Signal the Frog cortesy of Groundspeak, Inc.

Geocaching wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for a number of key players. Here are some of the most important names to remember:

1. Bill Clinton – On May 1st, 2000, the then President of the United States declared that “selective availability”, which intentionally screwed up GPS reception too much for anyone – enemies of the state as well as you and I – to be able to use the system, would seize to exist. This is what made geocaching possible in the first place, and not long after the first cache was hidden.

2. Media – It may have started as an enthusiast project among a nerdy few, but when media caught on, geocaching became a wide-spread hobby. The phenomena exploded in popularity, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the countless of newspaper articles and radio and TV shows in which the topic was brought up. Today, you’ll find an article about geocaching pop up almost every day in media around the world.

3. Groundspeak – Yes, there are other companies and cache listing sites out there. But Groundspeak, the company behind geocaching.com, is by far the biggest and the most influential one. What they do affects us all and has shaped the geocaching community we know today.

4. The Players – You, I and everyone else. Without us, there would be no geocaching. We love what we do and we make our voices heard when there’s something we like – or dislike. We need the ones creating the tools for us, but they need us just as much.

5. Jeremy Irish – The creator of Groundspeak Inc.

6. Dave Ulmer – He was the first to hide a geocache. Ever. He immediately created the basic rule of “if you take something, leave something of equal or greater value” and the signing of logbooks. The only reasons for him not being higher up on this list is that if he hadn’t pulled the trigger first, someone else definitely would have. Read our interview about the worlds first geocache.

7. Signal the Frog – The mascot of Groundspeak has become the icon of geocaching and a face to remember. He’s loved by cachers from all over the world and eeven though his influence might be limited we see his face on merchandise everywhere.

Do you think someone or something is missing on this list? Let us know and perhaps there will be a new list in the future 😀