I have been asked, both on forums and by email, why I am here given my opposition to the GAGB. I have also recieved a considerable amount of flack for my views and obviously come across as something I'm not. I have decided to post this outlining my reasons for my actions and views. Please, if you agree or disagree keep it civil. These are just my reasons and views which doesn't make them right or wrong, just mine.

Now believe it or not, I don't actually know why people are getting so upset with me. I'm not deliberatly trying to cause all these problems as is, hopefully, evident from my recent few posts suggesting I'll agree to disagree.

I believe quite strongly that caches should be placed with owners permission.

I believe that caches should be listed on a site according to that sites rules or guidelines

I don't think the GAGB is needed at this stage but it is wanted by the members.

I don't think that 200 members of the GAGB shoud be able to dictate the guidelines on ANY listing site to the none members. If the listing site adopts the GAGB rules then that is different as they then become the listing sites rules.

I really don't like overblown events such as the HCC event and believe the hobby is growing at a steady rate without these events. I don't believe we need loads of publicity.

My decision to remove my caches from GC.com, they were already listed on Navicache so I wasn't moving them, was based on a combination of things. I was becoming increasingly unhappy with the way gc.com is run and the link between what should be an independant association and GC.com is far to close. (There is very little acknowledgment that the others even exist). And the final straw was the amount of personal abuse I recieved, both publically on the forums and privately by email, for holding and expressing a concern. I have been very careful in all my postings never to get personal but numerous people would not return that.

The decision to archive my caches from GC.com was not to spite any users but to provide a few caches on navicache that do not appear on gc.com. Like all businesses, if you do not like the service from a company then you vote with your feet and choose to use somewhere else instead.

My reason for joining the GAGB and continuing to read the GC.com forums was to keep an eye on the progress of the GAGB. I only joined when I felt the need to comment. As I wished to talk to the GAGB membership I had to become a member. As someone else said, it's better to try and change it from within.

I have been a supporter of Navicache for a lot longer than the GAGB affair and I feel that if we are to have an association that represents geocaching then that is what it should do, which covers the other two sites. The arguement that nobody uses it is partly due to the censorship of the name on gc.com forums. Navicache and gc.com provide much the same service with the exception that navicahce is run on less commercial basis and isn't as flash. It still provides details of caches. The number of these caches will be going up in the next few weeks

part 2 below