Something different| Super secret NOT!

[Lacknothing]

The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.

[Mister Greenthumb]

@hack1of2 wrote:

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

Just to let everyone know, this was my idea. The only secret is where the cache that Sunshine and I hid is. No one else knows. I’m not sharing the location with anyone, but for enough money it probably could be yours. I offered to make this happen as a new fun event for those who attend. I assumed that because it was announced that it was happening so that those without smart phones could possibly team up with someone who did. The coordinates will be posted shortly after publication for everyone else at the event.

Bill I have something better than money. If you tell me the coordinates ahead of time I’ll do a professional photo shoot of you at GC57FMW. I’ll give you until tomorrow to decide. 😉

I like your offer John and would take you up on it, but I don’t think you have a camera with a big enough lens.

[Ckayda]

I’ve never been to a WGA event but I’d be willing to bet that at least part of this is the fact that social anxiety/phobias are extremely common. People get in a situation where they feel like they’re the only one that doesn’t know anyone eventhough they probably aren’t….and they’re having trouble breaking the ice with people and they get anxious and feel helpless to do anything about it themselves so they put it on other people. “It’s not me that’s completely made myself disappear into the woodwork….It’s them being unwelcoming.” I only know this because I’ve been there. I’ve gotten a lot better with it over the years but, historically, I’ve been pretty extremely social phobic.

Here’s what I would do if it were my event and I felt that all of this was really a problem: I would include, in the schedule, at the beginning of the day a specific time and place for people (individuals…couples….pairs of friends etc) who would like to meet new people to cache with for the day (doesn’t necessarily have to be newbies…just anyone that wants to meet new people and/or not cache alone). The scheduled time would be brief…15-20 minutes tops.

I would have a few friendly outgoing volunteers who have more than a few finds under their belts and who, at least roughly, know the area agree to, almost covertly, attend the meeting and be willing to cache with a sort of potluck buddy or group of buddies.

People could choose to group up with each other or with the volunteers but, primarily, the volunteers role in the meeting would be to grab anybody who is still left standing there like a deer in the headlights at the end of the meeting.

Even if little to no people actually use this option it still sends a message that you’ve made space for the possibility that not everyone is going to know each other and that those who do might actually like to branch out.

[BeccaDay]

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

@hack1of2 wrote:

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

Just to let everyone know, this was my idea. The only secret is where the cache that Sunshine and I hid is. No one else knows. I’m not sharing the location with anyone, but for enough money it probably could be yours. I offered to make this happen as a new fun event for those who attend. I assumed that because it was announced that it was happening so that those without smart phones could possibly team up with someone who did. The coordinates will be posted shortly after publication for everyone else at the event.

Bill I have something better than money. If you tell me the coordinates ahead of time I’ll do a professional photo shoot of you at GC57FMW. I’ll give you until tomorrow to decide. 😉

I like your offer John and would take you up on it, but I don’t think you have a camera with a big enough lens.

😯 😳

Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien

[JimandLinda]

Some cachers don’t like Traditional caches, so they do multis, puzzles, letterboxes, etc.

Some cachers don’t like puzzle caches, so they do Traditionals, multis, letterboxes, etc.

Some cachers don’t like multi caches, so they…

Some cachers don’t like letterboxes, so they…

SOME CACHERS DON’T LIKE EVENTS, SO THEY FIND OTHER WAYS TO BE ACTIVE IN GEOCACHING, LIKE TRADITIONALS, MULTIS, PUZZLES, LETTERBOXES, ETC.

The purpose of holding Events is to get like-minded cachers together to socialize! I’ve never been a fan of going to an Event at 9 AM for 15 minutes, going caching until 11:30 AM, cooking lunch, going caching from 1-4 PM, popping back to maybe win a “prize”, cook leftovers, and go home. We can always go caching on days when there aren’t Events! We ALL do that!

If your not a social person, don’t attend! Or pop in for a few minutes to get an “Attended” credit and leave! Drop a TB for the Race and leave! I don’t mean to sound harsh, but the WGA can not adjust their Event to make non-sociable people suddenly feel warm and fuzzy! It doesn’t work that way, and no one should expect it to!

I will be attending the WGA Picnic on Saturday, at my leisure. I might stay all day, or I may not. Introduce yourself to me, if you see “JimandLinda” on my nametag. I’ll be as honest and straight forward as possible in our conversation!

By the way… as I attend more Events, I actually know fewer and fewer cachers because of the turnover in the participants. Seems strange, but we know cacher names better than real names in this crazy addiction!

[Lacknothing]

@Ckayda wrote:

I’ve never been to a WGA event but I’d be willing to bet that at least part of this is the fact that social anxiety/phobias are extremely common. People get in a situation where they feel like they’re the only one that doesn’t know anyone eventhough they probably aren’t….and they’re having trouble breaking the ice with people and they get anxious and feel helpless to do anything about it themselves so they put it on other people. “It’s not me that’s completely made myself disappear into the woodwork….It’s them being unwelcoming.” I only know this because I’ve been there. I’ve gotten a lot better with it over the years but, historically, I’ve been pretty extremely social phobic.

Here’s what I would do if it were my event and I felt that all of this was really a problem: I would include, in the schedule, at the beginning of the day a specific time and place for people (individuals…couples….pairs of friends etc) who would like to meet new people to cache with for the day (doesn’t necessarily have to be newbies…just anyone that wants to meet new people and/or not cache alone). The scheduled time would be brief…15-20 minutes tops.

