Show Me the Colour

Glad you could join in for the fourth installment of thoughts and perspectives emanating from Bill’s Austrian voyage. Something that continually haunted me (in a good way) about Vienna that I have not shared yet, was its inspirational and uplifting public art used to brighten blank surfaces like immense building walls.

image courtesy Bill Reynolds

This served as a reminder again that our visitor centres should be considering more how to employ blank surfaces in order to inspire their visitors and support their mission. This does not require large scale options -although they make a whopping impact- but small scale options usually abound when you look around. I will be touching on a few examples in this post to provide adaptive ideas for you to apply in your setting.

Actually, what jolted my memory was a series of articles from the British e-news service, “Positive News”, that highlighted the positive concept of urban transformations through public art. The end result is a place where people want to be and it feels good- where they can be comfortable and relaxed- pretty much how visitors should feel around our heritage spaces.

Graphic Rewilding

Grey urban spaces are a fertile canvas for Catherine Borowski and Lee Baker’s vast nature-inspired artworks. “Where real rewilding isn’t possible, our goal is to inject the colour and diversity of nature into rundown spaces, urging people to notice – and find joy in – the world around them,” says Baker. This is not meant to supersede the need for rewilding but cultivate an appetite for it in a complementary way.

image courtesy: Graphic Rewilding website

Lee Baker cites research published in “The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine”, which found that patients in hospitals have reduced feelings of stress when exposed to imagery of plants. Check out their stunning web site at Graphic Rewilding, where their home page acts as a dynamic visual portfolio.

Could an approach like this work on fencing or sidewalks to build anticipation for your park’s inhabitants while also helping to re-wild the minds of those who walk past? 

Asphalt Art Colour Boosting

Another upbeat piece from “Positive News” featured the Asphalt Art Initiative as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ response to the growing number of cities around the world embracing art as an effective and relatively low-cost strategy to activate their streets. This initiative had three foci:

·         visual interventions on roadways (intersections and crosswalks)

·         pedestrian spaces (plazas and sidewalks), and 

·         vertical infrastructure (examples of utility boxes, and traffic barriers have been shown in previous posts).

image courtesy Bloomberg Philanthropies website

The colourful roadway interventions have also created a safety factor as cars slowed down reducing crashes at 22 surveyed sites by 50%. The percentage of pedestrians who reported feeling “very safe” at the intersection jumped from 23 per cent to 63 per cent. An Asphalt Art Guide, produced by the pro bono consulting arm, Bloomberg Associates features over two dozen case studies highlighting the how to’s for successful plaza and roadway art activations.

Could a crosswalk near you use some “arrested development” and reinforce your heritage message at the same time?

I wonder what percentage of visitors would feel safer, activated, and more welcome to our facilities if entrances and parking areas greeted them with a feel-good boost of vibrant colour that reinforces the heritage message at the same time?

Does your facility have an outside “canvas,” or even an inside one, that needs revitalization through colour and community engagement – could be a nice double bonus?

Note: Above I mentioned Bloomberg Philanthropies being at the heart of this kind of art by providing financial assistance. Previous grant rounds supported 65 projects in the U.S. and Europe between 2020-2023. Newly awarded projects in 25 cities were announced in November 2023 and included Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.. Are you up for applying in 2024?

Patch Macadam-No More Wisecracks

On a much smaller scale, Lyon-based street artist, Ememem, is fixing up Europe’s pavements by filling hazardous potholes with colourful mosaics. Describing himself as a “bitumen mender, sidewalk poet and macadam surgeon,” he was inspired to act by the dreary sight of a pothole in front of his workshop.

Before & after asphalt art sidewalk repair     Courtesy Positive News and Ememem

Would there be any possible “pothole partnerships” or dreary views needing artistic repair existing on your site?

Focus on Facial Facade Functionality

Just as a contrast to the friendly use of colour I submit an Austrian example of a non-inviting street entrance for the Landesgalerie - talk about cold in colour and materials. Only after I took the photo and framed it the way I did, that I noticed the inscribed “Welcome” flat on the ground. Reading the ground is already overshadowed by the large lettering over the entrance that catches your gaze, so then why make the typeface of English word “Welcome” more difficult to make out?

image courtesy Bill Reynolds

Nothing about the museum doorway reinforced “Welcome” for me. Take a moment to gaze at this image and imagine you were walking by on the street in front of this doorway. What does it say to you?

For me, the mail slot “windows” in the doors recall the days of the speakeasy where you needed a password to gain entrance and it was a privilege if they allowed you in. It also says “Mask” to me, with eye slots and there is a mystery hiding behind the facial façade if you dare to enter.  Even worse it conjures up “Prison Incarceration” and an all-around barrier setting vibe. . BTW, there were several museums to choose from that morning and we gave this one a pass.

Take a picture of your entrance and share it with non-staff, asking for feedback. A critical analysis with fresh eyes may provide new insights for you and improve its visitor appeal.

Did You Smell That Colour?

Use of colour is sooo important but let’s not forget sense of smell. Scent marketing is a new trend as McDonald’s is demonstrating with their mobile street level mini-billboards in the Dutch cities of Utrecht and Leiden, each about 650 feet from a restaurant location.

mini- mobile billboard image courtesy McDonald’s

The plain red and yellow billboards pump out the aroma of warm french fries to passersbys. “Smell has been proven to be more effective at sparking clear and emotional memories than images,” says McDonald’s Netherlands CMO Stijn Mentrop-Huliselan.  You can see its effectiveness in action at “Smell’s like McDonald’s” on YouTube.

At least two ideas here to be treated separately or together: employ the use of smell (forest, meadow, ocean, polished staircase, baking bread, etc.) as an iconic memory synonymous with your heritage site to attract visitors, and experiment with the use of mobile mini billboards as interpretive signage.

Looking at the World Through Other’s Eyes

Interpreting involves changing sensory perspectives and colouring your world differently.  How about a series of participatory art projects dedicated to helping us look at the world through other people’s eyes with a focus on storytelling and dialogue?  I just ran across a must share item about the novel travelling empathy museum- what could be more needed these days

One approach they employ is the Human Library. Instead of borrowing a book, visitors can borrow a person for conversation – a Living Book. The concept of the Human Library was developed in Copenhagen in 2000, and has since been adopted by people all over the world, including the Empathy Museum. They’ve been across the UK and to Belgium, Ireland, the USA, Australia, Brazil and Siberia. Explore their empathic link to see where we’ve been and where we’re going. Maybe you could host them.

Viewing in Abstraction

McDonald’s, a leader in marketing know-how, has experimented with striped abstract art in public spaces to represent iconic menu items like Big Mac and Egg McMuffin. Remembering that our potential audiences do not all use their left and right brain the same way to perceive their world means we have to vary our approach in order to communicate to different audiences.

image courtesy Fast Company web site

The ad agency hired by McD’s stated that going abstract means that some people just might not get it—but there’s something to be said about an ad that stops you in your tracks, even if it is to puzzle out its meaning and make a connection. (Do you see the layers of a Big Mac hamburger in the image above- what no tomato?)

 “The best work doesn’t tell you what you need to know, it gives you a little moment to go ‘ah,’ and that’s what makes it more memorable.”

Could this apply to interpretive signage? Can you SEE/PERCEIVE the use of abstraction or unexpected puzzle imaging to generate an ah moment for your visitor?

Ciao till next time.

Read Our Words, See Our Faces, and Something New…

Hear Our Voices on the Talaterra Podcast

Many thanks to you folks who have been reading our EID blog posts for a few months or a even a few years. Some of you may have seen us on a webinar or taken at look at our pictures on the Who We Are page of the website. But just in case you have forgotten our lovely faces…

Bill Reyonds

Lars Wohlers

Mike Mayer

Well, now you have the opportunity to hear us and see if our voices match our written words and pictures. Late in 2023 Tania Marien, host of the Taraterra Podcasts, interviewed  Bill, Lars and Mike. Lars and Bill went into detail about the EID approach to visitor experiences and interpretive planning during podcast #124: Part 1, while Mike focused on environmental learning and earth education in podcast #124: Part 2.

Or if you have a favorite way of listening to podcasts here are a plethora of links to the Talaterra podcasts:

· Apple Podcast - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talaterra/id1449871506

· Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/talaterra/PC:1000363963

· Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5558162c-a505-4e99-8f6b-d8c79c6b8b9c/talaterra

· iHeart Radio - https://iheart.com/podcast/83874053/

· Overcast - https://overcast.fm/itunes1449871506/talaterra

· Spotify - https://podcasters.spotify.com/podcast/0K5HMaFygKmALlAzn5IROz

· YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@talaterra

· Audacy - https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/talaterra-62193

· Google Podcast - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9SckE3VmJVVg%3D%3D

 BTW – as always your comments about the podcasts are welcome and do let us know if you think the voices matched the faces…it would be fun to hear what you think.

 Special Note: Tania Marien is an independent environmental education professional and creator of the Talaterra Podcasts with 20 years of experience connecting educators and bringing attention to the work of freelance professionals. Tania began showcasing the work of independent educators while serving as the full-time editor, educator, and bookseller at ArtPlantae. Today she amplifies this effort through Talaterra and its initiatives.

Surfaces, Staging & Senses

Here’s a toast to the third post stimulated by my 2023 trip to Austria. It is a bit of a rag tag assortment of photos that illustrate several specific neat & nifty ideas that caught my eye and ear as they shouted/whispered to me interesting implications for interpretive design.

