Tag: Geocaching HQ

/ 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 /

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 /

Join in the Geocaching Adventure at the Wild Canyon Games!

 

Courtesy: Wild Canyon Games
Courtesy: Wild Canyon Games

Groundspeak is excited to field a team of seven Groundspeak Lackeys to geocache/bike/run/swim/climb/jump/swing/cliff jump/slide and zip-line their way through the Wild Canyon Games!

The Wild Canyon Games is a team-based adventure race competition. Seven-member teams spend the weekend of June 3-5th competing in events like an Olympic length relay triathlon, a 50 foot canyon swing, a zip-line, the “blob”, an elevated ropes course, and a 170 square mile geocaching adventure (on foot) featuring the largest geocaching grid in the world.

One Lackey says, “The games will be a challenging adventure that will test us physically, mentally and bring us all closer together… especially the geocaching portion. We’re excited!”

Courtesy: Wild Canyon Games

The weekend wraps up with a team relay race called Creek to Peak that features a 7 minute Cyclo-Cross bike ride, an obstacle course, a lake sprint swim, two mountain sprints, and much more.

Companies and individuals look at the Wild Canyon Games as a great opportunity to challenge themselves and build strong bonds among teammates. The extreme adventure allows teams the chance to achieve a common goal together through their wits, stamina and most of all their ability to have fun.  At the end of each day, you’ll hear the laughter and see beaming smiles.

Courtesy: Wild Canyon Games

You can join the event, meet Lackeys and be part of the fun too. There are only a few spots left, so assemble your team and sign up quickly if you are interested in being part of the adventure!

For more information, check out the Wild Canyon Games at www.wildcanyongames.org

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching.com Caption Contest 22 – Win a Barely Coveted Prize

WINNING CAPTION: "This is knot what I wood have expected.” - 1Delta10Tango.

Try your caption writing skills in the twenty-second installment of our Geocaching.com Caption Contest.   You could become the proud winner of a barely coveted prize! What caption would you write? “You’ve barked up the right tree.” You can do better!

Caption contest prize

Submit your caption by clicking on “Comments” below. Please include your geocaching username in all entries. Then, explore the captions that other geocachers have crafted.

You can influence the voting. “Like” the caption that you think should win.  If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers to “like” your caption. Lackeys decide between the top captions to crown the winner of this Geocaching.com Caption Contest.

The winner receives a barely coveted prize from Groundspeak Headquarters. This time it’s a much coveted prize, a Jeremy Irish Trackable Gnome.

Click on the image to discover the winning caption from this contest

19 Lackeys voted to award the winner of the twentieth Geocaching.com Caption Contest a barely coveted prize. Click on the image at right to discover the winning caption from the previous Geocaching.com Caption Contest.

Explore the wit and wisdom of geocachers by checking out all the Geocaching.com Caption Contests.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Venez visiter le siège de Groundspeak

Le vendredi à 14 h 00, des geocacheurs venus d’aussi loin que la Chine et d’aussi près que les bureaux avoisinants rendent visite au siège de Groundspeak. Quelle que soit leur origine, ils ont deux choses en commun avant leur arrivée : une passion pour le Geocaching et une histoire qu’ils meurent d’envie de raconter.

Sara et Nicole

Groundspeak se transforme momentanément, passant du va et vient soutenu de Laquais œuvrant au maintien du site Web à un foyer débordant de joyeux geocacheurs déposant des Objets voyageurs, partageant leurs expériences et faisant la connaissance d’autres geo-accros venus des quatre coins du monde.
Comme Nicole (Louie Bliss), affectée elle aussi au Service des relations avec le public, je Sara (gonzogrrl) fais partie des Laquais chanceux qui accueillent régulièrement les geocacheurs en quête de la cache HQ, GCK25B. « Alors, que faites-vous ici ? », nous demande-t-on souvent.
La plupart du temps, nous répondons aux courriels et aux appels, aidant les gens à résoudre des problèmes afin qu’ils puissent bénéficier de la meilleure expérience de geocaching possible. Mais à l’arrivée de geocacheurs, nous cessons nos activités pour les accompagner tandis qu’ils découvrent la cache, prennent des photos, achètent des souvenirs et observent le grand écran affichant l’enregistrement de geocaches du monde entier en temps réel.
Si vous voulez nous rendre visite, il est facile de fixer un rendez-vous. Adressez tout simplement votre demande à contact@geocaching.com. Dites-nous qui vous êtes, d’où vous venez et quand vous pouvez nous rendre visite; nous nous ferons un plaisir de vous envoyer les coordonnées de nos bureaux (Indice : Nous ne sommes pas au milieu du Lac Union. Choquant, n’est-ce pas?) Dans le contexte de bureaux occupés, nous aimons planifier les visites le vendredi à 14 h 00. Parfois, un des Fondateurs et d’autres Laquais sont aussi de passage… nous aimons tous rencontrer les gens qui font de ce jeu beaucoup plus que des contenants dans la forêt.

Sole Seeker

Parmi les histoires recueillies lors de rencontres avec bon nombre de geocacheurs différents, j’en retiens certaines qui sont maintenant mes préférées… Il y a Sole Seeker, venu faire sa 10 000e découverte, tout surpris d’être accueilli avec une affiche et des ballons par une équipe voulant célébrer avec lui. Il y a aussi J&J Brown, qui nous a décrit l’énorme geocache camouflée dans leur cour avant qui déjoue toujours des chercheurs (attention… rabat-joie) du fait qu’il ressemble à un arbre. Et puis il y a foomanjoo, photographe qui parcourt le monde entier, qui nous arrivait de la Corée et qui préparait sa prochaine aventure à la découverte de geocaches le long de la Route 66 en Californie.
Mais qui que vous soyez… que la cache HQ soit votre cinquième ou votre cinq millième, vous êtes les bienvenus chez nous.
À bientôt, on l’espère !

[youtube]hRuCm5s7Jes[/youtube]