Jump to content

Geocaching Alberta South


wavector

Recommended Posts

The GAS Website came on line today, please don't complain about the spelling, I will fix it soon. I am fairly new to this website stuff and I was glad that I was able to get a website up at all. I am happy to say that I have some major news, well I think it is major. GarAr is an active geocacher in Lethbridge, Alberta who has been quietly working in the background promoting geocaching in that Alberta South city. A front page story in the newspaper has already been published and GarAr has also started a geocaching forum website. There is going to be a booth set up at the Kinsmen show explaining geocaching, it will be open all three days of the show and that is scheduled for April 21 - 23, 2006.

I have been sending emails back and forth to GarAr and as a result we have been discussing creating a multi-chapter, multi-city organization. There is a new forum website and a there is a new forum on that website created specifically to discuss this proposition. You have to sign up to respond in the forum but we are really looking forward to hearing some input and some ideas. I know many geocachers in Alberta South read the Canada Forum and hope we can get some area specific discussion going on in the new forum.

 

The forum website is located at Forums but before you got here you have to submit an account request to GarAr at this sign up page.

 

Please drop in and sign up.

 

Just adding a quick disclaimer to note that this is an entirely non-commercial website in every respect.

Edited by wavector
Link to comment

Congrats on the new website.

 

Thanks DBC.

 

I added some information to my newest cache listing as well, over here on ECO 2006 people can find additional details about getting online in a new forum provided by GarAr, a geocacher active in Lethbridge, Alberta, to discuss the idea of a multi-city, multi-chapter group.

The new GAS website is still rough but that is allowable given that it actually works. :D

The best thing was having the new forum appear on the same day as the website came up, an entirely unexpected event. I see a new group is also forming in Saskatchewan so we will actually have neighbors. SW Saskatchewan is home to several of my favourite caches.

Link to comment

Thanks Dale, I appreciate that. I got it corrected in the ECO 2006 cache listing but missed it in the message here. I will repost it so I can edit the address and maybe that will work, here is the repost with some minor edits.

 

The GAS Website is now online, please don't complain about the spelling, I will fix it soon. I am fairly new to this website stuff and I was glad that I was able to get a website up at all. I am happy to say that I have some major news, well I think it is major. GarAr is an active geocacher in Lethbridge, Alberta who has been quietly working in the background promoting geocaching in that Alberta South city. A front page story in the newspaper has already been published and GarAr has also started a geocaching forum website. There is going to be a booth set up at the Kinsmen show explaining geocaching, it will be open all three days of the show and that is scheduled for April 21 - 23, 2006. I have been sending emails back and forth to GarAr and as a result we have been discussing creating a multi-chapter, multi-city organization. There is a new forum website and a there is a new forum on that website created specifically to discuss this proposition. You have to sign up to respond in the forum but we are really looking forward to hearing some input and some ideas. I know many geocachers in Alberta South read the cache pages and I added this message in the hope we can get some area specific discussion going on in the new forum. The forum website is located at Forums but before you go there you have to submit an account request to GarAr at this sign up page. Please drop in and sign up. Just adding a quick disclaimer to note that this is an entirely non-commercial geocaching website.

 

This time I will check the link and make sure it is working.

Thanks again for pointing that out Dale.

Edited by wavector
Link to comment

I thought I would transcribe from the other forum. Anyone discouraged by technical glitches or broken links might appreciate being able to read it here as well as there. The question asked was why a current group wasn't sufficient to the needs of everyone in the province south of Red Deer. :cute::D:cute:

 

Here is the transcription:

 

I knew that was coming. :D

Calgary Area is not Medicine Hat, I am not sure how Gary or other Bridgers feel but it also isn't Lethbridge, that is my opinion. I live in Medicine Hat and it simply isn't part of Calgary, nor is it in the same area.

The similarities between Medicine Hat and Lethbridge are numerous and in a sense both cities "feel" the same for visitors.

I am not making up the Alberta South, it is a clear economic division according to Tourism Alberta and Alberta Economic Development. When you come down here to geocache, you are a visitor, I have a sister living in Calgary yet still feel like a visitor when I go geocaching there.

