WSGA Election Slate, Election to be held March 1st - 15th Options

[jcar]

I'm very excited to announce the slate of candidates for WSGA's upcoming election. The term of office is from April 1st 2013 through March 31st 2014.

The official ballot will be posted March 1st on the WSGA site. WSGA members will have from March 1st -15th to cast their vote.

Candidates are encouraged to take this opportunity to share a little about themselves by replying to this forum thread.

President:
Abby Wolfe / hydnsek

Vice President:
Kelly Wiggans-Crawford / psykokiwi

Secretary:
Ben Hewitt / benandjayme

Treasurer:
Kristine Norton / hippychick1620

Puget Sound Rep:
Chris Brue / Mc3cats

Southwest Rep:
Ray Harrison / Geek&Gopher

South Central Rep:
Mike Lowery / tumbleweedpirates

Inland Empire Rep:
Jerry Martin / Martin 5

Cache-cadian Rep:
Gene Reed / Mr. Gadget #2

48 North Rep:
Julie Heike / Cacheikers
Kathy McCormack / GrievousAngel

Olympic Peninsula Rep:
Jo Dunn / idajo2

Thanks to all who have agreed to be on the ballot this year.

Jim Bertrand - jcar
Elaine Edwards - Lucymogus
Jo Dunn - idajo2
Election Committee

[hydnsek]

Looks like a great slate! Thanks to those members who've agreed to serve on the 2013 WSGA Board if elected.

It's great to have a contested race, as that makes it an election and not an acclamation. I hope all members will vote - your vote confirms that you approve the choice even in uncontested positions.

Candidate statements: I hope all the new folks will post something so members can get to know you. Tell us about yourselves and you thoughts about WSGA - thoughts about your roles, what you'd like to see for the club in the coming year(s). This is esp. important as we have three new statewide officers and a contested chapter rep position.

And kudos to jcar, our Vice President and Election Chair, and to his committee, lucymogus and idajo2, for their work on this year's Board elections. Job well done!

[hydnsek]

Candidate statement: After three years, I think y'all have a fair sense of who I am and what I can (or can't) do, and have formed your opinions. I celebrated my 10th caching anniversary in January, so I have seen geocaching grow from a toddler to a teenager, and am proud to be a Charter Member of geocaching.com.

My club goals for 2013:

• The successful launch of the Washington State Parks Centennial GeoTour, in partnership with WSPRC.
• An even better 4th-annual Going APE mega-event.
• Establish key appointed positions and fill vacant ones, including Merchandise Manager, Campout Advisor, Outreach Coordinator, Ape Mega-event Director, and Park Liaison Manager.
• Continue working with Chapter Reps to get more WSGA events scheduled across the state, per member input. This will hopefully include long-requested GSAK classes.
• Redesign the WSGA website to better meet member needs and integrate with current social technology.
• Host our 10th-annual WSGA Summer Campout on the Columbia Gorge.
• Ensure WSGA stays on course and meets member needs, as well as introduce new member activities and benefits.

Today's WSGA is a dramatically different group than it was in 2010 when the current officers took the reins. The club has transitioned from a small, mostly regional club to a larger, more established statewide organization.

Some of the Board's accomplishments during my three years as President:

Membership & Benefits

• Growing WSGA membership to nearly 400. (The club was founded by 19 cachers in 2002.)
• Creating a Family Membership category, which has enhanced benefits and helps cover costs of additional members under an account. And it's only $18/year.
• Establishing an official Membership role, part of the Vice President's position.
• Creating the annual free Member Bonus - special "thank you" swag that current members receive each fall.
• Creating a membership brochure that highlights the benefits of joining WSGA.
• Establishing a Geocoin Manager and regular schedule for our annual Washington geocoin.
• Expanding our merchandise and swag to include Ape coins and cachekinz, hoodies, updated T-shirts, and other items.
• Creating a WSGA "Give Back" pathtag back for members to use on their pathtags.
• Providing annual recognition for our hard-working volunteers.

