{"id":6136,"date":"2011-09-14T15:30:39","date_gmt":"2011-09-14T22:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=6136"},"modified":"2016-01-18T10:57:18","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T18:57:18","slug":"geocoinfest2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/geocoinfest2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Geocoinfest 2011 – Europa: Travels with the World’s First Geocoin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Trackable Week presents a new story Monday through Friday this week about creative ways to experience Trackables<\/a>. Geocaching.com<\/a> Trackables allow people to tag and track an item from location to location. Trackables typically come in three varieties, Geocoins<\/a>, Travel Bugs<\/a><\/em>\u00ae<\/a> or Promotional Trackables like the “Find the Gecko,” Geico<\/a> campaign. (Watch a video on Travel Bugs<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

See the bottom of this article for a place a share your Trackable stories, links to other Trackable stories and a limited time special offer for 30% of individual orders of Travel Bugs this week only (US costumers only).
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Image holding the first geocoin<\/a> ever created. (First geocoin video<\/a>) But you’re not just holding it, you’re entrusted to take the first geocoin to another continent and let thousands of geocachers see and discover the coin. That’s exactly the mission Lackey Annie Love was given. This is her account of Geocoinfest 2011 – Europa. <\/em><\/p>\n

Geocoinfest 2011 – Europa: Travels with the World’s First Geocoin<\/h1>\n

By Annie Love
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Lackey Annie Love with the first geocoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alarms that go off at 4am are brutal.\u00a0 Knowing the alarm means you\u2019re about to spend 13 hours on a bus doesn\u2019t make that alarm any easier to take.\u00a0 Realizing that the alarm and the 13 hour bus ride mean you\u2019re going to visit five countries and collect more than ten geocache icons in one day kind of makes it all worth it. \u00a0This epic geocaching tour was just one aspect of Geocoinfest 2011 – Europa<\/a>.\u00a0 Held in the beautiful German city of Cologne, geocachers came from all around the world to celebrate the geocoin<\/a>. Little did they know I had the first geocoin ever created. More on that soon.<\/p>\n

Tom Phillips<\/a> and I had the pleasure of representing Groundspeak, the company the operates Geocaching.com, at the first European Geocoinfest. It consisted of a weekend full of amazing events.\u00a0 For me, this event meant that I got to finally meet many geocoin manufacturers and Shop Geocaching<\/a> distributors that I\u2019ve worked with over the past few years via email. It also meant that I got to meet thousands of geocoin or geocaching enthusiasts from all over the world.<\/p>\n

After arriving in Cologne on Friday, I checked into my hotel and quickly headed out the door to get started in weekend fun.\u00a0 The organizers of the event were able to arrange special tours of the K\u00f6lner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) for geocachers.\u00a0 The Cathedral, rich with history, had the honor of being the world\u2019s tallest structure for four years in the late 1800\u2019s.\u00a0 Tom, a few other geocachers and I had the privilege to take a special tour up to one of the high points in the Dom.\u00a0 It was here, that we took a group picture that would be my first Challenge<\/a> completion.\u00a0 Pouring down rain and a rickety old elevator did not stop us from the amazing views of the city the Dom offers.<\/p>\n

We then headed to the Friday night welcome event, which took place at a beer garden in the city.\u00a0 Tom and I had a great time getting first introductions to many geocachers.<\/p>\n

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Lackey Annie Love at the "Battling Annie" tank in Europe during a bus trip to five countries<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Normally one might consider standing in a parking lot at 5am in the rain, watching people climb a lift with climbing gear to grab a doughnut for breakfast a little bit crazy.\u00a0 Geocachers know this isn\u2019t crazy, it\u2019s just part of the game.\u00a0 This is how Saturday started for me and about nearly 400 other geocachers.\u00a0 At 6am, our group boarded tour buses and headed off to find geocaches in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and The Netherlands.\u00a0 Definitely a highlight on the tour was finding my 500th<\/sup> geocache \u2013 which ended up being \u201cGeocache\u201d (GC40<\/a> \u2013 the oldest active geocache on continental Europe).\u00a0 I was also told early in the day that I was chosen to find GC2M8E5<\/a> – a geocache located on a Tank named \u201cBattling Annie.\u201d\u00a0 Naturally I would then need to climb up on the tank for a picture. \u00a0One of our final stops of the day had us at the tri-country border of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.\u00a0 This stop included picking up trash at the border as part of a Cache in Trash out (CITO<\/a>) event.\u00a0 It was definitely cool to be part of a group making a positive impact in not one, but three countries at the same time.<\/p>\n

