A nice video from Groundspeak that explains the role of the Geocaching.com volunteer. Makes me even more proud to be one!

MOGA Update

It's been a few weeks since I attended MOGA so I want to do some catching up and post some photos. This was an incredible geocaching event and very well organized. My hat is off to all the directors and their team members. And Richard (Bumanfam) at the awards ceremony was one of the funniest MC's I have seen. He should go into show business. My thanks to all the long-time geocachers who I saw again, and to all the geocachers who I met at this event. By my count I reviewed and published over 400 new caches in preparation for MOGA. It took a lot of time over the past few months, but it wasn't as much work for me as it was for those who went out and actually hid the MOGA caches. Now be sure to maintain them! :-)

Making my way to MOGA. Stopping to review and publish new geocaches at highway rest stop just now.

Let's Call Them "Issues". A Blog in INATN.

The New Zealand-based geocaching blog "It's Not About the Numbers" recently asked me to write a guest post on the topic of the most common mistakes that geocache owners make that prevent me from publishing their caches on the first go-round. You can read my post on their blog. I'm also posting it below to improve the  search engine optimization for my blog. :)
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It’s Not About the Numbers was kind enough to ask me to write a guest blog on the topic of “the biggest/most common mistakes you see as a reviewer when players submit a new cache listing.” But since geocachers are Groundspeak’s customers, I prefer not to call them “mistakes.” How about referring to them as “issues”?

It’s pretty easy for me to say what the most common issue is that I see: placing a cache too close to an existing geocache. This is sometimes called the proximity issue. As all seasoned geocachers know, Geocaching.com guidelines call for spacing of at least 528 ft. (0.1 mile or 161 m) between geocaches and between physical waypoints of different multicaches. If there’s one issue that red-flags a new geocache and causes a delay in publishing, it’s mostly likely the proximity issue, and it’s often the result of the cache owner neglecting to check the location of nearby geocaches before placing his or her new cache. In those cases, I try to work with the geocacher to let them find a new location so they don’t have to resubmit an entirely new cache page. 

My second most common issue is when a multicache or puzzle cache doesn’t have the final coordinates listed as an additional waypoint. Sometimes geocachers will post the final coordinates in a reviewer note, but that doesn’t really help me much because I would then have to enter those coordinates myself as an additional waypoint before I could determine if it’s too close to another geocache. That’s why it’s important that cache owners use the “add/edit waypoints” feature to enter the coordinates for all the waypoints that are physical caches, including the final location. This not only makes it easier for reviewers to review the new geocache, it also helps ensure that future geocaches don't encroach on the caches we publish. 

Third on my list of most common “issues” are caches that appear to have commercial overtones, which is a violation of Geocaching.com’s guidelines regarding commercial caches. Many times the cache owners are just big fans of the business or organization and have no direct financial connections. They simply want other geocachers to know about the great sandwiches, the delicious ice cream, or the helpful service they receive inside the store. However, such an endorsement of a business still crosses the line beyond what Groundspeak wants to publish on its website. In these situations, it’s usually easy to correct the issue. Usually all it takes is the cache owner removing the name of the business from the geocache title and/or removing the endorsement from the description. 

In addition to those, I also see lots of others issues; ones readers of this blog are likely familiar with such as: too close to railroad tracks, on school property or near a government building without permission, and for Iowa, on land managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources without permission.  

One of the oddest issues that I encounter is seeing a newly submitted cache with the same coordinates and the same name as an existing geocache, but submitted by a different geocacher. The first time I saw it, I scratched my head as I tried to figure out what was going on. Eventually I was able to determine that the new listing was not actually a new geocache hide. It was meant to be a “found it” log but the newbie geocacher was mistakenly using the “submit a cache” form to log his find. Believe it not, I’ve seen this happen a number of times so when I see it again it’s easier to recognize the reason. 

So there you have it. My list of the most common “issues” may be different than it is for other reviewers around the world. But all the volunteer reviewers will assure you that we don’t seek ways to deny new geocaches. Our goal is to help cache owners get their caches listed within the guidelines Groundspeak has established for its listing service. Sometimes that requires a few details to be resolved before publication. My thanks to cache owners for their patience and cooperation as I work with them to keep this activity fun for everyone.

New "Submit a Listing" Form

Groundspeak has been working on an update and refinement of the "Submit a Cache Listing" form. They've just released a new wizard that is intended to improve the process and help prevent mistakes. Have you tried it yet? If so, what do you think?

Featured guest

In case you missed the Late Show with David Letterman this past Friday night, here's the highlight: my appearance on the show along with an appearance by the top of my wife's head.