Club Activities

• Hosting WSGA's first mega-event, Going APE, held in conjunction with Groundspeak's Block Party on International Geocaching weekend in August. This year will be the 4th-annual APE event!
• Hosting a WSGA booth at the annual Groundspeak Block Party.
• Celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2012 with events in every chapter, a Founder's event in Puget Sound, and a new "cache art" series of 54 caches spelling "WSGA" in Lake Washington.
• Supporting GeoWoodstock VIII in 2010 with a variety of activities, including a Silver Sponsorship, ancillary events around the state, a cache-maintenance drive, and the first Going APE event.
• Hosting events in four chapters to support the 2011 David Thompson Columbia Brigade.
• Expanding chapter activities across the state, such as the very cool Wild Horse Wind & Solar Tour.

Geocaching Support

• Creating the Park Liaison Program, which has fostered relationships with parks at every level - city, state, county, federal. Thanks to the dedicated members who serve as liaisons, we have changed the perception of geocaching in several park systems, and prevented bans (e.g., Bellevue) or gotten them reversed (Discovery Park, Seattle). We placed the first physical caches in a western National Park (North Cascades, 2010). King County Parks has recognized WSGA for two years in a row as one of its top volunteer organizations. And, our crowning achievement comes this year, as we partner with WA State Parks on its Centennial GeoTour.
• Forming a new relationship with Washington State Parks (WSPRC) and getting substantial revisions (in our favor) to its Geocache Directive and Permit, as well as partnering on the State Parks Centennial GeoTour. WSGA was founded in 2002 at a time when the State Parks wanted to ban geocaching, so this is a monumental, 180-degree turn in our relationship with the State Parks system.
• Promoting and supporting CITO events across the state.
• Building a strong relationship with Groundspeak, which has been mutually beneficial in many ways.
• Providing outreach activities and support materials (e.g., PowerPoint deck) for libraries, scout troops, schools, and other organizations wanting to learn about geocaching. (Thanks to all who have volunteered their time!)
• Helping promote geocaching in the media, including participating in filming of two PBS documentaries on geocaching (Treasure Trackers, Brain Fitness) and writing articles on geocaching for regional publications (WTA, WRPA).
• Creating the Cache Recommendations section, which provided a valuable service until Favorites became established on geocaching.com.

Organization & Structure

• Launching the WSGA Facebook page, which boasts 410+ members (more than our paid membership) and now serves as our primary communications outlet.
• Rewriting the club Bylaws to reflect the growth, development, and practices of the club.
• Establishing good accounting practices and placing the club on firm financial footing. We inherited a club with a meager cash flow and few records, but finished 2012 with a detailed budget and record bank balance, allowing us to start the year without worrying how to pay for coins, campouts, merchandise, etc.
• Providing greater transparency into Board activities and club history by posting archives of meeting minutes and newsletters.
• Establishing official chapter boundaries that encompass the entire state, so every cacher has a chapter affiliation.
• Creating a chapter-allocation program that provides funds and swag each year to every chapter based on chapter size.
• Becoming a registered nonprofit group in Washington State, which provides advantages such as being able to legally hold lotteries.

All this, and Individual dues are still the same ($12/year) as they were when the club was founded in 2002!

This will be my final year on the WSGA Board and as a committee chair. Thank you all for the support you've given me and the club over the past three years, and here's to a spectacular 2013!

[GrievousAngel]

48 North Chapter Rep Candidate Statement

I’ve been caching since late 2006 and have been a WSGA member since 2009.

I’m proud to be an active WSGA volunteer.
* I’m a liaison with Snohomish County Parks.
* I’ve volunteered at each of the Going A.P.E. events as well as at many other events.
* I’ve made or assisted with quite a few geocaching presentations (most recently at Cama Beach State Park at Rey del Roble’s Great Balls of Fire event).
* I even have a couple of puzzles in the big “WSGA” in Lake Washington!
* I’ve held lots of events over the years, from simple meet & greets to family hiking events to an annual CITO at the Pilchuck Tree Farm. (That CITO,
GC454ER, which is a trail-building work party, is coming up on April 6—please consider taking part!)