I would have a few friendly outgoing volunteers who have more than a few finds under their belts and who, at least roughly, know the area agree to, almost covertly, attend the meeting and be willing to cache with a sort of potluck buddy or group of buddies.

People could choose to group up with each other or with the volunteers but, primarily, the volunteers role in the meeting would be to grab anybody who is still left standing there like a deer in the headlights at the end of the meeting.

Even if little to no people actually use this option it still sends a message that you’ve made space for the possibility that not everyone is going to know each other and that those who do might actually like to branch out.

Great suggestions. I almost wish I didn’t have two weddings this Saturday. Boo.

The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.

[hack1of2]

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

@hack1of2 wrote:

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

Just to let everyone know, this was my idea. The only secret is where the cache that Sunshine and I hid is. No one else knows. I’m not sharing the location with anyone, but for enough money it probably could be yours. I offered to make this happen as a new fun event for those who attend. I assumed that because it was announced that it was happening so that those without smart phones could possibly team up with someone who did. The coordinates will be posted shortly after publication for everyone else at the event.

Bill I have something better than money. If you tell me the coordinates ahead of time I’ll do a professional photo shoot of you at GC57FMW. I’ll give you until tomorrow to decide. 😉

I like your offer John and would take you up on it, but I don’t think you have a camera with a big enough lens.

Oh very nice!

[Ckayda]

Some cachers don’t like Traditional caches, so they do multis, puzzles, letterboxes, etc.

Some cachers don’t like puzzle caches, so they do Traditionals, multis, letterboxes, etc.

Some cachers don’t like multi caches, so they…

Some cachers don’t like letterboxes, so they…

SOME CACHERS DON’T LIKE EVENTS, SO THEY FIND OTHER WAYS TO BE ACTIVE IN GEOCACHING, LIKE TRADITIONALS, MULTIS, PUZZLES, LETTERBOXES, ETC.

If your not a social person, don’t attend! Or pop in for a few minutes to get an “Attended” credit and leave! Drop a TB for the Race and leave! I don’t mean to sound harsh, but the WGA can not adjust their Event to make non-sociable people suddenly feel warm and fuzzy! It doesn’t work that way, and no one should expect it to!

I understand what you’re saying and I don’t entirely disagree with you.

I highly doubt that people come to the WGA picnic just to get a smiley. That’s what “Last chance Flash Mobs” are for. I think people genuinely do want to be social but, in some cases, they may be falling flat on their faces.

I don’t see a problem with a few minor, easy to implement tweeks for the sake of being more welcoming and for the sake of the image of the organization.

However, yes, there can be a fine line between basic human compassion and babysitting people. We are all adults and it should never get to a point where people are taking personal responsibility for other’s shortcomings.

[Todd300]

I myself prefer small events to larger gatherings. Most events I’ve attended, I already know the cachers that are going there.

A few events I’ve attended were “classes” related to geocaching such as learning a bit about first aid, identifying poison plants or using GSAK (the latter which is not allowed anymore by Groundspeak).

Everyone plays the game however they see fit. I do it my way and others do it their way.

One of my goals is to attend a CITO event, something I’ve never done. Most CITO’s listed are either too far for me or I have to work. Hopefully I get to attend one next spring.

[isjustus4]

@Braid Beards Gang wrote:

Devil’s Advocate hat is now on:

There have been rumblings that people avoid the WGA and its events because they have the feeling of a high school cafeteria where all that matters is the ‘cool kids’. There are some that feel that the WGA and its membership are not very welcoming. This idea of a group FTF may be really fun and exciting idea for the picnic to the “cool kids”. Those who do not visit these forums/facebook or have notifications sent to their phones may just feel more like an outsider.

Not talking about the FTF portion of this at all, but at Cache Bash, I remember something about someone from the BOD asking a newer cacher why they were hanging around “the Riff Raff crowd”. Seems awfully cliquey to me, especially when it’s coming from the BOD. 🙄

Now to add to the conversation, even when I go to say, Cache Bash, I’m not the type to worry about 1/2 the events that happen there. It is good to see new ideas being brought to the table to keep things interesting though.

[Braid Beards Gang]

From what I heard, this was a success. A big thank you and pat on the back to the cache hider and the people that developed this concept.

I just wish I was a bit closer when it was published. I should not have skipped lunch to search for other caches. I thought it was fun as a “dumb phone” user to search out a “smart phone user” to get the coordinates.

It seemed to me that most people were having a great time.

[BeccaDay]

@isjustus4 wrote:

Not talking about the FTF portion of this at all, but at Cache Bash, I remember something about someone from the BOD asking a newer cacher why they were hanging around “the Riff Raff crowd”. Seems awfully cliquey to me, especially when it’s coming from the BOD. 🙄

Are you sure this wasn’t a joke? I can’t imagine anyone on the board saying this in seriousness but I can imagine several of us saying this as a joke. Who knows, it may have even been me. But I can assure you that if it was, it was a joke. It sure would be nice if we could be given the benefit of the doubt.

Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien

[sandlanders]

Whether it was a joke or not, we need to remember that not everyone is in on all the jokes we have going around. There have been times in the forums here that I have had to “explain” comments by long-timers to people newer to the organization. If we are representing the WGA at an event, or wearing our WGA gear, or on the board, or in a forum (except maybe the drivel), we should try to be on our best behavior to give new cachers correct information and a welcoming face. There are other times and places for the joking and silliness.

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