I just can't take it any more.

If you submitted an Iowa geocache for publication on geocaching.com this weekend, you may have noticed that it was published today by a reviewer other than me. This is because I have lost the ability to push the "publish" button on my computer. I have tried to fix this problem. At first I thought it was a computer problem but Computer Geeks told me my computer was fine. They suggested I contact a physician. My physician told me there was nothing wrong with my index finger -- which is the one I use to press the "publish" button. He suggested I contact a psychiatrist. My psychiatrist told me I need to overcome my fear of publishing new caches by attending his month-long reviewer rehabilitation camp, which I did... to no avail. Therefore, the only option left for me is to enlist geocaching.com reviewers from around the world to help me overcome my cache publishing phobia. As I continue to cope with this terrible disability, I hope you enjoy seeing the name of a reviewer other than IowaAdmin at the bottom of your cache page.

Challenge caches - Guideline has been updated

Groundspeak has updated the Challenge Cache guideline as shown below.

New guideline
A challenge cache is a variation of a mystery cache that enhances the geocaching experience. It will typically require the cacher to meet a reasonable and positive Geocaching-, Waymarking- or Wherigo-related qualification. If you are thinking of creating such a cache, please review the additional specifications in our Knowledge Book article.

Previous guideline
A challenge cache is a variation of a puzzle cache. This will typically require the cacher to meet a reasonable Geocaching-, Waymarking- or Wherigo-related qualification. An example is finding a cache in each county of your state. If you are thinking of creating such a cache, be sure to do your research first.

And here's the update to the Knowledge Book article, which contains more information. (Maybe it's just me, but I had to chuckle when I saw this in the text: "A lengthy list of 'rules' would be sufficient reason for a challenge cache to not be published," which is immediately followed by a lengthy list of rules.)

Updated Knowledge Book Article

What is a Challenge cache?
A challenge cache requires that geocachers meet a geocaching-related qualification or series of tasks before the challenge cache can be logged. Waymarking, Benchmarking, Challenges and Wherigo-related tasks also qualify. The additional qualification or geocaching-related tasks are considered the basis of a challenge cache, rather than Additional Logging Requirements (ALRs).

Challenge caches vary in scope and format. All challenge caches must be in the affirmative and require that something be accomplished. Challenge cache owners must demonstrate that there are sufficient available caches to meet the challenge at the time of publication. Reviewers may ask the cache owner to demonstrate that they have previously met the challenge and/or that a substantial number of other geocachers would be able to do so.

How will you know when the challenge cache requirements have been met?
Importantly, cache owners must consider how they will substantiate claims that the cache requirements have been met. The challenge criteria on the cache page must reflect this consideration, and must be verifiable through information on the Geocaching.com website. Challenge caches relying solely on third-party software for verification will not be published. Cache owners will need to ensure that geocachers can verify that they have completed the cache requirements without compromising their privacy. Challenge cache owners may also be asked to outline a long-term cache maintenance plan.

What makes an acceptable challenge cache?
A challenge cache needs to be appeal to, and be attainable by, a reasonable number of geocachers. A challenge cache may not specifically exclude any segment of geocachers. If a geocacher is required to alter their caching style or habits, such as avoiding a particular cache type to attain a specific percentage or average, the cache will not be published.

The requirements for meeting the challenge should be succinct and easy to explain, follow, and document. A lengthy list of “rules” would be sufficient reason for a challenge cache to not be published.

Additional points to consider when creating a challenge cache:

1. Challenge caches must contain the word "challenge" in the cache name.
2. Challenge caches are listed as the Mystery/Unknown cache type.
3. A Challenge cache must avoid undue restrictions. Specifically:
a. Challenge caches based on a specific list of caches, such as caches placed by a specific person or group, will generally not be published
b. Challenge caches cannot include restrictions based on ‘date found’; caches found before the challenge cache publication date can count towards the achievement of the challenge.
4. Challenge caches need to be attainable at any time while the cache is active. A cache that requires “100 multi-caches found in 2011” would not be publishable, as would not be attainable by someone new to the game.
5. A Challenge cache based on non-accomplishments, such as DNFs, will not be published.
6. One should not have to ‘give up’ finding other caches to achieve a challenge cache’s requirements. To state that "10% of your find count needs to be Attended Logs" would require the geocacher to stop finding other types of caches and could affect their overall enjoyment of the game.
7. Challenge caches may not require the publication of a new cache or Waymark as a challenge criteria; challenge caches must be achievable by those who do not own caches or Waymarks.
8. Challenge caches must not require geocachers to log caches that are disabled or archived.
9. A challenge cache should recognize the completion of a personal achievement, rather than the winner of a competition. For example, a challenge cache based on "First to Finds" is a competition between geocachers, and is therefore not publishable.
10. A challenge cache must be attainable without the need to email the owner. The cache page must include the true coordinates or the means to calculate them, if a puzzle.
11. If a challenge cache is submitted within an area where a similar challenge cache already exists, then it will need to have a unique list of qualifying criteria (geocaches, waymarks, etc.).