Through all these activities, I’ve gotten to know a good number of you 48 North cachers and would like to represent you on the WSGA board. I would like to help you with your ideas, and I also have a few ideas of my own:
* I would like to see the Parks Liaison program expand into other parks in our area. This would also give more 48 Northers a chance to take an active role in WSGA doings.
* I suggest that we establish a list of mentors willing to go out caching with people interested in the game--help them set up and use their GPSrs, show them how to navigate the geocaching.com website, explain the different types of caches, tell them what to do with trackables, etc., etc. and then make themselves available as a resource while the new cacher gains experience. As a matter of fact, today I'm meeting half a dozen people who are interested in caching so we can do just that!
* We should definitely continue 48 North's tradition of fun events! I wonder if there's any interest in adding “educational” events—GSAK Basics, Geocaching 101, HTML for Cache Pages, whatever people would like to see. There’s a lot of expertise in 48 North—let’s share it!

[Cacheikers]

I have been caching with my husband since March of 2011 and I am running for the Chapter Representative 48 North position. I really enjoy geocaching because it takes us to so many places we would never see or go to except through geocaching.

As chapter representative I will try to keep cachers aware of WSGA activities, listen to their thoughts and views on how to better serve cachers, host events and hopefully recruit new WSGA members in the process.

I really enjoy spending time in nature by geocaching, camping and hiking. I created a National Park cache series to remind cachers to visit and preserve them for future generations. "Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." John Muir

Elected for the chapter representative position or not I will still try to help out WSGA 48 North any way I can.

Thank you, Cacheikers (Julie)

[benandjayme]

Hello WSGA members/voters!

(Apologies in advance for the mixed use of pronouns. Just to be clear, "I' (Ben) am the candidate for WSGA Secretary, but "we" (my wife, Jayme, and I) are the cachers going by the username benandjayme.)

We have been caching since April 2008 and we became WSGA family members in the Puget Sound Chapter in July 2011, almost immediately after we moved to Washington from California. We love caching and we love Washington, so getting involved with the WSGA was an easy choice for us. We've both volunteered at quite a few WSGA events, both WSGA hosted and Puget Sound Chapter hosted. By all accounts the WSGA has great things in store for 2013, so I was happy to offer my service when I learned that there might be a need for officer candidates for the next term. I look forward to the chance to share new ideas and brainstorm with any and all members from the great slate of nominees, as well as the chance to learn from board members who have already served for several years. I'll also be excited to meet many more of the WSGA members I haven't had the pleasure of running into yet.

Regardless of position, I'm looking forward to serving the WSGA membership in the coming year as a volunteer and/or a board member.

Happy caching,
Ben Hewitt (1/2 of benandjayme)

[psykokiwi]

Hello Fellow Cachers-

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I have been volunteering at WSGA events almost since I started caching. I am excited to be able to take an active part in a group which is focusing on making caching a great experience for everyone. I may not have a lot of finds, but it doesn't deminish my love or passion for this hobby. I am looking forward to a great year, with some great events!

Cache on!

psykokiwi (Kelly Wiggans-Crawford)

[Hippychick1620]

Hello everyone!

I am very excited to be running for WSGA treasurer this year, it truly is an honor. I started geocaching June 2010 and started volunteering for the WSGA in 2011. My husband and 3 kids are also active with geocaching.

Before "retiring" from the paying workforce to become CEO of my household (aka "stay at home mom"), I worked in the finance & insurance industry, working with insurance agents and Financial Advisors. I held Series 7, 24, 63, & 66 Finra licenses and was 4 hours short of getting my insurance license. In my various positions I helped clients with their monthly & annual budgets, college/estate/retirement planning, and worked with client's CPA's, attorney's and money managers to create comprehensive plans for various scenarios. I also handle all of my household finances, using spreadsheets and a ledger to keep everything in balance.

