Geocaching Australia

I am not sure about the context of naming these fun looking mapmarkers? Are these mapmarkers representing cache types on maps, cache log types? Can we have a bit more background on how they will be used please?

As the competition page mentions, these will be our new mascots and will be used across the site or on merchandise. Mascots need names so this is a bit of fun to involve everyone in a chance to name our mascots.

Geocaching Australia would like to welcome our mascots, the Mapmarker family.
The names you propose should be suitable for all ages as they will be used on an ongoing basis across the site and in any merchandise that is made.

Thank you for clearing that up, C@W. I was wondering what they were going to be used for, myself.

Yes thanks for that.

Less than a week to go to name our mascots. If you'd like to see your suggested name/s become the name for one or two of our mascots, get your entries in before the 28 Feb deadline.

If you missed or have forgotten the details, click on the icon on the home page....you shouldn't miss it.

This week I've been presented a number of times with the opportunity to stand up for what I value and think is important. A couple of these I chickened out of. These have just my own values and thoughts of which I am always open to hearing other perspectives on (thoughts that is, not changing my values for anyone). I realised that by not standing up and giving my perspective, even if it might be seen as invalid, annoying, uneducated, or whatever, I am leaving others to continue their life journey without a different perspective to ponder that might be of some weight. Which leads me here.

The very first day these mascots appeared on GCA, I had an instant negative response and it's been eating at me ever since with the daily reminder each day I visit to redeem my dZ points and see the comp icon up the top. Now please try to be patient and kind with me here as I am just sharing something from my heart that is important to me. Your opposition to this is fine. I just think it right to say something, even if just for my own peace of mind.

Male and Female - is this really something that we should be encouraging with society's correctly evolving views on gender issues? I believe the move to recognising and welcoming non-binary people is a good move. For many, these binary definitions have been a real problem. Therefore I think these mascots should not be separated as such.

I think it strange that all the 'female' ones have hair, different eyes, different shoes, and some have lips, while the 'males' don't have any such differentiating characteristics. There appears to me to be quite a distinct difference made between male and female in the mascot's appearance. It appears a bit sexist if I might be so bold to say so.

One last thing to note that is actually just about design, that being that with everyone's arms and legs coming out from the side of their bodies, the female with the red bow has arms and legs coming out of what therefore looks like her face.

I won't be naming any of these, however I was tempted to give a couple of 'females' a drag queen name like Jo Kashin or May Pycon.

No_Tomorrow: I didn't realise that they are divided into males and females. I just thought they had different eyes and faces and bows and things so that they don't all look the same. Not that that works for me...

The three administrators are finalising the names and we will be announcing in the near future. We apologise for the delays from the original expectation date for publishing, but there has been a good deal of discussion around the naming strategy and convention.

Introducing the new Geocaching Australia mascots, the Mapmarker Family.

https://geocaching.com.au/mascot/

Thanks to everyone who participated in the competition and congratulations to those who whose names were selected for our mascots.

The selection committee decided, after reviewing all of the names, that in keeping with a non-gender based and family friendly theme, that the Mapmarker family would all have names that are Geocaching related.

Look out for the Mapmarker family to be appearing around the Geocaching Australia website and on merchandise over time.

Would have been good to know before hand as I read it as name them as per the actual image.

Yes, I agree. In the very first post I asked "in what context? I also named as per pictures and as boys and as girls (most were neutral nanes though eg Willow, Ossa) Three quarters through the competition I noticed the boys and girls labelling disappeared after one comment.
Well done to the winners.