Too tired to start a fire

Here's a fun song by paddling singer/songwriter Jerry Vandiver, who will be performing at Canoecopia in Madison, Wis., this weekend. I'll be there too.

Podcacher.com coming to Iowa

Did you catch the announcement that Sonny and Sandy, creators of Podcacher.com, are going to attend MOGA in April at Rathbun Lake? It will be good to see them there. It's been nearly five years since I met them at the 2007 Midwest Geobash in Indiana when Sonny interviewed me for their show (Podcacher show #120). In case you weren't into geocaching back then, here's a link to that show with the interview. The interview starts around the halfway point in the program.

Phases of a Geocacher

This past week I read a nice blog written by a nice geocacher about the nice phases of geocaching. This has prompted me to finally post my own "phases of a geocacher" essay that I've been working on for some time. My "phases" essay may be not as nice but it is more realistic, IMHO. Here goes...

Phases of a Geocacher

In my interaction with hundreds of geocachers over the years, I have come to recognize that attitudes, opinions and comments of geocachers are often influenced by what phase they are in during their geocaching timeline progression. Therefore, to better understand a geocacher’s attitudes and motivations, it’s helpful to understand what phase he or she is in. Keep in mind that there is no standard duration for any of these phases. Some geocachers move through the entire continuum in a matter of weeks or months, while others may dwell in a single phase for several years before transitioning to the next.

With no offense intended to anyone in particular, here’s my description of these phases of a geocacher. My thanks to a few geocaching friends who have contributed their ideas to this list.

Pre-geocaching phase, also known as “muggle”

You may own a GPS. You may be a hiker. You may even be a letterboxer. But until you first become aware that there is an organized activity called geocaching with thousands of people taking part, you are quite simply… a muggle. (The term is borrowed from the Harry Potter books. The word “muggle” has spread beyond its Harry Potter origins and is used by many groups to indicate those who are not aware or are lacking in some skill. In 2003, “muggle” entered the Oxford English Dictionary with that definition.)

The Curious Excitement phase

You found the geocaching.com web site or found a geocache by accident, or you were introduced to the sport by a family member, co-worker, neighbor, someone you met on a trail, or by a story in the news media. Your interest level is moderately high because you wonder what it would be like to look for a hidden container and what others will think of your strange behavior. After searching on geocaching.com and printing out a cache listing, you’re ready to go on your first cache hunt.

The Irrational Exuberance phase

The phase begins with your first geocache find. In this phase, unless you were introduced to geocaching by a friend or family member, you have not yet met another geocacher.

            After your first find, the “irrational exuberance” phase either continues or it is squelched. The first find can make or break you. If it was a hum-drum location, you may end your geocaching after that first experience. If it was a great location, a clever hide, an ingenious container, or a memorable geocache for other positive reasons, you’re probably hooked, at least for the short term, and the irrational exuberance phase continues, although it is now somewhat more rational because you now have experienced that geocaching is as fun as you hoped it would be.

The Quest For Recognition (QFR) phase

For many geocachers, the next phase involves a desire to be recognized by the local and/or worldwide geocaching “community.” This phase manifests itself in different ways to different people:

You may become a FTF hound/hog.

You may fall to the dark side and realize It’s All About the Numbers. (Note: These first two behaviors indicate signs of geocaching-obsessive behavior. More about that in a moment.)

You may post long, humorous found-it logs on cache pages to demonstrate how brilliant you are.

You may write multiple, frequent forum postings in the Groundspeak forums and/or on your local geocaching organization website. In these postings, you seek to carve out a niche for yourself by adopting and promoting an idiosyncratic stance on a certain issue. For example you may spread the word about non-Groundspeak geocaching sites such as Terra… Open something... whozit… something (sorry, I never can remember the names of those other sites.)

You may create signature items (including geocoins) that you leave in caches and/or trade with or sell to other geocachers.

You may organize geocaching events.

You may create only mystery/puzzle caches and begin building a mystique surrounding your puzzlemaster geocaching I.D. (which is actually a sock puppet account) by never publicly acknowledging that TonyVargossy77’s alter identity is The Enigma.