Missed Opportunities

There are so many missed opportunities to add an interpretive flair to a site, that we need to insert our interpretive influence more often. Surfaces need to be considered more as interpretive spaces.  Exterior infrastructure components are often underutilized and usually boring due to a one-dimensional aspect. Because they are seen by many visitors they could be adding to the visitor experience.

Gateswing barrier Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Take the lowly parking or pedestrian access barrier – the image I snapped shows how a blank surface could have an interpretive application-in this case historic drawings of the garden you are about to enter. It is all about what you want reinforced in the visitor’s mind at that site juncture (see a previous blogpost titled Double duty design dream — EID Coaching illustrating the interior use of walls, doors, benches, etc.) Think about how you could use nearby boring infrastructure to add value to your site message and be integrated into your visitors’ experience

Passerby Enticement

This exterior infrastructure tactic could also act as an allure piece to get you to come inside by showing you a sample of what you might find there. This is exactly what the Caricature Museum did in the town of Krems an der Danau. They went beyond their own infrastructure and I am assuming used a partnering approach to get permission to use a fence on the opposite side of the street from the building entrance.

Image Courtesy Bill Reynolds

This is where they posted a facsimile of a selection of their pieces in art gallery format, to entice the passerby to glance and linger. You immediately knew that this would be a satirical place with social commentary that might be worth checking out if you were so inclined (just across the steeet). It was difficult for you to walk by on the street & not be aware of what the museum stood for. It would be intriguing to survey how effective this street “intervention” would be for bringing people to check out the facility, during opening & non-opening hours.

When was the last time you did any visitor survey to evaluate effectiveness of a new way of engaging your visitor?

Top It Off - Facial Power

When I find a good example of interpretive signage I want to do a dance of joy and I did one in the town of Durnstein. The look of the sign would have been unappealing if it had not been topped with a life-size two-dimensional cut-out portrait that commanded attention on the streetside. Many used vibrant colours -my chosen example used a more subtle palette of hues yet still effective.  Each of the famous people being portrayed were positioned so they either stared directly at you so you were compelled to engage with them or they gave you a sideways glance like they were going to whisper something to you.

Image Courtesy Bill Reynolds

The text was written first-person style and captured your reading interest with a modern twist of phrase. There was a sense of immediacy employed - like this historical figure knew this could only be a brief encounter and that they wanted to pass on something of importance to you. With a little imagination, due to the clever combination of portrait and conversational tone, you got a sense that these people of the past were with you, for a moment.

Image Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Staged Set Impact

I discovered in short order that two- dimensional cut outs as a set can be very effective, especially when judiciously staged, in order to add a sense of life to a scene. This has a greater impact especially when you first encounter one and you are not expecting one.

We had been touring an abbey for a good 45 minutes listening attentively to our guide and viewing artifacts & exhibits, when we entered the stunning library – a grand display on its own bibliophilic expansiveness and architectural majesty. When what should appear but two time period dressed “characters,” seemingly having a conversation and a meal of sorts between friends??

Image Courtesy of Bill Reynolds

This “set” gave the appearance that we had interrupted something and I thought provided the guide a glorious opportunity to have a little fun and feign surprise upon the unexpected encounter. Based on the guide’s non-reaction and attempt to ignore the “set” by walking past it and providing no explanation, it was apparent that this was not part of her tour. Maybe it should not have been in the room and had been left over from a previous event?

In any case, this successful ability to liven up a gorgeous yet sterile room could have been a wonderful way to illustrate a happening in the library in the past. This staging would have really broken up the consistently didactic explanations that we had been exposed to up to this point. The positioning of this “set” was a little random and would have been better to be seen right as we all entered - this would have worked well with the feigning of surprise I suggested earlier.

It was apparent that many visitors were definitely wondering what this staged set was all about and were distracted. As an interpreter conducting a guided tour she broke the classic rule of not ignoring what obviously has captured the attention of the audience. Use distraction to your advantage and try to connect it back to your underlying message.

Plan for Visitor Participation & Look for the Story

Was this a reconstruction of a painting? Who were these two men? One is wearing an interesting head covering and neckpiece- what did that signify? Attention to detail for the food layout posed many inquiring questions. Allowing the audience to contribute possible captions for this moment caught in time would have meant some participation and most likely some laughs. Do you see the little dog? S/He really is little -is there a story there? This vignette is full of stories and had the potential to add so much spice and interpretive variety to a standard walk and talk tour. Unrealized ! Don’t let that happen.

Consider using the expertise of a stage set individual to create a vignette or moment in time for your facility, to add some participatory zest to your guided tour or self-guided experience. If you need assistance adding participatory elements to your visitor experience just get in touch - we would love to explore opportunities with you.

Standing Out

I have saved a particularly fun element to wrap-up with, that shows an imaginative treatment for a building known as the Bread Museum in the town of Asten. I make my own pizza dough and so when I saw the building for the first time I was ecstatic. I found the architect had wonderfully captured the essence of dough when it is rising and when you are kneading it, in the swirling aspect. It is a draw from a distance due to its different shape.

Bread Museum Image Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Most people inherit a building or trail setting and you aren’t able to mold what you want from scratch. However, what can you do to add a piece of curiosity to your existing building or interpretive trail starting point that adds flair or is attention worthy, on-theme, to draw prospective visitors in?

The design allowed for an interior spiral staircase that was beautiful . The pretzel shape was in keeping with the theme and Austrian baker guild symbol. Another example of form follows function.

Knead to Incorporate the Senses

The museum had a great selection of artifacts demonstrating the cultural importance of bread and its widespread global influence. What was missing were the sensory aspects - there was no smell of bread anywhere, there was no demo area or place to interact with dough, there was no place to grasp the process of breadmaking, and there was nowhere to purchase baked goods.

Time to review your interpretive offering and assess whether you have incorporated smell, touch, taste and sound. Without them your presentation falls flat, and won’t rise to the visitors’ delight. Without tasty revenue generators tied to your message you miss out on capturing the visitors’ dough (puns intended or should I say buns intended). Remember I started the blogpost with a toast… I hope you have enjoyed this continuing slice of Austriana (sorry, for those, just a reflection of the kind of spring sunshine mood I am in today).

Staging Suspense Part 2

In part 1 we looked at how to:

·         add an action orientation

·         have a continuous storyline

·         ensure exhibits/trails are exciting, and

·         keep the suspense maintained.

These tips were generated by the research and analysis by exhibit curator Ariane Karbe who has academic training in screenwriting. Her novel perspective teased out many potential benefits for the interpretive profession. Part 2 of this blog post will embellish this idea of screenwriting suspense, of holding attention and staging immersion, along with understanding visitor motivation. 

Are you establishing interest through emotions?

The author asks, “What motivates the reader/viewer to follow a story, eagerly?” She summarized the answer in two words: Emotional Engagement. How often do we design our exhibits and trail signage to generate feelings in our visitors, so they stay engaged with the storyline?

As Philipp Schorch states in his long-term study of global visitors to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, ‘It becomes clear that to “feel” invites us to be “interested” and enables us to “understand.”’ (Note the order!) Too often we jump to understand with only a touch of pre-interest attempted. AND we ignore the criticality of feelings to kickstart any level of receptivity in the visitor.

Emotions of hope, fear, and undeserved misfortune are central to developing suspense and the state of uncertainty. Human stories lend themselves to this storyline. From the animal kingdom perspective, the predator-prey relationship commonly generates feelings of fear and hope for the prey to escape its underserved misfortune. We just need to look for other situations and apply the emotional connections. 

The big challenge is how to express and connect emotions to the current visitor when utilizing artifacts built and used by people no longer with us. Even inanimate objects, to ramp up their interest value, could be presented within an emotional context linked to a crucial function in the dynamics of a human relationship.

Faces are often used when wanting to connect with feelings. A common engagement technique in film is the use of zooming in especially on faces. Reading this brought me back to an arresting large wall display of faces in a visitor centre in Ecuador’s Galapagos National Park. The exhibit text captured their voices, and expressed a diverse range of feelings that residents had for the special islands where they live. It was very effective in holding many visitors’ gazes.

Faces of Galapagos Image Courtesy of Bill Reynolds

Zooming in is employed also to change viewing patterns, especially to train the visitor’s eyes on something particular that might arouse emotion. Exhibits and signs can use sighting tubes or peep holes as a visual aid to accomplish this.

Is it possible to avoid storyline fragmentation?

The author mentions Marshall McLuhan as the first to point out that popular films are born storytellers because they demand participation or completion by the audience- to link the story bits. Ariane reminds us that the fundamental fragmentary nature of exhibit halls necessitates the movement of visitors and they can easily pull apart a storyline. Reshuffling the narrative is a common visitor situation if the overall series of “scenes” are scattered, unconnected and not well executed.

Spatial images within displays and between exhibition “scenes” often compete for our attention because they are not presented sequentially as in a film. It is paramount that the viewer find the “reassembling story process” as an entertaining and not a confusing experience. On the other hand… the author then posits that maybe we should be giving visitors less choice of directional movement as they so often break up the narrative sequence - something they don’t do while enjoying entertainment media like films, theme rides, and theatre shows.

image courtesy Bill Reynolds

Based on extensive analysis, a fixed linear order seems to be essential for creating suspense. When a sequence of events is re-told it accomplishes a story that is “followable, intelligible, memorable” - you might actually call it chrono-logical. The author advocates that this approach can maintain interest and continuity, and should not be rejected outright, due to the common complaint of implied power and authority, of the visitor being controlled or having fewer choices within linear narratives. I concur with the author that an organized, staged series of “scenes” can be created using choices and minimizing aspects of expressed authority.

