Newsletter Contents

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Originally Posted by WhereRWe?

Sorry, Medawookie. I don't like this idea. This site is for ALL geocachers. I don't want someone to feel left out because their bio will never be included because they're "not interesting".

I like mentioning milestones because everyone likes having a feeling of accomplishment. But there's no reason to keep mentioning the "big numbers" cachers over and over. Perhaps the Advisory Committee should encourage keeping milestone mentions to a minimum - perhaps at set milestones such as 100, 500, 1000 caches.

As for biographies - who decides who gets a mention in the newsletter/forums? What criteria do we use to decide? We have a LOT of interesting members. Someone would get left out or feelings hurt because they were not profiled.

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Bios: WhereRWe? has a good point regarding jealous cachers:mad:. If we were to include bios into the Newsletter, I would advocate for my suggestion above:): To create a separate forum thread called Biographies, or to use the Articles forum, and have cachers develop their own biographies (ok so that would be an autobiography!:p). In rare cases, for cachers who don't like to write, but who have a background they want to share, as the Newsletter editor I'd be willing to interview them by phone or email to write up a biography:cool:. Then these threads would be highlighted in the Newsletter like Hot Topics are. I would include all bios posted, I would never deter folks from posting bios, and I would welcome anyone to contact me about writing a bio for them or even just reviewing a bio before they post it if that's what they'd like:). This way, they are in control of who gets mentioned, not me or the Board:rolleyes:.

Milestones: When someone mentioned a milestone in a thread, I used to include it in the Newsletter. Then it appeared that we were choosing whose milestones to include in the Newsletter and excluding cachers:(; despite my arguement that we could just post how it was, we decided the simplest solution was to take out the Milestone section all together, because I nor the Board were interested in tracking ALL milestones:p. Which in the end was great with me because it made more room for other sections of the newsletter:D. The bios should not end up like the Milestones:), because people will write them about themselves (or seek me out to write them), instead of cachers posting about others' milestones, which is how that thread mostly works:p.

Kapeesh? Other thoughts?:confused:

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Originally Posted by Medawisla

If we were to include bios into the Newsletter, I would advocate for my suggestion above:): To create a separate forum thread called Biographies, or to use the Articles forum, and have cachers develop their own biographies (ok so that would be an autobiography!:p).

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Great idea!

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Originally Posted by Medawisla

In rare cases, for cachers who don't like to write, but who have a background they want to share, as the Newsletter editor I'd be willing to interview them by phone or email to write up a biography.

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Not so great idea! ;);)

If someone isn't willing to write their own bio - again, this is a personal thing and not a Newsletter function - then they don't get one. Besides, they have the opportunity to post their bio on their GCM.org as well as their GC.com page. If that isn't enough... :p:p

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Originally Posted by WhereRWe?

Not so great idea! ;);)

If someone isn't willing to write their own bio - again, this is a personal thing and not a Newsletter function - then they don't get one. Besides, they have the opportunity to post their bio on their GCM.org as well as their GC.com page. If that isn't enough... :p:p

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I think it's a good idea to interview people. We have a lot of very interesting people out there that are not the type to toot their own horn. An interview would be a great way to include them in the newspaper.

This is an opportunity for someone who would be willing to write bios to find interested parties to interview, and then create an article from that. And then it might get mentioned in the newsletter.

Kacky and KG are still doing their podcast twice a month. They do interviews quite often with the local cachers. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Mainiac1957

Kacky and KG are still doing their podcast twice a month. They do interviews quite often with the local cachers. :cool:

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I should try to listen to these more often, but I fail to do so:o:(...do they have a "table of contents" for their shows so that you can pick and choose what segments to listen to?:confused:

First of all, I have found this discussion informative. I have concluded that "bios" probably won't work and that the best course for those who enjoy "creative writing" is to simply do an interesting article from time to time.

As far as milestones, this is one subject that can be rather important to some, particularily newer cachers. Recognition is what makes the world go around. Any well run organization has a recognition program. The concept is very simple: Reward breeds satisfaction and continued participation. I don't think we can quantify what number warrants a milestone post. It could be 10 caches for some and 5000 for another, but if it's posted I think the veteran cachers and those who post of this site daily ought to take 10 seconds or so to acknowledge it. You'll not only feel good doing so, but you'll make somebody else, even somebody you don't know, feel the pride of accomplishment as well. There's no down side to this whatsoever, and a lot of potential to keep folks playing. On the other side of the coin, some folks might consider a lack of response to a milestone as a "slight" from the membership.

So in this light, my thanks to those of you that keep this interesting site running and for those of you who take the time to comment and keep it interesting.

