In The Beginning Caching Contest

• The In The Beginning contest runs from Sunday, May15th, 2022, through Thursday, June 30th, 2022.  
• Everything you need is in the Stuff You Need To Play section below.
• On or after May 13th and prior to Midnight, June25th, fill out and submit the InTheBeginning:Entry form.  You must fill out the entry form prior to playing.
• The Contest Managers will register you in the contest.
• Using the two lists below of (Early Michigan Geocachers and Charter Members), go hunting.
• Use the InTheBeginning:FoundOne form to enter each of your qualifying caches as you find and log them online.    
• Contest is open to all MiGO Website members. 

Stuff You Need To Play:

Entry Form: InTheBeginning:Entry - Fill this form out to enter the contest prior to playing.  Turning in this form will add you to the Players list. 

Found One:  InTheBeginning:FoundOne.    We are trying something different for this contest.  Use this simple form to add each qualifying cache you find, one at a time, as you find them.  The form includes the option to add an actual CO of a cache you found who is not on a list if you think they should be.  You only need to identify yourself with your cacher name once.  We can fill in the blanks for the rest. 

Completed Form: There is not a "Completed Form for this contest.   Instead, fill out the "Found One" form for each qualifying cache you find, as you go.

Targets:  We have provided two lists of eligible COs  for you to use to help find caches to go after:

• Early Michigan Cachers List:  A list of all of the  geocachers we have found that qualify as Michigan cachers who joined geocaching.com in the years 2000-2003.  The list is in alphabetical order.  This list may not be complete.  If you have a possible addition, use the Found One form to request a name be added.  You do the research and make the argument for inclusion.  A panel of some of the wisest MiGO Challenge Committee members will review the case and give you a thumbs up or down, and add it to the list as needed.  This list was created by our own DanTMan&Co.
  
• Charter Members List:  A complete list of all Charter Members  with active hides all over the world.   The list appears first in alphabetical order by Charter Member geocacher name, then is sorted by country and state.  This list was derived from a list by cacher and Lackey Moun10Bike who has a list of all geocaches ever placed by Charter members.  
  

Inquiries Link:      InTheBegining:Inquiry:  Click this link to send an email to the contest manager(s).    If your email client doesn't like the above link, send your inquiry to "migo.promotions@gmail.com" with this EXACT subject: "InTheBegining:Inquiry",  This email and the Found One form are the only accepted method of communication with the contest manager(s).

Players are expected to understand and play by  Common Contest Rules as well as MiGO Code of Fair Play.  These are both available here:  

Common Contest Rules for MiGO Caching Contests:  Basic rules by which all MiGO caching contests adhere to.    Any variation of these rules is included the Contest Specific rules.

MiGO Code of Fair Play:  Expectations of Participation in MiGO Promotions.

1. What to look for: There are two different categories of caches available for finds in this contest. The first category is primarily for Michigan cachers and the second is primarily for our 5th Chapter members, but any player can use either or both categories.
   1. Early Michigan Cachers: Find geocaches owned by a Michigan geocacher who joined Geocaching.com in the years 2000 through 2003.  To make your search a little easier, we have provided a list with all of the qualifying Early Michigan Cachers with active caches in "Stuff You Need To Play" section. Michigan geocacher means either their profile shows a Michigan location or the preponderance of their earliest hides and finds were in Michigan. This list may not be complete, so see item c., below
   2. Charter Members: Find caches owned by Charter Members of Geocaching.com. The list of all  Charter Members with still active caches (as of two years ago) is provided above.
   3.  If you believe that a cacher should be added to a list, go find the cache, then use the Found One form to make your case.  Don't wait for us to respond to an Inquiry.  That might be too late.  We will gladly add them if we feel they qualify.  We will do our best to publicize geocachers added to the list.
2. Cache eligibility:  
   1. Any cache owned by one of the Early Michigan Cachers or a Charter member that is published prior to the contest start date is eligible.  Caches may be found anywhere in the world.
   2. Any cache with a GC code is eligible.
   3. Hides made during the contest period are not eligible to score in this contest as that would only apply to cachers on one of the two target lists.
   4. New hides by Early Michigan Cachers or Charter Members published after the contest start date are NOT eligible in this contest.
3. What to do: 
   1. Find caches according to the rules above and record them one at a time with the Found One form.
      

1. Scoring will be done from the data collected from the participants FoundOne forms.  
2. Points:
   1. Get 1 point for every find of a cache owned by an Early Michigan Cacher.
   2. Get 2 points for every find of a cache owned by a Charter Member who is NOT on the Early Michigan Cacher list.  
   3. If a cache owner is on both lists, consider them an Early Michigan Cacher, worth 1 point.   The bonus for COs only on the Charter Member list is an attempt to level the playing field a bit for our 5th Chapter members.
      