You may get a local newspaper or TV reporter to do a story about geocaching that features – who else? – you!

The Flame-out phase. Also known as “My life-changing situation”

At some point, obsessed geocachers arrive at a stark realization: “There are other geocachers who are even more obsessed than I am and therefore I will never be able to reach the pinnacle in my Quest For Recognition (QFR)” For many geocachers, this is a bitter pill to swallow. Of course, while this scenario is the cause of many flame-outs, it is NEVER admitted to be the cause. Instead, the stated cause of the flame-out is one of the following: a) My workload has changed; b) My family situation has changed; c) My knee/back/hip/ankle/shoulder/GPS/car/wife/husband/family gave out/up on me.

“Geocide”      

In its most severe form, a flame-out is punctuated by a “geocide.” This term refers to a geocacher who publicly disavows geocaches, geocachers and all things geocaching. In effect, he or she commits virtual suicide of his geocaching.com identity and vows in the forums to never return to the forums/logs/events/game again. Although the term “geocide” may imply permanence, the opposite is usually true. Many geocides have been known to last no longer than one day, and many geocachers have been known to commit geocide as many as five or six times… and counting. In these multi-geocide situations, the official forum posting to mark the end of a geocide phase usually begins with “OK, I tried to stay away but there’s just one more thing I want to say.”

The “It’s not about the numbers – No really, I mean it this time” phase

After pursuing the Quest For Recognition phase followed either by a graceful Flame-out or a not-so-graceful Geocide, geocachers generally enter the “It’s not about the numbers – No really, I mean it this time” phase.

The “Rodney King (Can’t we all just get along?)” phase

This phase is evidenced when a geocacher posts a forum message with the central theme of: “Everyone should be allowed to play the game the way he or she wants to.” While this is truly a noble and harmonious sentiment, few geocachers actually believe it. The unspoken truth is that if a geocacher does not play the game exactly the way I do, he or she is either a “newbie” a “FTF hound” a “numbers whore” a “coin maniac” or qualifies for one of a number of other derogatory classifications designed to imply superiority.

Eleven years of geocaching

Today is the 11th anniversary of my first geocache find. I have previously written about that day so I won't go into details here again. However, it is interesting to note how much geocaching continues to change from year to year. This past weekend I made a last-minute decision to attend a geocaching event because I saw the names of a few old timers who posted their "will attend" logs. It was fun to catch up and talk about the good old days of geocaching. I'm not one of those people who think that just because something is different than how it used to be, it has necessarily changed for the worse. On the contrary, I think it's pretty amazing to see how far geocaching has come since I hid what is now the oldest geocache in Wisconsin (Pike Powder Hike) and one of the first geocaches in Iowa: Grandpa Kettleson's Farm, an archived cache that I placed on land where my grandfather grew up. Groundspeak continues to lead the way and introduce new aspects to the game every year. Many of those innovations are inspired and requested by geocachers. New people come into the hobby every day. Some play for only a few months. Others, like me, seem to hang in there year after year. I used to think that for me it was all about the hike and getting out into nature. But over the years I've come to realize it's also about the long-lasting friendships I've made along the way. Geocaching attracts quite a melting pot of people who enjoy this activity, from old to young, from couch potatoes to marathoners, and from thrill seekers to nature lovers. It's fascinating getting to know all the different types and hearing about why they geocache.

What about requesting a specific date and time to publish a cache?

I wrote about this topic back in November, but I want to revisit it because it came up again in a request from a geocacher this week. While it is possible for reviewers to set a large group of caches for publishing on a certain date in conjunction with an upcoming geocaching event, it requires the reviewer to take a number of steps using the online tools that Groundspeak makes available to reviewers, so here's what I have decided to do. I will set up specific dates and times to publish, but only for "mass" publishing of a number of caches, that is, when event organizers have requested a large number of geocaches to be published on the same date. Additionally, I've found that requesting a specific time is often a hit-or-miss proposition because the system doesn't always publish them exactly when I specify. For those reasons, I can't honor requests for specified publication dates and times for individual geocaches because -- given the online system available to me right now -- it would take up a lot more of my time and it would likely frustrate some geocachers if their caches didn't get published at a specific time after they were led to believe that it would. I hope this helps clarify the situation.

Geocaching presents the year in review

If you've already seen this video, did you notice Iowa's own Busterbabes signing a poster at the 2011 Lost & Found event at Groundspeak headquarters? It's at the 2:23 into the video.

