Years In Review.

[+El Diablo]

Speaking as someone that has been here from close to the start, I thought I would give a history to those who have joined since, espesially to those who complain.

 

I actually have an article about this subject coming out next month in Today's Cacher. I've watched this site evolve from a fledgling site to the largest caching site in the world. When I joined I was member 12,341, the membership now numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

 

I remember the first mention of micros and multi caches. I also remember virtuals and locationless caches. I've lived through the debates of those and their demise. I can also remember when the forums had no Moderators...we didn't need them back then. They are very welcomed now.

 

This site has done very well for it's self mainly because it is led by a team of good people. They have learned to adapt and change over time as needed. I have dealt with several of the decision makers personally and have been impressed. Being a business man I have great respect where they have led this site.

 

I've also seen many people that disagree with how things are run and think that they can run the site better. The only thing I have to say to that is...knock your self out!. This site isn't number one because it was the first...it's number one because it's the best!

 

Jeremy and Bryan and Elias have surrounded their selves with the best people to better the site and to take it the next level. They have been very masterful in their management and foresight.

 

The bottom line is that this site has come a long ways. Thanks Jeremy, Bryan, Hydee, Elias, Keystone, mtn-man, CO Admin, NJ Admin, and all the others that have given us the best entertainment and experience that is second to none.

 

El Diablo

 

p.s I can see Keystones feet.

Edited December 12, 2004 by El Diablo

[+New England n00b]

Call me a brown noser, if you will, but this relative n00bie totally agrees. Thanks guys!

[+Blue Blaze Irregulars]

This site has indeed grown on a forward thinking model. A similar example could be eBay. I am a charter member of that site and they have covered the bases in such an exemplary way from the start. On a side note, it's also interesting to see how these discussion boards follow some of the same patterns as so many others, with some threads remaining in the intellectual realm while others seem to spontaneously combust. This (hobby, sport, obsession) brings out some noble ideas and passionate discourse. Keep it up, team, we're hooked for good! BTW, I was REALLY just kidding with that Virtual on the you-know-what, Jeremy.

Edited December 12, 2004 by Blue Blaze Irregulars

[+Team Tecmage]

Tracy and I have been around for awhile as well. I too feel the site has grown and evolved in positive ways. Yes, there have occassionally been feuds between Groundspeak and Buxley (I will finish those thoughts in another thread), and occassional whizzing matches between cachers and TPTB, and cachers and cachers.

 

Benchmarks, premium memberships, and pqs have been great additions to Geocaching. I have enjoyed the whole thing.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

I miss all the fighting in the forums

[+sept1c_tank]

I miss all the fighting in the forums

I miss hydee in the forums.

[+Renegade Knight]

I miss all the fighting in the forums

That's healthy discussion and why I like these forums so much.

[+Robespierre]

Jeremy 

Posted: Dec 11 2004, 10:18 PM

 

Groundspeak started as Grounded, Inc., and a way to separate Jeremy Irish from the Geocaching.com web site. This was in the era in the dot com bubble burst, so the connotation of having a dot com in the name was repugnant (and still is).

 

Also at the start of the web site we felt that there was an underlying current that would eventually take us outdoors instead of sticking us in our homes in front of the boob toob. As a former hardcore gamer (now softcore) the thought of using technology (tech-head) and the outdoors (granola) really attracted me to geocaching in the first place. I was a MUD owner converting a D&D style setup to a Star Wars model, a Ultima Online charter member, and an Evercrack slug, so I definitely saw the attraction in MMORPG, but as my legs and arms began to atrophy, I was thankful this activity introduced itself to me.

 

So Groundspeak came as an idea. Groundspeak is like techspeak but references the belief that every inch of earth on the planet contains stories but remains untapped in so many ways. Through geocaching people tell their own stories, whether by creating an adventure or telling a story of one. And this is an ongoing theme.

 

Geocaching.com is currently our only publicly known idea at this time, but our goal is to build the toolset for creating engaging adventures in the real world through the combination of GPS and handheld devices. I call it geolocational entertainment. When we have something more concrete to show you we'll let you know.

[+Snoogans]

I got here in late February of aught 3. I have seen a consistant rate of improvement and evolution here that I haven't seen on other geocaching sites.

 

My gc.com approval rating has NEVER dropped below 92%. It's at about 95.7% right now. Keep up the good work!

