World Wide Flash Mob – The Spice of Geocaching Life
It’s your time to bask in the geocaching limelight, with fellow geocachers from around the world, for 15 fast minutes. Join one of hundreds of Geocaching World Wide Flash Mob events on June 7, 2014. The WWFM events are Geocaching Event Caches on fast-forward. They’re 15 minutes of fun and excitement, packed with “typical” geocaching event activities like group photos, event meals, prize giveaways and trading trackables.
Hurry up, time is running out to host a WWFM of your own. Events must be published two weeks prior to the event date and your local geocaching community volunteer reviewer will need time to review and publish your event. All those logging an “Attended” for a WWFM event receive a commemorative digital souvenir for their geocaching profile.
Last year, more than 25,000 geocachers attended one of more than 550 geocaching flash mob events in 42 countries spanning the globe. Discover information on attending the eleventh WWFM event this year on the official WWFM website.
From a small beginning in 2007, the WWFM has grown astronomically, spreading around the world to include more geocachers and more events every year. The WWFM events are 15 minutes of fun and excitement, packed with “typical” geocaching event activities like group photos, event meals (usually Hershey’s kisses), prize giveaways and trackable trading.
Check out the pictures below for a look at what you could experience at a WWFM near you!
A WWFM X in the United StatesA WWFM X in the Czech RepublicA WWFM X in GermanyA WWFM X in FranceA WWFM X in Denmark
Last Year’s GIFF Geocoin. Photos by Suzi-Pratt.com
By Reid,
Around this time last year, my co-HQer and the great Geocaching Block Party organizer, Amy, said something like, “Hey Reid, so it turns out we have access to a very large screen for Block Party. What should we do with it?” After a thoughtful pause I said, “What if we hosted a film festival?” Amy did a giddy dance and the Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF) was officially born. In true “If you build it they will come” fashion, the ambitious idea was a success. We received over 100 submissions from more than 20 countries! After spending three years of telling the stories of geocachers for Geocaching HQ, I was truly inspired to see how the community chose to tell their own. Our inaugural GIFF was such a hit that we decided to do it again this year.
Crawling around in a cave. Anything for the shot!
It has now been four years that I’ve been running through forests, crouching into caves, and crawling through sewers to tell the stories of people who love to find and hide geocaches. I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about what makes for good geocaching video, and with the help of the GIFF judges from HQ, I have compiled five tips to up your chances of being one of the finalists for this year’s Geocaching International Film Festival.
1. Less is More
Just because you can submit up to 4 minutes of video doesn’t necessarily mean you should. When I make videos I think, “What is the simplest way I can tell this story?” Then, I add from there if I can’t resist. This will help you focus on what is truly important and keep your audience engaged. Last year’s finalist, Godzilla Goes Geocaching, is a great example of a geocacher who used 1 minute and 32 seconds to tell his story.
2. Global Appeal
How are you going to communicate your love of the game to 9 million geocachers from more than 185 countries? Something that might be amazing for your local community may not speak to the global community. One of last year’s finalists, Geocaching Day, is a story told without dialogue that speaks to the adventurous spirit of geocachers everywhere.
GIFF on the Big Screen. Photos by Suzi-Pratt.com
3. Focus on Quality
We understand if geocaching comes before filmmaking on your hobby list—we’re not looking for Hollywood here. We are, however, looking for videos that will look and sound good on the big screen. If you can, use a tripod and an external mic. If you can’t, have your actors speak close to your on-camera mic and use a natural tripod like a tree or your friend’s shoulder. For inspiration, check out last year’s winner for Best Cinematography: Galaxy Cache. For more technical tips, I highly recommend checking out Vimeo’s Video School.
4. Follow the Rules
For real. We had to deny one of our favorite films last year because they didn’t have permission for the songs they used. If you’re serious about being considered as a finalist, I recommend grabbing a coffee, a snack, a highlighter and reading through the GIFF guidelines.
5. Have Fun!
If you’re not having fun making your film, your audience won’t have fun watching it. Though I know they didn’t get much sleep, I’m pretty sure the creators of My Geocaching Addiction had a pretty good time putting it together. Oh, and they just happened to take home the Audience Award.