I would and have filed SBA's on caches in both Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, I would not do this on a Calgary cache, I do not know the geocachers or the geocaches well enough, you might file an SBA on a Calgary cache, our locations are different.

I am wondering if you started the same type of thread in the GeocachingEdmonton forums and asked them the same type of questions?

Being centric is probably not the model that geocaching organizations will follow even though some might prefer that.

More and more organizations representing smaller and smaller groups of people, that is the model that is appearing. In older well established territories there may be many organizations (ie Tennessee or Michigan). Those who husband geocaches and geocaching will appear everywhere, like savior faire, this cannot be stemmed, it will happen.

I know you think that the CAC can represent Alberta South but then GeocachingEdmonton could represent all of Alberta, Edmonton is the capital. :lol:

GAS is specifically a Medicine Hat (The Gas City) endeavour but I would like to extend the hospitality of work already started where it makes sense to do so, which is cities like Lethbridge or Drumheller (Alberta South). Finding coattails is easy, making things happen in the town you live in is a little harder so I certianly would not blame Bridge City cachers if they wanted to start a separate group rather than organize as a chapter. I cache in many other small cities in Alberta South and Saskatchewan on a very regular basis.

There are people who actively geocache every day in smaller cities and they could benefit from having a multi-city, multi-chapter group like GAS providing ideas, help and resources. Because Calgary is outside of the GAS focus the resources we do develop can be directed much more effectively. We need not worry about a million people but we pay the price by having only 25 geocaches. In a sense we are still developing finders and we can concentrate on larger events at a more basic level. The First GAS Winter Event Cache drew a lot of brand new visitors and we have brand new geocachers who are on the road today because of that event. That event was an introductory event intended to educate new comers to the "fun" in geocaching, it was not without costs. Our event would not have worked in Calgary, the Event format that has developed in a large urban center will not promote geocaching in a small rural city, this is not a guess. Drumheller could easily be considered a Calgary suburb, by people from Calgary, but I see it as the playground of Team Serenity Conquest. The Crowsnest could be part of Calgary but it is actually the area that is geocaching home country for SWAG, the South West Alberta Geocachers. That is the way things are going and it is very likely that they will continue to go that way. More groups caching in smaller areas developing multi-chapter formats when organizing, that is what is happening. That said I would be happy to see Calgary Area Cachers also become a chapter of GAS. :lol:

Link to comment

Hi Owen

Thanks for your comments. The forum website was recently set up by Gary (GarAr) in Lethbridge and the Forums have been active for just a few days so it may be a while before it is smooth. Gary offered a forum for GAS and I was happy to take advantage of the offer as I would really like to see a local venue for discussions.

I started this thread in the Canada forum so that geocachers in the area would have a central area where updates could be posted, I know that many geocachers won't post in these forums and may in a smaller local forum so hopefully it will work out well.

I have visited your MSN page and I am looking forward to seeing the new Saskcachers Website as well. I was actually serious about joining your group as well as GAS, I geocache in SK enough that I will want to keep current on what is going on!

Gary sent me an email awhile ago and I think he has fixed things but I am not sure. There is also a broken website link but nobody has complained yet and no information is rendered inaccessible. :cute:

 

wavector aka David

Edited by wavector
Link to comment
ibycus wrote : I guess my problem is that I see myself as living in Southern Alberta (maybe not as far south as you). So in many respects, I am a Geocacher of Alberta South, but here is this group, that claims to be representative of geocachers of Alberta South, that forms and not a whisper comes in to our forums about it (even though it some respects it seems to impinge on what may be seen as our 'turf'.

Cochrane seems to fit just fine under the CAC banner, as does Bragg Creek, Redwood Meadows, Okotoks and many others. Admitedly they are all closer to Calgary than Medicine Hat or Lethbridge, but given that I understand a fairly significant contingent came over from Calgary for your event, I don't think I see the two as all that far apart.

