{"id":145346,"date":"2025-01-28T06:55:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=145346"},"modified":"2025-02-04T09:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T17:10:16","slug":"lackey-spotlight-qa-with-frau-potter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/lackey-spotlight-qa-with-frau-potter\/","title":{"rendered":"Lackey Spotlight: Q&A with Frau Potter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Avid readers of the Geocaching Blog know that countless people contribute to making our game so special. But have you ever stopped to wonder what it takes to manage the global team of community volunteers who help make it all possible?<\/p>\n

Hint: it requires dedication, creativity, and occasional fun!<\/p>\n

Cindy, aka Frau Potter<\/a>, has worn many hats during her time working at Geocaching HQ, all of them in passionate service to the worldwide community. After nearly 14 years, she\u2019s retiring (or, as she likes to say, embarking on the next adventure). Before her departure, I had the chance to sit down to learn more about her time as a Lackey.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First things first: if you were a cache type, what cache type would you be and why? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I think I would be a Large Traditional hidden near a trail in the forest. I enjoy hiking and would like to motivate others to hike new trails, especially for families with kids or people who don\u2019t consider themselves \u201chikers.\u201d If I get to choose cache attributes, I\u2019d like them to be Recommended for kids, Scenic view, and Medium hike (1 km\u201310 km).<\/p>\n

To be honest, I thought for sure you\u2019d say CITO! Is that your favorite Event type? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ha! You are so right! I am very passionate about CITO Events. For years before joining Geocaching HQ, I was a volunteer for our local Adopt-a-Street program. Once I discovered geocaching, I found hosting CITO Events to be incredibly satisfying. I have hosted 40 so far, and attended many more!<\/p>\n

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Frau Potter has attended more than 75 CITOs in four countries, including this one in Seattle!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How did you get your username? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I chose Frau Potter so that German geocachers would know that I speak German. Frau Potter means \u2018Mrs. Potter\u2019 in German. My real name is Cindy Potter. My husband, of course, has the username Herr Potter, \u2018Mr. Potter.\u2019<\/p>\n

What\u2019s something you wish more geocachers knew about the community volunteers who support the game? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The community volunteers are active as geocachers and spend significant amounts of their free time supporting the game in their community. Currently there are more than 365 volunteers. More than half of them have been volunteering for more than 10 years!<\/p>\n

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Frau Potter with Slovenian community volunteers icabrian and Nikrmana at an event in Austria in 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do you think is the best thing about geocaching? <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s easy. It\u2019s the community! As many people say, \u201cThe best finds are other geocachers.\u201d It\u2019s wonderful to see lifelong friendships develop between people who love this game so much. The international friendships are especially rewarding to see.<\/p>\n

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Frau Potter (center) completed her first Jasmer in 2017 with fellow Lackeys on the Community Volunteer Support team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What are some of your favorite projects that you\u2019ve gotten to work on during your time at HQ? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Virtual Rewards! I partnered with many teams at HQ to launch four sets of Virtual Caches for the community. The first set was launched in 2017. Virtual Caches had not been available to the community for 12 years (since late 2005). I\u2019m very proud that we found a way to make them possible again. Today, Virtual Caches can be found in 171 countries and territories.<\/p>\n

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Frau Potter at Sch\u00f6ne N\u00e1ci (GC7B8MP), a Virtual Cache in Bratislava, Slovakia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another project that I\u2019m very passionate about was improving geocaching for non-English speaking geocachers. In 2011, we only had 11 languages on the website, and today we have 26. This involved working very closely with the community volunteer translators and our engineering and product teams. Also, I helped hire many Lackeys who speak German, French, or Dutch, and helped to improve our customer support for geocachers in these communities.<\/p>\n

In 2025, we\u2019re celebrating 25 years of geocaching! What are you most excited about? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m most excited to hear about the Block Parties<\/a> happening all over the world. I was happy to support sharing this unique icon with geocachers hosting big events in 2025. I\u2019m so excited to see what else happens in 2025, and to support these efforts as a community member.<\/p>\n

Have you met Frau Potter at a geocaching Event or caching in the wild? Share your favorite memories in the comments below! <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

If you enjoyed this Q&A, you may be interested to read more interviews with cache owners, Mega-Event hosts, and geocaching community volunteers that bring geocaching to life.<\/a>  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Avid readers of the Geocaching Blog know that countless people contribute to making our game so special. But have you ever stopped to wonder what it takes to manage the global team of community volunteers who help make it all possible? Hint: it requires dedication, creativity, and occasional fun! Cindy, aka Frau Potter, has worn…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":145348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[134,113,765,48],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-145346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-geocaching-community-volunteers","category-interview","category-lackeys"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/d3mo08i005h0zn.cloudfront.net\/blog\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blog-800x450-Cindy-V2.jpg","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":"

Lackey Spotlight: Q&A with Frau Potter<\/a><\/blockquote>