Garmin vs. Groundspeak

In case you missed it, there's been something of a Goliath vs. David business battle going on between Groundspeak, the small Seattle-based company that owns and manages Geocaching.com, and Garmin, the large company that makes the best (in my opinion) consumer GPS devices and has attempted to get its own geocaching listing service -- OpenCaching.com -- off the ground. One of my fellow reviewers, Nick Brown, who is a reviewer in France, wrote this very insightful article about the whole mess. It's worth a read. What do you think? Have you used OpenCaching.com?

What about specific publication times and dates?

I had a nice email conversation with a geocacher last week who was asking about getting several different cache published at specific (but different) times and dates. I'd like to share my response with you here so you can see how I like to handle these situations. Keep in mind this may not be the way other reviewers prefer to handle things.
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Here's how the review process normally works: When you create a new geocache page, please don't "enable" it until the cache is in place and ready to be published. That way I can publish new geocaches in the order they were received whenever I happen to be online and doing my volunteer reviewer duties. When I click on the "publish" button, the cache page goes live immediately and is searchable by other geocachers.

Normally I can't guarantee a specific publication date and time unless a group of new caches are being placed for simultaneous timed release in conjunction with a geocaching event cache. The reason for this is because it's not a simple matter for reviewers to program a timed release, so we like to have a "critical mass" of several caches to all be released at the same time and same day in order to make it an efficient process to set up.

The exception that I make to this process would be when a geocacher asks me to check to see if a location is acceptable under the proximity guideline. That is, check to see if his or her prospective location for a new geocache is at least 528 ft. from existing geocaches and physical waypoints of other multicaches and mystery/puzzle ("unknown") caches. The reason I would do this is when the geocacher wants to create a special cache that requires advanced preparation, such as a special multicache or puzzle cache. In that case I may ask the geocacher to go ahead and submit the cache page with the final coordinates, but include a reviewer note to let me know that he/she wants me to check whether the coordinates are OK for a cache placement.

Clowning around with the big guy

That's me with Jeremy Irish (right), president and one of the founders of geocaching.com.

New caches are not "enabled" by default

In case you missed the recent change to the online cache submittal form, when you submit a new cache, it is no longer enabled by default. In the past, when you submitted a new cache, there was a check box at the top of the form to enable the submission. By default it was checked. Now the same check box is farther down on the page below the coordinate entry box and it is NOT checked by default. Until you check this box, your new cache submittal will not show up in the reviewer's list of new caches to review. So far, I have seen postings or received emails from a handful of geocachers who were wondering why their new caches were not reviewed after several days. But I don't think this has been a big problem for Iowa geocachers (probably because the average Iowa geocacher is better at reading instructions than the average non-Iowa geocacher). However, it is apparently a bigger problem for some geocachers elsewhere, as evidenced by a recent string of postings in the geocaching.com forums.

IGO's annual Hike N Seek event

I’m a little late in blogging about it, but I wanted to report on the great time I had at the annual IGO Hike N Seek event, which was held Sept. 23-25 in Elkader. I drove to Elkader after work that Friday evening and arrived in time to set up my tent in the city park before heading over to the local movie theater, where the IGO organizers had arranged a special screen of “GPS: The Movie.” I have to admit I wasn’t impressed with the production values, the plot, the acting or the writing. But other than those deficiencies, I thought it was an OK flick. What I did enjoy was gathering at the theater with fellow geocachers, some of whom I haven’t seen for awhile and some of whom I had not previously met. It was a nice, homey little theater and the popcorn and wine were quite tasty. Saturday I joined the rest of the Iowa geocachers at the city park shelter for the instructions for the competition (which I did not enter) and the downloading of coordinates into my GPS for the approximately 100 new geocaches that had been hidden by several area geocachers. The new caches were well-placed and I appreciated the cache owners’ cooperation to submit them throughout the summer to give me plenty of time to review them and resolve any issues before the prescheduled mass publishing that Saturday during the event.  After caching during the day, we reconvened Saturday evening at the park for grilling, potluck picnic food, and door prizes. Mary (my wife) was scheduled to leave town on Sunday for business travel, so Saturday night after the potluck dinner I decided to pack up my tent and head home so I could spend the remainder of the weekend with her. My thanks to all the organizers, cache hiders, donators and geocachers who attended this great event.

River Action launches geocaching program

I've been working with organizers of the Geocaching on the RiverWay program to publish their series of geocaches. Some are also listed on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. You can find a list of these new caches at their website for River Action, and read a news release about the program. As an avid kayaker and part-time kayaking instructor, I'm happy to see efforts like this to get people better acquanted with the Mississippi River.