As far as an event not being doable in the same way in a large city as a small one, I *think* I agree with you, that's why you wouldn't do them the same way. (BTW, I heard your event was a huge success, wish I could have made it, but I had an exam on the Tuesday after that I wasn't ready for at the time).

 

The groups to me, are mostly a way of communicating and organizing among ourselves. If there are too many groups, that aspect is somewhat lost. My feeling is, that if traveling between the areas is feasible without too much of a hassle, then they could easily be the same group (hence the push for a Geocaching Alberta group).

 

wavector wrote : The forums are the Calgary Area Cachers forums and each place you mentioned is included in the Calgary Area by Alberta Economic Development and Alberta Tourism so your sense of organization parallels the reality up to that point, but Alberta South is not Calgary Area.

I see no reason why a group representing a distinct well defined area would announce anything in the forums of another group and the failure to meet that expectation is just an example of dislocation. Geocaching in Alberta South is I hope captured in a small part by the GAS Website and Calgary is not mentioned because it is not necessary when you are discussing Alberta South. I included the Alberta South link there on the website because tourists, visitors and geocachers find it convenient when official information aligns along well defined boundaries. I agree that organizations should operate and communicate to best represent the interests of geocachers in the area they purport to represent, in Alberta South that would be served through a multi-chapter, multi-city group which would be a great thing in my opinion. A failure to accomodate communication of any sort is a perception, not a reality. Geocaching Alberta is a great idea but if you think that it is just a name change for the Calgary Area Cachers then you are misreading Albertans and the number of new and nascent groups that are appearing everywhere in this activity. I cannot fathom how the geocachers in Cold Lake are included in your overall vision if you think your group best represents the interests of geocachers in Medicine Hat.

I appreciated the geocaching celebrities who showed up at our event and that is what they were, geocaching celebrities, even though they were from Calgary we would have been just as thrilled to have Jennifer and Dean show up, truthfully. The geocachers who showed up were not, to the best of my knowledge, a diplomatic embassy bearing overtures to geocachers in Medicine Hat, they were there to get another event Found and help promote geocaching.

 

GAS is about promoting geocaching, the primary purpose of the website is the promotion of geocaching. It takes finders to get hiders, it takes hiders to make geocaching work, GAS is trying to push that first door open and make new finders in Alberta South. You would probably be surprised to see the number of non-geocachers who showed up at our event to learn about caching and never logged the Find, Finds do not matter to the newly interested, information does. I was thrilled by Gary's efforts in Lethbridge and we don't even know each other. We have yet to speak on the phone. A booth at the Kinsmen Show is a great idea and is certain to get more finders active, it is exactly the type of exposure that we need in Alberta South to promote geocaching.

If you feel that the Calgary Area Cachers can contribute to the promotion of geocaching in Alberta South I would be more than interested in hearing your ideas on how you think that can be done.

I know the Calgary Area Cachers are contemplating a new 2006 geocoin. We have just completed the GAS geocoin, it is fully GC.com trackable and it has a custom icon. It was well received by geocachers and because of this we will be placing over a hundred unactivated geocoins in caches in Alberta South, a promotion that will hopefully result in a lot of interest and excitement.

 

ibycus wrote : The whole Geocaching Alberta thing gained a lot of support in the Calgary and Edmonton Areas when our forums went down for a while. We all had a great time crashing the Edmonton Forums and discussing things with people we knew and had associated with up there.

 

So it wasn't really seen as 'a name change' for us, but to be honest a merger of the Calgary and Edmonton Groups, which in I think most people's opinions covered most of the Geocaching interests in Alberta (As I've pointed to earlier, Northern, vs Southern Alberta).

 

I don't think economic boundaries are a reasonable way to draw the boundaries between caching organizations. They were established for a different reason than Geocaching, and I guess I just don't see our geocaching interests as being significantly different from those anywhere else in the province.

 

From my experiences caching elsewhere, at least the geocaches seem essentially the same where ever you go.

 

For the record, I think our furthest away regular active participant is PDOPs, in Hinton.

 

wavector wrote : Your centric views are noted.

