Category: Community

Geocaching is delightful because of the people who play it — adventure-seekers, makers, parents, astronauts and (sometimes) celebrities. Read their stories.

/ Eric Schudiske

11 Years! Oeiras

Nota do editor: No decorrer deste ano, os Lackeys da Groundspeak estão a viajar milhares de quilómetros a partir da sua sede (o HQ) para participar e espalhar boa disposição em mais de uma dezena de Mega-Eventos espalhados pelo mundo. Nate, também conhecido por Nate the Great, foi uma das presenças no Mega-Evento 11 Years! Oeiras – Portugal que teve lugar a 1 de Maio em Lisboa, Portugal. Nate é Lackey desde 2003 e coordena o desenvolvimento de novas funcionalidades na Groundspeak. Este é o seu diário de viagem:

Lackey Nate the Great

Estou a mais de 12000 Km de casa e entre 500 dos meus amigos mais próximos (e que acabei de conhecer hoje) num parque nos arredores de Lisboa, Portugal. No preciso momento em que estão a fazer uma caricatura minha, o DJ de serviço passa “Take On Me” dos A-Ha. Uma situação absurda como esta seria o suficiente para me colocar um sorriso lunático nos lábios durante os 10 minutos que demoraria a terminar o meu retrato. Mas passa um geocacher anónimo, sorri e tira uma fotografia, enquadrando a placa trackable com o meu nome. Dá-cá-mais-cinco e tal… E desaparece entre a multidão. Só tenho tempo para ouvir o caricaturista a dizer “Senta-te quietinho, se faz favor…”

A equipa iURKings

É dificil ficar sentado quieto num Mega-Evento.

Choque de cultura? Geocaching é cultura. Quando estamos em viagem e nos sentimos desenquadrados de tudo, vamos a um evento de geocaching e sentimo-nos em casa, identificando desde logo as personagens habituais: o frenético doido dos FTF agarrado ao telefone; o escondedor de caches compulsivo, com mais tupperwares escondidas no meio do mato que caches encontradas… e mais geocachers de botas cheias de lama que crianças a brincar no parque infantil. Se não fosse a agradável sonoridade do português falado à minha volta, podia ser em qualquer parte do mundo.

O Nate não está nesta fotografia

O espírito de aventura é algo naturalmente partilhado por todos, mas os portugueses em particular têm o instinto explorador gravado na sua identidade nacional. Na era dos Descobrimentos, entre os séculos XV e XVII, exploradores como Vasco da Gama trouxeram fama e riqueza a Portugal viajando pelo mundo. É impossível viajar por Portugal sem tropeçar num monumento comemorativo desta ou daquela viagem. A probabilidade de haver uma cache mistério baseada num desses factos é alta. Hoje em dia, é fácil comprar mapas topográficos detalhados do território, o que pode explicar o crescimento exponencial do geocaching em Portugal durante os últimos anos. É no geocaching que este povo está a redescobrir o seu desejo de explorar e de conhecer coisas novas, mesmo que seja à porta de casa. Por tudo isto e pela história e tradição que me rodeiam, Portugal é o centro de tudo.

Ou então o geocaching é divertido. Para quê complicar?

O Geocacher TZR

Estou de volta aos Estados Unidos, a folhear um bloco de notas cheio de ideias rabiscadas à pressa sobre como melhorar o site Geocaching.com. Sim, eu admito. Havia um motivo subjacente para ir a este Mega-Evento. Não, o meu motivo não era só encher o bandulho de porco no espeto (divinal), desfrutar da hospitalidade dos geocachers locais (interminável)… certamente que não era ouvir tesouros deprimentes dos anos 80 enquanto me desenhavam a caricatura (que coisa bizarra). Quis, acima de tudo, estar em contacto com geocachers, perceber melhor o que é que a Groundspeak faz bem e o que é que podemos fazer para ser melhores. Como Lackey, aprendi que a melhor coisa que posso fazer aos geocachers é aparecer, ouvi-los e tomar notas para depois fazer com que o website esteja ao nível das suas exigentes expectativas. Porque os geocachers portugueses estão muito à frente no que toca à inovação no geocaching. E isso facilita-me muito o trabalho.

Muito obrigado pelo Mega, Portugal!

