[LightningBugs Mum]

I think lists like zuma’s broken down by regions would be a good idea. And I agree that many people rate the terrains on their caches too low. Maybe we can promote the handicaching.com rating system more?

Handicaching.com

I’ve used it on a few of my caches and found the process to helpful when determining whether a cache is w/c accessible.

I think we can do more to raise awareness about this helpful rating system, starting with including it in the Hiding a Cache wiki.

[LightningBugs Mum]

Here is my list of my tradables in case anyone wants to check it out:

http://www.geocoincollection.com/CoinTrade/showlist.asp?type=2&owner=196

[LightningBugs Mum]

OK, I’ll try wading in here….

Is WGA willing to help me hold Introduction Classes?

I think the WGA should be able to help any one who wants to teach about geocaching. Education should be one of our primary goals.

Meet/Greet events?

As of right now, the WGA only gets involved with the two big events it holds each year. But of course anyone can hold an event and solicit help from individuals in the WGA. I’m sure board members or other members would be willing to give any assistance to you (or whoever would be hosting) that you would need. But it wouldn’t be a WGA event. Now some have discussed the possibility of the WGA hosting smaller, more regional events in the future and maybe there is some potential there for what you have in mind. But I’m sure these events would have to be open to all geocachers, not just military.

Would WGA be interested in taking over the WI Chapter of MAGC on the MAGC Website when I leave?

This one is a little stickier. I certainly support what the MAGC is doing and, having checked out the website, it is nice to know that membership is open to anyone – not just people in the military. However, I can see people objecting to having the WGA take it over when you leave since it is rather narrow in scope. I could see the WGA supporting this endeavor since it does promote geocaching in Wisconsin, but I think it would be best if an individual was in charge of actually running the chapter. However, if the majority feels like this should happen, then I would not object.

[LightningBugs Mum]

Another great idea where the devil is in the details. 😈 I think it is worth discussing and developing. I know I would use it if it was available.

(Whew – a short post!)

[LightningBugs Mum]

@Cheesehead Dave wrote:

Archive the Clue series and replace it with something new

Aw man! I see another trip in my future. Just give us plenty of warning, OK? So that’s my first goal – to finish the Clue series.

I don’t really have any number goals – maybe just keep up my current pace. I do however want to hold another event – perhaps with a geocoin and dessert theme? I want to meet more geocachers so I can put more faces to names. Ummmm…..oh yeah, and go caching in parts of the state I haven’t gotten to yet. (I love seeing those county and DeLorme boxes fill in!)

[LightningBugs Mum]

[LightningBugs Mum]

Ah, I see a thread was started about my pet issue and I completely missed it.

I brought this bench thing up in my bio thread as something I wanted to do. I would love to have something that would incorporate a small geocache. I think it could be listed by the WGA, then adopted out to a local for maintenance. Or maybe some of the parks themselves would want to take ownership. That’s something that would need to be worked out.

Sure, each park will be different in what they want. Some will be happy to take any bench we want to donate, some will have specific specs that would need to be followed, and some might not want a bench at all. It may not always work out for us at every event, but we should approach them with the offer and give it a good try at least.

And yes, I do read those plaques. They don’t cost a great wad of money so I don’t see any reason not to do it.

[LightningBugs Mum]

As I mentioned in my bio thread, I would love to see us use some of our money to donate something to the parks that host our events. I envision a bench on a trail with a plaque and a small geocache hidden underneath it. The plaque would have the organization’s name, the event name and the date to commemorate it.

If the park doesn’t want a bench, then we would work with them to find something else we could donate such as an informational sign or whatever.

[Edit: I see that there is a seperate thread about this issue. Check it out for more about this.]

I would also like to see some kind of standarized thing that the members could download, fill out and submit to local police departments. The purpose of this would be to inform them what geocaches are, tell them where a new one is hidden, and show them how to find out about what others ones are in the area. The board would need to get the input from some departments as to how they would like this to be handled. But we need to be more proactive and set a standard to help prevent the bomb scares and handcuffing that has been happening. After all, we are not doing anything illegal and I think most police would be happy to have this kind of info ahead of time. I would like to see this communication made painless and simple for cache placers.

