| This area focuses on documents specifically related to creating and maintainging a Geocaching club. We have refined over the years and have added some things to this area of the site. We recommend the following article. It gives some good perspective on managing groups.
Here are some thoughts from the GGA regarding starting your own association.
There are document links at the bottom if you would like to print this article.
How to Start a Geocaching Group
You've got a GPS receiver and have hunted a few caches, and maybe you have even placed a cache or two. You have also been online and found out that there are other geocachers in your area and now you want to meet some of these people face-to-face and maybe form a club or organization. This article was developed by the Georgia Geocachers Association (GGA) to help you do just that. You'll learn what you can do to start a geocaching group in your area.
GATHER THE GEOCACHERS!
The first step is to organize the first meeting. Geocaching.com offers a special type of cache called an "Event Cache" where the cache is not a container but rather some geocaching related event. A brief survey of the early event caches shows that many geocaching groups today started out as a single event cache that grew into a club or organization. The GGA started this way. We first met in July of 2001 without any plan of creating a formal group. A couple of geocachers created an event cache listing and then kept their fingers crossed that other geocachers would attend. Then, just weeks before our first meeting, the Georgia Parks and Recreation department banned geocaching in State Parks. Since many of Georgia's most scenic and accessible woodlands are on State Park land, this ban created a need for a group to organize and lead a campaign to allow geocaching on Park lands. Maybe there is a similar issue in your area.
After you've decided to create an event cache you'll need to find a location. Pick a spot that has some intrinsic value beyond Geocaching -- a park, a river, etc. Find a place that people would bring their families and kids to, so that you can cast it as a "family friendly" event. A suitable location will require some sort of shelter so that the event can occur rain or shine. The size of the group will be hard to estimate but ten to twenty is a good estimate for a first meeting based upon the GGA's experience. However, if geocaching is very popular in your area you may need a much larger location. State, city, and county parks often have shelters that can be reserved for little or no cost and make excellent meeting locations. Be sure to look for fairly close toilet facilities. Remember that many geocachers are families and a child friendly environment will help foster family participation. And, be sure to bring your GPS receiver with you so that you can record the coordinates. Finally, you can increase attendance by selecting a location in a cache-rich area. If there are no areas around you that are cache-rich then you can always create one by placing caches in the area!
Next, you'll need to set a date for the meeting. If you are already in online conversations through Groundspeak or another forum then inquire about a good weekend for everyone. If you are flying solo and don't know anyone then select a weekend day at least a month in advance. This will give most people a chance to plan their schedule around the meeting.
For the first meeting it's not necessary to have a formal program of events. However, if you can engage the group's interest then you'll increase the likelihood that people will return. First meetings are an opportunity for people to put faces with screen names so bring a few pens and name tags. A good first meeting activity is to place a few temporary caches in the immediate vicinity of the meeting so that cachers can hunt them before or after the meeting. If you choose a meeting location that is in a historic park ask a ranger to give a brief tour or talk about the area. If the weather is warm then consider inviting everyone to cookout before or after the meeting. If you feel more ambitious and would like to plan a more formal schedule of events then see the "Program Contents" section below for more ideas. Probably the most important thing you can get at this first meeting is the name and email address of everyone who attends. This will help you promote future meetings. If you can have someone snap some digital photographs of people having fun, posting them with the logs of the event cache will help to attract those who couldn't make the first meeting.
Once you have set a date and location you are ready to create the event cache at geocaching.com. An event cache is created much like a regular cache. Just be sure to select "event cache" in the cache type section and use the meeting date as the "date placed". By placing the future date of the event in the "date placed" field you will make the event come up at the top of the list of searches by zip code and in the weekly new cache announcement messages. This will also make it appear correctly on the geocaching.com event cache calendar page.
PUBLICIZE IT!
Now that you have posted the event cache on geocaching.com you'll need to publicize the event. If you haven't already found it, go to Groundspeak Forums (http://forums.groundspeak.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi) and search out the forum for your area. Post a message advertising the event cache date and location. Be sure to include a link to the event cache page.
Pursue other ways to generate interest in the event cache. Look at the virtual log for caches you've placed and caches in the area of the meeting. Contact the people who have hunted those caches and email everyone an invitation to the event cache. You can also create a web page to promote the event cache. If you have enough lead-time before the event you can include a "plug" for your event cache in the online and real logbooks of caches you found. If you want to draw from the general public create a flyer to post at work, restaurants, outdoor shops, and other locations your target market visits.