I like mentioning milestones because everyone likes having a feeling of accomplishment. But there's no reason to keep mentioning the "big numbers" cachers over and over. Perhaps the Advisory Committee should encourage keeping milestone mentions to a minimum - perhaps at set milestones such as 100, 500, 1000 caches.

First of all, I have found this discussion informative. I have concluded that "bios" probably won't work and that the best course for those who enjoy "creative writing" is to simply do an interesting article from time to time.

As far as milestones, this is one subject that can be rather important to some, particularily newer cachers. Recognition is what makes the world go around. Any well run organization has a recognition program. The concept is very simple: Reward breeds satisfaction and continued participation. I don't think we can quantify what number warrants a milestone post. It could be 10 caches for some and 5000 for another, but if it's posted I think the veteran cachers and those who post of this site daily ought to take 10 seconds or so to acknowledge it. You'll not only feel good doing so, but you'll make somebody else, even somebody you don't know, feel the pride of accomplishment as well. There's no down side to this whatsoever, and a lot of potential to keep folks playing. On the other side of the coin, some folks might consider a lack of response to a milestone as a "slight" from the membership.

So in this light, my thanks to those of you that keep this interesting site running and for those of you who take the time to comment and keep it interesting.

I like mentioning milestones because everyone likes having a feeling of accomplishment. But there's no reason to keep mentioning the "big numbers" cachers over and over. Perhaps the Advisory Committee should encourage keeping milestone mentions to a minimum - perhaps at set milestones such as 100, 500, 1000 caches.

My event that I run in January to to celebrate the past year in geocaching. A couple of us have thrown around the idea of posting and mentioning milestones. I am just always afraid to leave someone out.
The other thing I have seen done in other areas is awards for creative caches, funny caches, best series, etc.
Now, that said, I am a Phys. Ed. teacher and I know that competition can get out of hand. I also know that recognition is a wonderful thing...
It's a tough call. I don't cache for the numbers. I have been a member since 2003 and I only have 800 caches. I cache for friendship, exercise, discovery, and yes, even to brighten a boring day. I like to make little adventures out of my excursions.
Also, I do not like crowds. I can handle them, but I'd rather be outside or in a large room. I also do a lot of other activities besides geocaching, therefore, often there are conflicts.
Let's face it... we all have our own reasons to cache, and no matter what the reason, it just seems the people involved are some of the nicest people in the world. I guess that's what makes any event fun.

I note that Dubord's comment was posted twice. This happened to me yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I didn't hit "submit" twice. Is there a bug in the system somewhere? :confused::confused:

Probably a double "cricket" :)

My fault, I had spelled the heading wrong, tried to edit, could not so I though I had deleted the whole thing and replaced it with a new version. Still not sure how to delete the whole thing?:confused:

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Originally Posted by WhereRWe?

I note that Dubord's comment was posted twice. This happened to me yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I didn't hit "submit" twice. Is there a bug in the system somewhere? :confused::confused:

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dubord207, are you willing to take on the task to check everyone's numbers weekly to recognize the milestones? Are you willing to check with all those passing milestones and ask if they want to be recognized?

Do you or anyone else know what Mainers passed 100 caches this week? 500? 1000? I'm fine with recognition if that's what you want, but once again, I am not sure how you expect the task to be completed in a fair manner.

Show me how we can recognize all Mainers passing milestones wanting to be recognized without leaving anyone out and I'll do what I can to help.

I passed 1000 finally a few weeks ago and wasn't mentioned in here, or I missed it. :( A local cacher and friend from down here ,Dr Who, did mention that he was looking for some congrats from all my friends back home to put into a special gold ammo box that I was presented at an event in my honor a few weeks ago. I wanted to thank everyone too if you did congratulate me. I just haven't been caching much of late with work and all and of course the heat. Will be caching and getting out more when the weather cools off though so watch out!!!!

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Originally Posted by Kaching Karen

My event that I run in January to to celebrate the past year in geocaching. A couple of us have thrown around the idea of posting and mentioning milestones. I am just always afraid to leave someone out.

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The last event, I remember a big milestone mural that we used, everyone was responsible for putting up their own milestones, and milestone was defined very loosely, we had all kinds of things up there, not just numbers! I think we should do that again next January, if you host another event...:D

I have not suggested that any one of us be responsible for actually keeping track of milestones. My entire point is that if somebody posts a milestone for another cacher, or even for themself for that matter, that the members that read this stuff offer a quick congrats. As I indicated in a prior post, what is a milestone to one person may just be an average day of caching for some. The point it, if somebody posts it why not acknowledge the post? Positive response vs. no response. There are plenty of folks on this site who post to every topic EXCEPT milestones. I see no downside in congratulating fellow cachers for a job well done and to me it makes no difference whether I personally know the cacher.

