Click on the image to learn more about each Geocacher of the Month
NOMINATE A GEOCACHER OF THE MONTH
They don’t speak the same language and they don’t all live on the same continent, but all of these geocachers above have something in common: they’re all united through their love of geocaching and the community it creates. They’re all Geocachers of the Month.
If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered fill out this webform now.
Every nomination must include the following items and abide by the following guidelines:
Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month
Wonder who else has earned the Geocacher of the Month award? Check out this video below and click CC for subtitles.
Geocachers might be easier to spot in Ontario, Canada than anywhere else on earth. The province approved the world’s first official Geocaching.com branded license plate.
A Geocaching.com license plate was one of the attractions at the 2012 Geocaching Block Party. It was proudly showcased in the “Geocaching Museum.” It rested among other unique items from the history of geocaching. Exhibits included the world’s first geocoin, a log book from an original Project A.P.E. cache and a Travel Bug that spent some time on the International Space Station.
These unique license plates (which also feature a “GC” license plate number) are now available in Ontario, Canada. Local geocacher Roy Alexander aka RCA777 spearheaded the initiative.
Geocaching Museum exhibit
Roy says, “The Ontario government have offered graphic license plates with logos of professional sports teams for a few years. The graphic license plate program expanded and other organizations were also beginning to offer graphic license plates. I was certain that geocachers in Ontario would appreciate their own geocaching license plate … and the Ontario Geocaching.com License Plate Project was born”.
After contacting Geocaching.com and the Ontario government to confirm the process and work through the details, Roy reached out to the Ontario geocaching community for their support. Roy is also an active community member within his local Central Ontario Geocachers group (COG). Through monthly events and their annual Mega-Event, COG spread the word of the project across the province. Other regional groups also helped to spread the word, echoing the message of the project within their community groups and discussion forums.
Roy explains “The Ontario government required a bulk order of 200 sets of plates before they could process our application to the graphic license plate program. After a year of promoting the project, there were commitments for all 200 sets of plates. The government fee for the new plates was collected from everyone and the order was placed. After the plates were manufactured, they were shipped to me for distribution. The living room floor was quite a sight for a few days!”
At the Geocaching Block Party, Geocaching.com received special delivery of their own license plate from Roy. As the Lily Pad is located at Latitude 47 (hence the name of our blog), it seemed appropriate that our license plate would be 01GC47.
RCA777
Geocaching.com branded license plates are now available to all Ontario residents through the local Service Ontario offices, who handle driver and vehicle licensing.
Some tips for success:
Make sure you understand all the requirements from your official agency.
Ask Geocaching.com for official permission to use the logo.
Early on, agree on a foolproof way to allocate license plate numbers within your group. The first numbers (01, 02, 03…) and the doubles (77, 99, etc.) will most likely be very popular.
Create an easy way for group members to communicate with one another.
12-12-12 only happens once every hundred years, so we’re celebrating the best way we know how – by geocaching!
We’re asking you to be one of the many cachers who will join us to celebrate not only the date, but also the activity we all love. There are plenty of ways to join in: get outside and log a find, attend one of the many geocaching events being held around the world or come up with your own special celebration.
We’ll be commemorating the day with a special video project that you can be a part of. Due to our inability to be in multiple places at once (we’re working on it), we are collaborating with four vloggers (video bloggers) who will set out to create videos of their unique 12-12-12 geocaching adventures. If you want to be a part of the video too, just send in your still photos that capture how and where you spent the day.
The plan:
Twelve Geocaching.com employees, a.k.a. Lackeys, will venture out to find a special geocache together.
Four geocaching vloggers are going to celebrate the day their own way and send us their footage.
You post photos of your 12-12-12 adventure on our Facebook page (on 12-12-12, please) and you may be included in the video. Participation is highly encouraged!
On Monday, December 17, we’ll present the mash-up of all the adventures in the official Geocaching.com 12-12-12 video. The video will be featured on the Latitude 47 blog, the Geocaching.com Facebook page, and the Geocaching.com YouTube page.
Meet the vloggers:
GeocachersNYC
GeocachersNYC – A group of geocachers from New York City who run a geocaching series featuring interviews with musicians, comedians, writers, and entertainers as they go out geocaching.