 

The Calgary and Edmonton merger is news to me and I look forward to seeing the results of the memberships voting. I think it is great that you announced it here, the geocachers who visited the First GAS Winter Event Cache never mentioned it and I don't see any mention of it in the Canada Forum.

When is the vote ?

 

I don't participate in the Calgary Area forums because it is along way from here and the matters that are discussed are Calgary matters. I have even less reason to participate in the Edmonton Area forums though I have browsed a few times to admire Brad's work, very impressive and GeocachingEdmonton is lucky to have such a great resource.

 

How about other Alberta organizations or loose knit groups, how about large teams ? Have the Calgary Area Cachers decided if they might have valid interests ?

 

Did you actually consider that others might have geocaching interests that are different than the Calgary Area Cachers ? As an example I don't see CAC volunteering any CAC geocoins for giveaways in Alberta South, is that an oversight ? Are the CAC coins going to be fully trackable, will they have an icon ?

 

We really appear to be on different wavelengths here. I am attempting to promote geocaching in Alberta South, you appear to be trying to mark territory. GAS will continue to organize, GAS will continue promoting geocaching in Alberta South, the primary aim. We will continue to set up CITO's, Events and other geocaching promotions in Alberta South. We will do all this even though you have our interests covered but thanks for thinking of us.

 

I think that just about brings this forum up to date with all the comments in New Forum that GarAr set up for Lethbridge Geocachers. There is a GAS Thread in that forum, set up by invite, thanks GarAr . We have been discussing the possibility of having the Bridge City geocachers form a GAS Chapter or make their own group.

 

If you are a geocacher and you want to add comments here or in the in the new forum please feel free to do so.

Link to comment

Congratulations on the new website.

 

I think it is great that there is a group there to represent southern Alberta. Being a Calgary Area Cacher and being from Coaldale originally, I will verify there is a big difference between the areas and I can understand why GAS would not want to fit under the CAC banner.

Link to comment

Hi DanOCan

I have seen your logs on a bunch of Alberta South caches! I think we have both found all the reservoir caches near Lethbridge. Did you see that A Ridge Too Far is gone, apparently the road was closed for awhile and when it reopened the cache was gone. It was a really good cache as well, a pity it is lost. I have been scouting the Birds of Prey Center and I am hoping to find a good spot nearby for a new cache.

 

Thanks for the comments Dan and I can add that I never even considered trying to fit GAS under the CAC banner, it wasn't that there is a problem with the CAC, far from it, GAS just doesn't fit in there. I do not consider myself a local in regards to Calgary and would not expect Calgarians to consider Hatters as locals.

I did consider Calgarians as locals for the purpose of GAS Geocoin sales and gave the password to Calgary cachers who asked. I was also really glad to have some well known Calgary cachers show up for our first Event cache, every local enjoyed our event that much more, enthusiasm is catching.

Most people who have lived in Alberta South seem to understand why GAS was launched.

The website really was a lot of work for me, I had to start from scratch basically and I appreciate all the kind comments so thanks Dan.

Link to comment

The website and the geocoin are just adjuncts to the other things that have been happening. The biggest news by far is the new Forum that GarAr set up for Lethbridge geocachers, the timing was extraordinary. I was excited to see the article that Gary had managed to get written in the local Lethbridge paper. Having an article appear on the front page is awesome but I know I was nervous after seeing my name appear in our local paper here in a page three article covering our event cache. Promoting geocaching is the reason that GAS was formed, I purchased the geocachingalbertasouth domain last summer. I do have hopes that one day GAS will have the same type of structure that Owen Parker outlined for the Saskatchewan Geocachers. I started working on different approaches to promoting right away and I have been active, like GarAr, working on projects that promote geocaching.