11 Years! Oeiras – Portugal Mega-Event foi patrocinado pela GeocacherZONE.

Os seguintes Mega-Eventos terão também a presença de Lackeys da Groundspeak:

Nova Iorque, EUA – ASP GeoBash 6
Ontario, Canadá – COG Spring Fling
Salzburgo, Áustria – Pinzgau 2011
Pensilvânia, EUA – GeoWoodstock IX
Ohio, EUA – Midwest Geobash
Gales, Reino Unido – Mega Wales 2011
Wisconsin, EUA – West Bend $1000 Cache Ba$h
HQ no Estado de Washington, EUA – Groundspeak Block Party
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Alemanha – Geocoinfest Europa
Catalunha, Espanha – Mega Event Catalunya
Carolina do Sul, EUA – Geocoinfest

/ Eric Schudiske /

‘The Ghost Orchid” GC112JY GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – April 11, 2011

The journey to "The Ghost Orchid"

The cache page for “The Ghost Orchid” (GC112JY) pulls no punches. Three paragraphs into the description, SeaAggies lets adventure seekers know what awaits them on this difficulty five, terrain five Multi-Cache.

The page reads, “Put on your mud boots, slather on the mosquito spray and be sure to bring a lot of water and some snacks for this four mile journey through some remote parts of Fakahatchee Strand.”

Fakahatchee Strand is home to a delicate ecosystem populated by endangered plants and animals, including the rare Polyrhiza lindenii, known as the Ghost Orchid. All the plants and animals in the Fakahatchee Strand are protected by state and federal laws. The cache page lets geocachers know that the journey to this cache will offer amazing opportunities for breath-taking photos.

The Ghost Orchid

“The Ghost Orchid” includes five challenging stages, some of which even contain multiple components. The cache was placed in February of 2007 and has accumulated 20 Geocaching Favorite Points.

Most geocachers keep the cache on their watch list for months, slowly assemble a group to tackle it and then work together to earn a smiley. One geocacher who recently logged a “found it” on the cache writes, “The strand is beautiful. The plants, the water, the structure and the places you visit/stumble upon inspire some sense of respect and as a biologist I enjoyed the experience of traversing this area by doing the stages.”

Continue your exploration of some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

 

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

Your Virtual Visit to Groundspeak HQ

By: Sara (gonzogrrl)

Every Friday at 2pm, geocachers come from as far away as China and as close as the neighboring office complex to visit Groundspeak Headquarters. No matter where they come from, they have two things in common before they arrive:  an enormous love of Geocaching and a story they can’t wait to tell.

Groundspeak momentarily transforms from the busy buzz of Lackeys keeping the website running into a lobby full of cachers squealing with delight as they drop Trackables, trade stories and hang out with other geo-addicts from all over the world.

Sara and Nicole

Along with Nicole (Louie Bliss), a fellow Community Relations team member, I’m Sara (gonzogrrl) one of the lucky Lackeys who gets to be there each time, greeting cachers as they find the epic HQ cache, GCK25B. “So…what do you do here?” cachers often ask us. By day, we’re the ones answering emails and phone calls, helping people solve issues so they have the best geocaching experience. But when geocachers drop in, we stop what we’re doing and spend time with them as they discovering the cache, take photos in the photobooth, buy souvenirs and check out the big screen map of geocaches being logged in real time all over the world.

If you ever want to drop in, it’s easy to get an appointment. Just email us at contact@geocaching.com. Tell us a little about yourself, where you’re coming from, and when you can visit and we’ll be happy to send you the coordinates to the office (hint:  we’re not in the middle of Lake Union. Shocking, I know). Since we are a busy office, we like to schedule visits on Fridays at 2pm. Sometimes one of the Founders and other Lackeys drop by to visit too—we all love meeting the people that make this game more than Tupperware in the woods!

Sole Seeker's photo inside the Groundspeak photobooth

I’ve met so many different cachers, but I can still remember some of my favorite stories from the visits. There’s Sole Seeker, who came here for his 10,000th find, and was surprised to find we’d made him a sign and blown up balloons to celebrate with him. There’s also J&J Brown, who told us about the huge camouflaged cache they have hidden in their front yard that fools seekers every time because it (spoiler alert) looks just like a tree. And then there’s foomanjoo, a world-traveling photographer who had just done some caching in Korea and was off to his next adventure finding caches along Route 66 in California.

But whomever you are—whether the HQ is your fifth find or your 5,000th—we welcome you at the lilypad. We hope you come see us soon!

[youtube]hRuCm5s7Jes[/youtube]

 

 

 

 

/ Eric Schudiske /

“First Germany” GC77 GEOCACHE OF THE WEEK – April 4, 2011

"First Germany" GC77

A rusty ammo can has been hidden in the woods southeast of Berlin since October 2, 2000.  The geocache’s name explains the significance this cache holds for Germany.

“First Germany” (GC77) was the first geocache placed in the country. It’s now a popular favorite, accumulating more than 230 Geocaching Favorite Points.

