Behind The Scenes

[+res2100]

Now for something that hasn't been discussed, but like myself, I am sure others are curious on how gc.com works behind the scenes. I've often had many questions such as the following:

 

1) Does Jeremy operate the site by himself with his own financial resources?

 

2) Does Jeremy do all the programming, or are others involved too and are they paid for their services, or is it just a hobby for them that they can contribute to?

 

3) Is this Jeremy's full time job and does he work a standard work week on it, or does he have a different job and just does this on the side?

 

4) How much does it cost to operate the site per month?

 

5) Is GC.com profitable and if so how much? $100,000 profits a year? That's my guess.

 

6) You ever consider selling stocks in the company?

 

7) Do you have a vision on where you see the sport/site going, say 5 or 10 years into the future? I know the sport is still young.

 

...I am sure others have similar questions, so feel free to ask them too. I thought it would be interesting to a lot of people to find out more about this sport and the web site that we love so much.

[+calvinrtvp]

Good, honest questions. Whether Jeremy wants to answer them is up to him and he shouldn't be judged for answering or not answering, but I for one would be curious to know the answers. I think it would be COOL to know the answers (especially about that "stock" question...looking for investors?)

[BassoonPilot]

Most of those questions have been previously answered. Use the 'search' feature to go 'AnswerCaching.'

 

'AnswerCaching' is a fun new game that allows "YOU to be the search engine." There's no longer any need to start threads in order to find answers to questions that have been posted so many times before!

 

Try 'AnswerCaching' today! I guarantee that you'll be amazed at the 'treasures' you may uncover. Wow, I love that 'search' feature. What a 'find!'

Edited February 26, 2004 by BassoonPilot

[+PILTY]

If anybody knows of where shares can be found please let me know. But the question of this post really is for solution suggestions please!

[+res2100]

Most of those questions have been previously answered. Use the 'search' feature to go 'AnswerCaching.'

 

Can you please point me to the posts that contain these answers...I just tried searching for 4 of these and didn't come up with the answers. Also, with all of these questions, it doesn't hurt to ask them again, since things could change from month to month or year to year. It really disappoints me when I ask a fair question with good intent, and someone has to post a smart allec remark about searching, but not back it up with links.

 

I agree, Jeremy doesn't have to answer them, but I hope he does, as I am sure a lot of us are curious.

[+Mopar]

If anybody knows of where shares can be found please let me know.  But the question of this post really is for solution suggestions please!

 

Huh? Whaaa???

 

Solutions to what problem?

 

I dont see any problem that needs solving in the opening post? Trying to derail every topic is really getting old.

 

res2100: the answers ARE out there, but they are usually buried in other threads, which make it rather hard to search them out. There are posts that mention the equiptment the website is running on, and how many hits a month the website and forums get, and how much the bandwidth costs have increased due to new cachers after christmas. Stuff like that.

Edited February 26, 2004 by Mopar

[+res2100]

I did a search for "Bandwidth cost" and got 11 topics with over 700 messages...ok I am lazy today , so how about we just see if someone can post answers to any of my questions or others' questions here, and links are welcomed too for reference sake.

 

Bandwidth cost would just be part of the monthly/yearly costs...things like office space, supplies, repairs, equipment, are also additonal costs to run the site.

 

I already feel this topic of this thread derailing ...I just wanted to group these questions together and allow others to add their site related questions, and we can get all the answers in one place. Sine the answers are buried, this thread is a good way to get them unburied from all the thousands of other posts in the forums. I hope that is ok with everyone. Thank you.

Edited February 26, 2004 by res2100

[+LaPaglia]

I agree, as I also have a few questions.

 

How much frog food does the site have to buy in a year? Purina frog chow isn't cheap.

 

Does the Site pay for Hydee's chocolate or does it come out of her pay?

 

How much, in lost productivity, does it cost the site to answer questions like this?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

I agree, as I also have a few questions.

 

How much frog food does the site have to buy in a year? Purina frog chow isn't cheap.

 

Does the Site pay for Hydee's chocolate or does it come out of her pay?

 

How much, in lost productivity, does it cost the site to answer questions like this?

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

ROTFLMOA!!

 

Shirley

 

With John by my side...

[+res2100]

I am closing this thread because of offtopic, childish, immature and unnecessary comments by Lapaglia and 2oldfarts (the rockhounders). Are you guys children? I would expect better and some respect from my fellow geocachers, just as I treat you with respect.

