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Electric Mouse

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Everything posted by Electric Mouse

  1. This thread has been started in several forums and has some commercial undertones, so I edited the address in the first post, but left the site name. I am also closing this duplicate thread. Thanks!
  2. Congrats to the winner of the CITO contest: Team H for the Bassway Strip CITO! Also congrats on the upcoming (or perhaps here by now? ) addition to your family! Also, congrats to the runner up: Lissie for the Victoria Springs CITO! This was a close one. The vote was 3 to 2 and the judges all mentioned both CITOs and just alternated between which one they thought should win. From their comments it was obvious that it was a tough decision between two very good CITO events. As it turned out, I came across an extra coin, so I am able to give one to each winner. I like that, considering how close it was. I will be contacting you both for your addresses. Thanks for the CITO and enjoy your coins!
  3. A friendly frog tipped me off about this thread. I tend to tell people when they ask about such things in my area (the Dakotas) to either post should be archived logs or feel free to send me the GC#s of the caches and I will take a look. Either is fine with me. I also try to go through and check for issues every couple of months, but I am overdue on that and also tend to always miss a few. So feel free to forward the info on to me. Thanks!
  4. I'm just bumpring this to let everyone know that the judges have all of the materials and are looking them over. I will announce the winner of this contest when they have reached a a decision. Thanks!
  5. It is still in need of some more updates though. I need to update CITO photos etc. I am getting together judges for the contest as we speak. I hope to have a winner picked in the next two weeks or so. Which reminds me! Anyone who has not sent a narrative about why their CITO should win, should do so within a week!
  6. Since there are now two threads on this TB, I am closing this one in favor of the other one. You might also check the Nebraskache yahoo group. It is pretty active and many people who read that do not read here. You can find the link for it from the reviewer site that is linked to in my signature line.
  7. This is a duplicate thread posted in multiple forums, so I am closing it. Wadders, if you are going to be in the great plains region, let me know and I can possibly reopen it. Otherwise, I suggest sticking to the forum that pertains to where you have travel plans. Thanks, E Mouse
  8. I see that this was also posted in the UK forum. It looks like that is the best place for it, so I am closing this duplicate thread.
  9. The reviewer site has moved! The old link will not be available much longer, so please update your bookmarks. I have already edited my initial post to direct to the new url. The site is now here.
  10. Hi! I edited out the personal phone numbers of others. If you have their permission to post them, you can put them back in with a statement that it is with their permission. I assume the first phone number is your own, so I left that. But personal information of others should only be posted with their permission. Thanks!
  11. The site has been updated to reflect that Heartland Cacher is now the Nebraska reviewer and I am covering the Dakotas. Forgive us if there are spots we missed to reflect that and feel free to email if we missed something there! Thanks!
  12. Congrats to Cary1952 for winning a volunteer coin to be given away at his upcoming CITO in South Dakota!!!! North Dakota never made a CITO. That coin is now in reserve either as a backup prize for the second contest in Nebraska and the Dakotas, or as a surprise related to any future CITOs, regardless of location, with Dakotas getting preference. Who knows what I will do with it there? I will decide when to send it and it will be CITO related.
  13. Basically when I have given coins to people I know, I have not felt the need to put anything on the page and haven't. In a few cases, I said "don't ebay it" jokingly because I knew they wouldn't. In cases where I traded with people I didn't know well, I specifically asked for a no ebay assurance, but didn't put anything on the page. I basically was not willing to trade with a person if they wouldn't do that. Had they said they couldn't promise not to ebay it, then I wouldn't have traded with them. When I am giving coins to be given as a random draw at an event, I am putting some language on the coin page since I don't know who will get the coin. I didn't love that, but the actions of a few made me want to do something to serve as a reminder.
