This topic contains 8 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by 
AuntieNae 10 years, 8 months ago.
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One issue that has always been a challenge for a state-wide organization is this: how do we keep a big state-wide group…state wide?
Obviously, population centers tend to have the lion’s share of activity. Regional facebook groups are a great way for people in different population areas to make connections, but as a member who has seen this shift occur, I’ve noticed something else…the main group seems to have sputtered out to a large extent. Not all of us have facebook, or even if we do, want to join a multitude of groups to stay connected.
What ideas can you bring to help us hang together instead of separately?
I am going to be blatantly honest. I used to be more into the WGA forums but rarely got a response to posts or they did not apply to me. Being on the board would definitely make them apply to me. Even worse when you would start to hash things out you would get berated for not following the status quo or whatever it was. Now that has been a while ago but that will chase a newbie away after so much of that. Being on the board I would never let that start to happen again. Some might not like what I am saying but if you can’t take criticism you will never better yourself. I started my own groups and placed caches and started planning events. A change happened or something inside the group did and I came back this group and have been enjoying it more and more and do not want to see it loose ground or fade away. If I didn’t believe in this group I wouldn’t be running. I love this sport too much and want to help it grow with the WGA.
When there are events nearby I like to put them on my public page http://www.facebook.com/teamnorthwoodsgeocaching When I am hosting an event I post it on 7 different groups and the MnGCA. That is the only thing I can think of that the WGA can do. Go out to all of these pages and groups when there is an event or some special news and post about it on every group and page available. If there is a topic in the forum that you want more input on. Post the link on every group page. When you see members of these groups come to the events. Say stuff like nice to see the Coulee Region Cachers came out or some of the Up North Geocaching Association made it. You have to be all inclusive. Make them happy by telling them you appreciate their support or they will just break off and do there own thing.
The little groups are here to stay and the WGA must use all these groups to further participation. This will show all the groups that yes there are all these small regions but the main central group for the state to get together is the Wisconsin Geocaching Association.
One Group to Rule Them All.
***Opinions expressed are mine alone and will change based upon new information. ***
A few ideas:
Smaller, regional WGA sponsored events.
Hook up with locals and offer to help sponsor or just co-host events throughout the state. Think of it as similar to Grass Roots campaigning. Surprisingly, there are many that do not know the WGA exists. I know when I joined in 2009, I had been caching for 5 years before I stumbled across the group.Host How To events
How to host an event…a CITO, do puzzles, etc.
More CITOS!
Host bigger, fun events.
Have you participated in any of the new game within the game events? How about a WGA sponsored Poker Run, Waterfall Tour, Road Rally, etc. Let’s keep the fun in the Association and lead the way and continue to innovate. Give people a reason to travel and meet new friends- be a part of a bigger group.
Keep the BOD diverse and seek out those cachers in different areas of the state to volunteer and serve.
With 9 Directors, we should have representation from more than just the population centers. We do well with this now. Lakewood (NE), Wild Rose (Kinda Central WI), Milwaukee, Eau Claire, Neenah (NE WI), Sheboygan and Madison areas. This year there are candidates from Bruce (NW), Sheboygan(Eastern), Sturgeon Bay (NE), Sparta (Western) , Milwaukee, Fox Valley (NE) and Eau Claire.With the new website, there are some great new features we can begin to explore.
More blog-type posts from members across the state…how about a Post Your WGA gear pictures from vacations to trips to famous locations. Those would be fun to see on the website- imagine T&B with their WGA gear at the Eiffel Tower, Brain Bard’s Gang in Times Square…Ostermi in Washington D.C.Encourage the use of the Suggestion Box on the website
There are so many members with great ideas- I know I don’t have all the answers but you all do.Encourage more members to become involved in everything we do. Great way to meet new people and look for potential BOD members. I think we should always be trying to find people to replace us. That keeps the Association strong.
The WGA does so much good already, keep doing it but do not be afraid of trying new things. Make sure we all (each member) adds the WGA Cache Page Banners to all of their cache pages. It will direct anyone that clicks on it to our website.
Following the signals from space.
A few ideas: Smaller, regional WGA sponsored events. Hook up with locals and offer to help sponsor or just co-host events throughout the state. Think of it as similar to Grass Roots campaigning. Surprisingly, there are many that do not know the WGA exists. I know when I joined in 2009, I had been caching for 5 years before I stumbled across the group. Host How To events
How to host an event…a CITO, do puzzles, etc.
More CITOS! Host bigger, fun events. Have you participated in any of the new game within the game events? How about a WGA sponsored Poker Run, Waterfall Tour, Road Rally, etc. Let’s keep the fun in the Association and lead the way and continue to innovate. Give people a reason to travel and meet new friends- be a part of a bigger group. Keep the BOD diverse and seek out those cachers in different areas of the state to volunteer and serve. With 9 Directors, we should have representation from more than just the population centers. We do well with this now. Lakewood (NE), Wild Rose (Kinda Central WI), Milwaukee, Eau Claire, Neenah (NE WI), Sheboygan and Madison areas. This year there are candidates from Bruce (NW), Sheboygan(Eastern), Sturgeon Bay (NE), Sparta (Western) , Milwaukee, Fox Valley (NE) and Eau Claire. With the new website, there are some great new features we can begin to explore. More blog-type posts from members across the state…how about a Post Your WGA gear pictures from vacations to trips to famous locations. Those would be fun to see on the website- imagine T&B with their WGA gear at the Eiffel Tower, Brain Bard’s Gang in Times Square…Ostermi in Washington D.C.
