Question 6: Seeker articles

[geocaching womble]

Over the past 2 years I have written a wealth of articles for seeker and have often have had to write and Research them with very little notice, due to other articles falling through at the last moment
what percentage of their time would all candidates be willing to focus on seeker for the upcoming editions for seeker and what can you bring to seeker articles if elected?

Personally I’m willing to devote as much as necessary to create the appropriate articles when needed

[border caz]

Mea culpa. I am afraid I have to admit to not being very active in this regard - I am more of a number cruncher than a scribe, although I am sure I could rustle something up if I really needed to. We do always seem to have plenty of articles, though?

[Maattmoo]

Hello,
I enjoy reading about great places to visit and must do caches... bit of info about things to learn...
I get the UK cache mag and always seem disappointed by some of the content, and spelling mistakes... happily Seeker seems more complete.

I would enjoy being involved in the Seeker, and think that all committee members should have an input or regular feature. I also think that the Seeker mag should be publicised more online... especially on the GAGB website... it should be front and centre.

I would be interested in having an input as I say, but I think we should get more articles from people around the community become more inclusive of the audience... Using the website and from various social media streams to find fun and/or interesting stories that can be developed from the online facebook posts or instagram pic... Contacting local cachers for their stories that they share online to develop into articles, and include all levels of caching.

I mention feeling disappointed in some of the articles in the "other" mag, as they seem to be focussed on the basics. I think any magazine should offer a range of articles attracting a wide audience as possible.
Things from the basics and how to... and introductions to different icons... upcoming events... articles of someones first find, or 1000th, articles about challenges, or pushing yourself further when you think you have done it all... articles about what to do when you found all your local caches... articles about trying something new... finding an amazing cache.
What I want is to be inspired to go out and find a cache. And think most people will feel the same.

I hope I can be involved in the mag's future...

[Maattmoo]

I have posted a detailed reply however it is waiting for approval by a moderator... unsure if this also will be held...

I would love to be involved with the magazine.

[geocaching womble]

Mea culpa. I am afraid I have to admit to not being very active in this regard - I am more of a number cruncher than a scribe, although I am sure I could rustle something up if I really needed to. We do always seem to have plenty of articles, though?

Actually we don’t always have enough articles available so extra articles have had to written at short notice in the past on more than one occasion

[richt2000]

I have provided content for Seeker during the year including the Chernobyl article from our visit earlier in the year. I'm now kicking myself as we could have filmed it for the GIFF :joyous:.

I have helped facilitate articles from other members of the Geocaching community. I have proof read recent copies of Seeker and provided feedback to Arthur to incorporate into the final edition. I look forward to writing more articles for Seeker about geocaching adventures I've not yet had in 2020.

[Griff Grof]

I have served as Seeker Editor this year (from June), and enjoyed putting together the summer and autumn issues. This involved writing several features (e.g. Adventure Labs, CITO Week, etc.), sourcing articles and designing the final product. We were fortunate to have enough articles submitted this year, with plenty of notice given and (thankfully) nothing falling through at the last moment. Thanks to everyone who wrote an article this year - it’s always highly appreciated!

In order to encourage submissions, I launched a new profile badge scheme in September, in which someone earns a bronze ‘Seeker Writer’ badge for having one article published, silver for three and gold for five. So, a little like the EarthCache Masters awards, the badge is upgradable over time.

In response to the question itself, I would be willing to continue to spend a large amount on time on Seeker - whether that’s as editor, joint-editor or somebody who supports the new editor. It all depends on who is elected, what skills they can bring, and whether they want to take the reins.

I also agree with Maattmoo’s comments. Whilst we do have Seeker on our website’s homepage, and post an announcement on social media as soon as an issue is released, we do need to ‘shout’ about it a little more. I have started to do this by drawing attention to certain articles, both on social media and in our newsletter. If re-elected, I would endeavour to promote Seeker as much as possible.

[Saza36]

One of my key failings since a teenager (a long time ago) has been not reading enough books. I am more technical and find any information that I need online. I do read and write lots of technical documentation though on a daily basis!

To this end, whilst I subscribe to another geocaching magazine I tend merely to flick through it and file it. The same has historically been true of Seeker too, albeit in PDF form.

If elected I will of course take more interest - proof reading, reading and potentially even penning or assisting with articles.

[border caz]

Ah, yes, I have helped out with proof reading a few times.

Dominic, could you quantify "a wealth" please?

[geocaching womble]

I can of course Caz I mean I have written between 13- 20 articles In the last 2 years on the committee

[happygirlie]

I have helped proof read and edit when i have been asked to, I will be honest i wasnt aware that articles were needed

[Griff Grof]

I have helped proof read and edit when i have been asked to, I will be honest i wasnt aware that articles were needed

Thanks for proofreading Seeker earlier this year, you were a great help.

We always encourage people to write articles, and were fortunate to have enough sent in this year so they weren't "needed" in the sense of a lack of content or things falling through... :)

[Moira Crackers]

I have an article at the moment that I must sit and put onto paper and sort all the photos for. But I must admit I haven't written any as yet but I have provided photos for articles to be included in the seeker mag.
As Maattmoo says, I also had the "other mag" up until recently, and now find it not arriving on time, it seems to be the same old contents, it's got boring. We need to have a good think so that Seeker doesn't fall into that same pattern.

[Jennthefunkyranger]

I have had several articles published in the past, and would certainly be happy to write regularly. However everyone has different skills, someone may be able to bring an excellent skill to the committee but find writing an article stressful, and not something they are good at. A team benefits from the skills of everyone - for example I am a Guide leader, I am hopeless at the accounts side of things, I leave that to the Guider in my unit with a maths degree, whereas I excel at quickly building up trust with the girls in my unit, and planning activities on the spur of the moment, things others would struggle with.

[amberr.merry]

I love to read and write, so whatever I can do - I will always pitch in! I have a Masters in Photojournalism, so this would be right up my street, I love meeting new people and interviewing etc, so I therefore feel it would be an absolutely great and ideal opportunity for myself and the seeker magazine.