  14. Congrats to Team H in Nebraska for winning the random draw for Nebraska CITOs. Attend the CITO and you might win the coin! Also congrats to Lissie who won an unannounced surprise second drawing for a runner up CITO coin to be given away at her CITO event! I got a bunch of Nebraska entries, but did not get a single SD or ND entry. So, I am revising for the Dakotas. In each SD and ND, I will look at CITOs submitted that meet the guidelines and submitted in the next 14 days. On May 5, I will randomly pick one for each state. If the coin can get there in time, it should be used as a prize at the CITO in a random draw. If not, the CITO owner wins it. After this, any coins that don't go to ND or SD could either become backup prizes for my second contest that runs through October or could be given to a later ND or SD CITO owner that seemed to have an especially meritorious CITO, but missed the contest. Or maybe I will just randomly look for good cacher deeds to send the coins to. I'll decide if it comes up and likely won't announce it. Some cacher will just get a surprise email asking where to send the coin too then. Get out there and CITO in SD and ND!!!!!
  15. I agree. Unfortunately past experiences have shown a reason for concern and so many volunteers have been left feeling the need to do so. I didn't at first, and also adopted some coins over, but later concerns made me want to be careful. I put up some coins in contests for CITO events and hated that I felt the need to add stuff about not for sale to the pages. In the end though, I trust the community as a whole. Sure some coins show up for sale that shouldn't be, but for the most part people do see them as a personal, rather than monetary value item. I really appreciate that! I know that I was really excited when I got my volunteer coins and have enjoyed giving them out. I gave some to friends and good cachers, some I traded (a bit selfish, but it allowed me to get some coins I value just as much for my collection) and some I am reserving for CITO awards or special "good cacher deeds" surprises. I like the last ones the best!
  16. When I have given out or traded volunteer coins I have asked for a no sale assurance. In some cases, but not all, I have also added that to the coin page. I suppose certainly a coin I sent out could get further traded or moved and some future person might stick it up for sale, and I likely could do little about that. But if I hadn't adopted it out (something I am going to stop doing), I could at least have it locked so the buyer could not get the icon and tracking. I hope to not see that though. I hope that the caching community will see that these are coins that have personal value and treasure them for that over monetary value. I can see further trades because perhaps a person might get one and be able to get more personal satisfaction by trading it for other coins. Plus trading is part of the fun of collecting. But a flat out sale is just unpleasent to me unless it were for 100% going to charity. Then I might not mind since that is still in a community spirit and not a personal gain spirit.
  17. I have not been made aware of any restrictions in South Dakota state parks.
  18. With permission of the moderators I am cross posting here. I have set up 4 contests in 2 categories to encourage CITO in Nebraska and the Dakotas. Winners will receive Volunteer coins. For details see this thread and this one in the Great Plains forum. Now get out there and CITO!!!!!!
  19. As the reviewer for Nebraska and the Dakotas, I am surprised to see no Cache In Trash Out (CITO) events submitted yet in these states this year. CITO is wonderful way to give back to the communities and parks that are essential to our sport! This year CITO day is on April 22, 2006. To encourage CITO events in my review area, I am setting up four contests in two categories. Each category has a separate thread. For this contest, the "October contest," groups or individuals in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota who successfully hold a CITO listed on geocaching.com between today and October 31, 2006 will be eligible to win a Groundspeak Volunteer Geocoin. This spans all three states; there is not an individual winner for each state. The organizer of the event will win the coin. There will also be some sort of coin for the runner up. That will not be a reviewer coin, but more likely will be a CITO coin or choice among a list of several coins in my collection. After October 31, a review panel of 5 judges to be chosen by me will review the CITOs held in Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and pick a winner based on the following factors: (1) Consideration of need: Was a particularly needy or special area chosen? (2) Enthusiasm: were the logs for the event enthusiastic, were there pictures and did they convey that? (3) Organization: Was the event well planned and well thought out? (4) Participation/Amount of trash collected. How much trash got picked up? Please include pictures in logs! I recognize that many areas are rural and might have less attendance. That will be taken into consideration based on the potential for participation in the area. Obviously a small rural group who gets many of their few local cachers to participate and picks up a ton of trash would gain points over a large group that picks up little. Participation is not about number in attendance. Instead it is about how it was gained under the circumstances and what the number in attendance did. (5) Other considerations: Unique CITO ideas, side activities that encourage attendance or CITO or caching, or especially positive park relations etc will also be considered. Each organizer after the event will be allowed to email to me one statement after their event is held of why their event should win to be given to the judges. The email may include photos and links. Whether you win or not, please also send me pictures from your CITO events. I will post a picture from each event on my reviewer site. For complete/detailed rules of the contest(s) visit this page on my reviewer site. Do please read the detailed rules! Now go out there and CITO!!!!!