 

I asked some general interest questions and I get this crap from the 2 of you.

 

If someone like Jeremy or anyone has something positive to say and feels like answering these questions (or posting a link to any message that already contained these answers...which I couldn't find), feel free to start another topic.

[+res2100]

Topic open again....hey I didn't know that was a feature...cool! Feel free to answer, Jeremy...sorry for closing it before you had a chance, but I was frustrated by the last 2 posters. I asked a serious question and was hoping for interest sake to get a serious answer.

 

People, lets try to post on this thread, related to the topic at the beginning of the thread. If the questions have already been answered at some point, then I am sorry for reasking, but please provide me with a link, instead of just saying to do a search, because I could not find the specific answers easily in a search

 

Thanks...

Edited February 27, 2004 by res2100

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Yes, this has all been discussed before. Everyone that's been around this site knows the history so well they don't feel like answering these questions yet again. I've probably heard the story many times, too.

Unfortunately, I am at a loss for the details. Rather than guess at it and spread rumors, I think you were right in starting a thread to discuss it.

However, I doubt you will get answers to the financial questions. That stuff is not public knowledge, and I don't think Jeremy is planning on changing that anytime soon.

 

(/serious reply)

[Keystone]

Some of this information is available on the About Geocaching page, although that page is out-of-date in certain respects (such as listing the volunteer reviewers from 2 years ago rather than the current group, numbering about 40).

 

From that page you can learn that Jeremy is the CEO of Groundspeak, which is his fulltime job since leaving his former employer, Sunrise Identity (the good folks who help with the Shop Groundspeak site). Jeremy's partners are Elias, who helps with the tech end of things, and Rothstafari, who handles the merchandising along with a host of other duties too secret to disclose publicly. And, don't forget Hydee, who handles Community Relations. It's hard to forget Hydee!

[Jeremy]

1) Does Jeremy operate the site by himself with his own financial resources?

Geocaching.com is owned by Groundspeak, Inc., of which I am the president. The owners of Groundspeak work in full or part time positions at the company.

 

There is no outside financing for Groundspeak or Geocaching.com, unless you count the contributing memberships.

 

2) Does Jeremy do all the programming, or are others involved too and are they paid for their services, or is it just a hobby for them that they can contribute to?

 

I do the majority of the programming, but periodically have Elias' help in coding areas of the site. When needed we do contract out additional help from independent contractors.

 

3) Is this Jeremy's full time job and does he work a standard work week on it, or does he have a different job and just does this on the side?

 

Depends on how many hours you consider entails a standard work week. Normally I spend 60-70 hours per week. This is my full-time job. If it wasn't, I should have been fired at my other job by now. 

4) How much does it cost to operate the site per month?

 

As a private company we have the benefit of not having to answer this question.

 

5) Is GC.com profitable and if so how much? $100,000 profits a year? That's my guess.

 

Again, we're a private company.

 

6) You ever consider selling stocks in the company?

 

No. I am not a fan of the stock market. I get enough scrutiny from the Geocaching community without bringing financial analysts into the mix.

 

7) Do you have a vision on where you see the sport/site going, say 5 or 10 years into the future? I know the sport is still young.

 

Yes, we do. It's a new area I would call "Geolocational Entertainment" that combines the Internet and wireless devices with location-based technology, like GPS. Virtual reality will make way to augmented reality as GPS devices become a more intregal part of our daily lives. I can't go into specifics (yet) but we do have a vision as to what we would like to see it look like.

 

The ultimate goal of this site is to combine cool technology, like GPS, with the outdoors, and help folks untether themselves from the confines of their living room and go outside. If I was king for a day I'd like to see society turn back outward than dwell on console games and media entertainment centers. Hopefully with handheld computing this will be a reality someday.

Edited February 27, 2004 by Jeremy

[+RJFerret]

The ultimate goal of this site is to combine cool technology, like GPS, with the outdoors, and help folks untether themselves from the confines of their living room and go outside. If I was king for a day I'd like to see society turn back outward than dwell on console games and media entertainment centers. Hopefully with handheld computing this will be a reality someday.

 

This sounds like the convergence the LARPing community is looking for.

 

The envisioned future there has each player with palm pilots or the like that track stats to eliminate cheating and mental processes that remove one from the story.

 

Robots or holographic projections for non-player characters rather than volunteers would be nice too--but that's a few more years down the road than 10-15.

 

Cool,

 

Randy