Election 2011

[Ashallond]

Thanks for the response about the election. I do agree, it has gotten a lot more active on here since the meeting, and I plan to attend next year's event (no one schedule a wedding on that weekend please). I got the email about the start of the election, just hadn't heard who had won.

[OldRiverRunner]

OK 2nd idea: Host an event in LR at the beginning of the year & call it the "ArkGeo Board - Elections Campaign Kickoff".

Good idea. But my main concern with it is the location. This is supposed to be the ARKANSAS Geocaching Association, not the CENTRAL ARKANSAS Geocaching Association. So far, all of the annual events have been in central Arkansas, and the Board membership consists mostly of central Arkansas geocachers. I think ArkGeo really needs to make an attempt to reach out to other parts of the state and make its events more accessible to those cachers not living in the central part of the state.

[OldRiverRunner]

I hope that my previous post is not taken in a way I did not mean. In reading though it again, I can see how it might be misunderstood. The point I am trying to make is that we need to get more people active in ArkGeo. The way you get more people active is to get them interested in and engaged with ArkGeo. The way you get them engaged is to provide events and other activities in their area that shows them what ArkGeo is all about and how it can benefit them.

I am encouraged that more folks from the Fort Smith - Van Buren area are getting involved. But there are many, many geocachers in Northwest Arkansas and less than a handful post anything in the Forums or attend the events. And the Texarkana area is starting to pickup. I was happy to see some geocachers from there attend the annual event a couple of weeks ago. But we need to tap into that area and help the game grow and also help them become active members of ArkGeo. Northeast Arkansas has had membership on the Board, but I don't see other participation with the organization from that area, as evidenced by the problem I am having with getting volunteers for the ParkCaches in that area. And there is a growing number of geocachers in that area.

The number of members voting this year is the lowest we have seen since the elections started being held in 2007. (80 voted in 2010; 62 in 2009; 73 in 2008, and approximately 58 in 2007) The Board definitely needs to discuss this matter in their July meeting. I also encourage any members who have ideas on how to improve membership participation to either post something in the Forums or email one of the Board members. I am sure they would appreciate your input.

[Ashallond]

I do know that the ArkGeo meeting is planned to be held at Lake Fort Smith next summer, so that will help.

[rklmbl]

To all the Arkansas cachers who have planned and executed events this year and in the past:

We say THANK YOU. Even a meet and greet gives cachers an opportunity for fellowship and a learning experience. However, when food preparation, planned activities, securing door prizes, finding a suitable location are involved, these events become work intensive and expensive. We have always attempted to support events across the State and have always wished that all board members of ArkGeo had this same attitude.

FYI, some times, for planning purposes, meetings cannot be held on a Saturday. For example, the Texarkana event was held on Friday as a kickoff to the CITO event that was held on Saturday. Plus, we were trying to get some press for that area for ArkGeo.

Some of us over the years have learned timing of regular events across the state and take that into consideration when planning ArkGeo and other events.

As has been pointed out, it would be great to get board members from other areas of the state. Potential board members from other areas of the state have been nominated but have chosen not to serve. The meetings have always been held at UCA in Conway and it takes time and expense to travel that far. A better suggestion would be to have floating board meetings in every area of the state. Maybe that would get more people willing to serve on the board.

[rklmbl]

FYI, we found a bookmark of all Arkansas events that Paris1Time has created. There are 211 Arkansas events on his bookmark, which dates back to 2004 when the first Arkansas events were held. Here is the breakdown by year:

2011 - 41 (to date)
2010 - 58
2009 - 49
2008 - 33
2007 - 15
2006 - 6
2005 - 5
2004 - 4

As you can readily see, Arkansas cachers and that includes ArkGeo, are scheduling more and more events, which makes it even more difficult to schedule an event that does not conflict with someone else's event.

[drmo913]

Good idea. But my main concern with it is the location. This is supposed to be the ARKANSAS Geocaching Association, not the CENTRAL ARKANSAS Geocaching Association. So far, all of the annual events have been in central Arkansas, and the Board membership consists mostly of central Arkansas geocachers. I think ArkGeo really needs to make an attempt to reach out to other parts of the state and make its events more accessible to those cachers not living in the central part of the state.

I would have "liked" this comment if that was an option.

[apache_scout]

First let me say, we are very satisfied with the governing of ArkGeo. The board, officers, and committee members do a great and sometimes unappreciated job to make our hobby more interesting and fun. That said with the discussion about representation from all parts of the state, is there a reason the board members could not be elected by zone?

[drmo913]

While I think by zone is a great idea, we probably need more voter turnout to make this a feasible option. 50ish people voting would hinder this, I think. Another thought to this: From what I understand from the forums, ArkGeo had a hard time even getting people to run this year. I think we would need more people willing to be elected to be elected by zone. On the bright side, we have a lot more people on the boards then we've had in a couple of years in the last month or so, especially, after the ArkGeo meeting.

[Flyfishingcachers]

I appreciate the board members, officer,s and committee members we have and have had in the past and want to say THANK YOU. There is a lot of work in hosting any kind of event! You don't realize how much work is involved until you are part of hosting one. I imagine it would be even harder to put on an event in a town where you don't reside. Perhaps some of the ArkGeo members could volunteer to do all the leg work for events and then ask ArkGeo to be involved instead of wanting them to do all the work. They all have just as little time as the rest of us. Just saying, they deserve a little bit of appreciation for what they have done!!!