We are on the edges of our exercise ball chairs over here at HQ to see what you come up with for GIFF 2014.
Geocache will be added to the official Scrabble dictionary.
9 Years, 16 competitors, 1000s of Votes, 16 points
Earlier this month, Hasbro, the company behind the game of Scrabble, held a contest for fans to vote for the first word to be added to the official Scrabble dictionary in nine years. It. Was. A. Big. Deal. The contest began with 16 competitors, but the worldwide Geocaching community made its voice heard and carryied ‘Geocache’ (worth 16 points without any special squares) to the final spot.
First off, from all of us at Geocaching HQ, we want to give you a resounding thank you. You showed your pride for the game we all love and you all came through in a big way. Here’s a quick recap and a somewhat biased play-by-play of the competitors Geocache went up against, and ultimately defeated:
The contest bracket, via the Hasbro Game Night Facebook page.
Geocache vs. Bitcoin
Bitcoin may have had the upper hand if voting were only accessible via Tor, but ultimately, it never stood a chance. This obscure, highly volatile internet currency may have been in the headlines recently, but it’s longevity is still unproven. Geocache took an early lead and never looked back.
Geocache vs. Cosplay
Don’t get me wrong—some of the creativity and craftsmanship that goes into cosplay is incredible. The attention to detail is impeccable. However, we have geocache makers who apply that same level of creativity and ingenuity into geocache containers. Plus, after the geocache is created, you actually get to go find it and touch it—which in my opinion, gives geocache the upper hand.
Geocache vs. Ew
This one was a tough battle. At some point, we’ve all probably said ‘ew’ while geocaching. It all came down to this: ‘ew’ isn’t actually a word. While it’s something we’ve all said, you won’t find it in a dictionary. Match goes to geocache.
Geocache vs. Zen
It all came down to this. Zen may be useful in Scrabble, and many people campaigned for its acceptance—however, the Geocaching community was too strong. Zen was a formidable opponent and would have had a significant impact on the game. If it were a person, we’d give it a gentlemanly handshake and congratulate it on a well-fought contest.
On April 10, 2014, Geocache was announced as the winner on the United States TV show, Good Morning America. The story was then picked up by news outlets like ABC, the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal and even TIME. Since then, we’ve seen plenty of people who were following the Scrabble vote who didn’t know about geocaching pick up the hobby we all know and love.
Thanks again for everyone who voted and helped make Geocache the first word added to the official Scrabble dictionary by public vote.
To earn a smiley and watch your find count tick up another notch, there are few things geocachers wouldn’t do. We’ve seen geocachers hike for miles, climb mountains, rappel off structures and wade through mud. To find this geocache though, you’re going to have to take it a step further. I won’t give it away (spoilers below in the photos, FYI) but you’ll have to be brave and stick your hand somewhere you’re not entirely sure about. And aside from the bravery, this geocache adds a bit of humor to the geocaching experience, which is never a bad thing. For the hundreds of geocachers who have conquered their fears and gone for it: the results have been overwhelmingly positive. So the question is, are you brave enough?
# of Finds:
513
# of Favorite Points:
112
What geocachers are saying:
“Hahaha!! What an awesome cache!! Thanks so much for the laugh” – sunbeammm
“Urban caching is usually not my favourite. This one made lot of fun. When 4 people climbing on a fountain in the middle of a crowded area this is absolutely a joy.” – maulaf_normanne
“Oh what a hoot! I had heard stories and tall tales about this one. Nice downtown area with only a few muggles around. Looked and pondered and looked some more. Spent time trying to retrieve something that wasn’t the cache, but in the failed effort to do I was inspired to stick my hand in the right place.” – Joshism
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!
Photos:
Taunting the beast. Photo by geocacher fatkidsOTWuniteI just hope the lion didn’t wake up after this. Photo by geocacher haley4tnSometimes you just have to go for it. Photo by geocacher hiddenrock
When was the last time you had to summon your bravery in order to make a find? Tell us in the comments.
Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.
If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, leave a comment below with the name of the geocache, the GC code, and why you think we should feature it.
Geocaching HQ’ers Annie Love (front left) AKprincesswarrior (center) lead Pathways middle school students on their first ever geocaching adventure – and they loved it!