So my question to brdad, if I go out and log 100 caches tomorrow and somebody posts this as a milestone (and I won't post stuff I do), would you offer a "well done Dan?" And if a new cacher receives a milestone post for a FTF cache,wouldn't a quick congrats be appreciated by the new cacher?

That should make my point about all this clear, hopefully. Thanks for the thought you folks have put in to this. I'll move on to a different topic.:)

Dubord and all, here's what I've already explained:

Milestones: When someone mentioned a milestone in a thread, I used to include it in the Newsletter. Then it appeared that we were choosing whose milestones to include in the Newsletter and excluding cachers:(; despite my arguement that we could just post how it was, we decided the simplest solution was to take out the Milestone section all together, because I nor the Board were interested in tracking ALL milestones:p. Which in the end was great with me because it made more room for other sections of the newsletter:D.

The only way to not appear that we are excluding cachers or ignoring their milestones is to track everyone's numbers, or other milestones, to make sure everyone's is mentioned. So forget it! If we can't be adult enough to not hold grudges against people for not noticing milestones and then hold grudges against me for not having it in the newsletter, I'm not going to try. Find a solution to that and I'll re-consider.:(

In the meantime, the milestones forum thread still exists, so use it if you like to!:D:p

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Originally Posted by dubord207

So my question to brdad, if I go out and log 100 caches tomorrow and somebody posts this as a milestone (and I won't post stuff I do), would you offer a "well done Dan?" And if a new cacher receives a milestone post for a FTF cache,wouldn't a quick congrats be appreciated by the new cacher?

That should make my point about all this clear, hopefully. Thanks for the thought you folks have put in to this. I'll move on to a different topic.:)

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Ah, sorry. I misinterpreted what I read. Your point is valid. But as someone who rarely reads or posts to the milestone threads, I am not sure what my answer is. But I know if I could only recognize one I'd rather recognize someone for posting an interesting article or helpful tutorial than I would for milestones.

Wow! I go out kayaking this afternoon, come home turn on the computer, and there are twenty some new post since the last time I checked the site. Said to myself something must be going on, and was it ever. Nice thing about this discussion to me at least was the tone of our members. Everyone who commented, did so in a manner of trying to understand, rather then criticize. This to me is what a group like ours is suppose to be, helpful not critical.

I think I had just done my 30th cache when I first join this group. Every afternoon after work I would look forward to reading the days posts. After maybe a week of just lurking in the shadows, I finally commented on a thread. I remember the first couple of people who made me feel welcome were Haffy and WhereRWe. I remember how much help they were to a newbie. I continue to see that same type of help offered to anyone who ask. I read all of the post on this site, starting with the most interesting to me, and then the rest . If there is some question I feel qualified to answer, and it hasn't been answered already by the more knowledgable of our group, Ill contribute my two sense worth.

The greatest thing about this site to me is the freedom it allows it's members to be who they want to be. Join in, don't join in, lurk in the shadows, pick on Hiram, or once in a while use it to do something good for the world. As was the case with The Relay for Life event posted here by EMS Daniel.

Some of my closest friends today I met on this site, they have shared some wonderful moments with me in the past couple of years. We became friends by reading posts and articles that each had posted here, giving an insight into each others charactor. I continually pick on Hiram and FFJ, but they are in reality two of the nicest young people I've ever met. I would have never have gotten to know them the way I do without this site.

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Originally Posted by vicbiker

I continually pick on Hiram and FFJ, but they are in reality two of the nicest young people I've ever met. I would have never have gotten to know them the way I do without this site.

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Vic, Vic, Vic How many times do I have to remind you. That rumor we don't spread.;):p:rolleyes::cool::eek:

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Originally Posted by Kaching Karen

Now, that said, I am a Phys. Ed. teacher

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And I have worked for Home Depot for 11 years.

We are all not Doctors, Lawyers, Policemen, and FBI agents. While I might find what KK does interesting, (espicially the M&M story) many may not. No Home Depot guy ever captured the attention of a crowd.

Bios are not always interesting. :confused:

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Originally Posted by dubord207

if I go out and log 100 caches tomorrow and somebody posts this as a milestone (and I won't post stuff I do), would you offer a "well done Dan?"

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No. I don't consider this a milestone. Let those that do offer the "well done, Dan". It's like someone winning the pie eating contest. Most people don't care what people do to extremes. For those that do, that's great for them.

Now if you found 100 caches in a day and none of them were lamp post/guard rail micros, that would be a milestone worth discussing. LOL!

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Originally Posted by dubord207

And if a new cacher receives a milestone post for a FTF cache,wouldn't a quick congrats be appreciated by the new cacher?

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Perhaps, but for those of us who have been caching for a while, a FTF is no longer an accomplishment. Since there are dozens of new cachces popping up every day, getting a FTF is very easy to do.

