[Team Deejay]

There used to be a two stage cache where the first stage was located in Kenosha County and the final stage was in Superior. The owner listed it as a 5 star terrain using the logic that you would need to carry extra boots to make it through the entire hike. 😯 Note that “amazing” was not among the many adjectives that were used to describe this cache after folks found the initial stage and read the coordinates for the final.

Also, I am aware of a few multicaches with intercontinental stages. These take a bit to create, as you will need a “trailman” on the other continent to help with maintenance, plus you will be dealing with more than one reviewer, usually.

[Team Deejay]

If you are using IE 6.0, I have started to hear rumblings that it is out of the “test browser” set due to low popularity. (I still have it on this machine.) Try either upgrading to the current version or switching to Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. If you are stuck on a corporate workstation, well, I suspect you will be upgraded “real soon now”.

[Team Deejay]

I would suggest that rather than committing to archiving the caches in May 2012, we list this as the earliest date they can be archived. With the possible exception of High Cliff, none of the state parks have major congestion problems which would preclude placing another cache during the possible “round 2” of this program. Most the rangers I have met aren’t looking for a scheduled removal of caches, so I guess I just don’t understand. Maybe I’m missing the point. (I don’t think container life will be an issue, as caches this size located close to trails are going to be muggled a lot!)

I would also change
“The WGA will monitor and maintain each geocache…” to
“Members of the WGA will monitor and maintain each geocache…”

I’m assuming maintenance will be handled by individual members, not the organization at large.

Finally, a nitpick. If you are going to provide internet “references” in a document, you need to put the footnote numbers in the text, so that a reference is tied to a particular statement. Modern document design would suggest that these footnote numbers should be links. If you just want to provide a list of resources at the end, call them resources instead of references (and don’t use the footnote numbers.)

Otherwise, I think it is great. Kudos to the board for broaching this with the DNR.

[Team Deejay]

1. No.
2. Correct.
3. Parking, reference point, question to answer, and trailhead are not considered for proximity. Stages of a multicache and final location are, but if we understand that the SoaM is actually virtual, we won’t consider those either. If the location is virtual, please use question to answer as the waypoint type. (Reference point is intended for scenic views, points of interest, and the like.)

[Team Deejay]

I think I would vote for Brian McKay. As a geocacher who was active in another region of the country before moving here, he brings a different perspective from those of us who are “home grown”, including myself.

[Team Deejay]

I basically support all of these initiatives taken by the current board. The one item I kind of scratched my head about was the annual meeting. I was surprised that there was so little discussion and virtually no issues brought up by the membership. I’m thinking the way to get more discussion is to open a forum topic 1 month prior to the meeting/campout to allow for motions/topics to be posted. Additionally, I think an extra meeting at the picnic would be a great idea, so that people don’t have to wait all winter to voice their concerns in person.

[Team Deejay]

I think the best approach here is education. I would like to see a more active approach to educating public safety personnel about geocaching. I also agree with the idea that asking for permission helps avoid these situations, but the particular cache Steve is talking about was in a public park in an area which allows geocaching. Sometimes, permission isn’t enough to prevent these issues.

[Team Deejay]

#1- Would you attend this event?
Sure.

#2a- How would you help promote this event and educate local cachers non-geocachers of the WGA? Well, first of all, you would want the event listing to be published early, something like 6 months ahead. This gives people a chance to plan to attend. Second, we would want to publicize it in the forums of the MiGO and MnGA to draw interest from there. Third, posters could be placed in local outdoor stores, computer stores, and other sites likely to be on the radar of locals not yet involved in the WGA. Finally, I would encourage local cache owners to advertise it on their cache listings.

#2b- The idea of placing a few small news paper ads in a few of the local papers was brought up to help promote this event. Should the WGA help pay for the ads?
I would support ads, but not SMALL ads. Anything less than a 1/4 page is unlikely to provide much in the way of results. If we cannot afford an ad of significant size, I would suggest that publicizing in the event calendar sections of local papers.

#3 Should WGA equipment (such as grills and such) be made available for this event?
Yes.

#4 Do you believe that a WGA regional event(camp-out/picnic) should be held at least once a year north of highway 64?
I would suggest that 45°N is a better choice instead of a highway. Almost the same place without so much wandering to the north and south. If the current quadrant approach is much lower than that, I would support moving the NS line up.

[Team Deejay]

1. What got you into caching and how long have you been doing it?

We started in 2005. I had seen a book about it earlier (probably 2003), but it seemed kind of pointless at the time. Later, when I was looking for an outdoor activity to share with my wife, I thought of this and decided to try it. The rest is history.

2. What area of the state are you from?

I live in the SE corner of the state, in the booming metropolis of Rochester.
3. How much of the state have you geocached in that is away from your home area? ?? of 72 counties
Looks like 39 counties if I counted right. (Just got Adams County last Saturday after the LCG event).

4. how far from home are you willing to travel for events and how far in the past have you traveled to go to an event?

I think the farthest we have gone for an event was about 200 miles. I would consider it a responsibility to attend all WGA events, regardless of the location. I also try to attend as many of the local events as I can.

I think the real issue here is communication. For many of us, communicating on the forums or email is not a substitute for face to face meetings. The nice thing about the WGA events is that they provide the opportunity to meet many different people from most parts of the state.

5. Are you members of any other geocaching association: Michigan’s MiGO, Minnesota Geocachers, GONIL, etc.

I’m a member of GoNIL.

[Team Deejay]

I don’t feel strongly about this either way, but it seems there is a very vocal minority who object to folks getting “rewards” for finding temporary caches. Since the ones receiving the rewards are unlikely to complain if they are taken away, I guess I would go along with the one person/one ticket plan as a “peacekeeping” decision. But seriously, we are talking about door prizes here. The intent of the door prize drawing is to provide an additional fun activity at the events. If it isn’t fun, or the “rules” make people upset, maybe we should reconsider the activity altogether.

[Team Deejay]

We missed you guys, but fortunately, we were able to trade your prizes to the bartenders for beers. 😀

[Team Deejay]

This is why I try to involve those I find at GZ in my geocaching hunts. This is especially true of kids aged 8 to around 16. If you act sneaky and don’t share the experience with them, they will know that something is going on (why are you there in their neighborhood park?) and investigate after you leave. Much better to get them involved.

Here is a typical example:
log link.

[Team Deejay]

Actually, I used my internet on the trail to look up some obscure Monopoly trivia, required to find the next waypoint on a multi. Beats the heck out of searching for the nearest open library.

[Team Deejay]

Gary, I think it is great what you are doing, but I’m wondering if maybe we need to make this an organized WGA program. I’m sure we could get enough volunteers to do the whole trail as a package deal for them, saving them the trouble of looking around and coordinating volunteers. Personally, I really appreciate that this group has not taken an anti-geocaching stand (you don’t even want to know how hard it is to deal with the Appalachian Trail people), so I would see it as us giving them a big THANK YOU for their cooperation. Is there anyone on the board who wants to take the lead on this?

[Team Deejay]

Of course, but Waterville was a surprise. I had to Google it, thinking it could not be the Waterville that I know (on Hwy 18 between Wales and Dousman), as there isn’t much there. Unfortunately, this is the only Waterville that Google knows. Is there another one?

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