Each year NoVAGO honors some of the best caches that were placed in Northern Virginia. Nominations are an opportunity for you to recognize the efforts of your fellow NoVAGO cachers who have placed hides that you have enjoyed. This list is meant to help you think of some of the best geocaches you found last year.
For the 2023 NoVAGO Awards, nominations will be solicited for the following categories. Three new categories have been proposed: Hider of the Year, Youth Cacher of the Year, and Youth Newcomer of the Year. In addition, some changes have been introduced for some other categories. Make sure that you refresh your understanding of the categories before submitting your nominations. Also, please note that none of these categories are required to be awarded each year. Cache type awards can be combined after the nomination period.
-Printable worksheet to plan your nominations before heading to the nomination form: MyCacheNominations.pdf
[NEW] Hider of the Year – This new category for 2023 is intended to recognize a hider for his or her “body of work” when it comes to hiding caches during the year. Nominations should take into account the number of hides, the number of cachers who found those hides, and how often favorite points were awarded to those caches.
Best Traditional – The familiar green box on the map, which one made an impression on you?
Best Mystery/Puzzle Cache – Whether the puzzle or the mystery was remarkably creative, innovative, obscure, devious, difficult, head-banging hard, unbelievably easy in hindsight – or all of those, which mystery or puzzle cache are you still talking about? Typically bonus or challenge caches are not nominated in this category, even though those caches share an icon with mysteries and puzzles.
Best Multicache – Step by step, stage by stage – you had a great time figuring out how to go from the cache page and the journey along the way to getting your name on the final. Which of the year’s multicaches contributed to a great time for you this past year. Pick one or more to honor!
Best Letterbox Hybrid Cache – These non-traditional cache types do not see as many placements each year. Pick one or more to honor!
Best Other Cache (Earthcache or Wherigo) – These non-traditional cache types do not see as many placements each year. Note: This year, there were only three and all three have the finds and favorite points to get them on the ballot.)
Best Event/CITO Host – Whether you were gathering just for fun or were also giving back to the community, event offer opportunities for cachers to enjoy each other’s company. Which caching events gave the best experiences for the attendees and participants? This year you have an opportunity to nominate the hosts who arrange locations, materials, event pages, and activities to allow you to have social fun.
Best Adventure Lab Series – This segment of the caching world has resulted in some creative series and some that have taken cachers to great locations, offered fun journeys, taught some outstanding history, or were completed in an innovated manner. Which new series was the most fun, most inspiring, most educational, most devious, or otherwise most noteworthy?
Best Theme/Series (five or more caches in a series or that share a common theme) – The whole of the series was even greater than the sum of the parts. Which series – that started in 2023 and has at least five caches – did you absolutely have to finish and kept you waiting for the next cache to be published? (Note: Because NoVAGO sponsors the annual series, it is not eligible for this category – although the individual caches are eligible for the other categories.)
Cache of the Year – From the moment you read the cache listing through making the find – and then telling all of your caching friends about how great the cache is, this is the cache that made the year the most memorable for you. Note that your vote and nominations should align with the caches you honored in the cache type categories.
[NEW] Best Container – Whether an evil micro, an “in-plain-sight” regular or a stunning creation, which cache made you do a double-take or made you say wow? The focus in this category is on what was placed in the field.
[NEW] Most Creative Cache Page – Your first exposure to every cache is the cache page. Which cache pages really jumped out at you and encourage you to really want to get out of the house and check out the hide? Perhaps it was an eloquent description, great artwork or photos. Maybe it was a page that was complete – description, hints, attribute, waypoints, backgrounds – and was greater than the sum of its parts.
Most Outstanding Location/Scenery – Everybody has different criteria for a great location, although the amazing smoothness of the parking lot paving is probably not it. Which cache took you on an outstanding journey or brought you to your best location?
Best Historical/Educational Cache – Many caches offer more than the satisfaction of the find by sharing some history of the area in the cache description, along the journey, or at ground zero. Some caches can teach you something you didn’t know. Which cache provided the best history or educational lesson last year?
Most Physically Challenging– Which cache made you push your limits to complete it? The game suggests that terrain ratings are the indicator of physical challenges. So look at those caches with Terrain ratings in the 4+ range.
Best Kids Cache – Perhaps it was the story on the cache page, or the location, or the hide, or the container, or the trade items. Ask the mini-cachers which cache they would most like to visit again.
Rookie/Newcomer of the Year – Every year thousands of people start geocaching and many of them are in NoVAGO’s area. What new name caught your attention in their logs or with their caches? Who did you see at events and welcome to the community? Check that person’s profile to see if the caching career started during 2023 (or within the last six months of 2022) and was still going strong at the end of the year.
[NEW] Youth Rookie/Newcomer of the Year – Young people start geocaching all of the time and many of them are in NoVAGO’s area. What new name caught your attention in their logs or with their caches? Who did you see at events and welcome to the community? Check that person’s profile to see if the caching career started during 2023 (or within the last six months of 2022) and was still going strong at the end of the year.
Volunteer of the Year – Which NoVAGO volunteer (beyond the elected officers) contributed the best efforts in furthering the cause of our game? (Note: This year the NoVAGO Board of Directors and Officers will nominate the candidates for this category and then the NoVAGO members will select the honoree.)
Cacher of the Year – Great finder, great hider, great host, great log-writer…the mix of these could be the foundation for Cacher of the Year. Who stood out to you as the epitome of “all-around cacher” this year?
[NEW] Youth Cacher of the Year – Great finder, great hider, great host, great log-writer…the mix of these could be the foundation for Youth Cacher of the Year. Who stood out to you as the epitome of “all-around cacher” this year – and had not turned 18 before the end of 2023?
Cache Eligibility:
1. Cache must have been published between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023, and still active as of early 2024.
2. You may make up to three (3) nominations in each category. You do not need to make nominations in all categories.
3. Caches must be within Northern Virginia, (NoVa will be defined as Alexandria (city), Arlington (county), Clarke (county), Fairfax (county), Fairfax (city), Falls Church (city), Fauquier (county), Frederick (county), Loudoun (county), Manassas (city), Manassas Park (city), Prince William (county), Stafford (county), Warren (county), Winchester (city))
4. We will compile the nomination submissions and you will be voting on the top nominees in each category. So the more nominations we get, the easier it will be to discern the best of the best. You do not need to have found a cache to nominate it.
*Both Rookie/Newcomer of the Year and Youth Rookie/Newcomer of the Year must have found their first cache no earlier than July 1, 2022, with a majority of their finds/hides during 2023.