NorthWest Arkansas Cachers

For those of you who aren't members of ArkGeo:

1. You should be. Go to arkgeocaching.org to sign up

2. They've just started a new challenge based on one held a few years ago by "thecachingplace.com" and similar to one proposed for NWAC by ARLT1YJ.

3. When we were doing the ones at thecachingplace, we had a tremendous amount of fun. The one at ArkGeo promises to be as much fun.

Go check it out. Don't forget, our new challenge quest will begin soon.

I've spent half an hour trying to find the new challenge on the Arkgeo site... is there some access that new members aren't privy to?

I've spent half an hour trying to find the new challenge on the Arkgeo site... is there some access that new members aren't privy to?

I am having the same problem. You will not get the forum unless you sign up as a registered voting member and then after that you have to wait on a confirmation email. There is one forum topic that you are not getting and that is the one with the contest.

They are working on mine right now so I will let you know how it turns out. Sounds like a neat contest though.

Jason, it's basically what you had suggested to me in an email from a couple of months ago. A set of ten tasks. First to finish wins. Of course, that favors those who don't have to work for a living or have other family duties, but it'll probably get tweaked as time goes on.

And yes, it is in the members only forumthere. And you do have to sign up as a voting member to get full access.

Of course, being the biased person that I am, I think our site is friendlier and more informative than their's, but some good information and people can be found there.

Here's the rules. I'm not going to post the tasks cause you know.... that'd be not nice.

OFFICIAL RULES
ARKANSAS GEOCACHERS ASSOCIATION
MONTHLY CONTEST
“THE CACHING TO DO LIST”

1. The Official name of the monthly contest sponsored by the Arkansas Geocachers Association is: “The Caching To Do List”.

2. Only contestants that are registered members of the Arkansas Geocachers Association are eligible to participate in the monthly contest.

3. Winners of the contest are not eligible to win the contest in two consecutive months. The winner may participate in the next monthly contest after winning, but can not win. i.e. A member wins the "Caching To Do List" contest in February. That winner is not eligible to win in March. They can play, but can not win until April. If they win again in April they can not win again until June.

4. A thread will be posted in the forums on ArkGeo under the Arkansas Geocachers Association in a sticky thread titled "The Caching To Do List Contest". This thread will be posted by the Community Relations Committee Chairman.

5. A "Caching To Do List" will then be posted by the Community Relations Committee Chairman in a thread under the “The Caching To Do List Contest” topic. The list will be compiled in cooperation with other members of the Community Relations Committee. The “Caching To Do List” will be published on the 1st of each month. The Committee may also solicit “Caching To Do List” requirement ideas from the membership.

6. Contestants then complete the requirements for "Caching To Do List" by either finding or hiding caches that meet the requirements on the list. Finds made by a member prior to the posting of the list are not eligible to meet the requirements. All finds must be new and found after the posting of the list. Each individual cache find or hide may only satisfy one requirement of the “Caching To Do List”, in other words there must be a new and different cache find or hide for each requirement (i.e. 10 requirements on the list then 10 caches must be found or hid depending on the requirements).

7. Once contestants feel that they have completed the requirements for the list they then may post a reply in the same thread as the list with a list of their finds/hides or a link to a bookmark list of their finds/hides that meet the requirements. Contestants have until midnight of the last day of the month to post this thread and submit their list of finds/hides or bookmark list of finds/hides.

8. The first contestant to post their list of finds or a link to a bookmark list of their finds that meet the requirements and they are verified by the judges to meet the requirements is the winner of the contest. In the event the first contestant to post their list does not meet one or more of the requirements the next post by a contestant of their list of finds/hides or bookmark list of finds/hides meeting the requirements will be reviewed by the judges.

9. A contestant may not edit their original post after submitting their list of finds or bookmark list of finds. They may post a new reply in the contest with their edited list of finds/hides or bookmark list of finds/hides but may not edit the original post. Any edited posts are to be disregarded by the judges.

10. Judges: Two persons that have been selected by the committee will serve as judges. One member must be from the Committee. The winner of the contest will be asked to serve as the additional judge in the next monthly contest after winning. In the event the winner is unable or unwilling to serve as the second judge the second judge may be a volunteer from the membership. The two judges verify that the listed finds or hides meet the requirements of the "Caching To Do List" and report the verified winner to the Community Relations Committee Chairman.

11. The winner is contacted by the Community Relations Committee Chairman with a list of available prizes. The winner may then select one item from the list as their prize for winning the contest. If a winner does not respond in 30 days no prize is distributed.

12. The winner is announced in a post in the same forum section as the contest by the Community Relations Committee Chairman.

13. A custodian of the prize items will be selected by the Community Relations Committee and approved by the Board. The custodian of the prize items and the Community Relations Committee Chairman will keep an update itemized list of the prize items that is available for review by any member. There will be a thread maintained by the Committee Chairman in the forum for the contest that will contain this updated list.

14. After a contestant has selected a prize the custodian of the prizes is notified to ship the prize to the winner by the Community Relations Committee Chairman.

15. In the event that the Community Relations Committee Chair is vacant the duties assigned to the chair in these rules will be fulfilled by the Community Relations Committee Board Liaison.

16. If it is discovered that a contestant claims one or more finds without signing or initialing the physical log of any cache that contains a physical log or violates any rule of the contest that contestant’s name and screen name will be forwarded by the judges to the Community Relations Committee Chair. The Committee will then review the alleged violation and may disqualify the contestant and/or may ban the contestant from future contest. Any action by the Community Relations against a contestant may be appealed to the Board by contacting the Board President within 14 days of the decision of the Committee.

17. These rules may be amended as necessary by the Committee and in effect after being approved by the Board.

Thanks, Judy, the site admin or program must've clicked the 'on' button a few hours after I registered, because I can see the bottom AGA forum now.

TnT wrote:Jason, it's basically what you had suggested to me in an email from a couple of months ago. A set of ten tasks.

I like how they're putting up a new set of requirements every month, I'll have to send a PM to them with some suggestions.

TnT wrote:First to finish wins. Of course, that favors those who don't have to work for a living or have other family duties, but it'll probably get tweaked as time goes on.

True that, but it sounds like they'll at least be acknowledging the cachers who complete each month's caches. I understand the suggestion of chosing a random finisher as winner, but some people would probably question the fairness or true randomness if that method was used.

Regardless, I'm going to participate & hope fellow NWA cachers do the same. It'll get people out of their 'normal' routines and seeking, and hopefully hiding, more caches out there.

ANd, I've said it before, when thecachingplace did it, Rhonda and I had so much fun it was unbelievable. Over the course of the four that they did, we were able to improve our finish each time. We were well inside the top 100 on the final one, despite being here in a non-cache-rich environment when it happened. I remember we had to go to Tulsa for several of the requirements.

My IP address is banned over at arkgeocaching... is anyone else experiencing the same thing, or did I screw up somehow?

No problems here. I know that in the past they've had ranges of IPs blocked. Most likely due to their system of not verifying sing-ups and getting SPAM. I'm not sure of who to actually contact to get unblocked, but if you were to send an email to paris1time, or oldriverrunner, , I'm sure they, as officers of Arkgeo,. could get the message to the appropriate person.

When I had problems getting signed up Woodwalker is the one that helped me.