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One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was an updated WGA Logo. What are your feelings on changing the logo?
I am torn. The logo has served the WGA so well over the years, but like all things has grown out of date. Much like the old website, I believe we need to make a serious effort to have a professional looking logo developed that will take us into the next several years.
One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2005 BOD meeting was to create a display and rent space at the Milwaukee Sports Show and other outdoor Expos for the purpose of getting information of geocaching to sports minded individuals. What are your thoughts on this initiative?
If this can be done without a large outlay for renting booth space, etc. I would have no problem throwing a booth together and having volunteers staff it. This would definitely fall into the realm of community education. The key to this and many of the proposals mentioned is resources. Where do we best put to use the resourses of the WGA to best fulfil our mission as put forward in the by-laws.
One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was to approach the WIS DOT to create a special “Vanity” license plate for member cars. It was pointed out that the WGA could reap some monetary benefit from this. What are your feelings on pursuing this initiative?
This initiative was presented with limited information. No formal follow-up was done. Some later discussions among the board were had regarding this venture. Quite frankly, there would be no real benefit to pursuing this type of intiative and the resources of the WGA could be much better spent elsewhere.
Members of the Board of Directors are elected for a two year term. One of their responsibilities is to communicate with the members through the use of our forums. Do you feel it is reasonable for members of the board to take a month or two off; not visiting our forums at all?
The forums are not the WGA, much like geocaching is not geocaching.com. Despite our best intentions, life can often get in the way of our duties. Just recently my son broke his leg. Much of my attention was devoted to that. Would that mean that one can not fulfill his or her responsibilities to the WGA and the BoD? Not at all. I used that time to tackle other WGA business that can not be done on the forums. I personally do not post and frequent the forums as much as I had in the past, for many reasons. But an absence from them would not be a reliable measure of activity or devotion.
As a member of the Board of Directors, you would be assuming the role of a leader among us. What do you feel your qualifications are that might make you effective in this role?
I’ve provided leadership to the WGA for the past two years. I’ve been on numerous boards and committees of various organizations. My business knowledge continues to grow as I develop my geocaching related business. All of these experiences contribute to my ability to lead. Setting the bar high, constantly looking for ways to improve and persuing new ideas are the goals I look to achieve as a leader.
There have been several proponents of donating park benches to the parks that provide space for our events. These would be with the inscription “Donated by The Wisconsin Geocaching Association.” What is your feel.ing on this initiative?
This could be a nice gesture as a way to give back to the parks. I guess (in a rare moment for me) I don’t fall on one side of the fence or the other on this one. The only major negative I could see would be potential cost. The major positive I could see would be increased exposure of the WGA name.
The WGA sponsors 2 events per year and members of the Board of Directors are encouraged to attend these to get to know their constituents. Should members of the Board also be expected to attend at least some of the local events for the same reason?
I think its great to see the Board members active in local events. Requirement or Expectation? No. The job of the board is not to socialize. The job of the board is to take care of the business of the WGA.
One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was to approach the WIS DOT to create a special “Vanity” license plate for member cars. It was pointed out that the WGA could reap some monetary benefit from this. What are your feelings on pursuing this initiative?
This initiative was presented with limited information. No formal follow-up was done. Some later discussions among the board were had regarding this venture. Quite frankly, there would be no real benefit to pursuing this type of initiative and the resources of the WGA could be much better spent elsewhere.
The list of disabled caches in Wisconsin is now hovering at about 200. Some of these have been disabled for several months. What are your thoughts of cleaning this list up?
The WGA is not the Wisconsin Cache Police. If our members would like to assist others in helping maintain faltering caches, great! Is this the job of the WGA? No. Should the WGA help our members? We certainly do! I would encourage communication through the forums and Private Messages to help other members with their caches.
One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was for the BOD to create one or more presentation kits for WGA sponsored introductions to geocaching. The kit(s) would contain GPSrs, compasses, literature and perhaps a projector for a powerpoint presentation. The kit would be loaned out to WGA members to assist in their presentations. What are your thoughts regarding this initiative?
This initiative will be one of the projects for the Community Education Committee I would like to create. There is a huge need for not just presentation materials, but to have an organized group of volunteers to assist folks who ask for our help with these types of projects. In the last year I have been able to line up helpers for several folks who have requested our assistance and in all those requests, one thing was clear. They need to be able to get their hands on some GPSr’s. I believe this will be on of our next major endeavors, to form and equip a group of volunteers to be able to go into the community and teach WI about geocaching.
One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2005 BOD meeting was to create a display and rent space at the Milwaukee Sports Show and other outdoor Expos for the purpose of getting information of geocaching to sports minded individuals. What are your thoughts on this initiative?
