Questions for Candidates – New Initiatives

[Ray]

What New Initiatives would you be bringing to the BOD during the comming year?

[LightningBugs Mum]

As I mentioned in my bio thread, I would love to see us use some of our money to donate something to the parks that host our events. I envision a bench on a trail with a plaque and a small geocache hidden underneath it. The plaque would have the organization’s name, the event name and the date to commemorate it.

If the park doesn’t want a bench, then we would work with them to find something else we could donate such as an informational sign or whatever.

[Edit: I see that there is a seperate thread about this issue. Check it out for more about this.]

I would also like to see some kind of standarized thing that the members could download, fill out and submit to local police departments. The purpose of this would be to inform them what geocaches are, tell them where a new one is hidden, and show them how to find out about what others ones are in the area. The board would need to get the input from some departments as to how they would like this to be handled. But we need to be more proactive and set a standard to help prevent the bomb scares and handcuffing that has been happening. After all, we are not doing anything illegal and I think most police would be happy to have this kind of info ahead of time. I would like to see this communication made painless and simple for cache placers.

[zuma]

Regarding new initiatives:

I have several in mind, and will post on each of them seperately, as I flesh them out. This one is pretty well fleshed out to the point of introducing it, and soliciting input to improve it.

The one that would be a top priority is to develop a law enforcement training program related to geocaching and how it may interface with law enforcement. I am currently in the development stage of this idea, and all suggestions are welcome.

My intention is to develop a 30-40 minute program, probably on Powerpoint, and with sample geocache containers that can be taken to training sessions for law enforcement officers. I will be working on this idea this spring, and hope to present it first in Eau Claire and N. Fon du lac as trial programs. After I have field tested the program, revised it as needed, I would want to standardize it, and then provide “train the trainer” type of events so that other geocachers could then provide this training to law enforcement groups in their own areas.

Program content would include:
–What is Geocaching?
–How to tell if it is a bomb or a geocache.
–What’s that strange man doing in the bushes?
–What are the benefits of geocaching to law enforcement?
–Using GPS coordinates to locate a MVC or crime scene.

I think that I am uniquely equipped to develop this program, given my background in EMS education and the unfortunate incident in N. Fon du lac. Here are what I consider my qualifications for this undertaking:

–One of my caches was recently a cause of concern for law enforcement as a potential bomb.
–I have 11 years experience training EMTs and Paramedics, and much of that job was going to their squad rooms and setting up classes.
–I have completed many college level courses in educational methodology.
–I was a member of the curriculum develoment committee of the Wisconsin Technical College System that developed the current First Responder program, a program of emergency medical information that all certified law enforcement officers in Wisconsin are required to complete.
–I taught the First Responder program to many law enforcement officers in the 1990s, and while I might be getting a little rusty, I know their learning style.
–I am not afraid of cops. (Unless their blue flashing lights are turned on behind me for running a stop light cuz I was trying to figure out where to park in Chicago to grab a cache.)

I will add that I plan on working on this over the coming months, whether elected to the BOD or not. Whether elected to the BOD or not, I would want to serve on a committee that we form as a working subgroup of the BOD to pursue this. I would propose developing an “Education Committee of the WGA” to work on disseminating the training program that I hope to develop. An Education Committee would also be an asset to the WGA and could be used for other training programs that we develop.

I have noted many people posting about taking in written material to law enforcement. While this may be somewhat beneficial, the truth of the matter is that emergency services personel are deluged with notices and papers, and they do not have the time to read everything that comes in. A short presentation of the necessary information, with handouts and actual cache containers and actual GPS units that they can see and feel will be much more effective, I believe, and worth the effort.

As I said, this is in the development stage. I am very open to suggestions.

zuma

[GeoPink]

Please see my profile Post and more specifically the last two posts in This Thread for details.

In short, I will first work to promote a truly working BoD which will oversee several truly working committees to accomplish the work of the WGA.

[Cache_boppin_BunnyFuFu]

Boy.. this might be a toughie for me. Hmmm A couple things I was thinking about:

1. As great as our BOD is, there is a lot of work out there to be done and so few people can get everything worked on thru the year. Initiating a larger supporting BOD group may be in order. I am sure there are people who have interests in the WGA’s issues but may not have the interest in being ON the Board. This would allow them to partake, while being more indirectly involved. Just a thought!!

2. I would like to put more GEO in the word Geocaching, by educating on, promoting and encouraging more Earthcaches be created. These are not only interesting at times, but educational also. The greatest part is that there is typically no maintenance to them and you can create one anywhere, such as being on vacation and in National Forests. This is unlike a regular cache which we are no longer allowed to place at a distance. I know for a fact that Wyoming has a NO Earthcaches and after having lived there for 5 yrs… there is a ton of interesting prehistoric and geological stuff to see and learn about.

So…. that’s what I am looking at – 1/2 for the WGA and 1/2 for Geocaching in general!!

Thanks!! Anne

[NSLP1]

I’ll second most of those other suggestions 🙂

And I would like to see a more formal WGA put together handout to be able to give to community leaders, law enforcement departments, etc.
Powerpoint presentations don’t really work very well as a handout to give to someone during an initial meeting to discuss geocaching and then let them read it over later or have others check out. Some leaders/decision makers may be glad to agree to allow geocaching based on the simple presentation, while others may want something more.

I also think it would be good to have a nice form set up that we can provide those individuals (and law enforcement agencies) with a general description of the cache and its location, to help avoid the bomb scares.

We should also have a general prominent contact us e-mail address for further information. (if we have one, it isn’t obvious on our home page)

I think something like Zuma’s presentation would be a good option for the futher information.

[Team Deejay]

I’d like to add on to Anne’s suggestion, if I may, because I think it is a very good point. Another group I belong to has various teams (committees) to handle the various tasks, all of which have a board member as part of the team. Admittedly this makes the board meetings a little tedious, with all the team reports, but it does make it much easier to get a lot done. A set of teams which might work for us could include:

• Picnic
• Campout
• DNR/NFS Relations
• Local/County Parks Relations
• Law Enforcement/Fire Department Communications
• Membership / New member programs
• CITO
• …..

This would allow people to volunteer to work with the areas they are most interested in. Note that this would not need to be a “ByLaws” type of change to the organization, just a way to focus the efforts of our membership with leadership from the board. My experience with our group is that you can get help from a lot of people simply by asking. Most of our membership is anxious to give something back. We just need to channel this desire to accomplish big things.

[K0rpl]

First, I second what the other canidates have to say, and I especially agree with Zuma on the education of the law enforcement officers. I beleive that is a very important thing to do. Maybe if they know what we do, as well as what we are about, they will decide to look a little closer before calling a bomb squad or anything!!! I also would like to get more wisconsin cachers to atleast check out our website, and become members. I ahve meet many people out caching, that did not know what the WGA was. This needs to change. I also beleive we do need to give something back to the park, and Rec departments that support us. Such as volunteering to help clean up, or repair benches/picnic tables, and the like.

Justin

[gps_junky]

CRAP! I have already posted this answere. Well at least one of them…. Let me get back to you on this one! Gota think about about it for a day or two…… I gots a lot o ideas….

[AuntieNae]

I would definitely be in support of creation of a committee format for the WGA Board. These committees would then be led by a WGA board member but would reach out for WGA members to also play a role.

I can only see it increasing the effectiveness of WGA in accomplishing their goals. Each committee would have broader goals which would be broken into a timeline for completion.

[Author]

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