Should the WGA do more to promote CITO events?

[zuma]

Should the WGA do more to promote CITO events?

Thanks for your answers.

zuma

[JimandLinda]

I’m not sure about promoting it more, but expanding it would be good.

The CITO is a service that the geocaching people do to give back to the community. Along with the Adopt-A-Highway CITO in spring and fall, it would be good to have smaller, more local CITOs, too. We’ve all encountered messy areas while caching, to the point where you could pick up a bag full of junk and no one would notice!
If there could be a uniform list of guidelines for a CITO host to follow, more areas could be cleaned on a given day, showing the DNR, law enforcement, and other powers that the WGA is a responsible group of hobbyists.

I actually prefer the Adopt-A-Highway method of CITO… pick up trash until your done and head out, either caching or to some other project. Having combined CITO/meal/prize Events seem like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey. It may get more cachers there, but the community service should be the main draw. I do like the idea of a CITO the day before or the morning of a WGA Event, like the Picnic or Camping.

The uniform guidelines for a CITO Event would be the support that the WGA gives. Cachers could submit to the WGA some “trashy areas” for cleaning up (similar to the COTM nominations) in various areas of the state. The WGA could contact a local cacher in a given area to preview the spot and estimate the size of the “problem”. A small park or trail may need 5-10 people, while a State Park may need 30.

But a larger list of smaller areas shows the outside world that geocaching IS a statewide group that provides a service in their local community, not just Hwy. 10 and a few parks in the larger cities.

[labrat_wr]

I may come up with a more elaborate answer later but for now I wanted to touch on what Jim said about the donkey and carrot.

I do think that having some incentive is nice if it fits the budget (door prize/potluck/etc) but attending should not be a “what’s in it for me” prospect but just the opposite in “What can I give back to the community”.

having taken part in the Cache up and Mustard Out garlic mustard pull at Hartman Creek last year, I was amazed at the amount of material that we pulled in the one group I was with, and the appreciation of the park naturalist when we were done. It was raining for the majority of the time we were pulling but we understood why we chose to take part. That peace of mind was the only reward necessary.

Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.

[guidetoo]

my thinking would be if their is a natural disaster with in the state . have a group help with the clean up of the area.{giving back} You would be doing a great service plus helping with clean up using the cache in cache out thinking. to perhaps find a destroyed or distressed cache some place. I also agree that on days of a major event meet and greet another time should be chosen.

[Team Black-Cat]

The WGA has an obligation to support CITO. With that in mind, the WGA has already done quite a bit to support and promote CITO events. In 2011 we sponsored and/or hosted the Spring Adopt-A-Highway CITO, the Cache Up and Mustard CITO at Hartman Creek, the Appleton CITO and Pot Luck, The Gibralter Rock CITO, and the Spring Adopt-A-Highway CITO.
Should we do more? I could give the easy, vote winning answer and say yes, but the truth is, I don’t think we can do much more without more membership support. The WGA could sponsor one or two more regional CITO events, but actually hosting any more events will be spreading things pretty thin.

[uws22]

I don’t think it would be out of the question for each board member to host a CITO in the name of the WGA.

If we make this a tradition, as the board membership rotates, so would the events. It also does not prevent us from continuing the established locations like the road cleanup.

[Averith]

@uws22 wrote:

I don’t think it would be out of the question for each board member to host a CITO in the name of the WGA.

If we make this a tradition, as the board membership rotates, so would the events. It also does not prevent us from continuing the established locations like the road cleanup.

Kind of stole my thunder, this was what I had in mind as well. I think the WGA should make resources available to individuals (board members and members) to do CITO in their local areas. The boots on the ground so to speak in the local areas are going to know far better what areas are in need of CITO and what areas are not.

[Curly Girls]

I think the CITO is a great idea and fully support it. I have been to a couple events and I get a great deal of satisfaction taking part in it. However, just because there is no scheduled CITO event, does not mean that each one of us cannot feel empowered to carry a bag and tidy up while out geocaching. If you need an icon or someone to tell you an area needs clean up, then maybe you are doing it for an underlying purpose.

I feel having too many events will cause people to choose between too many locations and perhaps detract from event attendees and result in less thorough clean ups. There needs to be a balance in the number of CITO events as you will never cease to find places that need clean up. If everyone does their part and drags a bag along while out and about, there could be a much greater impact on the overall effort.

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