Sam Osterhout, Host Dustin Nelson, Producer Erick Fix, Video & Editing
Justin D. Wright, Audio Will Clark, Motion Graphics, Website
Members of the geocaching community since 2011.
mngeocaching
mngeocaching – A prolific vlogger from Minnesota who documents his exciting geocaching adventures with a special brand of energy, passion and enthusiasm, which has earned him the nickname “The Steve Irwin of geocaching.”
Member of the geocaching community since 2008.
Geovloger
GEOvloger – A quirky vlogger from Colorado who co-hosts his show with none other than himself. His videos entertain more than just geocachers with the antics of Mike and Mikey (Mike’s off-kilter alter-ego).
Member of the geocaching community since 2005.
Pedro Santos
Pedro Santos – An extreme geocacher from Portugal whose vlogs include footage of him skydiving and snorkeling while in search of geocaches. When he’s not geocaching or taking part in other adrenaline-fueled activities, he helps maintain GeoPT.org, a geocaching adventure portal.
Member of the geocaching community since 2008.
Need inspiration for your 12-12-12 portraits? Check out what mngeocaching and GEOvloger will be doing to celebrate the day.
Stay tuned for the world premiere of “A 12-12-12 Video Featuring You.”
Please note that by posting your 12-12-12 photo(s) to our Facebook page, you are giving us the right to include them in our 12-12-12 video described above. All photos submitted remain the property and copyright of the original author. By submitting a photo for consideration, you grant Geocaching.com a worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, perpetual, irrevocable, fully-paid royalty-free license and right to use, reproduce, distribute, import, broadcast, transmit, create derivative works of, and publicly display the photo(s) within the 12-12-12 video without restriction or obligation to you. You understand and agree that Geocaching.com is under no obligation to include your photo(s) in its 12-12-12 video.
The December Featured Geocacher of the Month nominees work tirelessly to shape their communities and to make them stronger. No matter where they live or how long they’ve been pursuing the hobby, these geocachers are truly dedicated to giving the sport and their communities all they’ve got.
November Featured Geocacher of the Month, balkamper13
Now it’s your turn to help select one of them as the Featured Geocacher of the Month for December.
Write a comment at the bottom of this blog about which of these geocachers you feel should be awarded the Featured Geocacher of the Month title.
In November, Ted, a.k.a. balkamper13 was recognized for introducing and helping countless novice geocachers become caching addicts. Balkamper13 is known for donating quality homemade swag, time, and money to geocaching events. He spends numerous hours teaching his secrets and always invites new geocachers on geocaching outings and events. Ted also shares his geocaching adventures and tips on his blog, LiveLoveCache.com.
Here are your nominees for the December Featured Geocacher of the Month. Some testimonials have been edited for length.
Nominated by jo.b, Nik, a.k.a. ekitt10, “has been caching since August 2001, making him one of the oldest cachers in New Jersey. Since then, he has always been working to improve the geocaching community in the state. Nik is the the founder of the Central Jersey Geocaching group and co-founder of CentralJerseyGeocaching.net. He also organizes our big monthly meetup called, ‘Third Tuesday Beer and Burgers.’ Nik’s favorite phrase is ‘take pride in your hide.’ His view is that every cache owner should put the creativity and effort into their caches to make them truly worth finding. He is also an avid puzzle cache creator. Some of his puzzles are famous and notorious. Nik has held puzzle solving classes and will always help a cacher out with one of his puzzles, especially if it’s one of their first forays into the sometimes intimidating world of the ‘scary blue question mark’. For over a decade, Nik has been a pillar of the New Jersey geocaching community, but beyond tenure, he has truly made a mark on the game and helped shape it into what it is today. He works hard to make the game more accessible and to make the community larger.”
Team Gilo writes, “Michael and Bonnie, a.k.a. Team GatorOKC has been a great asset and participant in the COG (Central Oklahoma Geocachers) group since 2007. They are instrumental in organizing COG meetings and generally participating in all the social events concerning geocaching in the OKC area. They invest a lot of time and energy in placing and finding caches here in Oklahoma. They are very friendly people who have made many friends from out of state and have influenced them to become addicted to this sport that so many of us have come to love. I believe they would represent geocaching well and would fly the banner of the geocaching community high.”
