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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>John,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>I don't think I've posted to this listserv since the
"AZGCA" effort imploded, but I've been hiding behind the drywall the entire
time. I'll give you our perspective (mine and Judi's -- I would never presume to
speak for Tamo and Julie, but I suspect they would agree with much though
not all of what I'm about to say).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>First, based on our experience, we don't today believe a
statewide organization is workable. One of the biggest issues, as others have
mentioned, is the cost of travel. But even when gas was $2-2.50 a gallon, folks
from Yuma, Show Low, Kingman, Flagstaff, Tucson, etc., don't want to have to
come to Phoenix to get things done. We had at the time the skills and resources
needed to put up a website, 24/7 chat, forums, BBSs, listservs, and pretty much
anything else that could be delivered through an ISP, once the ball got rolling.
But at the statewide level we were still going to need people to "come to town"
a few times to get it all rolling. Some folks DID come from Tucson, Yuma, Bouse,
Show Low, Flagstaff, Prescott, Benson, and elsewhere, and thanks to all of you
who did.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>But they didn't keep coming, and we don't blame them. It
was a lot of travel for a lot of work, and no short term results. Blame us for
that. We were perhaps more focused on doing it right than on getting it done.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Travel aside, there's another reason we think a statewide
group won't fly. When we were trying to get this going, we traveled a fair chunk
of the state visiting cachers in a few cities. We held "focus groups" in Tucson,
Sedona, Show Low, as well as in the East Valley, West Valley, and "Central"
Phoenix. We wanted to get out to Yuma because of the strong caching community
there, but we just couldn't work it out at the time. What we learned, but what
we didn't want to admit to ourselves, is that the caching communities in Arizona
and the issues of concern to them are as varied as the very topography of those
communities. What's on the mind of a cacher in Springerville probably has
little in common with what's on the mind of a cacher in Surprise. Plus,
there is a real and not necessarily unjustified concern that exists in other
parts of the state that is perhaps best described as the perception of "The
State of Maricopa".</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Perhaps we didn't see (or want to see) the emphasis on
regional issues because from our perspective at the time (four cachers from "The
State of Maricopa"), the biggest concern, as ShadowAce mentioned, was the
state (e.g: State Parks Department), and federal (e.g., National Parks Service)
agencies that appeared to be pushing to not only outlaw geocaching in their
dominions, but to have it declared a criminal act. We thought that we could only
be effective with these agencies by speaking at a statewide organizational
level, so we, to our later regret, downplayed what the cachers in the "outlying"
focus groups were telling us. As a result we tried and failed to get the
collective weight of a statewide organization behind us.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Result? To cite a few examples, Cattail Cove State Park
south of Lake Havasu City now has an annual geocaching event. The other state
parks are looking at geocaching programs as a means of increasing attendance
(and user fees). The Yuma area cachers are working with the KofA NWR, and
Northeast Valley cachers work with the McDowell-Sonoran Preserve on those
agencies' concerns -- all without the need for a state organization. We failed
to remember Tip O'Neill's wise words: <EM>All politics is
local</EM>.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Every successful organization needs what I've referred to
from time to time as "The Dirty Dozen". It may not be 12 people; it may be eight
or twenty. But you need that core group of people who share the vision and the
ideals and are willing to do just about anything to achieve them. We never got
our Dirty Dozen. To make it tougher to succeed, what we did get were people who
were not only unwilling to help but at the same time would sabotage
whatever we were doing that didn't jibe with how they would have done things --
if only they themselves could have been bothered to do them. It was the
damnedest, and to me personally, the most disheartening aspect of the entire
effort. And they're still out there, likely reading this post. So if you go
forward you may have to deal with them as well.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>If after reading this you still want to pursue a statewide
organization we wish you success, but we hope you'll understand our current lack
of enthusiasm for getting involved. These days, we'd rather just go
geocaching.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Steve</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=546413204-21052008><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Team Tierra Buena</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>