Ways to promote WAG

[Team SCR]

Hey guys,

I wanted to run an a few ideas past all and get feedback if you all do not mind. Rex, Katie and myself were talking the other night and discussing for ways to promote WAG and we are looking for new ideas but we also want to throw a few out and get feedback on them.

A few ideas we had included Adopt-A-Highway, we need to look into the cost and such but we were wondering if this is something we should look into.

At local city/town events see if we can get a table set up and we can volunteer are time to spread the word about WAG and geocaching at the same time.

Have WAG pay to have events put in the local paper a week or so before the event. This would allow new people to show up and we could promote our group and mission.

Just need some thoughts on the above and some other ideas so please let us know so we can get on promoting WAG and helping us grow.

Thanks,

Matt
Team SCR

[Rubiconlwb]

I'm loving the idea that our officers are having conversations which relate to this organization! Here are my $.02 worth... I personally think anything we can do to let people know we exist is a good thing. I think the only consideration should be financial. If we can do something for zero or minimal expense and somebody is willing to take on the organizational part, it is worth pursuing. I have no idea how much money we have for expenses but I wouldn't think it would be much since the only money which has been generated was from the one-time membership fee and a few private donations from individuals. I suspect if we do an Adopt A Highway project, it will cost a pretty significant amount for signage just the way it was going to in Laramie had we adopted a section of the Greenway. I like the idea of a few CITO events around the state. We could get together, pick up some trash, get some exercise, make an area look better, get a smiley and spend some time with our geocaching friends. I don't think we would need to spend any money on such an event. We could have a meet and greet afterward which to me is the whole idea of an event anyway. I know others have done the same thing that Peggy and I did recently and that is to teach a class on geocaching where WAG is mentioned in the process. The class that we presented was through the Higher Ed Center here and we had 17 people signed up. Of those, one avid geocacher was created. That person has been finding local caches ever since and has also hidden 30 or 40 caches in the area so our time was well worth the effort. We were recently asked if we would give a short presentation on geocaching to a group of Girl Scouts. Apparently, there is a geocaching merit badge which the girls can earn after attending the presentation. I'm not sure when we will do this but it should be fun and hopefully a girl or two will talk their parents into getting started. If this is something that you would feel comfortable doing, volunteer to your local Girl Scouts, they are always wanting to earn new merit badges and this would be a perfect opportunity to promote geocaching and WAG. I am actually very pessimistic about the promotion of WAG and geocaching since we can't generate a lot of interest and enthusiasm among our members, let alone other members of the community. At the same time, I believe that these efforts are worthwhile and should be continued and encouraged. These are my personal opinions, let us know what yours are. We need a dialog before anything constructive can happen, now is the time to start that dilog.

[mmgestes]

I would say no to paying for any advertising in a local newspaper. It is not worth the expense. In Lusk, if someone writes an article and submits it, they will publish it for free, including a photo. A pretty good deal! We did that for the state event that was held here last summer. If other towns do not offer that, see about having someone come out to cover a CITO event or other event as a human interest story. It doesn't hurt to try.....