{"id":11503,"date":"2012-07-24T13:36:31","date_gmt":"2012-07-24T20:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=11503"},"modified":"2016-01-15T13:25:05","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T21:25:05","slug":"project-geogames-2012-a-lackeys-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/project-geogames-2012-a-lackeys-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"PROJECT GeoGames 2012 – A Lackey’s Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Mega-Event with a 20-story zip-line<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Groundspeak Lackeys are traveling thousands of miles from H.Q. throughout the year to share smiles, shake hands, and make geocaching memories at nearly 20 Mega-Events worldwide<\/a>. Ben Field aka, LackeyBenno<\/a>, attended the <\/em>Mega-Event PROJECT: GeoGames 2012<\/em> (GC32012<\/a>)<\/em>. It took place in <\/em>Leipzig, Germany. Ben has been a Lackey since 2008 and works in IT. Here\u2019s Ben\u2019s account of his adventure.<\/em><\/p>\n

Written by: Ben Field<\/p>\n

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Lackey Ben “LackeyBenno”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I read through the descriptions of the games being hosted at the Geogames Mega-Event in Leipzig, I had two questions running through my head:\u00a0 How many of these games should I actually attempt and what exactly IS a PETling???\u00a0 The answer to the first question took a few hours to figure out, the second one was answered relatively quickly.\u00a0 A PETling is a small plastic preform for a 2-liter bottle. The clear water-tight containers are frequently used as geocaches in Germany. The PEtlings were the focus of three of the GeoGames I was about to attempt.<\/p>\n

The day leading up to the event I managed to take the tram with Jeremy<\/a>, the Co-Founder and CEO of Geocaching.com, to grab a few caches and explore downtown Leipzig.\u00a0 I\u2019d already seen a small amount of the downtown area having come down the night before to watch Deutschland\u2019s agonizing defeat in the Eurocup semi-finals, but wasn\u2019t about to pass up more opportunities to explore.<\/p>\n

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PETling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was an added layer of difficulty finding some of the caches with our limited knowledge of German.\u00a0 After looking for one cache in the wrong area for a lengthy period of time, some nearby geocachers helped us out by explaining that the name of the cache we were looking for translated to \u201cold town hall\u201d, which happened to be the building across the street from where we were searching.\u00a0 We had no trouble logging the find once we had what should have been an obvious giveaway.<\/p>\n

Between caches, we also managed to explore the Bach museum, which held some fascinating pieces of history. The museum was positioned next to the site of the Thomasschule, where Bach taught students and composed during the latter part of his life.<\/p>\n

After a great meal at Romanushof on Katharinenstra\u00dfe, and a gracious ride back to the Messegel\u00e4nde from cachers Manuela and Peter (Schulze&Schultze<\/a>) but better known by the name of their geocaching and dining blog “Schlemmercacher<\/a>“, we prepared for the opening party.\u00a0 While Jeremy was busy preparing a speech, I represented the US in the opening parade with only Signal at my side.\u00a0 Thankfully, Caro (saxony<\/a>) was gracious enough to hold the sign for us as we marched through the masses of people gathered for the event.<\/p>\n

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Dosenfischer in concert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still feeling some effects of a cold, I wasn\u2019t feeling overly adventurous the next day, but I was too excited for the event to let the cold hold me down.\u00a0 Enjoying the PETling toss first, my enthusiasm grew. By the time the 6:00pm cutoff arrived, I\u2019d made it through all of the games. My new geocaching friend Jana (tkrholic<\/a>) kept me moving, determined to complete all of the games and keep me company throughout the day.<\/p>\n

The games weren\u2019t the only activities at the event. There was ample time during the day to take photos of Jeremy descending the Trau Dich (zip line – see the photo at top) from the top of the 75M high tower.\u00a0 Later in the evening, it was time to take in the geocaching band Dosenfischer and mingle with the masses of geocachers as a thunderstorm passed by.\u00a0 All in all, it was a fantastic day.<\/p>\n

We found time the next day to explore some areas of Leipzig with Andy (stash-lab<\/a>) and Nils (Nilos<\/a>).\u00a0 A trip to the V\u00f6lkerschlachtdenkmal monument commemorating the German victory over the French at the Battle of the Nations was a worthwhile glimpse at the history of the location. After snagging the correspondingly named cache, we stumbled upon some other cachers, including ORaMo<\/a> and Rennrodler<\/a>. They graciously shared some personalized swag with us.\u00a0 Before heading out, there was still time to snag a few more caches including Connex<\/a> and then Gleis 26 \u2013 Reloaded<\/a>\u00a0at the train station.\u00a0 It was a great day to end a great trip.<\/p>\n

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Ben (far left) at the\u00a0V\u00f6lkerschlachtdenkmal Monument with Jeremy (center) and geocachers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Groundspeak Lackeys are traveling thousands of miles from H.Q. throughout the year to share smiles, shake hands, and make geocaching memories at nearly 20 Mega-Events worldwide. Ben Field aka, LackeyBenno, attended the Mega-Event PROJECT: GeoGames 2012 (GC32012). It took place in Leipzig, Germany. Ben has been a Lackey since 2008 and works in IT. Here\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[134,83,48],"tags":[159,79],"series":[],"class_list":["post-11503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-deutsch","category-lackeys","tag-geocaching-hq","tag-mega-event"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/inside-geocaching-hq-podcast","embedCode":"

PROJECT GeoGames 2012 – A Lackey’s Journey<\/a><\/blockquote>