What would you do?

The using of a question is a common technique to garner attention and a personally directed question like, “What would you do?” is particularly effective. This was employed in an exhibit about disease epidemic choices and the unravelling is so much more magnetic in its holding power.  This time an interactive element has been incorporated and an element of suspense has been created AND maintained (refer to part one of the same blogpost for a contrast). This comes about due to a participatory choice option, using an element of gaming technique.

Two distinct story pathways have been controlled to maintain continuity, but hands off control is also used to achieve visitor involvement and visitor decision making. The angled positioning of the exhibit in a corner ensures the visitor does not get side tracked from other competing exhibits or pulled away from the desired exhibit outcomes.

Interactive doing, a question and built in suspense                         Image courtesy Bill Reynolds

Can a sand grain be a protagonist?

In the book the author instructs us that film viewers need to identify with a protagonist to engender suspense. Visitors will be attracted to the interpretive medium if they can identify with a form of protagonist. Films appeal directly to the viewer’s emotions through a link to the universal needs of the key “characters.” These characters in an interpretive sense could be human or non-human.  The film industry looks for a conflict or a struggle as well as a resolution with a pathway connecting the two. If this process of identification takes place, the visitor will more likely grasp the essence or story of your place – human/non-human, tangible/intangible, cultural or natural process.

I will never forget in the 1990’s, a certain self-guided trail at a Canadian coastal national park, where I was attracted by its appealing imaging that used an odd protagonist character – a sand grain.

Image Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Thanks to a cartoon-like graphic image of a sand grain, a natural process came alive. By recounting its state of uncertainty due to dune migration and a wild journey caused by erosion/deposition forces, this character had me hooked. This travel adventure technique was an extremely effective form of inanimate anthropomorphism, that resulted in a resolution to a challenge/conflict.

On several successive panels I was then immersed in the storyworld, where I could relate to a sand grain’s existence and accompany the central character on its journey. I suggest it is time to review some of your texts and images to assess the opportunity for integrating an emotional protagonist, as the film profession does.

Film excitement is based on a three-dimensional immersion, whereas my signage example was of a conceptual immersion achieved two dimensionally. It still works, but we need to aim higher.  In a park setting additional physical immersion by a visitor could be accomplished, yet it is so often underutilized. Visitors wander alot in a disengaged manner without being set up to achieve a close and personal contact with a sense of place. We have our work cut out for us to add the physical dimension.

Have you thought about smooth transitions?

When you apply the concept of scenography and staging to this type of immersion technique, you can achieve an arc of suspenseful anticipation. The author touches on the importance of ensuring a smooth transition between scenes (trail stops or signs or exhibits) as a suspense maintaining technique. For smooth transitions, she spotlights the use of physical and verbal repetition, the setting up of concrete expectations and the use of recurring motif to maintain the narrative flow and keep the participant engaged.

Props used for Earthwalks Song of the Season experience          Image Courtesy Mike Mayer

 I have experienced this feeling when participating in an Earthwalk as described in the book, Earthwalks: an alternative nature experience. Staging and smooth transitions are elements stressed in the leadership guidelines detailed in that book, produced by The Institute for Earth Education. The Institute practitioners have succeeded in stitching together a guided walk focused on building a relationship with the earth that utilizes smooth transitioning suspenseful anticipation.

Museum Exhibitions and Suspense - The Use of Screenwriting Techniques in Curatorial Practice illustrates various dramatic screenwriting techniques that enable a visitor to move through a space, stay focused and tell themselves a good story. At EID we are always looking for ways to do a bit of cross pollination between experiential interpretation and other fields.  There is plenty of food for thought in this book for the design of trails and exhibits where you desire to attract and hold your visitors’ attention and interest.

Epilogue: Two more thoughts to ponder and if you have any examples that demonstrate these situations, please pass them along to us:

Have you ever used the technique of prologue and/or epilogue to better frame the central interpretive story you are developing?

Have you ever helped the visitor enter into a dialogue with an object on display?

Staging Suspense

Every so often I run across a book title that intrigues me and I just have to investigate its inner workings, hoping to find something worth sharing with our EID readership. What conjures up in your mind when you read: Museum Exhibitions and Suspense - The Use of Screenwriting Techniques in Curatorial Practice?

For me the word screenwriting set alarm bells off -YES!- a new angle from the best practices of the film industry. I can’t wait to uncover its applicability for interpretation. (Even though the word museum and curator are used please stay open-minded and transcend these limits to include parks, visitor centres and heritage sites as they can all use these same tips). In my mind interpreters ARE curators because we curate an experience.

Having dabbled in improvisational drama and stage acting in my younger years I was immediately curious. I am always on the lookout for different fields of study that approach effective communication techniques. The publisher summary indicated that this book would provide an important resource for those who want to create stories with a wide audience appeal. Well, bingo!

The author, Ariane Karbe, is both a curator with exhibition development expertise and is trained in the storytelling form of scriptwriting. Now I was really getting hooked.

The author examines suspense minutely from a screenwriter perspective and that is what sets this book apart. Ariane takes the reader through a somewhat academic treatise breaking down various dramatic suspense techniques. This post will highlight some key concrete areas of advice relevant to the interpretive profession.

The author makes the assumption that “creating suspenseful exhibition narratives holds the potential to support museum visitors’ hunger for (exciting) learning.” Ariane also says, “ Given the important role that suspense plays in the choice and evaluation of entertaining media offerings by a broad audience, it is remarkable how little suspense has been examined in relation to exhibition making.”

Not just for exhibition making, I contend, but also with self-guided trail signage, guided walks/site tours and most interpretive media for that matter. All basic interpretive presentation recommendations tell you to employ suspense but never really detail how. The film industry can help. If you agree, then best read on. The juicy stuff is still to come (are you in a state of suspense?)

On the first page she digs right in and says that in order for museums to be popular with more diverse population groups, the form of communication to be employed must be exciting.

Not too earth shattering a premise. The film industry certainly can show us a thing or two when it comes to developing excitement. Read on, so you can review your last interpretive text and determine if it passes the exciting test?

To certain audiences this fact is exciting Image courtesy Bill Reynolds

Posing questions and supplying answers are central to the unravelling of a film’s plot as they are to an exhibit purpose. Filmmakers play a game of providing and withholding information to cause tension and excitement.

Human interest is based on three main forces: suspense, curiosity, and surprise. Suspense is under the microscope here as the basis for exciting occurrences. Suspense is aroused in the viewer through purposeful information gaps. These gaps or omissions can create a mysterious atmosphere.

Ah! but let’s dig deeper. How does one employ this technique?

The last line hooks the reader into asking how ? Image courtesy; Bill Reynolds

You create, not necessarily ask outright, a question in your visitors’ minds that they want an answer to, then suspend the answer. This is exactly what the exhibit text in Unlocking Hidden Secrets has done in the image above. You add to this by building what screenwriters call an arc of suspense. You reveal bits along the way, raising possibilities. The technique is referred to as a roller coaster storyline.

You set up knowledge about a key character (think in a broad sense as this does not have to be human but could be a species or habitat or community or bone in the example provided…). Then farther on (in the exhibit, gallery, trail…) you show how certain elements/adaptations allowed these characteristics to come about.

The author points out that in films, questions and answers relate to actions, however most commonly in exhibits, they pertain to descriptions. Ariane strictly looked at cultural exhibitions when she stated their typical questions are thematic in nature versus typical questions for films are dramatic in nature, as in - will the character fail or succeed? I wager this can be said for nature-based exhibitions versus nature films as well. What follows is the kicker!

The Greek word for drama means to do and the Greek word for theme is something laid down. “The film viewer is caught up in a course of doing action events whereas the museum visitor sees the events laid down statically in a space.” The result is a lack of “getting caught up.”

This perspective reinforces what EID has always found exciting about the book Interpretive Design the Dance of Experience by Steve Van Matre. This was the first time we encountered a role emphasis for interpreters to set the stage for visitor doing interactive experiences, rather than just the visitor static form of reading or being presented to, primarily creating a listening experience.

As in the following image, we see the typical use of an actual posed question. It has effectively embedded a somewhat incongruous state of affairs to engender curiosity: How CAN a bog be thirsty?

This well written (for many reasons) text could have boosted itself a notch if it had capitalized on suspense leading you on to the next scene. Similarly, it could have involved a doing action on behalf of the visitor. How - a chance to get down and feel the water level among the roots could be accomplished by a cutaway allowing observation below the surface like a mini-cross -section soil profile. The visitor could get to explore “under the covers,” so to speak. People love being given the chance to be detectives.

This book is about making a strong case for exhibits to be treated more like drama with a structure and a soul. Part 2 of Staging Suspense will explore emotional engagement more, as well as delving into immersion techniques, scenography and smooth transitioning that keep the exciting interpretive medium interactively engaging.

Dancing: Better Than A Time Machine

A very happy 2024 to everyone and thanks for staying connected to EID. Jeanette Watts never stops dancing and has kindly provided us with the first post of 2024 focusing on utilizing dance in the interpretive space. Jeanette teaches dance and conducts balls covering the Renaissance to the 1960s. She has worked as an adjunct professor at Sinclair College in Ohio, as a guest lecturer at Wright State University, and leads workshops at museums and historic recognition sites throughout the United States. We hope you enjoy her perspective and now, put on your dancing shoes and take it away Jeanette.

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(Catch the first 30 seconds of the dancers entering the historic Kelton House in Columbus, Ohio. Video Courtesty of Jeanette Watts.)

