This month:

• How to Plan a Great Geocaching Event By SassyCache of Team HONU
• July is Packed With Events

Have you ever considered planning a geocaching event? Have you attended one? What made it great? What steps did the planners take to make it successful? Answers to these and many more questions can be found here.

I've attended three events, two of which I was involved in the planning. The first event was the New Year's Frigid Event Cache by ZBQ and Land Surveyor 1. It was held on a mild but muddy Saturday in early January in southeast central Illinois.

Approximately 60 people came from Illinois, Indiana, the Chicago area, Wisconsin and Michigan to share hunts, stories, food, and fun. Activities included a Poker Run, hunts for new and existing caches in the park, a potluck style lunch (soup and ZBQ BBQ were provided), a Kid's Cache, and a Dash & Cache.

Prizes (many of which were donated by local businesses) included gift certificates, GeoCoins, ZBQ Sauce, flashlights, and toys. To ensure the event's success, ZBQ planned something for grownups and kids alike, as well as enough challenging caches for those serious about the game.

Another detail included choosing a location that offered lodging nearby for those who needed to travel. Attendees said that having good food and plenty of drinks brings people together and starts conversation.

ZBQ said, "The key to making an event like this great is you have to want it to be great!" ZBQ and Land Surveyor 1 did an outstanding job of planning and executing this event, which received notoriety from the Daily News Online. They set the bar high for the next area event.

Sometime in February, CYBret and I contacted each other about co-hosting a spring event. We picked a few possible dates in May and CYBret approached a local state park to see when a pavilion was available, after which we settled on May 22. CYBret named the gathering The Finger Lake'n Good Event, due to the finger-like nature of Walnut Point Lake. He knew that this setting would provide plenty of challenging caching opportunities, and created a logo for the event.

SmtyColt and I assisted in the planning of the event, but CYBret did the majority of the work.

I recently asked CYBret what key steps are necessary to planning an event. "Start planning early - that's got to be the key. This gives you plenty of time to make sure your event area is big enough, has decent restroom facilities and a good play area for kids who might come along," he replied, then added, "Start contacting companies for sponsorship early.

Keep good records of who will and won't and what they will donate." He secured donations from Garmin and Clif Bars, as well as from local cachers and their businesses. Posting the event early gave cachers plenty of time to work out their schedules so that they could attend the event.

In March, I started planning a local CITO event. I started by emailing local cachers to see if they were interested in attending. I approached the local park district and explained geocaching and CITO. They thought it was a great idea and told me which park they would like have cleaned up. The park district waved event fees and provided trash bags and prizes.

When planning an event, it is very important to get permission from the land owners. You should inform them of what will be taking place and make sure they understand what geocaching is. I had stationery letterhead created for the event which I used to solicit prizes from local businesses. The response was very positive and we ended up with extra prizes. I also asked a few fellow cachers to help with specific areas of the planning, and contacted a local TV station which sent out a camera person to cover the event. We had a brief spot on evening newscasts.

I think another key to making an event successful is being unreasonable in your requests of others. Ask for help and ask for donations. Sometimes, I think that just doing something my way would be easier, but people like to help out when asked. Bouncing ideas off another person can bring a new perspective to the planning. Delegating tasks also allows you to actually enjoy yourself on the day of the event.

Activities at the CITO Champaign event included a Trash Cache, in which certain items of trash were mixed in with the regular trash. They were tagged so that the finder could turn them in for a prize. There was also a Dash and Cache with some great prizes for the finders. Thirteen people came out for the two-hour event, which was plenty of time to pick up trash and enjoy the activities.

The Finger Lake'n Good Cache Event was also a huge success. Approximately 40 people attended. Some showed up as early as 8 a.m. and left around 10 p.m. Activities included Geo-Bingo, a Poker Run, a GPS comparison test, a Ladies' Cache, a Teens' Cache, a Kids' Cache, and a Night Cache. A few hours in the afternoon were set aside for people to hunt challenge caches. These caches contained Cache Cash which was then used in the prize auction.

CYBret produced an awesome event booklet which contained all the information for the day. Stickers containing the cache coordinates were handed out at certain times. There were spaces provided in the booklet to place the stickers. This allowed everyone to get the coordinates at the same time. The booklet contained a map of the park as well as information on nearby caches. CYBret made sure that he produced more booklets than he thought that we would use. He said, "Plan for a big crowd but don't be disappointed if a smaller crowd shows up. You at least will know all the bases are covered." When planning an event, you should post the event schedule ahead of time on the event page as well as at the event. CYBret concluded by saying, "Be sure to schedule the group picture so everyone knows when to be there for it."

The Finger Lake'n Good Cache Event was covered on the front page of the May 24 edition of the Journal Gazette and Times-Courier. The article explained what geocaching is and featured a few pictures from the day's events. The large color picture on the front page featured my son.

I know that these three events are just the first of many geocaching events that our family will attend. My kids love to eat, play with other kids, and hunt for their own prizes. My husband said that he enjoys attending geocaching events because, "I like meeting all the other cachers. I enjoy putting faces to names and seeing all the great diversity this great activity attracts." I agree with him.

I will probably be involved in the planning of more events in the future. Geocachers are just another community in my life and I love meeting them, joking around, and comparing cache experiences. We have even formed friendships that take place outside of events. I highly encourage you to either attend a local event or plan one of your own.

One last key to planning any successful event was summed up by a friend of mine. He said, "Behind every great event is a woman." I couldn't agree more!