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Where do approvers come from?


Renegade Knight

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quote:
Are they drafted?

Do they volunteer?

Are they spontaniously elected by a cry of support from the geocaching community?

Do they come from under rocks?

Or are they the volunteers who didn't run fast enough when asked?


 

All of the above as mtn-man said. In my case I was bothered a year and a half ago by the slow pace caches were being approved. That was back when you could see what was in the approval queue if you just entered the next number in the URL sequence. I would see a cache in my area submitted on a Friday, but not approved and posted until the following week. Meanwhile I had no caches within driving distance that I hadn't already found. Very frustrating twiddling my thumbs waiting for the cache to be posted so I could hunt it without jumping the gun. So I volunteered to help approve caches.

 

Of course then I realized that I couldn't in good conscience be the first finder of a cache I approved and posted and a new frustration occured. Oh well. Luckily now so many new ones are submitted that I couldn't find them all if I had the time.

 

erik - geocaching.com adminion

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I sometimes feel like we were *drafted*. simply because we tend to be active in our geocaching community. Its been fun so far, and we're looking forward to approving many more caches.

 

___________________________________________________________

Don't mind us, we're just looking for tupperware in this bush.

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I was so intrigued with the sport and have derived so many hours of fun from it that I wanted to "give back" in some way. I wrote to Jeremy volunteering for anything that could be done at a distance. I figured, if anything, I'd be answering a stack of routine emails or helping people with html on their cache pages or something like that. So I was surprised when he appointed me as an approver. He told me that I might find it to be a "thankless task" and sometimes that is true; but I have also had the pleasure of "meeting" so many fine people. I'm constantly amazed (and inspired) by the creativity out there, too.

 

I take being an approver seriously because this sport is being re-created all the time and decisions we make now have tremendous impact on how the sport is played, whether our natural resources are protected as we play, and whether we find favor in the eyes of land managers who sometimes determine where/how we play. Jeremy is very democratic and often allows the geocaching community to make decisions on important issues, so the development of the sport is not limited to the approvers or other small group. My own "wisdom" is so limited that I'm glad everyone has a voice as the sport develops.

 

52813_3100.gif

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I just asked about being an admin for the heck of it and figured I'd never hear back.

I got an email from Jeremy about an hour later saying "Welcome aboard, now get to work!".

 

Its been downhill ever since. icon_wink.gif

 

texasgeocaching_sm.gif

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A few questions for all of the approvers/admins:

 

1) How much time do you spend approving caches?

 

2) Is there a certain way that caches are divied up between everyone? (certain areas, time of submission, etc.)

 

3) Any prerequisites?

 

----

When in doubt, poke it with a stick.

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How much time?

I bet I spend 5 to 10 hours a week reading the cache pages and hints, checking proximity, looking at maps, emailing back and forth, etc.

 

Divied up?

Geographically. I think there's a thread here somewhere that lists which admin handles what geographic region (Markwell?).

I handle a large chunk of the south central states.

 

Prerequisites?

You gotta be tolerant of nasty emails and folks that won't take NO for an answer. icon_frown.gif

 

texasgeocaching_sm.gif

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We each have specific states that we typically cover. In a pinch we'll help out other areas, but the general idea is to have local approvers reviewing local caches.

 

I always start from the top of the que first and work my way down. Some days it just takes me a few minutes, but after a nice weather weekend it may take several hours. I'm still working my way through the caches placed over this past weekend.

 

TMJ--Admin.

 

___________________________________________________________

Don't mind us, we're just looking for tupperware in this bush.

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1. I spend about 3 hours a day reviewing and approving caches in the queue. We always check the maps, proximity to existing caches, etc. Weekends are longer because everyone submits their new caches on Friday afternoons. This doesn't include the time spent trading messages about questionable caches where we need more info.

 

2. I concentrate on my home state, but have several other states that I keep an eye on. We all jump in to lend a hand if a particular region (or country) is getting overwhelmed. We also realize that certain areas have peculiar rules and oddities and try to leave those to the regional approver.

 

3. Prerequisites are a reasonably good grasp of the guidelines and the ability to apply them consistently. A tough skin doesn't hurt, either. I have found that the majority of cachers are reasonable people and are easy to work with. Then there are Those-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

 

Some of us, including me, have volunteered. Others have been tapped as good regional choices when we see that a particular area needs special attention.

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So, let's say I volunteer to help out, and get to be an approver. I'm guessing that I'd be assigned an area, such as a part of Florida (Crow, it looks like you're the new admin for the Jacksonville area), since that's my local area. Would I have to make sure that I spend a certain amount of time each day working on caches, or is it more of a "keep going till its done" sort of thing?

 

Also, is the ability to work with HTML necessary?

 

----

When in doubt, poke it with a stick.

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quote:
Would I have to make sure that I spend a certain amount of time each day working on caches, or is it more of a "keep going till its done" sort of thing?

 

Also, is the ability to work with HTML necessary?


 

I think we develop a routine of checking for new caches in the approval queue several times a day. Most of us have overlapping areas of responsibility, so help each other out. That really becomes important if a cache approver is on vacation or off on a business trip with limited internet access.

 

Having some basic HTML formating skills was essential until Jeremy automated that part of the process a year or so ago. It still helps occasionally but only in rare cases is it necessary.

 

erik - geocaching.com cache approver lackey

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quote:
Originally posted by AllenLacy:

I know about _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_ but when did it change to _Those_?


I think every region has one or two special friends. Comes with the job.

Time spent? Well, last week or 2 was hectic, probably spent 3-4hrs a day on approver-related stuff. So far this week has been calm.

I have recently spent tons of time coordinating the posting of something like 14 new caches in a large park as part of a large event. Had to make sure they would all be approved after the event, which meant each one had to be checked against the other 13 caches that were not posted yet either. I've taken a few extra hours helping a 8th grade class place some caches as part of a lesson. Another person needed help using HTML to format the page the way she wanted.

The actual approval proccess is usually pretty quick and easy. It's all the other stuff we do that most people never see that takes the most time.

Oh, and to answer the other question, I was one of the ones that was drafted, and feel honored that I have been given the chance to give something back to the game and the people I enjoy so much.

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Like you know how a computer hacker goes to prison after their caught 5,000 times with their hands in the cookie jar and is released and gets a job as a consultant for IBM.

 

Well that’s me. Geocaching Style

 

I am having fun for three to four hours a day reviewing caches and loving it.

 

TG

 

And of course the free use of the Lear Jet, and the personal hummers are a plus to.

 

[This message was edited by Tennessee Geocacher on May 22, 2003 at 10:40 AM.]

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I do it for the glory that comes with being everyone's favorite person. icon_rolleyes.gif

 

About 1-2 hours daily.

 

In all seriousness, the responses to the cordial cachers in the area I approve amaze me. For the most part, they've all been willing to work with me, and have been thanking me for doing a "thankless" job. That's nice.

 

Be sure to hug your approver occassionally. It really makes their day.

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quote:
Originally posted by 9Key:

Tennessee Geocacher wrote:

quote:
personal hummers
Where do you get those?!

Sorry - dirty mind. icon_razz.gif


 

No comment. (Shut up, Fuzzy!)

 

-------------------------------------

Becky Davis

San Jose, CA

Live geocaching help 1-800-ASK-KEEN extension 0324998 - call when you're out caching and you get stuck!

Buy Tupperware for cache containers.

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