GAS is operating in an area that has a rich historical geocaching landscape. At one time Medicine Hat had a tremendous number of geocaches compared to other Alberta cities. The Medicine Hat College (Home of the Rattlers) has programs which still take advantage of the geocaching landscape to help introduce students to concepts like GPS use, navigation, map reading, aerial photo interpretation, geography and ecotourism. The average Hatter knows someone who has geocached. Local geocaches placed by Ben Moffat back in 2001 are still active today and still receive student visits annually, it is sort of like the swallows and capistrano. This is a local phenomena that underscores how deeply engrained geocaching is in The GAS city, much more so than visitors realize. Somewhere around the same time that OFTH placed The Dickson Stevenson Stopping House cache Ben placed One Powerful Site and at that time I would wager that Medicine Hat had one of the highest per capita geocache counts of any city in Canada. With roughly fifty caches all over Alberta we had five of them here inside the GAS city.

Geocaching never really went anywhere spectacular in the intervening years yet we saw slow growth in cache numbers, very similar to Lethbridge. Today each city has around twenty five geocaches.

 

I have never met Gary and the appearance of the website and the Forums together represents an intersection that was not planned in any way. I was surprised to see objections from some geocachers. I wasn't sure whether they were objecting to Gary's efforts to provide a forum for local discussions or my efforts at building an informative website to promote geocaching in the area in which I geocache. A lot of smaller cities require active promotion, they need active local groups to organize CITO's and events, to educate the interested and to promote geocaching. Some geocachers really don't see that need, they live or geocache in an area where someone else undertakes to fulfil that role. Some small places have geocachers who are active yet won't organize a local event or a local CITO, I am not sure why.

 

Smaller centers need events, they need CITO efforts, they need local meetings. Many geocachers do not do this type of promotion but it is important to gain new adherents, it is important to keep geocaching active and growing. Those who refuse to advocate locally do no damage but they do not gain new adherents. People need to be shown, they need to see the DVD, meet others who geocache, they need to see the happy shining people that are having fun. Events have to be local affairs. If you had to drive three hours to each soccer match would you let your kids play soccer ? Active promotion of geocaching, at the local level, in your community is a lot of fun. Be prepared to garner the rewards of being an active geocacher. It is fun, it is social, it is active, it is multi generational, it is fun, it is exciting, it is healthy, it is interesting, it is challenging, it is fun. You will meet city and park officials, you will get your name in the newspaper, maybe even a picture.

You will get to know other people where you live, work and play.This is what geocaching is all about.

You will be having fun and making new friends in your location.

Other geocachers will come and visit if you hide caches and hold events!

Your geocaching world is connected to geocaching playing fields all over the world through the network of local caches that you find and hide. Support your community, form a local group, organize, have a CITO, hold an event, hide a new cache for your neighbours to find. :P

Edited by wavector
Link to comment

The website and the geocoin are just adjuncts to the other things that have been happening. The biggest news by far is the new Forum that GarAr set up for Lethbridge geocachers, the timing was extraordinary. I was excited to see the article that Gary had managed to get written in the local Lethbridge paper. Having an article appear on the front page is awesome but I know I was nervous after seeing my name appear in our local paper here in a page three article covering our event cache. Promoting geocaching is the reason that GAS was formed, I purchased the geocachingalbertasouth domain last summer. I do have hopes that one day GAS will have the same type of structure that Owen Parker outlined for the Saskatchewan Geocachers. I started working on different approaches to promoting right away and I have been active, like GarAr, working on projects that promote geocaching.

GAS is operating in an area that has a rich historical geocaching landscape. At one time Medicine Hat had a tremendous number of geocaches compared to other Alberta cities. The Medicine Hat College (Home of the Rattlers) has programs which still take advantage of the geocaching landscape to help introduce students to concepts like GPS use, navigation, map reading, aerial photo interpretation, geography and ecotourism. The average Hatter knows someone who has geocached. Local geocaches placed by Ben Moffat back in 2001 are still active today and still receive student visits annually, it is sort of like the swallows and capistrano. This is a local phenomena that underscores how deeply engrained geocaching is in The GAS city, much more so than visitors realize. Somewhere around the same time that OFTH placed The Dickson Stevenson Stopping House cache Ben placed One Powerful Site and at that time I would wager that Medicine Hat had one of the highest per capita geocache counts of any city in Canada. With roughly fifty caches all over Alberta we had five of them here inside the GAS city.

