Cache Up NB 101, Part 4 – Who Are We?

In our previous article, I talked a little bit about some things that Cache Up NB has not been so successful with. In our final part of our 101 series, I talk about who specifically is involved in what Cache Up NB does.

The Founders
I rarely go on record as saying Cache Up NB is “mine” because I never really think of it that way. But in the beginning, it was something I started, and quickly got Rev Slippery involved to help me. Since then, me and Ken (Rev) have become more partners in Cache Up NB than anything else. We talk about what projects we’re working on, and always coordinate activities through each other. We both rely heavily on one another to help out with everything we do.

That having been said, if you wanted compare our roles in Cache Up NB to a corporation, I’d probably be listed as Chief Executive Officer with Ken as the Chief Operating Officer. I don’t really think of us that way, but if someone wanted to put labels on things, that’s probably where it would lie.

In the real world, I tend to handle the “business” aspect of Cache Up NB. Official business requests and partnership requests usually go through me. All of our projects, regardless of how big or small, go through me in one way or another. So if a trail or park owner wants to do a geocaching program, I usually connect with them and coordinate the planning. In most cases, I manage our financials and sign any legal paperwork when a contract is required and I manage the website itself. Cache Up NB is registered under my name as a sole proprietorship business in NB but operates as a non-profit group. No one makes a salary from what we do as it’s all purely volunteer work. The official registration was done to help further legitimize our work when we are hired for a specific engagement (which does happen once in awhile).

Ken’s biggest role tends to be around partner programs, caches, and events. Ken’s been running the Fundy National Park program for several years and does a fantastic job so he handles programs like that. He manages the interactions with the Town of Riverview, Fundy National Park, and several other programs. He also helps to balance the load of projects we have between myself and him.

All “major” decisions about what happens with Cache Up NB go through both me and Ken. If I have any major ideas or plans, I do not execute them without connecting with Ken and getting his feedback. The opposite is also true. If Ken’s got a new idea or program he wants to run with, it usually consists of us going for coffee, or a quick phone conversation.

I should also mention that Ken is really good at letting me know when I’m being way too anal about something. As an example, I didn’t want to do a mega. I didn’t want to take that on because of certain things, but Ken had a way of making me see that a mega was the next logical step for us. He was also the one who originally talked about Cache Up NB taking over the ACGA caches. I’ve always been a bit more reserved and he’s helped push Cache Up NB into other areas. He’s been a great colleague and Cache Up NB would not be what it is without his involvement.

The Code Monkey

Up until probably two and half years ago, anything related to programming, web technology, or integration with other systems, was handled by myself. I was a programmer at one time in my life and I like to try and keep a little bit of that skill active. But, as time went by, it became clear that I needed more help.

EvulC is someone I have known literally for more than half of my life. He was my best man at my first wedding, my MC at my second wedding (see photo), and a roommate for 6 months in Poughkeepsie, NY. I also know that there’s no one else who can code like he does.

I originally asked him to build the “ticker” we have on our main page that shows the tweets we have in exchange for a case of beer. But since then, Chris has become a major part of the overall work that’s been done here. He built our login system that allows us to log into Cache Up NB with our GC ID’s. He built the hovers. He built the original Come Out & Play plugin. And he’s also done numerous tweaks and code hacks to help keep this site running. He’s also built both the most recent mega site and the previous one.

Without his involvement, we’d still have our websites, but they wouldn’t be anywhere near as cool as what we have now.

Our Minions

Within the last two years, because of the growth of Cache Up NB, we have had to rely on our own geocaching community to help us. As a result of that, there have been a few people who have served as primary goto’s for things we need to get done.

I have been very adamant about insuring that the people we lean on are extremely reliable. I’m ridiculously anal about who I will allow to take on responsibilities for Cache Up NB. It’s for this reason, the people who do help out are always willing to dive right in and help.

Steve (TheNinjaJedi) took on the KNP project last year and made it happen. Jason (Perks19) has helped out at almost every Cache Up NB event (and my own personal ones) he could get to and has been a rock to rely on.

Both of these volunteers have gone above and beyond to help us out and continue to help out on new projects. Both of them are on the committee for the mega.

Some other notable volunteers include milosheart, Madpuck, Ma & Pa, chatelaine and herrminz, Marocma, Snoik, Belladan, and many others that don’t come to mind at the moment.

It is because of these volunteers, Cache Up NB has been able to expand and do so many other activities outside of just our website. Without their assistance, there’s no way we would ever have been able to get many of our projects completed.

The Creatives

Lastly, we have the people who contribute content to our site on a regular basis. I do most of the writing. It’s 2:19am and I think this is the 6th or 7th article I have written tonite. I have always been a writer in some capacity so Cache Up NB serves as my primary outlet for writing these days. I’m hoping to change that in 2015.

Rev Slippery publishes the odd article from time to time but tends to leave it to others to feed the content. Pa is also a regular contributor and posts the occasional story about caching to share with all of us.

Beyond that, we get the odd submission from our readers but not as much as I would like to see. I would love to have more people writing material for us but writing isn’t something that comes easy to many. If you love to write, and want to write for us, please let us know.

—

So this ends our Cache Up NB 101 series. Hope you’ve enjoyed all of the details and here’s to hoping we have as many tales to tell in the years to come.