Geocaching Australia Senate - Feb 19

Geocaching Australia governance issues
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Geocaching Australia Senate - Feb 19

Post by Geocaching Australia » 04 February 19 10:56 am

As you will probably know, Geocaching Australia is run by a volunteer group known as the Senate. We also have other positions such as developers and social media authors, however it is the senate that is charged with the functions that keep us running from day to day.

The senate positions are up for nominations in June each year, however over the last couple of months, we’ve had a couple of senators move on due to personal/family reasons.

Rather than wait til June, we are asking the general community to see if anyone would like to join the volunteer senate team now.
Obviously, these positions are unpaid, you would simply be a part of the team that helps to keep Geocaching Australia both ticking along and financially afloat.

One of the main responsibilities of a senator is the availability to log into the forum site REGULARLY. The best outcome is that it becomes a daily procedure. Some days, a senator may be logged on for no more than 2 minutes, while other days they could be logged on for 60 minutes. The reason for the difference is that when there is topic to be discussed, the expectation is that each senator would be able to contribute to the discussion, which of course dictates the way forward for the running of the site. No input from senators will see things stall and that will have an impact on what, and when, we can do things.

As a senator, one of our main tasks is that we take on board the financial running of our site, meaning we need to come up with ideas for raising money to ensure the survival of our site. This could be from, but not restricted to, the sale of items through our shop. We are always on the lookout for new items to sell.

We expect people who volunteer to become senators of Geocaching Australia and want to help shape the future direction of the site to be engaged, involved in the discussions and coming up with ideas to help the site grow and move to become a major player in geocaching in Australia. At the same time, like any volunteer position we recognise that there may be times when people can't contribute due to personal circumstances, if you feel your absence is likely to be short term then please let the rest of the group know.

This is a cut ‘n’ paste from our vision (and goals) with regard to Senator responsibilities:
- the senate is the body responsible for running the site, generating ideas and achieving the vision and goals of Geocaching Australia
- up to 12 senators not including the development team
- senators are not state based representatives but represent the community worldwide. No single state shall be in a position to outvote the remainder of the senate
- senators are responsible for bringing ideas from themselves or the community to the senate for furthering the goals of Geocaching Australia
- senators are responsible for discussing ideas that are brought to the senate
- senators are accountable for the financial security of the website
- senators participate in all votes (polls will have an 'abstain' option) except where previous notice of absence is provided

These are our goals, and what we as senators, are charged with trying to reach:
(These can, and do change....what's a goal today may not be tomorrow.)

- challenge project-gc.com and become "the" Australian stats site which drives people to use our site
- people in good standing in the geocaching community to help be our champions / ambassadors
- create new cache types to grow interest in hiding and finding geocaches
- hold games / engagements with the community to increase community participation
- more people hide at Geocaching Australia
- more people find at Geocaching Australia
- offer things to Geocaching Australia cachers that you can't get anywhere else
- increase our find rate to 5% of cache finds by end 2021
- increase our find rate by 1% each year after that
- redevelop the site to be more interactive
- change functionality to make it easier for people to do what they need to do
- upgrade the website forum

There is plenty of room in Australia for more than 1 Geocaching site. Our site may be small, but we can grow it, and have an Australian owned site where all geocachers can come and play.

If you feel you have the time and dedication to be part of the senate team, post a reply here and tell us a little about yourself. We hope to see a couple of new members on board. This call for nominations will close at midnight this Friday, 8 Feb 2019.

If you’d like more info before submitting a nomination, please send a PM to Sol de Lune and he will get back to you to answer any questions.

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mattyrx
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Re: Geocaching Australia Senate - Feb 19

Post by mattyrx » 04 February 19 2:28 pm

Hi,
I'm Matt, I'm 39 - from Lismore, northern NSW and have been hunting little containers with my GPS since 2010. I regard GCA as my primary site for quality geocaching. I love the stats, the games and the community that we have here. I've sat in the background for quite a while however I do like to keep an eye on what's going on. I'd like to put my hand up and volunteer for the senate. I've got plenty of energy to put into this hobby of ours and would feel privileged to be a part of helping GCA achieve its goals.

dezzabills
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Re: Geocaching Australia Senate - Feb 19

Post by dezzabills » 04 February 19 6:38 pm

Hi,
Due to various family reasons i did not get the chance to re apply for the senate last year. I am still keen to be a senator and promote GA through the wider geocaching community and help within the senate.

Thanks
Derek aka dezzabills

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Now_To_Morrow
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Re: Geocaching Australia Senate - Feb 19

Post by Now_To_Morrow » 17 February 19 4:28 pm

So did you end up getting 12 nominations?

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