[CoyoteRed]

Never mind. It's not worth it.

Edited December 12, 2004 by CoyoteRed

[lowracer]

Group Hug!

[+Renegade Knight]

Never mind.  It's not worth it.

Oh, come now.

 

It's not healthy to keep it all bottled in. Look at El Diablo. He didn't hold back. We didn't get much history,but we did get an editorial.

Edited December 12, 2004 by Renegade Knight

[CoyoteRed]

Never mind.  It's not worth it.

Oh, come now.

 

It's not healthy to keep it all bottled in. Look at El Diablo. He didn't hold back. We didn't get much history,but we did get an editorial.

Well, I didn't hold back, I said my piece. I just thought better of it after a few minutes.

[+robert]

Well, I didn't hold back, I said my piece. I just thought better of it after a few minutes.

Care to re-cap?

[+El Diablo]

Never mind.  It's not worth it.

Oh, come now.

 

It's not healthy to keep it all bottled in. Look at El Diablo. He didn't hold back. We didn't get much history,but we did get an editorial.

Well, I didn't hold back, I said my piece. I just thought better of it after a few minutes.

I'm glad you played nice in my thread. I appreciate it.

 

El Diablo

[+Camo-crazed]

Jeremy 

Posted: Dec 11 2004, 10:18 PM

 

Groundspeak started as Grounded, Inc., and a way to separate Jeremy Irish from the Geocaching.com web site. This was in the era in the dot com bubble burst, so the connotation of having a dot com in the name was repugnant (and still is).

 

Also at the start of the web site we felt that there was an underlying current that would eventually take us outdoors instead of sticking us in our homes in front of the boob toob. As a former hardcore gamer (now softcore) the thought of using technology (tech-head) and the outdoors (granola) really attracted me to geocaching in the first place. I was a MUD owner converting a D&D style setup to a Star Wars model, a Ultima Online charter member, and an Evercrack slug, so I definitely saw the attraction in MMORPG, but as my legs and arms began to atrophy, I was thankful this activity introduced itself to me.

 

So Groundspeak came as an idea. Groundspeak is like techspeak but references the belief that every inch of earth on the planet contains stories but remains untapped in so many ways. Through geocaching people tell their own stories, whether by creating an adventure or telling a story of one. And this is an ongoing theme.

 

Geocaching.com is currently our only publicly known idea at this time, but our goal is to build the toolset for creating engaging adventures in the real world through the combination of GPS and handheld devices. I call it geolocational entertainment. When we have something more concrete to show you we'll let you know.

thats from my thread, people play nice there too!

[+Doc-Dean]

Never mind.  It's not worth it.

Oh, come now.

 

It's not healthy to keep it all bottled in. Look at El Diablo. He didn't hold back. We didn't get much history,but we did get an editorial.

Well, I didn't hold back, I said my piece. I just thought better of it after a few minutes.

I'm glad you played nice in my thread. I appreciate it.

 

El Diablo

How is censorship (even if its self-induced) playing nicely?

 

If you've got something to say CR, let it out. You already know what will happen, some people will agree with out and some will not and a lively discussion will follow.

[+Doggiewoggie]

Oh, let me join the love-fest

[+El Diablo]

Never mind.  It's not worth it.

Oh, come now.

 

It's not healthy to keep it all bottled in. Look at El Diablo. He didn't hold back. We didn't get much history,but we did get an editorial.

Well, I didn't hold back, I said my piece. I just thought better of it after a few minutes.

I'm glad you played nice in my thread. I appreciate it.

 

El Diablo

How is censorship (even if its self-induced) playing nicely?

 

If you've got something to say CR, let it out. You already know what will happen, some people will agree with out and some will not and a lively discussion will follow.

I wish people would stop encouraging CR to post what we all know will be a negative post. I appreciate his opinons, but it's not what this thread is about.

 

This thread is a that looks back on GCs accompishments. If anyone wants to counter that...start your own thread.

 

El Diablo

[+Renegade Knight]

...the membership now numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

 

...This site has done very well for it's self...

 

......it's number one because it's the best!...

 

I took the liberty summarizing the accomplishments in your post.

 

On these I have to agree. Membership here is more than anywhere else. That's a big deal. The site has done well for itself. They have been able to charge for services and hire staff. This site is the best online listing of geocaches and it's the easiest to use.