Saturday March 24, marks the first ever KC Cache Dash - a high-tech scavenger hunt based on GPS technology and social media connectivity, designed to promote awareness and support for local charities.
KC Cache Dash will kick off at Garmin’s headquarters in Olathe, KS, and the interactive scavenger hunt and related festivities will conclude at Land Rover Merriam in Merriam, KS.
Four teams in state-of-the-art Range Rovers will explore the entire Kansas City area for hidden treasure using Garmin devices and clues logged at OpenCaching.com. Placed at local parks, sports venues, and prominent KC landmarks, the team that collects the most points before the challenge is over wins. Each cache will be assigned a points value based on difficulty and distance from finish line. In addition, teams will have flash-caches throughout the day offering additional opportunity to gain points.
These teams will be lead by avid geocachers from Kansas and Missouri. Joining them in the Range Rovers will be social media specialists from the Kansas City area, using the tools of their trade to spread the word about their team’s progress and the charities they’re representing.
While the scavenger hunt is underway, everyone in the community is invited to attend interactive geocaching expos at Garmin and Land Rover Merriam that will entertain and educate visitors of all ages with family-friendly activities and informational booths about the four charities selected as the event’s beneficiaries.
In addition to being introduced to the four charities, expo visitors will have the chance to learn about geocaching and OpenCaching.com, try the activity themselves and build a cache of their own to take home and hide. Garmin engineers and employees will be on hand to demonstrate the devices and answer any questions that may arise from participating youth groups, classrooms, scout troops and families.
The event is being lead by Social: IRL’s good friend, Garmin’s social media manager, Jake Jacobson. “Planning the KC Cache Dash has combined several of my favorite areas in unique ways, blending social media with outdoor recreation and combining volunteerism with a sense of competition,” said Jake. “And when we added the family-friendly expo to the mix so that everyone could try geocaching through OpenCaching.com, I knew we had something special.”
As well as Jake, Social: IRL friends including Jessica Best, Justin Goldsborough, Alisha Templeton, Zena Weist, and Justin Meyer are participating in the event. You can read more about each of the teams and the charities they are supporting below.
Head out to Garmin and Land Rover Merriam this Saturday, March 24, to join the festivities.
Please also help spread the word – invite others using the Facebook event and help promote the @KCCacheDash Twitter account.
And of course, make sure to follow events and join the conversation in real time on March 24 via Twitter hashtag #KCCacheDash.
MARCH 24: SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
- 9 a.m.: Expo begins at Garmin (1200 E. 151st St., Olathe)
- 9:30 a.m.: Opening remarks by Garmin, KidsTLC, Project Uplift, Sleepyhead Beds and the YMCA
- 10 a.m.: KC Cache Dash kicks off and the four Range Rovers depart Garmin to start searching
- Noon: Expo wraps up at Garmin, festivities head north to Land Rover Merriam
- 1 pm: Expo begins at Land Rover Merriam (9400 W. 65th St., Merriam)
- 4 pm: All Range Rovers must be back at Land Rover Merriam
- 4:30: Awards Ceremony, allocation of donations and announcement of fundraising results
About the charities:
KidsTLC has a mission to provide opportunities that transform kids and families in crisis while ensuring a safe environment. The group believes that the least we can do for children who have been abandoned, abused, neglected and thrown away, is to offer the opportunity to forge a healthy life for themselves. Donate here: http://bit.ly/DonateTLC
Project Uplift is an all-volunteer homeless outreach program founded in 1990. Uplift survives by donations and supporters’ personal commitment to feed and clothe the area’s homeless. Our goal is to deliver to the homeless those basic human needs, care and compassion that are not usually received from other organizations. Donate here: http://bit.ly/DonateUplift
Sleepyhead Beds has delivered hundreds of beds to area children – connecting families with unused beds with families who desperately want and deserve the comfort their own bed provides. These services also benefit the community and environment by keeping hundreds of large, bulky mattresses out of area landfills. Donate here: http://bit.ly/DonateSHB
YMCA of Greater Kansas City is an inclusive organization of men, women and children joined together by a shared commitment to nurturing the potential of kids, promoting healthy living and fostering a sense of social responsibility. Everyone, regardless of age, income or background, has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive at the Y. Donate here: http://bit.ly/DonateYMCA
Meet the Teams:
#TeamRange
Comprised of H&R Block Social Media teammates Matthew Staub (@Staubio) and Jenna Bromberg (@Jennabrom), they will be competing for Kid’s TLC, a local organization that seeks to provide opportunities that transform kids and families in crisis while ensuring a safe environment. Follow this cache dash team through the #TeamRange Twitter hashtag.
#TeamLR4
The #TeamLR4 duo is a combination of Alex Ogata (@aogata) , a project leader at HNTB and Aaron Thacker (@yourdp), social media sleuth at MMGY Global and die-hard car enthusiast. #TeamLR4 represents Project Uplift, a local meal delivery and support service for the homeless of Kansas City. Follow this team’s progress through the #TeamLR4 Twitter hashtag.
#TeamEvoque
The pair of email marketing aficionado Jessica Best (@BestofJess) and Director of Social Media at Digital Evolution Group, Ramsey Mohsen (@RM) will make up #TeamEvoque. They will be competing on behalf of Sleepyhead Beds, a KC based charity that seeks to provide beds for kids in that don’t have a place to lay their head at night. Follow the team’s progress through the #TeamEvoque Twitter hashtag.
#TeamRRSport
#TeamRRSport is made up of Justin Goldsborough (@JGoldsborough), a social media guy at Fleishman-Hillard, and Alisha Templeton (@AlishaBethT), social media manager for Ameristar Casinos. #TeamRRSport will be raising money and awareness for the YMCA of Greater Kansas City. Follow their progress on the #TeamRRSport Twitter hashtag.
The Panel:
During the event there will be a commentary panel located at Land Rover Merriam. Comprised of Sporting KC’s Kyle Rogers (@KyleR), Edelman’s VP Zena Weist (@ZenaWeist), and KCI’s Justin Meyer (@KCJetSetter), this team will provide commentary and engagement with teams and the community leading up to and during the event.
Discover just how easy it is to find geocaches & download them to your GPS-enabled device with OpenCaching’s intuitive interface:
Taking place in Wichita, Kansas, the goal of the event is to bring together local and regional non-profit organizations, for a day that combines inspiration with learning focused on the potential of social media to be used as a powerful marketing, communications and relationships platform. The main focus will be on non-profits, but the day’s takeaways will be valuable for any business or organization.
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