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First of all, I am very involved with church activities; conducting the children’s choir, teaching Sunday School, planning Vacation Bible School, taking the kids on field trips, church work days, etc. I also spend quite a lot of time supporting my children in their various activities; sports like basketball and soccer, swimming, archery, cake decorating, 4H, helping out regularly at their school, and just taking them out into the world to explore. Our family is very close and we do a lot together so we’re always taking road trips, hiking, canoeing, snowshoeing, visiting museums or shows and concerts. Yes, several of those things also involve picking up a few geocaches but this game does tend to permeate your life a bit as it can be done while enjoying other things other than the numbers. I also enjoy reading a variety of books and playing strategy board games with friends and family. I like to sew, especially quilting, and do other crafts like woodburning and scrapbooking. My family has been in 4H for years and so I’m often helping out our club with various activities but I also started a new Geocaching project for the county. I could probably go on and on because I like to try a variety of things but these are the big ones.
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
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.
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
01/22/2015 at 10:04 am in reply to: Do you have the WGA logo and link on all of your cache hides? #2033954OK, updated the last couple and now they do. 🙂
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
Chocolate!!!!!
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
With 9 different personalities on the board, your opinion may not be the one chosen by the group. How will you handle this? Can you tell us about a time this has happened to you?
Well this certainly has happened on my 2 years on the board. There have been times that I’ve made suggestions that weren’t taken for sure. And some of those times I’ve found that there was a very good reason why my suggestions weren’t taken, and sometimes I still think my suggestion was good but so was someone else’s. I think that it actually makes us stronger to not be of the same opinion in all things. I think that things could get really stale if we didn’t change things up or try new things. While it can sting a bit when you’re excited about something and that enthusiasm isn’t shared, it still can be a very good thing to collaborate on WGA tasks and activities. I’ve been very impressed with ideas and help I’ve seen from my fellow board members over the last two years.
…and those less enjoyable tasks (like washing dishes or typing up event descriptions), how do you feel about spending your time doing these things while everyone is off caching or socializing?
Well typing up event descriptions can be done at home so it doesn’t interfere with socializing at events but I certainly have had a time or two where I had to forego going caching with friends because I needed to get the newsletter done or some other WGA task. But it’s OK, I enjoy doing those sorts of things too. And I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had doing those dishes at events. Yea, I didn’t get to socialize with everyone but I had so much fun being a little silly with the other volunteers while helping out. I mean, when else do you get to have a deep and soul-searching discussion about whether noodles belong in chili or not?
One last piece: How will you handle having to lead something that is outside your comfort zone such as talking in front of a large group or coordinating a pancake breakfast for example?
Well, there’s a difference between something you aren’t really able to help with and something that would be a challenge. For example, when it comes to doing the work of the webmaster, I am hopeless. I just don’t have the skills necessary for that job. But approaching people that I don’t know at events is sometimes very hard, but I am able to push myself to do that. I do try and walk around and meet new people and have found that pushing myself to do so has given me the opportunity to meet some really excellent people.
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
Ha! I wondered when that one would show up. But do I have to choose? I know most people are dog people or cat people but I like both. I grew up with cats and rabbits as pets and loved them all. 2 1/2 years ago I got my first dog and I just love her like crazy! Many of you have met her at different WGA events because she often comes with us and will beg for pancakes from just about anyone at the campout pancake breakfast. So puppies or kittens? Eh, they’re both adorable! Oh, we also have a pet snake.
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
By any chance does anyone have Greyhounder’s old avatar saved? Maybe Pat with all of your puzzles?
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
Uh oh, here they come. I can hear them out in the hall.
This post is hilarious! Oh, the pitter patter of children in noisy, clunky snow boots all set to disrupt the calm of a quiet classroom. 😉
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
Just got a text, not working at all today and she wants me to give up my last week of my two week notice. See, I’m doing them a favor by quitting. Now what to do with myself with a whole week off? Hmmmmm…..
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
I’m only working a half day today, if that, and the kids have a half school day. Woo-hoo, Thursday is $5 day at the waterpark.
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
01/21/2015 at 8:52 pm in reply to: Do you have the WGA logo and link on all of your cache hides? #2033917*Hangs head in shame* Aw man, I forgot to put it on the last couple that I just put out. The rest have it though. I agree, that’s a great way to spread the word about the WGA.
Now I’m off to fix my cache pages….
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
I’m off to go do my school orientation for my new job!!!!!
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
Hip hip hooray!
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
Do you like pie? Puppies vs. kitties? Deciduous or coniferous? Where are all of the silly BOD candidate questions this year???
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
To bring the dog or not to bring the dog? That is the question. When planning a caching day that the dog would enjoy but then ending at an event it’s hard to say. What to do with her during the event? We can stay out to play longer if we bring her though. Decisions, decisions.
Oh the woes of the short geocacher!
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