of a newsletter is not new or mine… however, we’ve got to “just do it” and do it regularly.
• Change the bylaws so that some of the Board members are elected on a regional basis. That would mean that regional elections would be held, similar to the way state and US representatives are elected from a particular district. Representative districts would have to be defined… likely there would be 4 or 6 districts. Each district would have one Board member, and the remaining Board positions/members would be chosen “at large” and voted on by the entire state. While there has been a decent geographic distribution of Board members in the past few years, we need to guarantee that in the future all areas of the state have a voice to prevent the organization from splintering.
• Amend the bylaws to prohibit future modifications of the bylaws without a majority vote of the WGA membership. I feel that being able to change the bylaws without any member involvement gives the Board too much power. Requiring a membership vote would also ensure that members are aware of important bylaws changes.

More Events And Benefits For WGA Members

• There should be a WGA sponsored WINTER statewide geocaching event in January or February 2009. I envision this as primarily a meet and greet event that would occur over a weekend. Again, this is not a new idea, but let’s “just do it” folks.
• The WGA should take care of its Adopt-A-Highway segment as required by the state. This means picking up trash at least 3 times a year, and all of these garbage pickup days should be listed as CITO events on geocaching.com. Additional CITO events or activities, possibly in conjunction with WGA events, should be explored.
• Regions of the state without a WGA Adopt-A-Highway segment (i.e. SE, NW, and SW) should get them in 2008.
• The WGA should host or sponsor one event in each region of the state annually. At a minimum, if an official WGA event isn’t held in a region, the WGA should provide assistance to local geocachers holding their own events. This assistance could include additional manpower/volunteers/planners, money for shelter or park reservations, and materials such as temporary cache containers, signs, banners, download equipment, etc.
• The WGA should make a concerted effort to bring a regional “mega event” to the state, such as the Midwest Geobash.
• Laminated nametags should be provided to new members who request them. These would be the same as those currently given those folks who attend a WGA event… we’d just create and mail the nametags to the new members.
• The Board should investigate the possibility of group discounts for members. This could include price breaks on state park stickers, group buys on popular GPS units, and reduced prices on software and other registrations (i.e. GSAK, CacheMate, geocaching.com premium membership).

Better Recognition Of The WGA And Greater Awareness Of Geocaching In Wisconsin

• Build awareness of the organization among people new to the sport by creating a WGA “Welcome Wagon”. Welcome Wagon volunteers would contact new geocachers in their region, offering a friendly hello, answering any questions they might have, and pointing them to the WGA website.
• A system should be put in place to handle requests to the WGA for educational assistance and other geocaching help from the community at large. The organization gets many such requests and it is important that we don’t drop the ball on any of them (to avoid giving the organization a black eye). We also need to have a single preferred method for non-members to get in touch with the leaders of the organization and advertise this method so it actually gets used… right now, information requests come into Board members via personal email, via forum posts, and by contacting the webmasters or past leaders, creating unnecessary confusion.
• The WGA should develop a common set of materials (PowerPoint presentation, brochures, handouts, props, etc.) for teaching beginning/beginner geocaching classes. These materials would be made available to members to help them teach or describe geocaching to those in the community.
• Join WPRA (Wisconsin Park & Recreation Association), and ensure that all parks managers and public officials are familiar with geocaching. Work with land managers who wish to adopt a notification form or some other formal documentation of geocaches placed on their land… attempt to steer them to a policy similar to one used by the Wisconsin DNR, or at least one that would be acceptable to most geocachers (no costly permits or arbitrary restrictions on where caches can placed).

Geocaching Qualifications

These are my geocaching credentials and my past experience with the WGA.

• I have been geocaching since 2001 and currently have 1400+ finds. I have found a geocache in all 72 counties in Wisconsin and on most DeLorme pages. I have traveled extensively throughout the state, which includes driving on all numbered highways in Wisconsin and visiting nearly all Wisconsin State Parks.
• One of the WGA Founding Fathers. I helped plan the first WGA Geo-Picnic and the first WGA Geo-Campout, and was there when the original bylaws for the organization were developed and adopted.
• Volunteered as a webmaster since the initial inception of the WGA website in 2002. I was responsible for the “new” WGA website (complete redesign) introduced in 2006.
• Served on the WGA Board of Directors, 2003-2004. I was the first Secretary for the organization.
• Continued a high degree of involvement with the organization following my 2003-2004 Board term, including assisting with the 2005 and 2007 Wisconsin geocoin sales. I also created printed materials, helped organize temporary cache hides, and volunteered my time for numerous WGA events, including both of the WGA events in 2007.
• Acted as backup geocaching.com reviewer/admin for Wisconsin, 2003-2004.

Personal Info

• I’m 30 years old and single, and work as a Software Project Engineer responsible for safety and redundancy products at a leading industrial automation firm.
• I live in the SW corner of Milwaukee, between West Allis and Greenfield.
• I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and will finish up my master’s in Engineering Management someday.
• Some of my other hobbies include motorcycling, journalism and writing, home improvement/renovation, gardening, and photography.
• I have a personal website with too much additional information about me: http://www.vechinski.com

If you made it here, thanks for reading my entire manifesto. 🙂 There are a TON of excellent candidates for the Board this year, and I believe all of them would do good things for the organization. But I would appreciate your vote, and feel that I have a great combination of outstanding experience and a get to work attitude (“just do it!”) that together will allow me to implement some lasting improvements in the organization.

[3 Hawks]

WOW!! You even applied a “Reader Focused” writing style.

[Author]

Posts