Geocaching never really went anywhere spectacular in the intervening years yet we saw slow growth in cache numbers, very similar to Lethbridge. Today each city has around twenty five geocaches.

 

I have never met Gary and the appearance of the website and the Forums together represents an intersection that was not planned in any way. I was surprised to see objections from some geocachers. I wasn't sure whether they were objecting to Gary's efforts to provide a forum for local discussions or my efforts at building an informative website to promote geocaching in the area in which I geocache. A lot of smaller cities require active promotion, they need active local groups to organize CITO's and events, to educate the interested and to promote geocaching. Some geocachers really don't see that need, they live or geocache in an area where someone else undertakes to fulfil that role. Some small places have geocachers who are active yet won't organize a local event or a local CITO, I am not sure why.

 

Smaller centers need events, they need CITO efforts, they need local meetings. Many geocachers do not do this type of promotion but it is important to gain new adherents, it is important to keep geocaching active and growing. Those who refuse to advocate locally do no damage but they do not gain new adherents. People need to be shown, they need to see the DVD, meet others who geocache, they need to see the happy shining people that are having fun. Events have to be local affairs. If you had to drive three hours to each soccer match would you let your kids play soccer ? Active promotion of geocaching, at the local level, in your community is a lot of fun. Be prepared to garner the rewards of being an active geocacher. It is fun, it is social, it is active, it is multi generational, it is fun, it is exciting, it is healthy, it is interesting, it is challenging, it is fun. You will meet city and park officials, you will get your name in the newspaper, maybe even a picture.

You will get to know other people where you live, work and play.This is what geocaching is all about.

You will be having fun and making new friends in your location.

Other geocachers will come and visit if you hide caches and hold events!

Your geocaching world is connected to geocaching playing fields all over the world through the network of local caches that you find and hide. Support your community, form a local group, organize, have a CITO, hold an event, hide a new cache for your neighbours to find. :anicute:

Link to comment

My $0.02 on things! I was approached by the Kinsmen Club of Lethbridge to put a booth all about Geocaching at the upcoming Sports & Leisure show here in Lethbridge, AB. I jumped at the opportunity to help promote the sport all I can. I've been in contact with the local Travel & Convention Bureau, City of Lethbridge, the local newspaper and more. So far the response has been exceptional. I figured the best way to get the information out to the locals was through the Internet and a forum. Hence the birth of the local forum .

 

There's many an idea we're working on to get the word out to potential Geocaching newbies, as well as provide a few occasions for Geocachers to introduce the sport to others. Thanks to the local newspaper (the Lethbridge Herald), we even managed Front Page news! I have a copy of the article online if you care to read it for yourself!

 

There WAS a registration form in place but that has since been removed and users may create their own account, log on and see what's to be said. I'm NOT trying to reinvent the wheel here, just looking to provide more localized information pertinent to the Southern Alberta area.

 

I'd invite you to stop by, say hello and see what's happening in the Lethbridge and Southern Alberta area!

 

Happy Caching!

 

GarAr

Edited by GarAr
Link to comment

Did you see that A Ridge Too Far is gone, apparently the road was closed for awhile and when it reopened the cache was gone. It was a really good cache as well, a pity it is lost.

 

That is sad to see. The little stuffed dog we swapped from that cache has since become our personal travel bug, so I will always have a piece of that cache to remember.

Link to comment

The GAS Geocoin has arrived.

The GeocachingAlbertaSouth geocoin was designed to promote geocaching in Alberta South. To this end the coin was made and sold through the geocoin store. The proceeds from the sale were realized as geocoins and these geocoins are being given away in Alberta South.

 

The GAS Geocoin promotion has already started, I have been giving away free geocoins for awhile now and will be able to start sending those out very shortly.

 

The Heavy Lift CITO Event is tomorrow so I know I won't be doing any mailing. :huh:

I will be updating the GAS website soon with a new GAS geocoin page. I will be adding a new CITO page as well with some CITO results.

 

In addition I will be adding a link and updating the main page so that visitors have a quick jump to the Badlands Cache Quest 2006 in Drumheller.