[LightningBugs Mum]

I like the concept and I think anything involving CITO is worth pursuing. Personally, I would love to attend a highway clean-up CITO event. However, there are some issues that need to be considered first – logistically speaking.

This would require a long term commitment from the WGA. I think to adopt a certain section of highway, we would need a core group of people willing to take on this responsibility. They would need to help, even if others didn’t show up.

Maybe this would work if someone in the state who wanted to take some initiative for this would get a small group together, then approach the WGA about it – instead of the board trying to go out and find people who may agree to help, but maybe don’t really have their heart in it. So this would be more of a regional thing, like what Anne was talking about in her area.

NO more than 20 participants shall be allowed to do a clean-up at the same time.

Will this be an issue? Well, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I could see it becoming one at some point. I guess whoever was hosting would have to cut off attendance to the first 20 people who log their intent to come, but I know from experience that people will sometimes show up anyways to try to get that smilie. On the other hand, Brian fears that there won’t be enough attendance. If that happens, then incentives could be used to bring more people in. (A few temps would be easy or maybe a prize for the person who picks up the most? Something like that anyway.)

From the Adopt-A-Highway terms:
“The Group shall work only during daylight hours and in good weather.” That good weather clause is another potential snafu for an event listed on GC.com. A contingency plan would need to be formed ahead of time in the event of bad weather.

In summary, I would say that if a group in one part of the state would commit to this, then the WGA should go ahead and do it. If it works out well, then perhaps other groups from other areas could do it as well. The initiative should not come from the board, but from the membership. That way we know that the committed people are already there. Of course, that is not to say that a board member couldn’t get a group together themselves. But it just seems that this is ultimately a regional thing – not a state thing. And I for one, hope that this can happen.

[LightningBugs Mum]

Not visiting for month or two? There is no way someone can hope to keep up with what is going on that way. If board members are required to participate in the BOD forum twice weekly, then they should be checking the entire forum that often as well. It doesn’t take that long – even with my hamster-driven dial-up modem. This forum is the WGA’s main channel of communication. I have no problem with an expectation by the membership that board members should visit it frequently.

But as was mentioned before, reading the forums and posting in the forums are two seperate things. I guess nobody should be forced to post, but it is a good idea to contribute once in a while as a way of letting people know “Yes, I’m here and paying attention.”

[LightningBugs Mum]

@Trudy & the beast wrote:

Should members of the Board also be expected to attend at least some of the local events for the same reason?

Sure! There is no mandate about what events must be attended or how many. But a board member should be active in the geocaching community and that would include going to a few local events. I can’t believe anyone running would not want to go to events anyway. But I think the people who vote for us should be able to expect to meet us at the occasional event.

There – short and sweet.

[LightningBugs Mum]

A good leader is someone who can come up with original solutions to problems both old and new.
and
A good leader is someone who can detail what needs to be done and can delegate those tasks to the right people.

For the last several years, I have been president of a volunteer non-profit community-service board that hosts a big annual event involving 100-200 people (sound a little familiar?). Dealing with the media? Done that. Dealing with irritated individuals? Done that. Finding people in the community who can help us out with time and donations? Done that. Dealing with the inevitable snafus that come with hosting an event involving lots of people? Done that too. And though I do a lot of running this thing myself, I have a great BOD that I know will do their jobs and will step up to the plate when new issues arise (that’s the delegating part 😉 ). Just yesterday, I found out that the facility where we hold our big event has accidentally double-booked the space for part of our time. Major snafu. But we have already brainstormed some ideas of how to handle it and I think we’ll be OK. Experience isn’t always fun, but it does help in the long run.