Why do people come to museums, parks, gardens, and historical sites? I think they come to be connected, not to be educated. They are looking for clarity, inspiration or some other instinctive self-care, curiosity, and even mental health maintenance. We, as interpreters, are muses, sages, and care-givers. It is a lot of responsibility, but a task we relish, because providing inspiration and expressing joy, beauty, and understanding of a place is part of our job.

There are many tools in our tool chest to provoke greater understandings and deeper feelings of a site to visitors. But with all the different ways we can use the written and spoken word to connect to the lives of visitors, rarely do we offer the kinesthetic mode to engage with the site to create a more immersive and interactive experience. In short, we do not provoke them into dancing.

The author teaching fourth grade classes at Historic Latta, Huntersville, North Carolina. Photo Courtesy of Jeanette Watts.

First of all, let’s define the term “dance.” The vast majority of the people I talk to say “Oh, I can’t dance.” This is nothing short of tragic. Dancing is not complicated. It is simply moving rhythmically, usually to music. When you hold a baby, humming and swaying back and forth, you are, in effect, dancing. Small children jumping up and down while watching television or listening to Spotify are dancing. Wriggling in time to the music playing over the sound system while you are waiting in line at the grocery store is dancing.

The author at her local library. Photo Courtesy of Jeanette Watts.

Introducing dance at our sites is a powerful way to channel the visitors’ innate human responses. Visitors arrive already dancing inside their bodies with anticipation. Unleashing this energy of excitement by turning an unchanneled visceral response into movements intimately connected to this particular place bonds the visitors of the present to the experiences and people of the past.

Dance at Plantation, Trinidad, 1836 – Clourtesy of Slavery Images, slaveryimages.org

At a time before sports, dancing was America’s original favorite pastime and played a hugely important role in our history. While our founding fathers and mothers plowed and churned butter, they were thinking about what they would wear to the next dance and spent evenings practicing their dance moves. When enslaved peoples on American plantations were forbidden from making drums, they beat out the percussion on their own bodies and continued to dance.

Dance at the Plantation – Clourtesy of Slavery Images, slaveryimages.org

Every immigrant to reach the North American shores brought their dance forms with them. Every Native American already living on the continent practiced a dance form. In fact, the first Virginia colonists documented the similarities between the European hornpipes and Morris dances and the dances of the Indigenous Peoples. Connecting with each other while connecting with the people who forged who we are as a country creates an emotional bond with our past that can transcend the understanding we get from seeing and handling artifacts. (Check out the first 90 seconds of this lively event in Williamsburg, Virginia.)

Dancing means experiencing the past together. Engaging in this visceral, immersive experience allows visitors to truly feel the inner passions of the people who fought in the battle, lived in the home, or worked in the building. When we blend our bodies and lives together with the heritage site, we become part of it. Offering dances from the 16th & 17th century at a colonial site, 19th Century dances at an American Civil War site, popular dances from the year a state entered the Union or when a country gained its freedom connect the visitor and forebearer – perhaps a way to form a more perfect union.

An evening soiree after a day of classes turned the dancers into the honored guests of Kelton Housein Columbus, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Kelton House: Photographer James Novotny

Not all sites require dancing, and all sites where dancing is appropriate will have a different dance that is appropriate. Out west, Fort Laramie threw fort hops in the 1890s; in neighboring Little Big Horn it would be far more appropriate to have visitors dancing Lakota and Cheyenne dances - provided local Lakota and Cheyenne tribes deem it appropriate to share their dances with visitors.

What about museums? Art museums are filled with galleries from our past, present, and future. In a portrait gallery, we look into the faces of people with funny clothes and hairdos. What did a person think and feel? Participating in the dances of their time gives us a clue. No doubt they too liked to dress up and bust a move just as much as any teenager today exchanging dance moves on TikTok. Galleries filled with modern art can just as easily be illuminated with modern music that echoes the emotions given form on the walls, and dances that flow with the music complete the understanding. After all, dance is music given form.

The author (in the bright blue dress) calling at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Photo Courtesyof Jeanette Watts.

When I visited Kilauea on the Big Island in Hawai’i, the most amazing part of the trip was going at night to the observation deck. After about an hour of watching the molten lava, a Native Hawai’ian joined us and began singing. I don’t know if it was a prayer to Pele or to another of the Hawai’ian pantheons, but that evening the spiritual enrichment of that moment transcended any language barrier. I had learned hulas in the past that were prayers to Pele and Hi’iaka, but until that moment under a starry sky, looking at the volcano in front of me, I never understood the close connection between dancing the hula and that prayer. Now, wherever I go, I take the volcano with me in my heart and in my body – we are connected.

Kilauea Volcano, Hawai’i Courtesy of USGS.

People need and seek out emotional connections. I strongly believe dancing helps create emotional connections with other people and with places. Strangers and family members create connections through the joy and beauty in movement and dance that connects to the site. When visitors feel connected to a site they become invested in it. When a site enters your heart, it changes you for the better…Forever.

Dancers in Nahant, Massachusetts find out what it’s like to enter the past. Photo Couresty of Jeanette Watts.

And that, in essence, is what every interpreter hopes to do – to change people’s lives for the better. Our heritage sites could excel at enriching a visitor’s experience through dancing. Interpretive heritage sites have the space, they have the means, and all that is left is to create the right dances for the site. When visitors dance there is connection with land, place, history, heritage, and with others. Most important, there’s a deeper connection with self. Is your site ready to point visitors to the dance floor? I, for one, can’t wait for the music to begin.

(Take a closer look at the amazing dress that Jeanette is wearing with a “behind the scenes” video of how it is constructed.)

If you would like to find out more about what Jeanette is doing with dance please visit her website and her YouTube Channel History is My Playground. You can also contact Jeanette at Jeanette@Wattses.com. As always, please send us any comments you might want to share about this blog post or any others…and thanks Jeanette for this inspiring post on dance.

Considering the Visitors' Needs

Novelties always bring me joy and sometimes include a twist of the head to confirm what I thought I saw I actually did see. This is how I felt when I encountered a self-serve café in the middle of a series of exhibit galleries - and I don’t mean off to the side in an adjunct space. One exited a gallery space ready to enter another gallery space ( what one had already done several times before) when one suddenly was faced with an area of tables and chairs along with a barista -café like long counter table. This was set up so one could fix oneself hot beverages before choosing a seat. Around the space, this city museum of Salzburg had a smattering of wall displays about the Taste of Salzburg to reinforce the universal human hunger connection with the sense of place.

Salzburg City Museum self-serve cafe Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Even better one could have it set up as a place to reflect on what had come before in the exhibits that the visitors had just travelled through. Question cards on the tables could stimulate conversation as in “What did you think about…” or could pose as stimulants for what one may have missed as in “Did you see the… (it was hiding in the corner hanging from the ceiling)”.

 If I recollect correctly, there was an option to go outside into a small courtyard. Using indoor/outdoor space juxtaposition can be effective to break up the instructional atmosphere and literally provide a breath of fresh air.  Can you see a way of doing that at your site?

Why do we often only have a cafeteria of a large scale sequestered away down a hallway or in a back corner? Why not offer in addition, a smaller space interspersed with the learning or experiential environment as this example demonstrates? Provide simply a place to gather over a beverage and maybe enjoy a self-dispensing snack from a vending machine, but make sure it is an attractive place and not in a corridor. You can use the existing traffic flow but you need to create a SPACE to linger as in stools at a counter. Check out new health clinics and recently built academic campus buildings and you should see this in action. I certainly have. Investigating places involved in the field of well being like we are, in the interpretive profession, are worth observing to see how they handle the visitor experience.

Lo and behold I experienced this rest stop concept in the midst of wandering through galleries again- this time at the Museum of Glass in Passau, Germany. It felt like a mini-exhibit all on its own in keeping with the era of time being represented. What a gorgeous space. It was devoid of any interpretation - pity. It did not include any glass replicas. Opportunities lost.

Period rest area, Passau Museum of Glass Courtesy : Bill Reynolds

Now a word from our self-serving sponsor -ourselves, as a matter of fact.  When we at EID review the visitor experience, we consider not only the mindset of the visitors but also their “bodyset” so that they are in an enjoyable state to fully absorb where they are at. Intellectual, physical, and social comfort is what we strive to capture. We want the visitor to maintain their entrance energy and enhance their dance when they visit heritage spaces.

This is why we emphasize the point that interpretive designers need to be involved upfront when interpretive spaces are being set up. It is not as easy when you have a space already, however we can coach you to reassess the existing situation and come up with ways to reconfigure for maximum impact. Contact us.

Cafe sneak peek Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

Although primarily acting as a marketing tool for a hidden away café, a “window’” technique can play multiple roles, firstly for example to provide an outlet for visitors to satisfy their physiological need of hunger and thirst. Have a viewing window right in the middle of the exhibit gallery wall (or as in the example shown, use a door in the middle of the wall) affording the visitor a sneak peek into the restaurant. Even better tantalize the visitors with a close-up of an array of delectable wares to stimulate the salivary glands.

Cafe pastry culture Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

This porthole preview concept can be applied In interpretive ways to stimulate visitor curiosity with a focused exhibit lookahead. Or in the case of a nature centre, portholes at different levels could provide views outside enticing exploration of specific concepts like interrelationships being spotlighted. Or in the case of an historic site visitor centre a glimpse of the start of a self-guiding trailhead could be the directed point of view. Or a multilayer building could make use of a periscope or subscope.  Literally, as interpreters, we offer “windows on the world,“ and we need to grab many more opportunities to “frame” the experiential invitations we are setting up for our visitors.