CREATING A REGULAR GROUP
At the first meeting you can promote the idea of a regular group. Use the name and address list to stay in touch with everyone from that first meeting. Create an email listserve so that the group can stay in touch with a single email. Use the listserve to send out a minutes from the meeting and promote the next meeting.
Meetings can be monthly, quarterly, or on any schedule that fits the group's needs. Some groups plan monthly meetings featuring planned programming while others meet less often and for primarily social reasons. If you decided to meet on a regular schedule you'll probably want to offer some sort of programming to the group.
Appropriate program content relates to geocaching but don't think too narrow. The GGA promotes geocaching among its members and the general public and program content is tied to geocaching. Members often plan and present various topics such as how-to demonstrations. Sometimes outside speakers are invited. Visit geocaching.com and read over the event caches for other groups and pick the ideas that are most interesting to your members. Following is a list of program content ideas to get you started:
First Aid Demonstration
Leave No Trace Ethics
Local Poisonous and Nonpoisonous Snakes Demonstration
Group Cookout
Establish a Group Cache
Tour a Historic Area
Tutorials on Map Reading, how to create a cache, read a compass, etc...
The most important part of planning the meeting's program is to ensure the attendees have fun. If they enjoy the meeting they are sure to come back for more next time!
ADD SOME STRUCTURE
If you haven't already done so you'll need to decide on some sort of structure or organization to your group. The GGA uses an informal structure instead of the traditional officer approach. We did not want the rigidity of officers, but SOME structure is necessary or nothing ever happens. There are currently six members on a "steering committee" elected by the members. The Steering Committee handles the work of planning the meetings, recruiting other members to put on program presentations, and conducts the administrative side of the group. Be sure not to bore members with the business side of the group. People attend meetings to have fun, not to discuss business. The group's leaders are best advised to keep the business side as inconspicuous as possible.
CAN WE TALK?
Group communication is important and there are many providers of free and low cost forums for this purpose. These providers generally require the name of a responsible party and an email address for reference. Some of these free providers will not allow transfer of ownership, so it is very important to register them with a ?straw man? account from the beginning. The GGA has created a generic ?straw man? email address that is accessible by all the members of the Steering Committee. You can do this with a simple hotmail or yahoo account. This gives the group the ability to change committee members regularly without the problems of transferring the group's assets.
The GGA uses the following forums and providers:
Groupee.com (www.groupee.com): Geocaching.com uses this site for its discussion boards. Infopop will host the discussion board, provide a listserve mail server, and will even host your groups web site for a monthly fee. The GGA has moved to this site for a consolidated group communications system.
Web Site: A group web site provides a central location to link to all your group's resources and it is also a convenient way to promote your group. For an informal group, a free web space somewhere like Tripod.Com might suffice. For a more "official" group you can register a domain at a number of resources... we used a .org in case we wanted to turn in to an official nonprofit organization at some point. Cost is around $15 to $25 per year. You can "pass the hat" to raise money for these kinds of expenses, but try to keep it to a minimum. Web site hosting can be found for as little as $10 per month or if you're lucky a member might be able to provide it for free. The GGA had its first site hosted by Tripod.com.
EZ Board (www.ezboard.com/): The GGA initially used this site for its threaded discussions for members to discuss information and ideas related to geocaching. For a small biannual fee, ads can be removed from the discussion boards. EZ Board had a severe crash and all of our old discussion board data was lost.
Topica.com (www.topica.com/): A listserve allows members to communicate directly without the need for everyone to maintain individual distribution list. Companies like Topica offer email newsletters and discussion lists at no fee. The GGA reserves its discussion list primarily for announcements and meeting minutes and uses its EZ Board for most communication between members.
Merchandise: CafeShops (powered by CafePress - www.cafeshops.com) offers a unique and cost effective way for small groups to print cups, t-shirts and other promotional materials for your group.
FUN MEETINGS
Group meetings are an opportunity for geocachers to meet each other and learn more about each other and our game. While a schedule of events is a great way to keep the crowd focused never allow the schedule to ruin the fun. Be flexible and allow everyone to have fun.
MONEY MATTERS
You will find that there are some costs associated with the group. The GGA finances its activities by passing a hat when circumstances require. Some funds are also generated from the sale of t-shirts and other goods available at CafePress.
IN CONCLUSION...
Hopefully you now have a better idea of what is required to organize an event cache and geocaching group in your area. If you would like more information please contact the GGA at gageoadm@yahoo.com and a member of the Steering Committee will contact you with help. Please visit our website at www.ggaonline.org to see links to our CafePress site and more information about our events and history.
For questions contact the GGA. |