A good leader leads by example. Allow me to cut and paste from a previous post:

“OK, I’m going off on a tangent here, but another great gauge of dedication is service to the community of geocaching. For instance, Mike of Not So Lost Puppies doesn’t have as many finds as a lot of us, but he has hosted some great paperless geocaching seminars. Other things would include maintaining your caches as well as the orphaned ones out there, hosting meet-and-greet type events, participating in the cache rescue, doing things to raise awareness such as CITO, talking to the media (“No, it’s not buried treasure!”), and teaching classes or working with scouts, among other things I’m sure I am forgetting at the moment.”

I have tried to be the type geocacher I would respect by doing such service to the community when I can. I have participated in many of the things I mentioned above and I think a good board member should continue to set a good example in order to benefit the sport as a whole.

And I agree with Da Fu – a good sense of humor is essential (with a spark of impishness and mischief in your soul)! 😈

[LightningBugs Mum]

An active geocacher – I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it. Is that a good enough answer? 😉 OK, seriously, I’ll give it a shot here…..

One who:

Visits the geocaching.com website at least twice a month.

Finds at least 25 caches a year (I won’t say 2 per month as some people don’t like to hunt during certain seasons).

Now this is what I would call a minimally active geocacher for the eligibility requirements. A good board member would be more involved than this, but that is not what the question asks.

And since everyone else has posted their stats here, I will do so as well:

About 650 finds, plus great gobs of event temps that are not logged as finds (not that there’s anything wrong with that of course 😀 ). As I mentioned someplace else, I enjoy all different kinds of hides. The only time I get bored geocaching is when there isn’t enough variety in an area. But my favorite type of find will teach me something I didn’t know before – history, geology, etc.

12 hides plus one hosted event. Not very many, but I agonize over them for a long time making sure everything is just right. And they do stand the test of time I think.

21 TBs and geocoins released.

31 Wisconsin counties and 28 DeLorme pages visited (thanks Dave!)

People’s numbers are not important to me. I think a better gauge of dedication to the sport is the time of active involvement. Those of us who have been around a while have seen enough people come into it hot, have a bunch of finds and hides, then flame out never to be heard from again. It happens in every hobby.

OK, I’m going off on a tangent here, but another great gauge of dedication is service to the community of geocaching. For instance, Mike of Not So Lost Puppies doesn’t have as many finds as a lot of us, but he has hosted some great paperless geocaching seminars. Other things would include maintaining your caches as well as the orphaned ones out there, hosting meet-and-greet type events, participating in the cache rescue, doing things to raise awareness such as CITO, talking to the media (“No, it’s not buried treasure!” 🙄 ), and teaching classes or working with scouts, among other things I’m sure I am forgetting at the moment.

That’s what I think an active geocacher should be. 8)

[LightningBugs Mum]

I have never been to a mega-event, but I would love to see the Geo-Bash come to Wisconsin. It would be a great way to promote geocaching in our fine state. If this is something people want for 2008, then now is not too soon to start planning.

I also think that – the way people are coming in to this sport – one of our annual events could reach mega status if we did some tweaking of the details and put some effort into promoting it more outside of the usual channels. Probably not this year, but I see that it could happen not too far down the road. (If I could get 70+ people to my little breakfast event a year ago without even trying, then anything is possible!)

A mega-event committee that includes non-BOD members would be a very good idea.

I continue to be unoriginal in also echoing my personal desire to have activities for people who don’t want to hunt temps all day. I know when I was new to the sport, I would have liked to go to some seminars or lectures about geocaching topics. Actually, I would still like to go now – but it would have helped more during that learning curve time.

[LightningBugs Mum]

I can certainly understand djwini’s concern. Even though none of us have ever heard of a geocacher with a less-than-honorable intention behind an offer of caching help, there is always a first time and she doesn’t want to be it.

On the other hand, I think the chances of something bad happening are *quite remote* compared to the likeliness that you will have a great time and make a new friend. I would go ahead, but take precautions like you mentioned above. Find out everything you can about him and leave the info along with where and when with someone. Maybe set up something with a friend where you will check in regularly?

So my advice is to go have fun, but don’t be dumb about it. 8)

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