{"id":36254,"date":"2016-08-29T10:07:37","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T17:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=36254"},"modified":"2016-09-30T10:10:42","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T17:10:42","slug":"16-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/16-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"16 Years Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

On March 24, 2009, Jon Stanley (username: <\/span>Moun10Bike<\/span><\/a>) stood on 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle, WA. He snapped a selfie before walking into the nondescript office across the street. It was Jon\u2019s first day at a new job.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jon’s first day at Geocaching HQ.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI took a selfie \u2014 perhaps my first-ever \u2014 of me arriving at Groundspeak on my first day working here,\u201d said Jon. \u201cI was told I was employee #28.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jon had a long history with the game before joining the company behind Geocaching.com, now known as Geocaching HQ. He first met Founder Jeremy Irish in 2000. Over lunch, the two discussed software that Jon had provided for an early version of the website. \u201cThe community was small then and I was in the same geographic area,\u201d Jon said. \u201cSo it was natural that we would end up getting together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremy realized that Geocaching.com’s\u00a0traffic would quickly outgrow the website he\u2019d started as a hobby site. In 2000, he partnered with two co-workers, Elias Alvord and Bryan Roth, to start a new company. With the proceeds from selling 144 geocaching t-shirts, they began to scale the website to keep up with its growing audience. The three founders continued working at their day jobs while managing the website on the side.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cathy Hornback (username: <\/span>Prying Pandora<\/span><\/a>) first met the founders when they spontaneously showed up at her <\/span>Cache In, Trash Out\u00ae Event<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI almost peed my pants when they just showed up. No warning.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

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Cathy with Geocaching.com Founder Jeremy Irish in 2006.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, Cathy wears multiple hats: player (she\u2019s going on 15,000 finds), volunteer reviewer, and Community Volunteer Support Coordinator at Geocaching HQ. \u201cWe exist because one guy had a crazy idea to hide a bucket of trinkets for other people to find with their newly accurate GPS receivers. Then another guy (Jeremy) had the gumption to build a website to list them all,\u201d said Cathy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cathy first met Jon in 2005 while looking for the same <\/span>geocache<\/span><\/a>. Five years later, she joined him as an employee at Geocaching HQ. \u201cWe exist because of our community\u2019s engagement,\u201d Cathy said. \u201cWithout them, there would be nothing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jon and Cathy were welcomed on their first days at Geocaching HQ by another long-time geocacher, Annie Love (username: <\/span>Love<\/span><\/a>). \u201cI still pinch myself daily that I get to work here,” Annie said. “Geocaching was my hobby before I started working here and it’s a dream to get to do something I love for work. Sure, I sit at a desk most of the time, but getting to help people with this game for work is pretty awesome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Annie joined Geocaching HQ on January 29, 2007. \u201cMy first job was to work as the receptionist at the front desk, answer phone calls and emails about the game of geocaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Annie started, there were a dozen or so employees and 353,685 active geocaches. Today, Geocaching HQ has 74 employees and the website lists nearly 3 million geocaches hidden all over the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Annie, now Partner Programs Manager, said, \u201cWe really listen to our community. We might not be able to make everything to perfection overnight, but we definitely hear the wants and needs of the community and apply that directly to what we work on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A company photo taken in June 2007, shortly after Annie and Jenn started.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few months later, Jenn Seva (username: <\/span>MissJenn<\/span><\/a>) joined Geocaching HQ as employee #17, having previously served as a Community Volunteer Reviewer. \u201cI started as a player of the game in 2001. I’m lucky enough to have combined my hobby and my livelihood without ruining either one of them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Now Senior Manager of Tourism and Travel, Jenn said, \u201cGeocaching HQ is different than most other companies because we are made up of employees who want to be here. We want to delight our community and encourage people to go play outside. I don’t feel like just an insignificant cog in a giant wheel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jon, Cathy and Annie feel similarly. \u201cYou only need to talk to the founders or any employee to see that we are passionate about the game and keeping people engaged with a fun and rewarding pastime for years to come,\u201d said Jon. \u201cWhile we may seem to move slow, it is not because of a lack of desire to improve things, only that we are a lot smaller than people know. I see our purpose to be good custodians of the game and provide the tools and means for people to have and share these experiences and adventures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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A company photo taken last summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sixteen years later, Geocaching HQ remains a strong, independent organization on a mission to enable adventure, exploration, and discovery. We are led by our original founders and we have no outside investors or influences who would maximize profits at the expense of the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Annie said, \u201cThe community creates the game. We want to create the best tools to play it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n