You make a good point, Dan, but not everyone would agree with you. I suppose it's a difference in perception between people new to geocaching and "old timers" for who geocaching milestones don't have the same significance as they did a few years ago.

:D:D

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Originally Posted by Team2hunt

And I have worked for Home Depot for 11 years.

We are all not Doctors, Lawyers, Policemen, and FBI agents. While I might find what KK does interesting, (espicially the M&M story) many may not. No Home Depot guy ever captured the attention of a crowd.

Bios are not always interesting. :confused:

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If you like something in your life or think something in your life is interesting, guarenteed there's at least one other person who thinks so too. Your profession may not interest a lot of people, but I hope it interests you, and so it's nice to share, but more importantly there are other aspects to a bio than what you do for work. In your case, you have a great story about weight loss, bonding with your son over geocaching, meeting Nikki, etc etc which are interesting stories that can touch others!:cool:

And Karen is also a kayaking guide and in my opinion an avid biker, these traits are not only interesting to many they may be helpful if someone has questions. So see, there are other interesting things about you other than jobs.:D

Stef works for the environment and is pictured eating a baby loon. Hows that for a bio?

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Originally Posted by vicbiker

Stef works for the environment and is pictured eating a baby loon. Hows that for a bio?

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That's FUNNY:p

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Originally Posted by vicbiker

Stef works for the environment and is pictured eating a baby loon. Hows that for a bio?

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She's not eating the loon, she's just tasting it !!!!:D

What does loon taste like ???

Chicken?

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Originally Posted by Sabby

What does loon taste like ???

Chicken?

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I've been told more like spotted owl.:rolleyes:

What life do you save when an endangered animal is eating an endangered plant? :o

If the animal is endangered ,
the plant is probabally already gone,
so......

I'd save Steph by giving Hiram a beer

and now back to the newsletter thread !

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Originally Posted by Sabby

and now back to the newsletter thread !

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NO!




:D

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Originally Posted by brdad

What life do you save when an endangered animal is eating an endangered plant? :o

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I'm endangered and no one is trying to save me! or eat me! I'm the only one left of me!!!! (but I do think stef is trying to kill me.....) :D

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Originally Posted by brdad

What life do you save when an endangered animal is eating an endangered plant? :o

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Dave I've been accused of having a slightly warped out look on life, but I'll never hold a candle to that sense of humor you have. Keep up the great observations.

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Originally Posted by Hiram357

I'm endangered and no one is trying to save me! or eat me! I'm the only one left of me!!!! (but I do think stef is trying to kill me.....) :D

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muhahaha and I have the only hiram in the world!!!! :D:D:D
kinda like tigger, he's the only one!:D

I hope yeast never becomes an endangered species!!:p

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Originally Posted by brdad

What life do you save when an endangered animal is eating an endangered plant? :o

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So, yeah, I'm an environmentalist they say, but really I'm all about balance and prosperity for more than one generation of people. I'll save the rest for the much needed bio thread, now that we've introduced T2H, KK, Hiram and myself! haha.

On your question though: you save both by addressing climate change! or/and addressing the consumption&population rates that have led us to consuming all habitat for animals and plants alike!:( so there! :p:D

Silly me, I thought you were kissing a ferret! :D

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Originally Posted by dubord207

. . .. There are plenty of folks on this site who post to every topic EXCEPT milestones. . . .

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Yeah, that would be me. The two topics I rarely if ever post to are birthdays and milestones . . . and it's the two topics that I don't mind folks not noticing when either one occurs to me.

I have nothing against birthdays . . . it's just boring for me to read a bazillion pages with everyone saying the same thing (i.e. Happy Birthday) . . . ditto with the Milestones (plus for me it always seems like paying that much attention to milestones puts too much focus on numbers.) That said . . . this is just me and I have no issues with folks posting to birthday and milestone threads . . . just don't expect me to post to them.

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Originally Posted by vicbiker

. . . pick on Hiram. . . I continually pick on Hiram and FFJ, but they are in reality two of the nicest young people I've ever met. I would have never have gotten to know them the way I do without this site.

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A) Hiram likes being picked on . . . it brings back those memories from high school when he was in the Audio Visual Club ;):D

B) Who's young? I'm nearly 40 (well give or take a few years).

C) Right back at ya Vic . . . after your birthday party I was telling Aaron and Steph that it seemed like you were truly a good soul -- a person who has been through a lot in life and is a better man because of it . . . a person who I can truly respect

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Originally Posted by Mainiac1957

Vic, Vic, Vic How many times do I have to remind you. That rumor we don't spread.;):p:rolleyes::cool::eek:

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HehHeh . . . Aaron and I have sure got Vic fooled, huh? I think Vic needs to come along to the Tread Lightly event to see another side of FFJake and Hiram. ;):D