Children’s gallery floor level entrance Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

One more example of using portholes to discovery was a floor-level passageway in a gallery in order to access a children’s exhibit corner. Brilliant concept.

Food and beverage breaks are one avenue to counteract “museum fatigue.” We all know we could do better. Various after thought attempts at providing benches (often hard and uncomfortable with no back) or the odd chair are not proper solutions. A previous blog post, Antidotes for Visitor Fatigue Syndrome Part 1 and 2 Part 1: Antidotes for Visitor Fatigue Syndrome — EID Coaching showed some solutions.

Staying on the rest concept, I was struck this trip by the lobby in Vienna’s Museum of Applied Art & Design, upon seeing the large overstuffed sofas ringing the outer walls of the atrium.

MAK Museum of Applied Art and Design lobby Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

They were funky and well-utilized by patrons, appealing to all ages I had to wait awhile to capture the sofa image with only one individual-usually family or school group hangout). Let’s get over the fallback position to use “standard institutional issue” furniture. Unless we are trying to impart an interpretive message of austere incarceration or some such.

This museum was a treasure trove- one example that happens to blend well with sitting, exhibitry and applied design was their decision to display the evolution of chair design through silhouetting. My photos I hope illustrate what they achieved through white sheeting, lighting and the creation of three long parallel corridors. Subtleties of design were definitely enhanced by focusing on the shadow world !

Clever silhouetting, MAK Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

MAK front /back shadow catching technique Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

Transferring this idea into a natural heritage encounter, I was reminded of a wonderful sensory activity called Share a Shadow from the Earthwalks: an alternative nature experience book produced through the Institute for Earth Education.  Participants all have shadow catchers to capture immediate impressions that are delightful dimensions of a sunny day. Then they all create a gallery of sorts in the woods, prairie, desert -you name the habitat. It is a great way to reinforce how the earth is turning.

Do you see any applications for this technique at your site? Please let us know. If you desire a creative idea-bouncing zoom session on enhancing the visitor experience at your site, get in touch with us.

Relating to Visitors

Previously, I provided you with some Viennese interpretive highlights that I had experienced. This post will continue along that adventure and showcase some novel and effective interpretive design approaches I encountered primarily in Salzburg. For background listening find your favourite Mozart piece of music and a torte then continue reading. Hopefully one or more of these examples will stimulate you to try something different to refresh and improve on your visitor relatability.

I was impressed by a “Design your own Gallery” interactive exhibit that allowed you to choose which paintings of what size, in what kind of frame, in what order and position on what colour wall. Imagine the possibilities that could be concocted with this “interior designer” playtime. It did however seem like just play without too much purpose, which isn’t inherently a bad thing yet a little layered direction could turbo boost the impact.

If the objective was to provide a way to study a range of visitor preferences for how paintings could be displayed with the intent to evaluate and modify future exhibitions and they had built in a way to record these outputs then I would be really applauding the concept. It was just scratching the surface and this technique could lend itself to so many rich applications.

One’s objective could be to walk the visitor through a curator’s decision-making process behind what objects are chosen and why objects are displayed in the way they are, then open the gates for the visitor to make their own decisions. In combination with this framework, what could be really fun and impactful, would be to allow visitors opportunities for imagining completely different comparative pathways of expression.

Going beyond the traditional array so often based on style, artist, or time period for example would open up the creative display process that often seems lacking in “educational” art exhibits.

Providing the visitors the ability to choose different intents and purposes for the conceptual or emotional messages they might want to illustrate through their painting selection could be very enlightening. Or they could simply choose noses through the century or how about changing shoe designs.

The case -in-point utilized a digital screen approach however simpler analog versions could be employed to accomplish the same ends. For example, mini 3d models or boards with felt/magnetic pieces representing the type of object display decisions would allow the more tactile-oriented visitor type to participate.

On another analog tact altogether, the thought of mixing and matching exercises reminded me of the “imaginary animal” gamebook where each page representing one actual animal is split into three sections: head, body, and tail/feet. Their name is also split into three syllables on each 1/3 section. You flip the pages and create new creatures so an elephant head (el) plus the body of a crocodile (co) plus the tail end of a cockatoo (too) becomes a trunked scaly flat four legged white-tailed elcotoo. Do you know where I am going with this? What elements of your collection/artifacts/habitat types could you “cutup” in thirds and create new concoctions? I swear I was not experimenting with mushrooms - just cognitive remnants of my past exploration into lateral thinking.

Please don’t write this idea off because you are not an art gallery. This can work for natural or human history sites as well: decisions regarding diorama or exhibit case; models, drawings, photos, specimens, mannequins and their juxtaposition; etc.

The case-in-point used only paintings only on a wall. I recommend you take a peek at a previous blog post titled A Visitor’s Journey: One Innovative Approach (Feb , 2019). This Spanish museum in Bilbao presented a more rich nuance of creative expression through sculpture, ceramics, textiles, etc. and the display options included floors, ceilings, and tables in addition to walls.

Imagine if you gave the visitor these level options of display and choice of expression. This would have to be graduated in steps as it would be too complex if offered simultaneously. You could call it “Curator for a Day.”

The previous example opens a crack in the hidden door for non-museum people into the curators’ world of mystery. Making curators approachable can be employed as an element of improving relatability between visitors and what is often seen as formal institutions. How might you form the beginnings of a relationship between your visitors and your staff?

The City Museum of Salzburg created a film of interviews with their staff where they were asked what their favourite object from the collection was. “Name your Favourite …” is a classic ice-breaker conversation device in group settings and can be very effective at breaking communication barriers. In this case, these interviews were shown on gallery walls in a clockwise format with a central table of the mentioned favourite artifacts as the only link between the very disparate items (see image).

Salzburg City Museum Image: Courtesy Bill Reynolds

It worked ! It established a personal touch and a way for visitors to feel an initial relationship with staff. People talking to people and sharing something personal - with the bonus of exhibiting an element of passion for what they do and feel responsible for.

A final enticing little bit of exhibit mobility that allowed for display expansion was the use of tracks and sliding “pages” (see image). if you remember the old Kodak slide projector (pre-carousel) that used a cartridge -like mini-boxcar looking apparatus with a sliding arm that would place one slide at a time in front of the projection bulb and move progressively down the cartridge one-at-a time.

Well this set -up works something like that as the text “slides” are in the front slot with the six subject “slides” that pertain to the text are in slots behind the text. They can move back and forth based on the visitor’s choice. In this case, photos are being used to provide a representation of building and landscape architecture of a certain time period. Some may say this is just a glorified binder of plastic sheets a visitor could thumb through. I thought it was cool with changeability power and definitely more robust. Human curiosity is stimulated with the urge to find out what is hidden behind the slide curtain so to speak. It doesn’t take up wall space and I think it has lots of potential beyond the simple way it is being used. If you have any ideas on the adaptability of such a display table mechanism, jot us a line in the comments.

Desiring new visitors? Time-changer, anyone?

December is the month of gift-giving for many. I wanted to share some highlights from a recent trip as a series of gifts to you. I hope they will give you inspiration and trigger new thoughts about things you should try. I believe strongly in A.I. = Always Improving. As well, R&D should be a consistent part of your toolbox. When I say R&D I mean Rob & Duplicate. Learn from the best (EID) and steal from the rest.

This R&D post will be the start of several as a result of a recent trip to Austria that included the overenjoying of the coffee culture and stunning architecture of Vienna. With the weather being predominantly sunny museum visits were not as high on the agenda as originally planned. One stood out, however, and filled my heart with joy and satisfaction: witnessing an excited crowd forming incredibly long line-ups to buy simple admission tickets to Vienna museums. That evening there was a celebratory feeling in the air, especially in the area designated as the MQ - the Museums Quartier. Culture and heritage was on everybody’s mind -it was a happening!!

Lange Nacht ticket line-ups (Courtesy : Bill Reynolds)

Lange Nacht der Museen (Long Night of Museums) is a one-night, one-price admission blowout (15 euro), where over 100 venues collaborate and agree to be open from 6pm to1am one night of the year (slow October). The museums tend to put on special tours or events just for the occasion. So you might run into a concert at the historical instrument collection, be allowed to hold a gold bar at the National Bank’s Museum of Money, watch restoration work at the Furniture Museum, take a crash course in Esperanto at the National library, or join an Indonesian line dance at the Weltmuseum.

The city even provides all the public transit for free. What a grand idea - they have been doing this for several decades. This year they had 183,000 tickets sold. The numbers were stunning at least for the downtown venues we visited.

The two museums we choose to enter were jammed pack with visitors for the full 90 minutes we had dedicated for each of them. I have included a picture of one museum lobby to give you a sense of this. To say I was blown away- would be an understatement. There was no blockbuster event - no celebrity visit - just basic museum entry and the crowds responded.

Lange Nacht museum visitors (Courtesy: Bill Reynolds)

My few and short conversations with museum staff manning the information tables indicated they were thrilled with the interest level - one person actually said to me that the Lange Nacht concept was the best thing that could have happened to stimulate exposure.

One of the museums we visited had arranged for hot food vendors in the indoor hallways outside the galleries creating a festival atmosphere. Many of the venues had chosen to offer free tours or provide interactive stations manned by interpreter/researchers spread around the exhibition areas. I even heard about a sponsor providing chocolate snacks for people lined up in an exceptionally long queue.