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Annie's hand with the first geocoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the bus tour, Tom and I were dropped off at the Saturday night meet and greet event.\u00a0 It was a great chance for people to come together and talk about their adventures of the day and show off their geocoin collections.\u00a0 Tom and I were asked to give a short speech on stage.\u00a0 We quickly decided that we needed to emulate the geocachers on stage just before we were introduced by planking on the speaker boxes at the front of the stage.<\/p>\n

While on stage, I let everyone know the big surprise. I announced that Moun10Bike,<\/a> Lackey Jon Stanley, had entrusted me with bringing the very first geocoin ever created to Geocoinfest Europa. Jon Stanley invented the geocoin.<\/p>\n

When Jon asked me to bring something to Geocoinfest for him, I said sure.\u00a0 When I saw that it was the very first geocoin, I tried to say no.\u00a0 Losing my passport or my money on an international trip would be a bad thing.\u00a0 I knew I could not return to Seattle if I accidentally lost Moun10Bike\u2019s most prized possession!<\/p>\n

Within minutes of leaving the stage, my hand quickly became the most photographed hand in Germany.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure that anyone cared about having a picture of my hand, but they did want an image of the geocoin that started an obsession within the geocaching community.<\/p>\n

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Geocoinfest - Europa 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sun was shining when the big event finally rolled around on Sunday.\u00a0\u00a0 Geocachers came out in great numbers to attend the historic event in Cologne.\u00a0 People swarmed the vendor\u2019s booths in order to see the latest and greatest in trackable designs.\u00a0 Plenty of space was provided for enthusiasts to discover or trade geocoins with geocachers they likely had never met before.\u00a0 This event has already surpassed last year\u2019s Geowoodstock<\/a> event in Carnation, Washington for attended logs.\u00a0 Unofficially, it may have been the largest geocaching event in history.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t trade this experience or any of the others I\u2019ve had thanks to the game of geocaching for anything.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d personally like to thank Groundspeak for giving me the opportunity to spend an unforgettable few days in Germany with around 5,000 fellow geocachers.\u00a0 I\u2019d also like to thank the organizers of the event (Guido, Gunter, Martin, Oliver, Thorsten and Bj\u00f6rn – click here<\/a> to see the team) who spent months ensuring that the event would run smoothly and be enjoyable for everyone.\u00a0 These guys did a fantastic job!<\/p>\n

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Click here for 30% saving on Travel Bugs (U.S. Customers Only)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Check out<\/a> a Travel Bug race with do-it-yourself tips<\/p>\n

Watch<\/a> a soldier receive a Travel Bug tattoo.<\/p>\n

Read<\/a> about a Travel Bug Rescue program.<\/p>\n

Share<\/a> your Trackable stories for a chance to win Trackables.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trackable Week presents a new story Monday through Friday this week about creative ways to experience Trackables. Geocaching.com Trackables allow people to tag and track an item from location to location. Trackables typically come in three varieties, Geocoins, Travel Bugs\u00ae or Promotional Trackables like the “Find the Gecko,” Geico campaign. (Watch a video on Travel…<\/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":[134,31,90,33],"tags":[191,79,161],"series":[],"class_list":["post-6136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-trackable-items","category-trackable-week","category-travel-bugs","tag-geocoins","tag-mega-event","tag-trackables"],"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":"

Geocoinfest 2011 – Europa: Travels with the World’s First Geocoin<\/a><\/blockquote>