Edited by wavector
Link to comment

The first GAS CITO event.

 

Show us your pics!

 

The GAS Geocoin project generated funds and some of those funds will be used to supply participants in the Heavy Lift CITO with some prizes, a direct investment in the CITO's of tomorrow. :(

 

This CITO was a tremendous amount of work and we had a few laughs as well. Coffee tastes better when you are wet and muddy. There were some real spills and I am are glad everyone went home sound, if muddy and wet.

 

A tremendous 4/4 adventure.

Link to comment

Dateline : April 12, 2006

Geocaching in the News

 

We had an article in our local newspaper regarding our CITO event. I did find out after we had listed our CITO that the city has a Litter Blitz on the last weekend in April. It doesn't matter as long as the garbage gets picked up but next year we will integrate our CITO activities with the city's Litter Blitz or perhaps, get them to move the Litter Blitz to CITO day. :D

 

Here is a copy of the article that appeared on Page 2 of the Medicine Hat News :

 

Title : Geocache Event for Earth Day

A special geocaching event is coming for Medicine Hat families to enjoy on April 22, Earth Day.

Local geocacher David Latimer has organized another special event since the success of the First Geocaching Alberta South (GAS) Winter Cache Event last January.

"This year we're going to be having a Geocaching CITO event, it's a Cache In, Trash Out Event" said Latimer.

Geocaching is a popular activity picking up around the world. People hide caches and list the locations on the geocaching website for others to find using a Global Positioning System device.

A cache is a container filled with various items, like a treasure. Geocachers who visit the site will often take one item from a cache and leave something in it's place. A notebook is often placed in a cache for visitors to sign.

There is an ecological component to geocaching, and naturally the idea of CITO events started in 2003.

The idea of the CITO event is to pay back the park system as many caches are hidden in parks.

Latimer said this event will be co-ordinated with one in Calgary and Edmonton, so he has challenged the two cities to see who can collect the most trash per person.

More information on the event can be found at www.geocachingalbertasouth.com

Link to comment

GAS Geocoin Update

 

I thought I would post an update on some of the things I have been doing with the earned funds from the GAS Geocoin sale.

I purchased 26 CITO geocoins, I have donated these geocoins as prizes to local CITO organizers and will be giving the rest to individuals as new unactivated geocoins, one has been retained as an Icoin so that geocachers who participate in local CITO's will be able to see and log the coin.

I purchased 4 of mtn-man Geocoins, I will be giving these away as new unactivated geocoins in Alberta South caches, I think these are the first Reviewer geocoins, I am not sure though.

I purchased 4 of the 2006 Michigan Geocoins, I will be giving these away as new unactivated geocoins in Alberta South caches.

I purchased 8 of the new Canada Geocoins, 6 of these will be given to Alberta Geocoin Production Group, 1 will be activated by the G.A.S. Administrator account and used as an Icoin. I may keep the other one of these coins !

I purchased 10 CITO tee-shirts to be given away to local cachers who participated in Heavy Lift, a difficult and rewarding local CITO event, our first ever.

 

The number of coins now destined to be given away has risen to 166 from 125. This means for every three GAS Geocoins purchased there is one new unactivated geocoin being placed in a cache in Alberta South. That number is not entirely accurate as more than twenty coins were given directly to individuals and will probabaly not end up in caches.

 

The GAS project is a great success so far and I want to thank geocachers all over the world who made this possible.

We have a lot of geocoins that have been placed or given away and many many more to place. I have been placing the GAS geocoins in local caches with no notice and no note, we should start seeing surprised and excited geocachers all over Alberta South.

 

Thanks

Link to comment

An update is in order and this thread needs to be bumped.

The Geocaching Alberta South Society is still getting organized and our efforts to promote geocaching in Alberta South also continue.

Using GAS geocoin funds I have made some additional purchases.

The GAS Society purchased 8 of the Vermont Geocoins and 4 of the Utah Geocoins, these geocoins will all be given away as new unactivated geocoins in geocaches in Alberta South.