Encourage the use of the Suggestion Box on the website There are so many members with great ideas- I know I don’t have all the answers but you all do. Encourage more members to become involved in everything we do. Great way to meet new people and look for potential BOD members. I think we should always be trying to find people to replace us. That keeps the Association strong. The WGA does so much good already, keep doing it but do not be afraid of trying new things. Make sure we all (each member) adds the WGA Cache Page Banners to all of their cache pages. It will direct anyone that clicks on it to our website.
That is why he is the POTUS with the mostus!
***Opinions expressed are mine alone and will change based upon new information. ***
Follow up answer:
The WGA isn’t the 9 Directors, it is the members. The BOD just helps to set things up and is to be a sounding board for the members and always putting their best wishes first.
For those of you reading this, what have been your experiences with the BOD (either current or past). Did we/they meet your needs, listen to you, encourage you, offer support? I know I’ve talked and listened to members from Racine to Door County to Ashland to SE WI.
Following the signals from space.
One issue that has always been a challenge for a state-wide organization is this: how do we keep a big state-wide group…state wide? Obviously, population centers tend to have the lion’s share of activity. Regional facebook groups are a great way for people in different population areas to make connections, but as a member who has seen this shift occur, I’ve noticed something else…the main group seems to have sputtered out to a large extent. Not all of us have facebook, or even if we do, want to join a multitude of groups to stay connected. What ideas can you bring to help us hang together instead of separately?
That is a very good question Gwyn, and one I’ve tried to be very mindful of. The WGA represents the whole state of Wisconsin, not just the largest populated areas. When I started my term on the WGA board I took up the job of creating the newsletter. With each newsletter I sought out 3 member-written articles. I tried very hard to make sure that the authors of these articles were from different parts of the state. Go back and check if you’d like, I think there was only one where I had 2 from SE WI and for whatever reason I was really struggling that quarter to find content and so I bugged some of my friends to contribute. I felt that this was a way to make all members feel included, whether I was seeking their articles or just including their local caching “neighbors”. Oh, and BTW, if anyone is reading this post and would like to contribute to the newsletter, I’m always looking for content! 🙂
I really like the policy that the WGA already had in place when I started that the two biggest events (campout and picnic) are alternated between the 4 quadrants of the state. But even within the quadrants it can be a bit of a drive, WI is a decent-sized state! When we held the fall picnic at Governor Thompson SP in NE WI we were farther north and reached a few member who said they’d never been to a WGA event before because they’d always been too far away, which was very cool. But on the other hand, that event was very poorly attended because of how far away it was and not near a larger city, which was disappointing. So what’s the answer there? I guess keep trying to reach our members as best we can.
One way to do this is to sponsor more member events, such as CITO’s. For years the WGA has had a policy where we will contribute money and support to regional events but few take advantage of this. We even did away with some of the hoops that members used to have to jump through to make this an easier process. I think that our members just don’t realize this is available to them so I’d like to try and reach out to more groups around the state and see if we can get a few more of these scheduled and attend them, if I can.
I have been living in SE WI for all of my caching life (is that a thing?) until a few months ago and now live in NW WI. I am excited to get to know more of the cachers in the northwoods and hope to have an event up at our cabin in the spring.
Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien
For those of you reading this, what have been your experiences with the BOD (either current or past). Did we/they meet your needs, listen to you, encourage you, offer support? I know I’ve talked and listened to members from Racine to Door County to Ashland to SE WI.
Recently the support of the current board has been great. I was having a hard time getting people to sign up for the Makers workshop and event. I had the Cornell school booked and everything but not a lot of people signed up. I reached out to the WGA for some help. There was not a whole lot the WGA could do but what you did do made a huge difference. Walkingadventure reached out to me and even gave me his cell number. I called and he answered and we talked about some different ideas to help out and that was all I needed. Someone to reach out to. Make sure I was doing all I could. and the event turned out fantastic. Here is the event GC4ZQ51
When I was down at the Mirror Lake event fishing at one of the little mini-events Saturday morning. A couple board members came down and talked to me to see how some of my events were going and reached out to me so that if I needed any help I should ask them .
What more could ask for than that? It was great and I really felt part of something bigger.
***Opinions expressed are mine alone and will change based upon new information. ***
I happen to belong to a few of the different regional facebook groups and it is hard to keep up with all of them. I am not trying to encourage just the regional groups but I think since many of us are on the different regional groups we should make sure we post links to the events on these pages also. The more we “advertise” the events, the more people will see them, and hopefully this will mean more attendance.
I also agree with Walking Adventure that smaller regional WGA sponsored events is a great way to keep the group together. It is also a great way to grow the group. The more regions we cover the more the WGA is known. To know us is to love us!!!
How do we keep the state wide group … a state wide group? Our strength is our membership. It is important to recognize that WGA was founded when geocaching had just started and there were far less geocachers and geocaches. Regional groups are evolving as more people get involved.
Within the Parks & Recreation field, we have the Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association and, 4 regional groups that represent members within the 4 regions of the state. The regional groups typically meet monthly while we have a state wide conference and educational sessions.
I see the regional geocaching groups that are evolving as a positive thing for the WGA just as it has been for the WPRA. Far too often people think the WGA is just the members on the BOD, it is not, it is all the members. WPRA rotates the events around the state in an effort to reach members. Members organizing regional events is a further win. Regional CITO events would also be a win.
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