Ferenc originally placed the difficulty 1.5, terrain 1 cache. Later BlackyV adopted the historic cache.

More than 1600 geocachers have logged a smiley on the cache.  Some geocachers even adjust their vacation to make sure they can log “First Germany.”

One geocacher wrote this log just yesterday: “When we planned our Berlin tour we definitely planned this cache, so we made our way back a little detour and found the [geocache].  A must have for real geocach(ing) fans. Thanks to conservation and the maintenance!”

Continue your exploration of some of the most engaging geocaches from around the world. Explore all the Geocaches of the Week on our blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

/ Eric Schudiske /

A Lackey’s “Thank You” after Attending a Mega-Event

Editor’s note: Groundspeak Lackeys are traveling thousands of miles from H.Q. this year to share smiles, shake hands and make geocaching memories at more than a dozen Mega-Events worldwide. Jessie, aka Foxfire, attended the Mega-Event MOGA (Midwest Open Geocaching Adventure) this past weekend in the U.S. state of Illinois. Jessie has been a Lackey since 2009 and answers your emails as a Community Relations Specialist. This is Jessie’s account of her trip.
I was very happy that Signal made an appearance at 2011 MOGA thanks to SLB4U and friends

By: Jessie, Foxfire

This past weekend it was my privilege to attend the 2011 MOGA event in Rend Lake, IL. I don’t think I could have asked for a more interesting and fun weekend.

I was able to fly into St. Louis Airport Thursday afternoon to pick up my rental car and start on the 2 ½ hour drive to Rend Lake. I have never been anywhere near Illinois so I was excited to see a little of the state on my way. This included a lot of amazing architecture, “little” Nashville and my first glimpse of an actual swamp. I was born and raised in Seattle so yes, seeing a swamp was exciting. I spent my first night relaxing and doing some work on my laptop before turning in for the night.

On Friday, I woke up to a sunny and very brisk day and the strange sight of snow on my car. I decided I needed a good cup of coffee and better shoes for the weather, so I headed off on a mission into the small town of Benton. I soon figured out that there were no coffee shops but I was able to find a very large Wal-Mart where I could pick up some rubber boots. These boots ended up being the best thing I could have bought.

The ship's log and log book for the event

Friday night was the opening event of the weekend and my first chance to get to meet some of the geocachers that would be participating in the other events of the weekend. It was the BYO…Buccaneer’s Booty Bash Before the Big Bash. Everyone was dressed in their best pirate gear, including one very well dressed dog. I have to say pirates are my favorite! To my surprise even Signal was able to make an appearance. Everyone was so shocked to see our green mascot that they all fell quiet when Signal entered the picnic area. You could hear crickets. After a long night, it was back to the hotel to get some sleep before an early – very early –  3 am Seattle time wake up to make it to breakfast.

Saturday had to be the best day of them all. I was able to spend the day talking with local geocachers, answering questions about the website, troubleshooting issues and just socializing. I heard great stories about tornadoes on New Year’s Eve, muddy fields that apparently everyone at the 2010 MOGA ended up driving their cars into, the year of “The Snow Storm” and many more fun stories of past events. Little did we know that this would be another year in which we would end up with somewhere between three to six inches of snow by the end of the night. However, as many cachers kept saying, “Weather will not stop us from caching.” And it did not. For many people a little inclement weather may have brought down the spirit of the event, or made them unhappy. For this group it seemed that they found it a greater challenge. Through wind, rain, sleet and snow this group of about 600 cachers was out searching through the woods looking for the next cache. Each came back with a smile on their face and excitement for the awards ceremony at the end of the night.

I am now back home after a drive through the snow and a long plane trip but I will never forget the kindness and welcome that the cachers at the 2011 MOGA showed me. I only hope that I can make it back again to share in the fun of 2012.

The Iowa Geocachers Organization. The hosts of the 2012 MOGA Event

You can also find a Lackey at one of these upcoming Mega-Events:

Bussum, Netherlands – Geocaching Multi Event 2011
Oeiras, Portugal – 11 Years! Oeiras – Portugal
New York, USA – ASP GeoBash 6
Ontario, Canada – COG Spring Fling
Salzburg, Austria – Pinzgau 2011
Pennsylvania, USA – GeoWoodstock IX
Ohio, USA – Midwest Geobash
Wales, UK – Mega Wales 2011
Wisconsin, USA – West Bend $1000 Cache Ba$h
HQ in Washington State, USA – Groundspeak Block Party
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany – Geocoinfest Europa
Catalunya, Spain – Mega Event Catalunya
South Carolina, USA – Geocoinfest