Something that impressed me was the apparent age of the crowd from my cursory survey (check out my photos) documenting this : dominantly people in their late 20’s and thirties, either alone, in couples, or in groups - not the normal museum crowd. There was definitely a feeling of date night.

Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

Even though the national Natural History Museum had primarily an archaic display style of research collection focusing on taxonomy, visitors were lingering, gesturing, in conversation with each other and seemed genuinely engaged. In the previous photo, you can observe that the museum had supplemented their glass case specimen displays with some giant magnified replicas on top of the cases along with embedded videos in the cabinet ends.

In other cases, they had rearranged specimens to create a simulated mini -diorama. Yet it seemed to me that the sheer diversity and oddity of life forms was what created the awe in the visitor. From a keen naturalist standpoint, this museum had an awesome collection from all over the world not just Austria, which allowed for a certain WOW factor.

Over popularity meant the gallery space often got so crowded it was interfering with the viewing quality, it was upsetting individual personal space and the internal building temperature was getting uncomfortable. I felt the carrying capacity was being exceeded.

Courtesy: Bill Reynolds (teaching display cases like this brought back memories of undergrad naturalist nerd biological science classes in the 70’s)

Many interpretive moments were being lost. It was obvious that interest was piqued at various points for different people yet there was a pressure to keep moving due to sheer numbers of people. Reinforcement of interest could not be capitalized on. Successful from a numbers through the door perspective but what does the visitor takeaway? How do you stay connected with them in the future?

With meteoric public exposure through Lange Nacht promotion to museum spaces, and with visitors realizing what was still to be experienced - would that stimulate people to come back? This is a very worthwhile question to have evaluated through a survey.

Note the 2-d turtle skeletons above the cabinets like works of art-also different forms of plastic are clothesline strung from the ceiling making a point about turtle ingestion issue (I think … perhaps an exhibit in progress)

Takeaways for me:

• if you are in need of a rejuvenation of visitor numbers or change in your same-old visitor types try an admission time changer

• sites should consider extending their hours on occasion definitely into the evening to draw a different crowd

• sites should experiment more with one-occasion, non-normal time blocks like early morning for instance

• a range of heritage sites in close proximity of each other could think about working together more often with same day joint admission opportunities, especially during slow times

• facilities should incorporate a food fair of different types in their public spaces as inclusive promotion for their regional ethnic communities

• big heritage sites need to work together with small sites to raise their profile in the community on specific days with joint shuttle availability

• don’t forget to design a method to follow-up with the new visitor base you attracted (don’t let them slip through your fingers)

• beware of overcrowding and have planned contingency visitor dispersion techniques

• allow yourself time for occasional exhibit observation times to gauge visitor interest spots to guide your decision-making for future interaction stations

• OK blogpost reader it is your turn to send in your spark of inspiration to us based on reading of this post.

Getting to Kinship

We believe that setting the stage for visitors and welcoming them to our sites is a critical part of the interpretive planning and design process. If we are striving to connect people to place and enhance their relationship with the earth -their ultimate home – then we need to embrace the concept of kinship and one big family of humans and other-than-humans.

credit: Bill Reynolds

Obviously, the concepts of diversity and inclusivity figure into this although the concept expands outward from just being human-centred. There was an article about human cultural welcoming and acceptance that had earth kinship philosophy woven all through it so it will act as a good kickstarter for us.

The childrenandnature blogpost titled Finding Nature News, presented a delightful story in their April 2023 edition about how a park got ready to host 50 women in hijabs that were celebrating the end of the annual fasting and prayer period of Muslim Ramadan. I rediscovered the piece just recently and it resonated on so many levels I knew it had to be shared.

You all know our website name captures the interpretive outcomes of Engage Inspire and Delight (EID) as well as being our company name Experiential Interpretive Design (EID). Well, that Muslim festival time period at the end of Ramadan is called Eid ul-Fitr. An odd coincidence…

Yakuta Poonawalla with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy explained how she facilitated the Eid in the Parks program in San Francisco’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, by inviting a local Muslim community to a volunteer habitat restoration event. She has continued this invitation for six years now.

Yakuta really got the essence of a park when she stated that a park does not judge, restrict, or exclude like humans do.  She eloquently went on to state that the more-than-human world, our kin, is ready for us to reconnect respectfully. This was an outcome she wanted to accomplish with this series of group outings. When I read this my jaw dropped and I uttered, “wow.” Imagine if all our parks would aim for this.

She then went on to explain some lessons she learned along the way in order to be successful in welcoming new audiences.

credit: Finding Nature News

Yakuta mentioned about including time for the “breaking of bread” together and the importance of sharing food and drink in order to relax. Social barriers developed cracks and the ability to connect on different levels was enhanced. I learned very quickly when we did business coaching in tourism settings what the magic ingredient was if we wanted to have open conversations and successful collaborative outcomes. When eating together was designed into the process, then listening took place and joint agreements invariably happened more often.

“There is no better way to connect with the land than sitting on the floor.” Seems obvious but how often do we do this? Picnic tables were not used but blankets were spread on the ground to allow for a circular gathering- what was familiar to this culture.

The importance of a sense of welcoming was created through the simple setup of a welcome table — thoughtfully prepared with granola bars, maps of the park, kite art and craft supplies, a fresh flower vase, a bowlful of henna cones*, as well as a chalkboard informing passersbys about Eid and its importance.

*Henna cones are a cone-shaped packet of henna paste used to create temporary tattoos without the need for needling the skin.

credit: Finding Nature News

 Yakuta also pointed out something that struck me deeply that I will always keep in mind, moving forward, when creating conditions for relationship building. And I quote: “When a personal language or mother tongue surrounds us, there is a deep sense of comfort and belonging.” She provides a wonderful example of sensing the pervasive relaxation that descended on the hosted crowd when familiar music and lyrics were played.

If our visitors are not relaxed and have “a sense of comfort and belonging” when they come to the heritage places we are trying to assist them in connecting to - then we are engaging in an uphill battle.

However, the most impactful item that Yakuta mentioned related to how the word “kinship” had taken centre stage in her life during the COVID pandemic. She had learned life practices that helped her connect park visitors to the park by “becoming a better kin - a human who only feels pure love for all beings.”

credit Bill Reynolds

She talked about how the seeds of kinship had been planted early on in her life through an iconic, animated short film released in India in 1974, titled “ Hum Sab Ek Hain “ which translates to “We are One.”  Her memories centred around ideas of harmonious living, strength and power in unity, irrespective of diverse identities, cultural and religious backgrounds.

To read the entire article go to Park pilgrimages: Unearthing new ways of being in nature | C&NN (childrenandnature.org)

During COVID she discovered the Kinship book series “Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relationships.” She relates that this became a powerful healing balm and a compass for her.

It is worth expanding on this reference she made as I have been meaning for awhile to bring awareness of this literary series for our blog followers. This is a great resource.

credit: Center for Humans and Nature website

There are five Kinship volumes in the series—Planet, Place, Partners, Persons, Practice—using essays, interviews, and poetry to highlight the interdependence that exists between humans and nonhuman beings. Co-editors are Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Hausdoerffer, and Gavin Van Horn.

This book series is a guide and companion into the ways “we can deepen our care and respect for the family of plants, rivers, mountains, animals, and others who live with us in this exuberant, life-generating, planetary tangle of relations.”

·         Planet discusses the profound longing we have for kinship;

·         Place deals with bioregional kinship among communities and systems;

·         Partners talks about how cultural narratives shape relationships;

·         Persons detail how to respectfully engage a world of humans and other-than-humans;

·         Practice explores the everyday and lifelong ways we become kin.

One reviewer said:

“At a time when the human is no longer tenable as a category unto itself, we will need the prophetic voices of these poets, philosophers, mothers, fathers, scientists, thinkers, public intellectuals, artists, and awestruck fugitives to kindle a politics of humility, to help us fall down to earth from our gilded perches, to help us stray from the threatening familiarity of our own image.”

Another reviewer summarizes the intent of the series and captures some powerful perspective-changing values that, as interpreters, we need to invite our visitors to consider:

“Rather than controlling our environments using methods rooted in human exceptionalism (i.e., we know best), we are urged to learn from our kin. Rather than 'using' land, water, and wildlife as 'natural resources,' we are urged to be in reciprocity and right relationship with our kin. Rather than labeling birds, rocks, and rivers as 'it,' we are urged to think of them as persons who have their own rights. Rather than being static, we are urged to be kinetic (Kin-etic?). Decolonization begins with unlearning, and this is a good place to begin."

The book series are produced through the Center for Humans and Nature and their website has a link to book club discussions. The web site can be linked to here  Kinship | Center for Humans and Nature

At EID we see interpretive planning and design work as a perfect vehicle to create the experiences that allow for kinship practice and harmonious living at our natural heritage park settings. How does one build earth relationships as they need to be recognized, attended to and savoured?  Being outside in touch with the elements of life while nurturing empathy & discovery, sharpening senses and stilling oneself are core approaches to be employed.

Kinship building is a core element necessary for the needed harmonious living that all human life must embrace going forward. Kinship is a feeling of being similar, being related. We breathe the same air and we drink the same water. We share the same space (earth) and we are warmed by the same sun.

That feeling along with joy, reverence and love for the incredible planet we share have been designed into playfully serious experiences known as Earthwalks by the Institute for Earth Education.

credit: Institute for Earth Education

These carefully choreographed walking journeys are described in the book titled, “Earthwalks an alternative nature experience,“ authored by Steve Van Matre and associates of the Institute for Earth Education. EID co-founder, Mike Mayer, is such an associate and was a major contributor to the Earthwalk concept.