Kjwx and Cumbyrocks write, “His surname says it all really … Wayne Champion is a champion – of and for geocaching. Such is his dedication to this hobby and its community. The veteran New Zealand player has multiple names to prove it: Moneydork, camocrab, and Wayne. Whichever handle you know him by, Champion has been a major player in the Australasian geocaching scene for many years. As Moneydork, he has established himself as one of our most prolific cachers, most recently celebrating his 15,000th find. As camocrab, volunteer reviewer for Geocaching.com, he has examined and evaluated New Zealand and Australian cache listings since 2006. And as Wayne, he was involved in the recovery efforts for both the Christchurch earthquakes and the Pike River coalmine tragedy. Last year Champion relocated to Australia for a job, but that didn’t stop him from returning frequently to oversee his dream of hosting the country’s first Mega-Event, GC35TTR. Champion initiated the idea while president of the New Zealand Recreational GPS Society and oversaw its planning from more than 3500km away. His efforts as chairman before and after the four-day event helped ensure glowing logs from all 501 attendees. More importantly, Champion himself is respected by his peers, fellow reviewers and leader board rivals. His own hides and events are legendary Down Under and he never hesitates to give his all to this sport.”
Comment below to tell us who you think should be the featured December Geocacher of the Month. A panel of Lackeys will use your comments to help decide which geocacher is awarded the honor. Each featured Geocacher of the Month will receive an exclusive special edition featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat, a Geocacher of the Month profile icon, and a certificate acknowledging their contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com. This month only, the recognized nominees will also receive a special edition John Grisham THE RACKETEER Geocoin. We will be accepting comments for December’s award through Monday, December 17th.
Those whose nominees were not recognized here are encouraged to submit their nominations again next month. If you know an outstanding geocacher you would like to nominate to be a featured Geocacher of the Month, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com and include the following information:
Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month
Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award
Nominations for the January Geocacher of the Month must be received by Tuesday, January 8, 2013.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top candidates and post them on the blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
The November Geocacher of the Month is known as the Elvis of the geocaching world, and over 130 geocachers agree. Congratulations to Ted, a.k.a. balkamper13 for being named November’s Featured Geocacher of the Month!
November Featured Geocacher of the Month, balkamper13
Balkamper13 is recognized for introducing and helping countless novice geocachers become caching addicts. He has donated quality homemade swag, time, and money to geocaching events. Ted has spent numerous hours teaching his secrets, and always invites new geocachers on geocaching adventures and events. He also shares his geocaching adventures and tips on this blog, LiveLoveCache.com.
A geocacher who cast a vote says, “balkamper13 helped get us started. We love finding his caches and his swag. The first CSI series cache find had us hooked. I have never seen such creativity! The events he hosts are first class. I have known balkamper13 for about a year and I have never met a fellow cacher who puts his time, money, heart, and soul into this great hobby to make his fellow cachers’ experiences the best.”
Balkamper13 will receive a collector’s edition Featured Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and certificate acknowledging his contributions signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.
Thank you to the fellow November nominees and all those who supported them. The nominees not chosen as Featured Geocacher of the Month will receive a gift of appreciation from Groundspeak. See a list of all the featured Geocachers of the Month here.
Featured Geocacher of the Month Icon
The geocaching community is encouraged to re-nominate those who have yet to be honored as featured Geocacher of the Month. If you know an outstanding geocacher who should be considered for the honor, send an email to geocacherofthemonth@groundspeak.com. Every nomination must meet the following requirements:
Your name, the name of your nominee, their username
A picture of the nominee
Description (200 or more words) explaining why he or she deserves to be the Geocacher of the Month.
Please inform your nominee that you’ve submitted them for the award
Nominations for the December Featured Geocacher of the Month must be received by the end of the day on Friday, December 7th.
Once we have received all of the nominations, we will choose the top three candidates and post them on the Latitude 47 blog. You will then get a chance to champion your favorite. Our goal is to involve the entire geocaching community in this process so we might learn from each other.
