diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a8f0bf6b..4be1ed11 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,3 +9,4 @@ ehthumbs.db
 Thumbs.db
 .bundle
 vendor
+_cache
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a0bbf648..44c4f758 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ build:
 	  | egrep -v 'sha256sums.txt' \
 	  | sort \
 	  | xargs -d '\n' sha256sum > _site/sha256sums.txt
-	$S git show --oneline > _site/commit.txt
+	$S git log -1 --format="%H" > _site/commit.txt
 
 ## Jekyll annoyingly returns success even when it emits errors and
 ## exceptions, so we'll grep its output for error strings
diff --git a/_plugins/contributors.rb b/_plugins/contributors.rb
index b1dffa57..74ea41b4 100644
--- a/_plugins/contributors.rb
+++ b/_plugins/contributors.rb
@@ -106,9 +106,44 @@ module Jekyll
         return
       end
 
-      # Populate site.corecontributors and site.sitecontributors arrays
-      site.corecontributors = contributors('bitcoin/bitcoin',site.config['aliases'])
-      site.sitecontributors = contributors('bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org',site.config['aliases'])
+      ## Create cache directory if it doesn't exist
+      if !File.exists?('_cache')
+        Dir.mkdir('_cache')
+      end
+
+      # Populate site.corecontributors and site.sitecontributors with
+      # data from GitHub.com. Store data in the cache and only
+      # re-retrieve the data if 86,400 seconds (24 hours) passes from
+      # the retrieval date or if the cache file is deleted.  For
+      # simplicity, updates on the two cache files are linked, so if one
+      # file has to be updated, they both get updated.
+      corecontributors_cache = '_cache/corecontributors.marshall'
+      sitecontributors_cache = '_cache/sitecontributors.marshall'
+      if File.exists?(corecontributors_cache) && File.exists?(sitecontributors_cache)
+        corecontributors_cache_age = (Time.now - File.stat(corecontributors_cache).mtime).to_i
+        sitecontributors_cache_age = (Time.now - File.stat(sitecontributors_cache).mtime).to_i
+      else
+        corecontributors_cache_age = Time.now.to_i
+        sitecontributors_cache_age = Time.now.to_i
+      end
+
+      if corecontributors_cache_age > 86400 || sitecontributors_cache_age > 86400
+        site.corecontributors = contributors('bitcoin/bitcoin',site.config['aliases'])
+        File.open(corecontributors_cache,'w') do |file|
+          Marshal.dump(site.corecontributors, file)
+        end
+        site.sitecontributors = contributors('bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org',site.config['aliases'])
+        File.open(sitecontributors_cache,'w') do |file|
+          Marshal.dump(site.sitecontributors, file)
+        end
+      else
+        File.open(corecontributors_cache,'r') do |file|
+          site.corecontributors = Marshal.load(file)
+        end
+        File.open(sitecontributors_cache,'r') do |file|
+          site.sitecontributors = Marshal.load(file)
+        end
+      end
 
     end
 
diff --git a/_plugins/events.rb b/_plugins/events.rb
index b9394313..a3e1b191 100644
--- a/_plugins/events.rb
+++ b/_plugins/events.rb
@@ -142,9 +142,58 @@ module Jekyll
         return
       end
 
-      # Populate site.conferences and site.meetups arrays
-      site.conferences = conferences()
-      site.meetups = meetups()
+      ## Create cache directory if it doesn't exist
+      if !File.exists?('_cache')
+        Dir.mkdir('_cache')
+      end
+
+      ## Populate site.conferences with conferences from _events.yml
+      ## plus geodata from Google. Store data in the cache and only
+      ## re-retrieve the geodata if _events.yml is edited or the cache
+      ## file is deleted.
+      conferences_cache = '_cache/conferences.marshall'
+      events_file = '_events.yml'
+
+      events_file_unix_time = File.stat(events_file).mtime.to_i
+      if File.exists?(conferences_cache)
+        conferences_cache_unix_time = File.stat(conferences_cache).mtime.to_i
+      else
+        conferences_cache_unix_time = 0
+      end
+
+      if events_file_unix_time >= conferences_cache_unix_time
+        site.conferences = conferences()
+        File.open(conferences_cache,'w') do |file|
+          Marshal.dump(site.conferences, file)
+        end
+      else
+        File.open(conferences_cache,'r') do |file|
+          site.conferences = Marshal.load(file)
+        end
+      end
+
+      # Populate site.meetups with data from Meetup.com.  Store data in
+      # the cache and only re-retrieve the data if 86,400 seconds (24
+      # hours) passes from the retrieval date or if the cache file is
+      # deleted.
+      meetups_cache = '_cache/meetups.marshall'
+      if File.exists?(meetups_cache)
+        meetups_cache_age = (Time.now - File.stat(meetups_cache).mtime).to_i
+      else
+        meetups_cache_age = Time.now.to_i
+      end
+
+      if meetups_cache_age > 86400
+        site.meetups = meetups()
+        File.open(meetups_cache,'w') do |file|
+          Marshal.dump(site.meetups, file)
+        end
+      else
+        File.open(meetups_cache,'r') do |file|
+          site.meetups = Marshal.load(file)
+        end
+      end
+
     end
 
   end