[Commander Bob]

Self imposed restrictions? I think different cachers have different abilities to maintain as many or as few caches as they see fit. As long as they have the time and resources to keep their caches in good maintenance, I believe they should be allowed to have as many caches as they like. I do understand submitting 4 or 5 at a time might be a bit much, unless it’s all part of a series. If the burden of approval is getting to be too much, then by all means, let’s add more approvers.
One question I do have is this, do approvers have to be WGA board members? It seems to be an added burden to be both an approver and a board member. Maybe with one less iron in the fire, the approval process wouldn’t seem so taxing.
It seems kind of hypocritical that people get all giddy over seeing Geocaching in the news, broadcast on television, and generally becoming more exposed everywhere, and then upset when the growth begins to become a burden.
I miss the old days, when hardly anyone knew what we were up to. When it was a real treat to run into a fellow cacher on the trail. When you recognized almost every name in a logbook. When you got a personalized e-mail from the beast welcoming you to the family. And when a breakfast event didn’t shut down the entire restaurant. Ahhhh well…
On the other hand, with the cost of filling the tank almost equal to the monthly car payment itself, it is good to see more caches pop up closer to home. So I guess it’s a win-lose proposition.
Just my 2¢
~CB

[Commander Bob]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cashed Out:
Looks like there was a couple that just did this series. If you need a little help you could give them a call. I’m sure they would be glad to give a clue or two. Just a thought.

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Fortunately Team Badger has a history of bringing together the best cachers in our area. With so many talented “troops” along I have the utmost confidence we won’t be needing any clues from previous finders.

It is unfortunate however that the aforementioned couple, in thier haste to one-up the team, didn’t have the same recon intelligence as us, thus missing out on the newest addition to the series Geocaching-1001.

Team Badger has always been, and will continue to be, more about the camaraderie, having a good time, and making great memories. We choose our locations more for the journeys than for the finds. It’s too bad some people will never understand that. But thanks for the thought anyway.
~CB

[Commander Bob]

EDIT—NO
DELETE-NO

(I have a strong opinion/reason for both, but Russ did say he could delete this thread if I post “undesired comments”)

…and I’ve heard he has an itchy trigger finger.

~CB

Following text intended for amusement only!

[This message has been edited by Commander Bob (edited 01-31-2006).]

[Commander Bob]

WZ…Who?

[Commander Bob]

Double congratulations on both the 200 finds and the great job with the contest. Thats a really cool pic! Enjoy your new legend.

CB&MB

[Commander Bob]

Although my communications officer (AKA: MajorBrat) has already stated some opinions on this subject, I feel the need to bring up a few of my own concerns.

First off, I’m wondering what compelled the board to consider this change to begin with. Is it because of outside opinion (read disagreement, disapproval, etc.) from cachers who have never attended a WGA event? What we do as the WGA should be of and about the members of the WGA and to heck with what others think. I attempted to give credibility to our practice on the GC message boards, with less than stellar results. The majority of those opposed to the practice shared one common belief, that we were only doing it as a way to inflate our numbers. As wrong as that view may be, it may appear so to others. The only practical solution is to have a specific category for temporary event caches, but seeing as how TPTB have categorically denied such a solution, we are left with our present dilemma. Either we do away with logging temporaries altogether, or we continue to circumvent the system by logging multiple attended logs on our event pages. Many people have read into the decision to change event caches from “found” to “attended” to mean Jeremy Irish doesn’t want temporary caches to be logged, which is not the case. Here is his official quote:

“To get into step with Cache In Trash Out events, I have added two log types, “Attended” and “Will Attend” to allow people to RSVP for events and to log them once the event has occurred.
The “Attended” log type counts as a “find” so the “Found It” item (which didn’t really make sense anyway) has been removed”

There was no hidden agenda against stopping temporary event cache logs. Jeremy also had this to say:

“Temp caches aren’t allowed on the site. And as I indicated in countless threads in the past, I think logging attended twice for an event is stupid, and posting additional logs to “match” whatever “count” you determined your numbers should be is equally stupid. However I have no plans to be the point police and create complicated rules for determining what counts as a find.
That is up to the cache listing owner to decide.”

They neither care to nor wish to be involved in this discussion, and I have to agree with them that it should be left up to the individual cache owner to decide how logs are permitted. What we don’t need is more rules telling us how we should or shouldn’t play our “game”. (Apologies to Cathunter)

My second concern is about the events themselves. Like it or not, the opportunity to gain significant numbers is an appealing draw to many cachers. With today’s demands on everyone’s time, many families have to choose carefully how they spend their free time. Not to mention the extra time and gas it takes to drive hours from home to attend an event. Sure the camaraderie is great, but there is a common ground to everyone who attends, the opportunity to do something we all love to do…find caches! We are all Geocachers first and foremost. It’s what we love to do. It’s what we talk about. It’s what we eat, sleep and breathe! Well ok, maybe some more so than others, but you get the point. For many of us, it’s the opportunity to share the hunt while socializing at the same time, the rare opportunity to meet friends from opposite sides of the state. But take away the hunts, and it’s nothing more than a social occasion that many people will just take a pass on. I can’t speak for others, but I know every WGA event I attend, I make sure to drop some money in the donation box, for all the hard work and expense that creating these events costs. I’m sure a drop in attendance will be felt hardest there as well.

Finally, I’d like to suggest what seems to me to be the second best solution. A LOTEC page. For those that are unfamiliar, LOTEC stands for Log Only Temporary Event Cache. Basically it’s a cache page created specifically for logging temporary event caches. It would be created by the WGA just like a regular cache page, so there would be the found it smiley when you log your finds instead of the attended icon. The cache page would be activated the day of the event, then temporarily disabled a few days afterwards, giving everyone an opportunity to log their finds, and preventing the “phantom” cache from appearing in pocket queries. The page can then be activated and disabled as needed for future events. I believe this is exactly what Missouri does. I think it’s the best alternative to what seems to be a flaw in the system. Those that choose to log temporaries may do so on this page, those that choose not to may just ignore it. I believe its best left up to the individual cacher.

My vote is to keep our present policy, and let the people choose for themselves, not dictate what they can and cannot do.

Commander Bob

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