If this can be done without a large outlay for renting booth space, etc. I would have no problem throwing a booth together and having volunteers staff it. This would definitely fall into the realm of community education. The key to this and many of the proposals mentioned is resources. Where do we best put to use the resources of the WGA to best fulfill our mission as put forward in the by-laws.
One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was to sponsor a section of roadway (Adopt-a-Hiway) and hold 2 or 3 CITO events on that section of roadway over the year. What is your position on such an initiative?
I am all for this. This last fall and winter I took the initiative to get all the information necessary to pursue this venture. I have been in email contact with each of the Adopt a Highway representatives from each of the statewide regions and they are aware of our interest. Right now we are at the point where this information needs to be brought before the board for perusal and discussion. I have listings of which sections of Highway are available for adoption in several areas of the state. More or less we will need to decide how many sections we would like to adopt. There is still time for us to get involved this year. Yes, I see the DOT as another group that the BoD will need to work with and I see Adopt a Highway as a nice place to start in creating a positive relationship with them.
One of the initiatives introduced at the Feb 2006 BOD meeting was an updated WGA Logo. What are your feelings on changing the logo?
I am torn. The logo has served the WGA so well over the years, but like all things has grown out of date. Much like the old website, I believe we need to make a serious effort to have a professional looking logo developed that will take us into the next several years.
Some hold that the numbers make the cacher, others say there is more to it than that. What makes you a geocacher? How many caches have you found/hidden during the past year? and do the numbers really matter?
Do the numbers matter? I can truly say no. My family and I enjoy the time outside, together. I try to share this activity with as many people as I can. I enjoy telling folks about geocaching and regularly invite them along with us. Our geocaching times are farther apart than I’d like as the other family activities (basketball, poms, soccer, etc.) are starting to invade our lives more and more. So now each time we can go is more special.
The cave in question in smack dab in the middle of an SNA.
The cache listed above is in the same park nearby. (Outside the SNA)
There are several caves in the area besides the new one being excavated. Several of these have been open to the public for decades and are quite fun to get all muddy and filthy in.
At this point, the cave being excavated is sealed to protect it from vandalism and not wide open to drive up and check out. Another great cave system in the state is in Calumet County, at Ledgeview County Park. There are three cave systems (two have since been dug out and connected) and last I checked there were three caches in that park.
I could easily see Wisconsin as a home to a “Mega-event”. I would lean away from the WGA trying to create our own Mega-event in Wisconsin as I don’t see this as being within the scope of our purpose as on organization. Instead, I would hope to be able to latch on to the experiences of other organizations across the country by assisting and hosting an already functioning group (Midwest Geo-Bash, GeoWoodstock, etc.).
I don’t believe the board is planning on issuing any edicts on the Adopt-a-Highway program. However, before you go full speed ahead, please consider the following:
- The WGA would be able to coordinate a statewide effort with Adopt-a-Highway. One contact with the program, one liason, one training session, one set of paperwork, one liability waiver, etc., etc.
- One of the next frontiers of geocaching in WI is the DOT. For the WGA to be successful in working with them, we need to act as one body of geocachers, not a bunch of splinter cells throughout the state, in order to be taken seriously.
- Do we really need a smiley to go pick up trash on the highway?
Rock away… 😀
@Coastiegirl04 wrote:
Just to put it out there.. as an option.. i know that NW Ohio Geocacher’s adopted a section of a Highway and hold a Cito Event once every couple months not sure of the exact timeline but its somewhere around there! Maybe we could do that somewhere around here..
This has been brought up several times by the board. I have done alot of the preliminary work on this and we will be discussing it more after the coming election and organization meeting. (Pending my re-election)
Very Cool! Got a linky to the TB Page?
😀 A Huge Congratulations from Team GeoPink! 😀
I’ve always seen COTM as simply this…
A way to honor, on a regular basis, quality Wisconsin geocaches.
Past, present, future, this month, last month, two years ago… doesn’t matter.
Do you feel a nominated cache was/is a quality cache deserving this honor. If yes, Vote for it. If not, nominate one that is.
COTM is really no more, no less.
You, the WGA member, are also free to place whatever personal restirictions on your voting methodology as your heart desires. Though I wouldn’t expect that everyone will do the same. It’s like geocaching itself… everyone plays the game their own way.
😀 Found It!
OK, Attended… congratulations to Coastie and K0rpl on another milestone. It was a pleasure meeting several new faces and old favorites. Thanks for the opportunity!
Very cool. I don’t believe I’ve even looked at all the pages in my DeLorme yet…
😮
BQ, you are correct…
I think Bec was looking for the folks that had visited them and encouraging them to vote, but there is no reason that anyone can’t vote for any of the Cache of the Month nominees.
Happy Caching and Happy Voting!
Check your PM
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