Tag: Community Story

/ 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

/ Eric Schudiske /

“Trouble in Tinseltown” – Insider Tips to Hosting a Geocaching Event

Copy of "Hush Hush" magazine

Molly Shock, aka mshock, teaches the basics of hosting a successful and fun geocaching event. It’s part party-planning and all logistics. Find out how to make the event something to remember, how much time you’ll need to prepare and other insider tips. Watch the video below for a three-minute tutorial from Molly on tips for making your own themed geocaching event a success.

Molly’s marque event to date has been Trouble in Tinseltown – A Puzzle Rally Event (GC2993W).

An Event Cache is where local geocachers or geocaching organizations decide a time and location to meet and discuss all things geocaching. The attendees often go geocaching before or after the Event Cache.

Crime scene map from "Trouble in Tinseltown"

Molly’s event was no different, but the geocaching that occurred that day took puzzle caching to a whole new level. Molly spent four months orchestrating the elaborate themed geocaching event. “Trouble in Tinseltown” guided more than 80 cachers through a fictitious scandal, betrayal and murder in a  Hollywood whodunit.

Teams of geocachers discovered 15 caches by solving puzzles. They accumulated clues which ultimately provided the answer to the question, “Who killed Noah Boddy, where and with what?”

Each team received a copy of “Hush Hush” magazine [pictured above] which Molly wrote to provide a detailed back-story for the event. Then teams received these instructions at the start of the caching: “Solve the puzzles, find the caches, record the facts, bring the murderer to justice!”

Clipboard with "facts" for the event

Molly also created an elaborate crime scene map, a dossier and a clip board full of facts. Correctly using and deciphering each item brought teams closer to solving the crime.

You can still get a sense of the event. Most of the 15 puzzle caches that Molly placed are still active.

Hostess, Molly Shock

Molly’s tips for a successful geocaching event include:

– Design an event that lasts no more than eight hours

– Make caches challenging, but not frustrating

– Make it self-sufficient, provide clues (for a penalty)

– Let friends help

– Take cachers to a safe, interesting place

– Practice the event

– Have fun!

Geocachers who wish to attend the event but not look for caches should be able to attend as well. They can be spectators or extra “props.” They can also simply hang out, enjoy the crowd, trade Trackables and the usual.

Find out even more tips by watching an interview with Molly below.

/ Eric Schudiske /

“Mother says geocaching helps her autistic child” A Geocaching.com Lost & Found Video

Beth Hurley’s nine-year-old son Ryan is autistic.  The disorder affects his social, developmental and self-care skills. While many children his age feel a sense of accomplishment on the sports field or in the school gym, Ryan’s mother says, he’s left out.


Geocaching team, "meandthekiddoz"

The family found geocaching about a year ago.  They geocache under the name meandthekiddoz and already found more than 60 caches. Beth says geocaching offers Ryan an independent way to sense accomplishment, bond with his family and even lose weight.

Watch Ryan and his family hit the geocaching trail in the latest Lost & Found video.

You can explore more videos on the adventure of geocaching.  Check out  the Geocaching.com Lost & Found video gallery.  See geocachers unite to break a record on 10-10-10, experience a haunted cache in Texas and find out why a U.S. Army bomb disposal technician says geocaching kept him safe in Iraq.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Groundspeak’s ‘Kitchen of Affirmation’

Letters to Groundspeak

The kitchen at Groundspeak is stocked with pretty much the standard condiments and food you’d find in any kitchen.  The fridge is home to ketchup and mustard and some random unlabeled containers.  The corner coffeemaker generates a little morning rush hour traffic as Lackeys clamor for a cup of morning energy.

But this week, Lackeys walked into the kitchen recently and walked out with more than coffee. It’s what appeared on the cabinets that gave those leaving, coffee mug in hand, with a feeling of affirmation.

Letters taped to the cabinets read, “Once again your donation is making school cool” and “I also want to thank you for donating to our class.  I think it is the sweetest thing anyone did to our class.”

Groundspeak donates money for GPS devices to a cause called DonorsChoose.org.  The donations put GPS devices in the hands of students.