For the last 5.5 years I have also been an active volunteer for the Puget Sound Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and for the Young Survival Coalition, both are breast cancer foundations. I have worked various functions, ranging from health fairs to high-end fundraisers. I am also a member of the Komen Speaker's Bureau and have given several presentations in front of audiences ranging from 15-150 people. I also am a member of the Race for the Cure committee, under the Registration Committee, where handling money and keeping funds in check is imperative.

Thank you for your support, and I look forward to the next year in this new role.

[idajo2]

Major foot/ankle surgery confined me to a wheelchair for most of 2004. In June of 2005 - while still in recovery mode - my eldest daughter called to say, "Mom, do I have a hobby for you!!" And so it began . . .

Over 1,500 finds later, GEOCACHING was the absolute last thing I ever expected to become a major focus in my life. My children were grown and had lives of their own, I had a job I loved (I'm now retired) and my hobbies were sedentary pursuits - I'm a loom knitter, music is a passion! I'm an avid (kitchen table) SCRABBLE player and I love needle-felting (feel free to ask me what that is!). With so many other interests, why on earth would I want to put on jeans and a pair of boots (!) and tromp through mud 'n' muck" to poke around in a tree stump or (heaven forbid!) brave a raging PNW rainstorm to seek out a micro (my hands-down favorite container type!) velcroed under a picnic bench!?!? Bottom line, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd own more backpacks than purses, more boots than dress shoes and more fleece than finery . . well, I do - and I wouldn't have it any other way!

For me, one of the premier positives Geocaching provides is the opportunity to meet so many people who share a hobby that is not only fun and challenging but promotes outdoor activity and the opportunity to keep our synapses snappin'!

There are few things I enjoy more than geocaching in a new area or "talkin' a little cache" with folks I meet along the way. Since 2005, I've completed the Washington DeLorme Challenge (2007), the Washington County Challenge (2009) and the Snohomish County Challenge (2009). I've met so many wonderful folks - cachers and non-cachers alike - as I traveled hither 'n' yon while pursuing those Challenges! Geocaching embraces every personality type in existence; I am, primarily, a solo cacher (I tend to move a bit slower than most folks in search of GZ so solo caching works well for me) . . yet, I like nothing better than hosting laid back "without a lotta hoopla" events - on behalf of the WSGA (and personal events as well!).

I live in Port Angeles, Washington; I love the Olympic Peninsula and my plan is to put down deep roots and stay put!! I enjoy being a part of the OP Geocaching Community. Great friendships, a slew of challenges to be undertaken and a plethora of great caches to seek out! It doesn't get much better than that!

I've held a variety of jobs during my sixty plus years on the planet . . everything from a motel maid near Disneyland (in my mid-teens), to substitute teacher in a small Idaho town, followed by a long stint as a Grant Writer, for a southern Idaho human services agency (in my thirties)! I finished my working days (with a flourish!) as an office manager in Seattle's University District. As part of my last job, I worked very closely with a wonderful group of volunteers; volunteerism has been an important part of my life since childhood and I've enjoyed the opportunity to volunteer my time to the WSGA as a two-term Chapter Representative to the Board of Directors.

I'm a communicator . . I'm hoping to continue working with folks who are involved in the good work done by the WSGA. I'm anticipating the challenges the future will bring and I'm excited about working toward increasing awareness of what we do, how we do it and why it's important that we support the goals, objectives and the good work done by those who donate their time, talent and energy to the Washington State Geocaching Association. 2013/14 will mark my third, and last, term as a WSGA Chapter Rep; I'm looking forward to a spectacular finale to a volunteer position I've truly enjoyed!

Jo / idajo2

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Maybe I'm lucky to be going so slowly, because I may be going in the wrong direction! . . . Ashleigh Brilliant