As Steve Van Matre says, “in reality, we are one family, a carbon-based family of life with many threads and a multitude of members.” “Each living thing on the earth is a spark of sunlight caught in a vast web of life.” “We should not speak of bloodlines but energy and material lines in the web of life.” 

The most powerful of human bonds is the feeling of family. Many of us are connected by shared experiences. For the park visitor, earthwalks can engender that feeling toward every other living thing that we are intimately connected with.

Earth kinship needs to be nurtured and our park heritage sites are wonderful settings where we can plan and design kinship building experiences. Earth kinship needs to be practiced now -there is no time to waste.

Earthkeepers Leadership Workshop...analyzing the details

We don’t usually post two items in one week, but we wanted to provide this workshop information to you as soon as possible. Please contact Mike Mayer at mike.mayer@eidcoaching.com if you have any questions.

The Earthkeepers Leadership Workshop  (EKLW) is a thorough analysis of the entire Earthkeepers program – from the pre-visit introduction to the 2 ½ days of Knowledge and Experience activities at the Earthkeepers Training Center to the completion of the program at home and school. This session will provide valuable program insights and key leadership guidelines for running a successful Earthkeepers program.

Follow this link to the registration page to sign up for this workshop: https://form.jotform.com/232775172082053  

Workshop Leaders

Bruce Johnson (Earthkeepers co-author, Accredited Earth Education Trainer, International Program Coordinator for The Institute for Earth Education, Emeritus Professor – University of Arizona)

Mike Mayer (Accredited Earth Education Trainer and Earthkeeper Program Leader)

During the workshop each activity will be experienced in detail -- set-up, leadership, application to student’s lives, etc. For instance, with the activity that focuses on the interrelationships, called Connection Inspection, we will first head to the activity site and look at the physical set-up. Next everyone participates in the activity introduction followed by processing and examining important aspects to make this part successful. Then each person receives either an animal or plant role card, connection belt and gets connected to the appropriate energy/food source, water, soil, and other living things it depends on. In the end a giant web is formed. Once again, there will be breaks to process the details of the activity and answer questions. Finally, the activity concludes with a place-based Application Page so the students can demonstrate how the concept relates to the natural area where the activity takes place. There will also be time to plant the seeds for actions participants can take to help the Earth and its life.

Earthkeepers Program: four keys for helping young people live in harmony with the earth 

The Earthkeepers program was designed by The Institute for Earth Education to help 9 to 11-year-olds increase their understandings of 4 ecological concepts (energy flow, cycling of materials, biological interrelationships, and change over time) and to deepen their feelings for the Earth and its life through Observations, Solitude, Discovery, and Immersion experiences in the natural world. As the participants complete the various components of the program for Knowledge-Experience-Yourself-Sharing they receive keys that unlock boxes to reveal the secrets to becoming an Earthkeeper.

An important part of the program takes place at home and school following the time at the Earthkeepers Training Center. The “Apprentice Earthkeepers” find ways to reduce their impact on the Earth in their own lives and continue to increase their positive feelings toward the natural world.

The Cooper Center for Environmental Learning (aka Camp Cooper) is a partnership between the University of Arizona’s College of Education and the Tucson Unified School District. It is nestled in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains 20 minutes west of downtown Tucson and borders Tucson Mountain Park – a large area of the Sonoran Desert protected by Pima County.

Part 2: A Tale of Two Trails...

don’t we all deserve the best?

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

In Part 1 of “A Tale of Two Trails” I talked about some of the best practices observed on a self-guided trail (SGT) in Cloudcroft, New Mexico at the Sleepy Grass Campground. The SGT in this post is a bit different because it takes place at a zoo. You may not think of zoos in this way, but the reality is most zoos are a self-guided experience.

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

 Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo

Palo Alto, California, USA

My experience with the Junior Museum & Zoo (JMZ) took place when attending a webinar and examining its website. What impressed me about JMZ webinar session was their use of evaluation to assess the success of special events and regular experiences at the site by visitors.

A bit more background on the site…

·      Site Mission: “The Palo Alto JMZ is dedicated to providing quality science education, supporting wildlife conservation, and advocating for animal welfare. Our robust community outreach program serves approximately 184,000 children and their adults.”

·      It was founded in 1934 by a teacher and in November 2021 opened a new site location.

·      The new location incorporated accessibility in a variety of ways.

·      There are about 200 animals, mainly indigenous to California, and a wide variety of science experiences for youth.

·      Their visitation rate is approximately 14,000/year.

 I am going to let the slides from the webinar presentation, “Impacts of Accessibility Features in Zoo Experiences for Visitors With and Without Disabilities”, tell the story.

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

These pictures helped me get a sense of what might be available during the self-guided experience at JMZ: a place to rest and linger, meeting the needs of larger children with disabilities, many things to touch, nooks and crannies to discover, many visuals, and integration of technology.

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

My EID ears perked up when I saw Outcomes and Evaluation…

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

There was information on who participated in the evaluation(s)…

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

A series of charts showed how accessibility was viewed by the selected visitors…

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Charts presented the usefulness of accessibility items, overall rating of the experience, and visitor impact…

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

There were a few feedback comments from families…

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

And a final slide with conclusions…

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

To capture and share this much information on the visitor experience was quite impressive and reminded me of the importance of evaluation during the process of interpretive planning for trails and exhibits.

Regarding how the site lined up with the 11 Best Practices points listed in “Part 1: Tale of Two Trails,” I can only make an educated guess from my experience at the webinar and examining the website. I did try to contact the JMZ staff for some comments and to answer some questions, but they did not respond to my efforts…so here goes:

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

I did get a sense there was something special about the place including a “whiff of mission; there were a variety of “doing” and sensory experiences available for the visitor; the Head & Heart were engaged nicely; there were places to linger and reflect; the place looked well maintained; and, of course, there was a strong evaluation component at the site.

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

 I have no idea if the maps were useful, how much information was on signs, if other places to visit were suggested, or if there were experiences to connect to everyday life or a larger context. Most zoos and museums have a gift shop so I assume JMZ has one for visitors to take home something in their Hands, but I am not sure how those items might connect to mission or reinforce memories of the visit. Same with Hunger – do not know what kind of food, if any, is offered.

Overall it is my impression that the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo is a great self-guided experience, and their use of evaluation was quite impressive.

For more…our EID colleague Lars Wohlers has been involved in interpretive evaluation for years and recently developed a unique software tool for evaluations.

A recent post by Don Enright offers insights into evaluation in the interpretive setting that may be of interest.

Also Jon Veverka has a new publication available for planning and implementing interpretive trails that has a lot of useful information.

Well, time for me to move on down the interpretive trail, so please send us any comments on this or any of our other posts. Next up will be a guest blog post that is quite interesting – especially if you like to dance.

Image Courtesy of Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Part 1: A Tale of Two Trails…

don’t we all deserve the best?

Before Bill’s two posts on self-guided trails (SGT) become a distant memory, I want to share a couple of experiences I think exemplify best practices on a trail. One SGT is in Cloudcroft, New Mexico at the Sleepy Grass Campground, contains some typical trail designs, and is created to encourage use by visually impaired individuals. The other experience takes place at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo (JMZ) in California. You may think this latter experience an odd choice for a SGT, but recently I realized that all zoos are self-guided for most visitors.

 After experiencing the New Mexico trail in person, and attending a webinar describing what happens at the Palo Alto JMZ, I wondered why all SGTs don’t employ the best practices these two experiences offer? Do we interpreters think adults or “regular” folks don’t need or want the same kind of experiences on a trail offered to people with “disabilities” or for younger visitors? And perhaps the bigger question is…How can interpretive planners and frontline interpreters make everyone feel invited to experience what a trail can offer the visitor, especially if it offers interactions that deepen a sense of place and provide a whiff of mission?

 Before getting into the trail specifics, these are the eleven (11) best practices that I took away from Bill’s posts and used when reviewing both SGT experiences. Does the SGT…

·      convey something special about the place – a whiff of mission?

·      offer some “doing” for a variety of visitor types?

·      include sensory experiences?

·      engage the Head, Heart, Hands, Hunger?

·      have useful maps?

·      give “Goldilocks” information on signage – not too much and not too little?

·      provide places to linger?

·      suggest follow-up places to visit or other resources?

·      connect to everyday life or a larger context?

·      ask you to evaluate the effectiveness of the experience?

·      look and feel well maintained?

Sleepy Grass Campground SGT Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA

The focus for funding this trail is to provide an experience for the visually impaired. All the signs have raised printed lettering, braille, and raised symbols. Also embedded in the background of each sign is a picture of an iconic railroad trestle that is a popular nearby attraction. The iconic trestle connects to the community of Cloudcroft and the region because the trestle is part of an old rail system that removed logs from the area. The picture below is a detail of the trestle and the braille.

The maps are located at regular intervals along the trail and have raised icons. The map below shows the simplicity of the design. At each map location the raised “heart” symbol indicates where you are now. (Map picture)

The trail itself is well designed, not too long (1/2 mile) and wide enough for 2 or 3 people. The wooden railings on each side of the trail are a real plus for the visually impaired, are tastefully done, and add a “you are in a forest” feeling for everyone. 

I especially like the sensory experience for the feet – something often missing in SGTs. For the visually impaired it indicates a nearby sign. For others it is a good visual reminder that something is going on right here. The trail cover is finely ground rough wood and the sign indicators underfoot are medium-sized stone gravel slightly embedded over a layer of fine gravel.