The Lost & Found video crew visited a Texas, USA class that received a donation of GPS devices.  You can watch how a teacher intertwined a lesson plan about science with the outdoor adventure of geocaching.

The students went geocaching.  They solved problems in small groups, learned direction and distance, and engaged with technology.

More than 30 letters from different classrooms have arrived at Groundspeak over the past year and we are committed to putting more GPS unites in the hands of students.


Letter to Groundspeak

A half-dozen thank you letters from students are on display in the kitchen now.  One line from a grade school student reads, “Thank you thank you thank you (1,000,000,000 times) much for donating to our class.”   How the letters are signed may say more.   Some of the chunky grade school writing spells out “thank you” or “your friend” or even “love.”

But students aren’t just thanking Lackeys.  They’re not just affirming that geocaching can be a powerful force for learning.  They’re thanking geocachers for making this donation possible.  You fuel Groundspeak.  Those letters of thanks (a 1,000,000,000 times much) are really written to you as well.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocachers Save Two Women Stranded in Desert

Geocachers Roy Joseph (Rojo464) and Paul Fox (Pauleefox) drove through the rugged desert of Eastern Utah searching for five geocaches on Tuesday the 17th of August.  But they never made it past their second find.  What they encountered instead led to grateful tears and news headlines.

Roy and Paul had finished finding their second geocache and were looping around for a third – called “Bugy Softwear” (GCGMJT). The area of the desert that they searched is referred to as the Dolores Triangle.  It’s one of the most barren regions of the United States. The average temperature in August bakes the cracked ground at nearly 100 degrees F (38 C).    Bumping along in Roy’s jeep the two men stopped.  Just head of them, a mini-van sat wedged into the sandy soil.

Desert rescue

Paul says, “We saw the van in the gully from the road above it. Out here a vehicle in that position is either abandoned or there is somebody in need of help. Either way we needed to check it out.”

Roy adds, “When we first saw the car we could tell it was stuck. But it looked odd with the towels over the sun visors.  We were concerned with who might be in the van.  With it being in such a remote area we knew we had to make sure the occupants could get back to town.”

They drove the jeep next to the stranded vehicle.  Two women looked out. Roy says, “When we stopped beside the van the daughter said ‘Thank God’ and then started crying.”  A mother and daughter had been stranded in the van for two days.

Roy Jospesh (Rojo464) and his wife Linda

Roy says he’s prepared for geocaching in the desert and they were able to offer immediate help: “I have a backpack I carry with water, snacks, SWAG, a first aid kit, a short rope, and batteries.  In the Jeep I carry tools, spare parts, a tow strap, a first aid kit,  a fire extinguisher, extra water and some blankets.”

This wasn’t his first encounter with someone needing help, but never before has the situation been this dire. “We have helped strangers get unstuck, hauled a bicyclist to the hospital, given water to hikers, but this was different – both these two women could have died.” After the rescue, the mother and daughter will be okay.

Paul says the situation is a first for him: “In my 64 years I don’t believe I have ever been in a position to rescue damsels in distress before.”

Paul Fox (Pauleefox)

Both Paul and Roy have been geocaching for at least three years.  As the news broke, the reaction from the geocaching community flooded their email in-boxes. They say comments like Nancy Nagel’s post on the Geocaching.com Facebook page hit home. She said, “I always say that geocachers are the nicest, kindest people! I am so proud!”

Roy says, “We, too, have met some really nice people while geocaching but I am really surprised at the number of e-mails I have received from them.”

Paul explains geocachers this way: “The geocachers I know and have met are not the type of people that I would be afraid to meet in a dark alley. It is always good to have  story to tell that puts geocaching in such a good light. Lots of people just don’t know what it is.”

Both say they’re  ready for more geocaching.  Roy says, “I like being in the great outdoors, the exercise and the places geocaching takes me.”

And no matter who or what they encounter, they’ll be prepared. Roy says he’s glad this unexpected encounter ended with hugs and heartfelt thanks: “We are just thankful that we were able to help the women before it became a more serious situation for them.”