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Just seeing this for the first time. Pretty cool. Keep up the good work.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
You’re welcome, or didn’t I do it right?
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Good luck and cache on. Sounds fun.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Hmmmm . . . A weekly or monthly post on the site featuring a favorite cache of the members . . .
I like it.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
I’ve always thought it, Big Jim is a wealth of knowledge. Great advice Jim.
Rollie, last years events sounds like it would’ve been a lot of fun for me. And this years sounds very promising.
Have you considered making the caches permanent? If you’ve got a 8 mile stretch, you could put out some permanent ones, this year, more next year and so on. Or you could skip a year or two, if you don’t want the event to be all about geocaching. Remember permanent caches only have to be 1/10th a mile apart, so you should have plenty of room for more caches in the future.
As far as getting the word out, like Big Jim said, create an event on geocaching.com (it’s not hard, but there’s plenty of people to help if needed). Which will hopefully link to the WGA event page, never looked into that, but other events show up…so it must work. And from the WGA page a lot of stuff links to the WGA FB page. Other than that, does your annual event have a FB page? That would be a good way to get the word out. I don’t use twitter or any other social media, so I cant speak for those.
Another option, assuming you can’t get GPS’s for a day. A lot of people cache with just their smartphones. Now that’s usually done via an app that accesses Geocaching.com, and since your caches may not be loaded on Geocaching.com, you may need an alternative. My thoughts would be to find an app that allows users to type in geographical coordinates and then directs them to the destination. I can’t speak off hand for any particular apps, as I really only use apps designed to access Geocaching.com’s api. But I’m sure there are some out there. If you go this route, I would have the app name on your printed out page of coordinates. You’d want to keep in mind that you may be drawing in people that have never used a compass, GPS coordinates, or even downloaded apps to their smartphones. So anything you can do to make that easier for would help things run more smoothly.
Another thing that pops into my mind, is cellular coverage. If people are showing up to download an app on their smartphone, but the event is in the middle of the woods, and there aren’t very many cell towers around. They may not be downloading anything. I know there are “hotspot devices” out there that can be useful in this situation, but I’m not very familiar with those either. Otherwise, is there a building that allows the public to access WIFI close by (thinking a ranger station at a state park situation)?
More random thoughts, in no particular order… if you are going to have people downloading a generic app, there will most likely be questions, during downloading, installing, but also using out on the bike hike. It would probably make sense that whatever app you use, you would want to play with it a lot ahead of time, to make sure you know the ins and outs of it. And maybe even have someone stationed at the first geocache, in case people have problems after they leave the starting area.
Hope this at least stimulates more questions/ideas. I’m guessing a lot of these ideas, you’ve already thought about, but just in case you haven’t here there are.
Cache on my friends.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Hi Rollie, there are a few people out there that have done something similar, so getting you help shouldn’t be impossible although, I don’t know how many use the forums. Anyway, what exactly do you have planned? And what do u need help with?
By the way, personally I get really really excited about atypical caches and events. Nothing wrong with the tried and true. I still use that style myself. But I love it when people get creative and think outside the box.
Give us some questions and we’ll try to give you some answers.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Hi Jacktrackers, love the name, by the way. We also enjoyed the Ribticklers caches in your area, this past year. Welcome to the forums. My wife (Mrs. Ham Fam) and I live in Kaukauna. I tale a lot of grief for it, but I haven’t done the WGA geoart yet either. Hope to see u at an event sometime.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
At the WGA page, for example, there could be a trackables tab which could possibly state something like “The Wisconsin Geocaching Association is promoting this pathtag (or geocoin) as a fund raiser for our organization. The WGA is a volunteer-based organization that exists for the purposes of etc. etc.” Followed by a link to purchase or contact information.
Another great idea, present the tags and coins as a fundraiser, this would actually help cheapskates like me to open my wallet, I don’t typically collect coins or tags (although my wife does). But if it was phrased as a fundraiser, that tends to pull a little harder on the “bear trap” type lock that keeps my wallet closed. 🙂
The third place it could be mentioned is on the pathtag page itself. Granted not many “casual” pathtag collectors look at that page, but there’s a whole world of “serious” pathtag people out there, from here to Australia, who do look at those pages and buy or trade pathtags practically every week. Just ask Rawevil, Sweetlife, or Zeeman Clan, who have quite a few pathtag designs under their own username and have traded with others from out of state dozens or hundreds of times.
Another great idea.
The fourth place it could be mentioned is on the WGA Facebook site, similar to the screen capture above (although that screen capture is from the pathtag page). Just a simple post advertising a new pathtag (or geocoin), showing the image and mentioning it helps fund the WGA, accompanied by a link or contact, would lead to additional interest.
It is my understanding that this already happens. If it isn’t certainly we should check into it. I don’t use FB much, maybe because I’m “over the hill”. We have some other great board members that do a great deal with FB so I’ll let them speak for this.
Lately there seems to be a growing interest, or perhaps a “renaissance” of pathtags. Why not promote it fully when the WGA creates a new one. Just in the past year there have been new tags created by WGA members HamFam (perhaps you’ve heard of them ), Lacknothing, Rawevil, Zeemanclan, Scooter2010, Brillo17, Uncle Fun, King54130, MavWitt, Videochic, k9zp, Famof5W, Superior Loon, Team~DNF, Scribble Scribe, The Goldie Diggers, the WGA BOD, CaseysPeeps, Labgal13, Icy Paws, jmj-wi, JM Gully, and Scott Damnit.
Ham Fam, yes I’ve heard good things about them :), but getting to your point, I thought the WGA did a good job promoting things, but certainly there is room for improvement. Thanks for the great ideas. Keep them coming. Some time ago, one of your great board members (not me) mentioned that the Membership is a great untapped resource. And I think this is a great opportunity to showcase that point. I think it’s great when people vocalize their opinions and ideas. Together we can do great things.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Welcome, Julie! I’ll second Rawevil’s suggestion on going to events. I just really started going this past year, and not only has everyone been really nice – even to an introvert like me! – but I think I’m a better geocacher from the exposure to the more experienced cachers. Plus, they’re usually a lot of fun, and an easy smilie!
Yeah I’m kind of an introvert as well. I’d say going to events helped with that. Anyway, there are 2 events in the next couple of days, that would be a great way to meet new people. I’m going to assume you know how to find that info, if not just let me know. Looking forward to meeting you.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
They state: 1. The theme (if any) 2. Website link to buy them (if applicable) 3. Website link to their forums 4. Website link to their website 5. Website link to their Facebook page
So the pathtag has all of this info on the tag itself? Or just on the pathtag page? I don’t think I have ever actually gone to a pathtags page, except the first couple when I was trying to log it at geocaching.com.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
I don’t know if Appleton is too far for you. But there is usually more geocaching activity down here. Specifically talking about meet and greets, there are a few coming up in the next few weeks. Specifically on the last day of this year and the first day of next year.
Regarding cachers in Green Bay, I know there are some up there. However, I don’t know how many visit the forums.
By the way welcome aboard, alot of people have found this to be a rewarding hobby.
Cache on my friend.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
I know there will be at least one event for both of these days in the Fox Valley.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Should a prize be awarded similar to POTM?
Personally I don’t think so, that’s why we have the banner. I know there has been some issues in the past with this.
But I think creating another poll for people to vote on will just create more confusion. Just my opinion.
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Congrats, on the comma. Like Bennycams, I spend an inordinate amount of time staring at the geo map as well, how can you plan if you don’t have a map?!
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
Tag #45091
Ham Fam and Mrs. Ham Fam proudly present our coin:
The views expressed here are that of myself only and do not necessarily represent that of the WGA board.
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