A little over a month ago at the Potter’s Pond event one of our members asked me what UTAG was doing? I asked if they followed the forums? They said, “Not always.”
I’ve been thinking about that and discussing with the committee about how to communicate better with our members in our state-wide organization. Without wanting to fill your mailboxes with needless email, we’ve decided to send a bi-monthly newsletter to help everyone stay aware of current happenings.
First, we’d like to report on our successful Fall event in Vernal. We had over 100 cachers attend. Most came early or stayed the next day to do more caching in the area. Many people helped contribute to the event, but we’d especially like to recognize the efforts of SpiderTracks, Wagon Wheel, HotWings, and HuntingSOB. We had great turn out from both local local Vernal geocachers as well as many others from throughout the state. We had geocachers from Wyoming and Colorado attend as well. Not only was the event itself well received, but there were multiple other mini gatherings both before and afterward. All in all, I think those who came had an enjoyable time.
The second thing we’d like everyone to know is that we just received a certification from the State of Utah recognizing UTAG as an official organization. As such, this week we have been able to obtain an EIN (Employer Identification Number) which allows us to setup a checking account for the UTAG donations. This is something the past and current committee was concerned we should have in place. This will be even more important as we continue to grow.
Speaking of growth, currently there are just short of 500 people signed up on our UTAG website and forum. Of those people, 230 have become UTAG members. We’d like to encourage anyone who hasn’t done so already, to join our Utah Geocachers Association. We need everyone and hopefully everyone feels welcome in our community. If you haven’t already joined, you can go to the main forum page and click on the big red banner that says “Become a UTAG member (Click here)”. There is no cost to become a member. The “Donate to UTAG” button is completely optional.
As I’ve mentioned our website and forum, we’d like to announce the formation of the first standing committee “UTAG technical infrastructure”. Appointed to the committee were BrownBag and SirGerald. This committee is responsible for the continued running and updating of both our official website and our forums. By establishing a standing committee, its members fulfill needed roles and also transition leadership changes. We are looking to create other standing committees as needed. Possible ideas have included a CITO committee and a Chapter committee. If anyone has any ideas, or opinions on these proposals, please let us know.
Finally, we’d like to invite everyone to our forums. There are definitely a handful of vocal members (including myself) who participate all the time. But we want to hear from everyone. One thread that has had lasting popularity is the “How do you pronounce your caching name” found at http://www.utahgeocachers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=378 . If you haven’t read it, you’ll find interesting information about your fellow cachers. If you haven’t posted there, it’s a great location to introduce yourself.
Once again, we’d like to thank everyone for the time, effort, and interest you put into UTAG. Hopefully, you’ll find this email informative and useful. Please let us know how we can better serve you. You can send any of us a private message from the forums, or you can send a message to the full committee at geocommittee@utahgeocachers.com.
JeeperDad
on behalf of the 2004 UTAG committee
President - JeeperDad (Jeffry Simpson )
1st VP - SirGerald (Jerry Hansen )
2nd VP - DeViDe (Dewayne Dean )
Secretary- Scout Master (Matty Ross)
Treasurer - JJAC (Jody Carlson)