Post by G-co. on Jan 2, 2019 11:10:11 GMT -6
I am somewhat honored if you are reading this post as I do not know the true impact of my position on the board, or the board, for that matter. We held our first board meeting last November and made some decisions to try and find an updated identity of the MnGCA Board. I think we were successful and having tied an actual event to the meeting helped with one of our new initiatives-to hear from our members.
That night we met for the first hour and then visited with about ten folks who came to the coffee shop to hear what we discussed, provide some feedback to us, and then do what we MnGCA members seem to enjoy most after geocaching; talk about geocaching!
It was an initial experiment to see how it would go and I think we are on to something. While we will make it convenient for the current board to meet as far as future locations, we do hope you can come visit with us after the board meeting to hear what was discussed, provide feedback, and just talk. We will not venture outside the metro area as the current board is here but we will try to move it this next year to go a little west, a little east, a little north, and a little south, to help folks attend.
Our next meeting/event will be January 21st. Look for an event to be published soon.
Some of the new things we discussed were the future of geocoins, the re-introduction of pathtags, apparel, and future events to name a few. Highlighted below is what we talked about with regard to these topics.
Geocoins: We will change the timeline for availability of coins. Many cachers use their coins as mileage indicators for their caching exploits and we feel that coins should be available earlier in the year. With the timeline as it is we set up a committee and met to try and get a coin designed and made by February/March of 2019. We then will work to getting our coins designed and made by December for ordering and January for delivery or pickup.
Also new with coins will be the introduction of "an always available" coin that is for members only. Once someone signs up as an MNGCA member they can purchase this "Members Only" coin. The design is awesome and you will definitely want one of these limited coins for your collection. As for our annual coin, the design is a break from the last few years and has a new whimsical look at Minnesota geocaching as well as a new shape. Stay tuned for the coin design release.
Pathtags: Member bflentje provided an MnGCA path tag design update from a few years back and we will discuss ordering at our next meeting.
Apparel: Another new idea we had was simplifying the design process each year and making the apparel design the same as our annual coin design. So what is on the coin will be the same(or close) to what is on our apparel. Again, we will work to having apparel orders up by February for delivery in March, or pickup at an MNGCA event.
Events: One issue we have with our current event setup is that they are typically really cold events. Yes, we do occasionally have nice weather but one of the two events is bound to be too chilly to enjoy. We are looking to have one HUGE event in the warmer months and possibly go for creating a MEGA event. Discussion is still to come but the thought is one big event for the MNGCA membership in the metro area and then keep using Breakfast Buddies as the satellite events for the out-state cachers. This is still in the discussion stage. We know that folks enjoy Fall and Spring events so email me at scott.geary@hotmail.com to let me know your thoughts.
Speaking of Events: As president I have been trying to get to more events and I must say that the events we held around the New Year were tremendous! We had on average 20 folks present for the events around the metro including the 2018 Year in Review event and then the Goodbye 2018 and Hello 2019 events. We are hearty geocachers here in MN and the turnout for these events are strong evidence that we enjoy geocaching and each other. Keep it up! and if you haven't attended an event, make a resolution to do so.
These are just a few of the exciting ways we are looking to make some changes to keep our organization alive and relevant.
We have a good board with many perspectives present as well as varying experience as geocachers and MnGCA members so it will be exciting to see what lies ahead. Never fail to ask me anything and to let me know your thoughts. email me at the above email or text me at 763-five,six,seven-3493. I, and the board, are here to help.
Happy New Year!
That night we met for the first hour and then visited with about ten folks who came to the coffee shop to hear what we discussed, provide some feedback to us, and then do what we MnGCA members seem to enjoy most after geocaching; talk about geocaching!
It was an initial experiment to see how it would go and I think we are on to something. While we will make it convenient for the current board to meet as far as future locations, we do hope you can come visit with us after the board meeting to hear what was discussed, provide feedback, and just talk. We will not venture outside the metro area as the current board is here but we will try to move it this next year to go a little west, a little east, a little north, and a little south, to help folks attend.
Our next meeting/event will be January 21st. Look for an event to be published soon.
Some of the new things we discussed were the future of geocoins, the re-introduction of pathtags, apparel, and future events to name a few. Highlighted below is what we talked about with regard to these topics.
Geocoins: We will change the timeline for availability of coins. Many cachers use their coins as mileage indicators for their caching exploits and we feel that coins should be available earlier in the year. With the timeline as it is we set up a committee and met to try and get a coin designed and made by February/March of 2019. We then will work to getting our coins designed and made by December for ordering and January for delivery or pickup.
Also new with coins will be the introduction of "an always available" coin that is for members only. Once someone signs up as an MNGCA member they can purchase this "Members Only" coin. The design is awesome and you will definitely want one of these limited coins for your collection. As for our annual coin, the design is a break from the last few years and has a new whimsical look at Minnesota geocaching as well as a new shape. Stay tuned for the coin design release.
Pathtags: Member bflentje provided an MnGCA path tag design update from a few years back and we will discuss ordering at our next meeting.
Apparel: Another new idea we had was simplifying the design process each year and making the apparel design the same as our annual coin design. So what is on the coin will be the same(or close) to what is on our apparel. Again, we will work to having apparel orders up by February for delivery in March, or pickup at an MNGCA event.
Events: One issue we have with our current event setup is that they are typically really cold events. Yes, we do occasionally have nice weather but one of the two events is bound to be too chilly to enjoy. We are looking to have one HUGE event in the warmer months and possibly go for creating a MEGA event. Discussion is still to come but the thought is one big event for the MNGCA membership in the metro area and then keep using Breakfast Buddies as the satellite events for the out-state cachers. This is still in the discussion stage. We know that folks enjoy Fall and Spring events so email me at scott.geary@hotmail.com to let me know your thoughts.
Speaking of Events: As president I have been trying to get to more events and I must say that the events we held around the New Year were tremendous! We had on average 20 folks present for the events around the metro including the 2018 Year in Review event and then the Goodbye 2018 and Hello 2019 events. We are hearty geocachers here in MN and the turnout for these events are strong evidence that we enjoy geocaching and each other. Keep it up! and if you haven't attended an event, make a resolution to do so.
These are just a few of the exciting ways we are looking to make some changes to keep our organization alive and relevant.
We have a good board with many perspectives present as well as varying experience as geocachers and MnGCA members so it will be exciting to see what lies ahead. Never fail to ask me anything and to let me know your thoughts. email me at the above email or text me at 763-five,six,seven-3493. I, and the board, are here to help.
Happy New Year!