If you have been watching the coins that we are buying it should be clear that we are concentrating our efforts on state and organization coins that are trackable on geocaching.com. The mtn-man coins were the exception but they are remarkable and mtn-man is perhaps one of the worlds best known geocachers, they are the only personal coins we have purchased. We are having tremendous success in creating excitement using geocoins, new geocachers really enjoy finding and logging geocoins and finding new unactivated coins creates enduring excitement.

In addition to placing coins in caches we have been giving coins to Event Cache organizers all over western Canada, these coins can be used as prizes and Event Caches are perhaps the very best caches for getting geocachers more deeply involved in this activity.

We are going to be making some webpage updates soon that will offer people a closer look at the GAS Geocoin promotion and will offer Gas City visitors some caching plans that will let them hit some of our neatest caches. Look for that over the next few weeks as time allows.

Link to comment

Hello... I am fairly new to Lethbridge. I moved here from Arkansas last year. I am very interested in geocaching.. but have never done it and am not quite sure how to start. Is there anyone in Lethbridge that can help me get started? Please contact me at .... steph_montgomery@live.com Thanks

Edited by OzarkMtnAngel
Link to comment

Hello... my name is Stephanie and I am fairly new to Lethbridge. I moved here from Arkansas last year. I am very interested in geocaching.. but have never done it and am not quite sure how to start. Is there anyone in Lethbridge that can help me get started? Please contact me at .... steph_montgomery@live.com Thanks!

Link to comment

Hello... I am fairly new to Lethbridge. I moved here from Arkansas last year. I am very interested in geocaching.. but have never done it and am not quite sure how to start. Is there anyone in Lethbridge that can help me get started? Please contact me at .... steph_montgomery@live.com Thanks

Sorry, I was busy at the Best of the Bad Mega event and am just getting caught up again. I'll send you a note as I know a few very friendly caching couples in and around Lethbridge.

Link to comment

A great thread from way back!

I pissed off a geocacher from Texas who then proceeded to squat on the geocachingalbertasouth domain after I failed to reregister it. I got very busy at work and a couple of months passed before I went to re-register the original GAS website and found the domain it taken and paid for by someone who used an anonymizing service to make sure they couldn't be identified, I have only pissed off a few geocachers from Texas but it is pretty clear that the person is a crackpot, the anonymizing service is a clue. I clicked the link in the first post and see that they continue to pay for the website, lunacy is often tencacious as well. :laughing:

 

I see it says "this account has been suspended" at the bottom of the page.

 

The website I work on now is purchased a few years out, it is http://www.brasscapconvention.com

The Brass Cap Convention II http://coord.onfo/GCY2MKV is scheduled for August 20th in Kannanaskis Country. Sleepy_hollow is hosting another event the same day that dovetails to the Brass Cap Convention II, IGD at Cameron LO so it is two events and both promise to be memorable and a great way to celebrate International Geocaching Day. There is a souvenir tee shirt and new version of the Brass Cap Geocoin made especially for the event.

 

Thanks for dredging up this old thread and the old website. It is good to be reminded that there are real crackpots out there who take the whole thing way to seriously when it is actually just a chance to connect to others and have some fun.

Link to comment

Actually, it sounds like a standard case of cybersquatting to me. There are people (bottom-feeders) who buy up expired domains by the hundreds of thousands, put advertising and links on them, and either try to sell the domains back to the original owners, or make money off the ads and the links they're promoting (SEO aka search engine optimization).

Link to comment

Hi Tom

How are you doing?

I ran into Hezza when I was doing a little brass capping up in your area.

We had a nice chat by the river.

 

I thought the cybersquatter as well but the anonymizing isn't regular with cybersquatters and they usually respond to emails because they do want to sell the domain back to you.

This is a crackpot unfortunately, they won't even answer emails.

I can tell it is hosted in Texas and I know I pissed off a geocacher from Texas.

I didn't mean to piss off a geocacher from Texas.

 

If you get a chance to come down for the Brass Cap Convention II event Tom it would be great to see you there.

Edited by wavector
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...