3. Winners:  There will be two winners.  
   1. The person with the most points earned will win a prize.  
   2. Each other player turning in a Found One form will receive as many chances in a drawing as the points they accumulate. 
   3. In both cases, Lake Superior members get the usual 2x point bonus.  
4. The Prizes: 
   1. Lake Huron and Lake Superior members are playing for a vintage Geocoin in both the most points category and the drawing.  In addition, the winner of the drawing will get their membership extended for one year if they have not won a membership extension in the two years prior to the contest end date.
   2. Lake St. Clair members and Trial members are playing for a coupon for $5 off a Lake Huron or Lake Superior membership.
   3. The contest managers always the reserve the right to offer additional prizes, depending on the number of participants.

Answers to questions posted using the InTheBeginning:Inquiry email link:

• Question:  This cache, "GC8VNX4" near Interlochen, placed by DTanis, join date 2/18/2003. I think he might qualify for the contest, what do you think>
• Answer:   This CO has been added to the Early Michigan list.

• Question: Is the Found Form the only way to submit your entry?  If you have 50 finds, do you have to make 50 individual entries, or can a spreadsheet with all the information work?
• Answer: The Found One form is the only way to submit data. There is no more data entry using this Found One form than using a spreadsheet. People have complained about the fillable forms not working well with phones. A key feature to making these contests work is having a consistent way of recording data, both for the participants and for the scorers. We thought this would be a fairly low volume contest and an excellent chance for participants to record one or a bunch of finds. If you log 50 finds in this contest, I think you will likely be an overachiever. That said, a few players may prove us wrong.

• Question: You are having trouble spelling beginning?
• Answer: Yup, sure am.

• Question: Do caches that were placed in the early days but have since been adopted by others who were not around at that time count?
• Answer: No, they do not. You are looking for caches OWNED by either Charter Members or Early Michigan Cachers who joined the game prior to the end of 2003. The only way adopted caches will count is if they were adopted by an Early Michigan Cacher or a Charter Member.  I have removed the word hidden from text above to try to make this more clear.    The FoundOne form is a bit more specific.

• Question: Can you submit entries for more than one cache hidden by the same cache owner? I see one owner that I could use to submit 30 caches?
• Answer: Absolutely.  There is nothing in the rules saying one per CO.

• Question: The Found One form has these two mandatory entries:
  - CO Name listed on cache page
  - CO from profile (the actual CO)
  When would these be different and what should we look for?
• Answer: The cacher listed as "a cache by" on the cache page is not necessarily the true or current cache owner.   When someone hides a cache or edits an existing cache page, they are allowed to put anything they want as "a cache by".   Sometimes different names are used for group hides.  Sometime a cache is adopted but the listed "cache by" is not changed.  An example of the latter is GC649 , Boulder Problem, in Grand Ledge.  The cache is reported on the cache page as "a cache by Cleenjeep ".  If you click on "Cleenjeep", you will be directed to the profile page for "The Conman" who is the current owner and who started in 2007.   This cache is not an eligible find.  If you use the search  function on geocaching.com with the cacher names  on our Early Michigan Cachers list, you will find caches owned by them, not caches adopted by someone else.

• Question: Would Militant Squirrels, Who lives is in Lakeview, Michigan and has hides in Michigan with a join date of 4/25/2002 qualify?
• Answer: This is an interesting case. The identified cacher, indeed, joined geocaching.com in 2002 and placed a hide in Colorado that year. Their next activity was two more hides in Michigan in 2009. They hid two caches in Michigan in 2009 and one more eleven months ago. Their first find was 54 weeks ago! One could argue that they were not an Early Michigan Cacher, but after inquiring with the creative mind behind this contest, it was agreed that this cacher had an account "in the beginning" and has most of their hides in Michigan. Short answer, hides (one active) by Militant Squirrels qualify and the CO has been added to the Early Michigan Cachers list.  Thank you DirtBikeGranny for turning in a Found One form requesting this CO be added.

• Question: I understand that to be a charter member you have to have been active from the early days, however, there is a cacher in my area "Indy Diver" that has been caching since 12/01, and is listed as a Premium member, not Charter. quite a few of his caches are pre 2005. Im wondering if he can be added to the list of acceptable cachers?
• Answer: Sorry, can't help you there. Charter status was determined by Groundspeak as cachers who have became and remained Premium members since the game started. Your example must not have been a Premium member out of the gate.

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