Geocaching: Middle Schooler Tested and Approved
By: Maria McDonald.
A new generation discovers the GPS device.
As a Geocaching HQ staffer often tethered to the office, I love it when the opportunity to be out in the community presents itself. Such an opportunity presented itself last week when a teacher (Username: Cache-alope) from a local after school science program (Pathways) asked me and Partner Programs Manager Annie Love (Love) to present geocaching to her middle school students. My immediate reaction: Middle schoolers?!? Oh no…anything but the awkward tween years. Luckily, my love of all things geocaching overcame these initial thoughts, and the opportunity to share my passion for geocaching with the next generation removed any lingering doubt.
While preparing our presentation, I got to thinking about children’s involvement with geocaching more generally. While one of the most fascinating elements of geocaching is its ability to be many different things to many types of people, children have a particular place in this game we cherish. First and foremost, kids love toys. If nothing else, geocache SWAG gives youngsters the opportunity to find fun toys. This often keeps them interested in a ‘treasure hunt’ before the more nuanced elements of the game can hold their attention. Another element that particularly appeals to children (or rather to their adults chaperons) is the idea of giving their walk a purpose. Have you ever tried talking a child into going for a walk with you? Nearly impossible! They’re bored and whining before you hit a quarter mile. Tell a child you’re going geocaching and you can get her to cheerfully – and unknowingly – go for a long walk. Lastly, I thought about the importance of finding activities the entire family can enjoy. Geocaching has wide appeal in this aspect as babies in strollers, grandparents in walkers, and every age and stage in between can find something about geocaching they enjoy with geocaches they are able to access. It truly is an adventure for the whole family.
So how do you get your youngsters into geocaching? Here are 5 easy Tricks of the Trade (TOTT…but different this time around).
1. Bring Snacks. Simple but true, you can bribe – I mean convince – a child to do just about anything with the right snack as incentive.
2. Be enthusiastic. Kids know fun when they see it. If you see geocaching as something fun, adventurous, and exciting, that enthusiasm is going to shine out your face like rainbows and they will want to be part of the action.
3. Plan geocaching outings that you know will provide SWAG. This part is easy, as mentioned earlier children love stuff. Geocaches have stuff in them. Plan on searching for geocaches with young ones that you know will provide them with cool stuff. Worried the geocache may not have the goods needed to keep your child’s attention? You’re an adult – use your super sneaky adult powers to have extra SWAG of your own on hand to suddenly make SWAG ‘appear’ as if from the geocache itself. Sort of like planting evidence but much more legal. After the planted SWAG is discovered enthusiastically, mention the next geocache with cool stuff is just around the corner…
4. Find caches that match the child’s skill set and ability. At every age of child development there are markers and goals for what children are capable of learning. Find a way to incorporate the learning goals for their age range into the caching experience. Think broadly about what this could entail, are they working on balance? Climbing? Counting? Over/under/up/down differentiating? Find the skills they seem naturally drawn to learning in their age range and work them into the adventure.
5. Make them part of the team. Children of any age, much like all other ages of humans beings, want to be included. When children are able to participate and contribute to something they see others doing with enthusiasm they will want to play a role themselves.
Hunting in the rain for the geocache… and SWAG.
So how did the presentation with the dreaded middle schoolers go? Amazing. This was the greatest group of youngsters you could ever hope to geocache with. They were riveted by the geocaching presentation and remained two steps ahead of us with every engaging question. When it came time to leave the classroom and enter into the woods on this particularly rainy day, the kids charged ahead brimming with enthusiasm. The students worked together in pairs, one using a compass and the other piloting a GPS heading towards a staged geocache their teacher had placed specifically for them. They worked their way quickly towards the find and made up usernames on the spot when signing the staged logbook. How “XXthekillertacoXX” came so quickly to one young lady’s mind I’ll never know, but a greater username I challenge you to encounter. The adventure came to a close upon returning to their classroom where the students excitedly talked about how they could share this fun new activity with their families. This afternoon in the woods with youngsters reminded me that Geocaching really can be fun for all ages, even tweens when presented correctly.
Editor’s Note: Maria McDonald wears many hats at Geocaching HQ. She is both our Office Manager and Education Specialist, having worked years in public school systems.