  20. As the reviewer for Nebraska and the Dakotas, I am surprised to see no Cache In Trash Out (CITO) events submitted yet in these states this year. CITO is wonderful way to give back to the communities and parks that are essential to our sport! This year CITO day is on April 22, 2006. To encourage CITO events in my review area, I am setting up four contests in two categories. Each category has a separate thread. For this one, the "April Contest," the groups or individuals in each Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota who set up and submit a CITO event to be held within 2 days before CITO day, and up to two months after CITO day, that meets the listing guidelines, and with submission on or before April 8, 2006, will be put in a drawing for a Groundspeak Volunteer Geocoin. The coin will be sent to the organizer of the winning CITO for use as a giveaway prize at the event. This will be a random draw between the CITOs submitted in each state. There will be a coin reserved for each state. Your event does not have to be on CITO day. It just has to be submitted on or before April 8, meet the listing guidelines (please note that events should be submitted 2 weeks in advance and not more than 3 months in advance) and be held within 2 days before or two months after CITO day. Obviously many areas desire to have events on different days to allow people to not have to choose between several or to spread them out. That is fine and encouraged to allow for maximum participation at each event. I will draw for the winners on April 9 and mail coins right after. When submitting an event for this contest, please immediately email me or post a reviewer note with an address for sending a coin should your event be chosen. Whether you win or not, please also post pictures from your CITO events to the cache page. I will post a picture from each event on my reviewer site! For complete/detailed rules of the contest(s) visit this page on my reviewer site. Do please read the detailed rules! Now go out there and CITO!!!!!
  21. Hi all! The Nebraska Lower Platte North NRD has instituted a geocaching policy similar to those for the Lower Platte South and Papio NRDs. They will allow caches at Czechland and Homestead Lakes with a permit. Permits are free and can be obtained online. The policy can be viewed here: LPNNRD POLICY
  22. Hi! If you do get a club started, let me know. Then I can add it to my list of organizations on my reviewer page. I can also join a forum or yahoo group etc if you set one up and can likewise link to it. I like to post to local groups when I am going to be out of town or about reviewer issues, such as new park policies etc when they come up to keep people informed. Getting a group started, whether formal or informal, can take a bit of time, but in the end I think it is well worth the effort. It can do a lot for advancing the game in your area and can provide for some fun social caching!
  23. The most common issue I see is proximity, either because the owner forgot to load up a nearby cache and check or because they had not read the guidelines and was unaware of it. Sometimes multi-caches bumping up against each other happens, but I don't see too much of that, probably because of the more rural nature of my area. The second most common is probably park permit issues. That makes sense since people might not be as aware of them. Forunately the parks here are pretty good about giving permits where needed, so fixing the problem is not too difficult in most cases. Next is vacation caches, usually in the Black Hills of South Dakota. After that, caches near railroad tracks come up fairly often. I also have to ask for coordinates for multi-caches fairly often. I also tend to see typos in coordinates quite a bit. Sometimes I catch that during the review. For example when a person states that a cache is in X city park and the map shows it in a rural field. Other times I miss it because my area includes a lot of rural land where the parks don't show on maps. Then, I normally get an email from the owner when the mistake is realized and I re-check and change the cordinates for them.
  24. Nice idea! I am pinning this thread with IowaAdmin's permission, so that it will stay easily available. Thanks!
  25. Hi Haffy. I see that you have posted essentially the same thing across several forums. In order to keep discussion concentrated in the right place, this is not allowed. If you look in the geocoin forums at the pinned threads at the top, you will see a trading thread. I suggest you post there. That is where this belongs and you will get better luck there than here anyway. I'm closing this thread since it is a duplicate of others. Let me know if you have questions. Thanks.
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