I like the amount of information on the signs -- at least for my taste (and for Goldilocks). All the signs seem well maintained (though a few had a “dot” or two of braille missing). Each sign encouraged the visitor to participate in some “doing” and they indicate distances to the next information sign.

 Here is an example of one sign and the activity space very close to it…

 There is also a small off-shoot trail that encourages visitors to feel the bark on different trees and one tree has no bark…

 A bit further along the trail a sign and a bench encourage the visitor to linger for a while and listen to the sounds of the forest. In another location a sign and bench encourage more lingering while listening to and feeling the differences in sounds and temperature between the forest and a small meadow.

 The sign and activity at the Animal Bones stop is very engaging. A variety of bones are on the railing near the sign and no samples are too alarming – no skulls, animal skins, or a stuffed animal.

It appears someone makes sure the bones are in place on a regular basis since people or wild animals could easily knock them off the railing.

 I think this trail is a great example of what a self-guided trail could be and it contains most of the 11 best practices mentioned above. Here are a few things not included:

·      No “Hands” opportunities (something to take away in your hand as a memory) or “Hunger” experiences (no food), but good “Head” and “Heart” experiences

·      The trail does not provide other resources or suggest other places to visit

·      There is no suggestion of how to apply the sensory experiences to other places or how to connect this experience to other parts of the person’s life

·      I could not find any evaluation opportunities for the visitor or data on who uses the trail.

The only other concerns — a couple of signes with missing braille dots and some of the words are difficult to read against the trestle background. Otherwise, it’s a great SGT experience that pulls the visitor along without being boring.

Next time we will go to Trail #2 at the Palo Alto Junior Zoo, their strong use of evaluation and how they get visitors involved in the self-guided experience.

If you are interested in reviewing Bill’s two posts on SGTs here is the link to Part A and to Part B.

Is Your Visitorship Expanding ? Achieving Cut-Through

Being effective at what we do as interpretive professionals requires a foundation in marketing and public relations. We can create the best product/experience for our visitors but how do we ensure we continually grow & expand our visitorship and build the awareness of new and enhanced offerings. We cannot be satisfied with the same visitors returning again and again or to sit on our laurels and hope the visitors come flocking by.

No, we need to actively reach out in more targeted ways. If you have a “marketing person” on your staff, then you need to be working with them and talking to them about what you have found out about your present key publics. Tailoring a communication program to be effective for more “of those similar visitor types” is a first step to growing attendance and gaining support quickly (just one step but a critical one for success).

Photo credit : Bill Reynolds

When I was asked to grow a continuing education program at a nature centre, I decided to attend a three-day symposium at the New York Botanical Gardens titled “How to Run a Successful and Profitable Continuing Education Program in a Cultural Institution” and 40 years later I realize it was one of the best investments I made after I had completed my MSC in Interpretive Services.

Not only was this course chock full of learnings about the 7C’s of communication and the 6P’s of marketing, it also sent me down a new guerilla marketing learning path that expanded my horizons concerning the design of effective messages and images for people to help grab people’s attention. One course item that stood out was the tactical use of direct mail. It was key emphasis to getting your message into the hands and heads of your prospective visitor.

At that time, in the 80’s, we, of course, used letters in envelopes and the postal service with actual names (not “Occupant”) to targeted neighbourhoods. It worked! We doubled our registrants every season. Fast forward to present day: now we have e-mail which is free - bonus! However, direct mail can still work!

How many new prospective visitors is your park or centre talking to directly through a typed message delivered in front of their eyes in their inbox in a season or in a year? I am not talking about advertising or new web site contacts, I am talking about invitations you send to actual individuals. This can work for growing visitorship as well as for expanding that base.

Photo credit : Bill Reynolds

Expanding visitor types is topic for another time, although I have one tidbit to share from that course that is still relevant. If you have a symphony perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at your park then market through the symphony outlets not just through the park’s normal public relations department. That will accomplish market expansion.

Why this journey down memory lane? Well, it was triggered by an interview with a creative director, who had several mindshifting perspectives about branding that I wanted to share with you. I read this in a magazine about innovative businesses around the world, called “Fast Company.” It started with this line:

“How do you measure real impressions and create campaigns with cut-through?” Just ask Aurelia Rauch, creative director at Bergos, a Zurich-based bank. Two things immediately come to mind:

1) I believe interpreters should be called their site’s creative directors and because of that they should be called in whenever there is a design decision being made that impacts the visitor experience. Don’t discredit the information because it relates to a bank and you are a heritage institution. It is about raising awareness among a social media saturated audience and achieving cut-through.

Raising eyebrows and cut-through for a washroom sign (photo credit: Bill Reynolds)

In this case, Aurelia, the creative director, is responsible for shaping their branding, communications, marketing and advertising strategy. She is quoted as saying, “Brand campaigns that raise eyebrows can be a good thing!!” Knowing what is topical in your area and incorporating that into your messaging helps to make you relevant. Aurelia gave this example of a mini-storage company who explained, “What we do is in our name. We don’t need to explain it. You either need storage or you don’t.”

In another PR campaign hey wanted to do something good during the lead-up to the vote to legalize same-sex marriage. Renting space on a giant billboard they raised a few eyebrows by dislaying “If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get gay married.” Interesting tactic of being seen or being known for doing something good, especially if your facility is in between blockbuster exhibits.

2) Now for something completely different: Aurelia says they focus completely on text ads and don’t use imagery. “Text has a magic to it as you just hear your own voice in your head.” She goes on to point out, “We also don’t have a physical product to sell, so the written word works best. A bold typeface gets the message across in such an immediate and resonant way.” Interesting countertake on “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Bottom line: consider your approach — is it time to try something a little different? Do you have a physical product or are we talking about an experience? Can it be conveyed best with an image, words or with both?

Credit: Bill Reynolds The power of bold text

Aurelia talked about admiring a painting by the Venetian Renaissance painter Titian that showed Mary being carried up to heaven. “The motivation behind it was that the Church wanted to inspire you to change your behaviour. When it came to motivating people to aspire to something, the Church did that extremely well. And that is what good branding does.”

Hadn’t thought about the church in that way before. Maybe we need to more observant and notice who does effective motivation and borrow those techniques for our heritage facilities. After all, isn’t our mission-related experiences really about changes in behaviour and attitudes and feelings. What changes are necessary to implement these new behaviours? In this case it is a strong image that accomplishes the targeted feeling that Aurelia expresses as “This is it – whatever it takes, I want that.”

Depending on the visitor type and the place image, words, or both should be considered. Effectiveness is in the eye and/or mind of the beholder. Make sure YOUR creative direction is being heard.

Part B SGT: One Size Does Not Fit All

Hey folks, we received a positive shout out from John Veverka after we sent you all the first half of this post about self-guided trails (SGT). He passed on an article he had written explaining his approach of mass customization to solve the issue of the “one size (story) does not fit all.” He nails it, in my opinion, when he laments the lazy approach he names the “Wikipedia on a Post.”  His article recommends a step-by-step process of resource inventorying, setting objectives (to understand and to feel), and choosing subtopics before deciding the best self-guided options available at a site using print or send to phone capability. Check out John’s article here: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzGtvsbNBjCbzmMKPlgzjgbVWgzk?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

Pat A of this post left off with: When planning that SGT ensure there is real appeal and interest in any reading or listening the visitor does along the trail. Reflecting on John’s contribution we could easily start with a reminder about avoiding the compulsion to become Wikipedia on a Post. In the age of instant access to information the SGT should be performing tasks other than informing. It’s time to explore the act of directing our visitor into new perspectives and encouraging their act of doing and involving themselves with trail elements that tie to SGT objectives.  

Have you involved the reader?

One example jumped out at me from Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada where the first line on the trailhead sign said, “What are your first impressions?” The text continued with a conversational tone that instructed the trailwalker to “…focus on the background and pierce their way through the dense hazelnut and aspen foliage…” to try and read the landscape beyond.

The next stop was at the first bridge and the text went like this, “Since the first stop you have travelled down a slope to this depression-a site where an ‘iceberg’ melted.” It is like we are having a conversation right now and we are being asked to reflect abit on our walking.

“Kneel down on the bridge and sweep away the curtain of duckweed.” (Note: there is a drawing of duckweed included.) “Under the water a swimming, gyrating show proceeds, free for the watching. Spend a few minutes here, you’ll enjoy the show.” Several images are included of a few underwater denizens to spark interest. The brochure and signage text maintains its friendly chattiness and yet can be directive suggesting something to do.

Is there any magic or sparkle in your wording?

speak to the visitor when using archival quotes

Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Sparkle is especially important for the trail name and the individual stop titles. Continuing along the Elk Island NP SGT using the brochure mentioned previously, there is never a sense of formal instruction in the writing style - always a sense of awe and wonder is expressed. The author writes about the pond by saying, “…an ecosystem that rivals the great oceans…” - you can almost hear the circus barker’s call. “Wielding oversized jaws, the water tiger chases after prey and literally sucks the life out of it when captured.” (drawing of water tiger included).

Would it be better to draw not say?

One time I found this grid drawing of a British Columbian temperate rain forest as part of a self-guided trail brochure, reminiscent of a 2-D drawing laying out an indoor museum diorama exhibit. The grid allowed you to pick out objects in the picture and find their name by combining the horizontal-vertical alphanumeric code and then refer to the list. For example, the owl you see is at B-12, you look up under birds and you discover the creature is a spotted owl. You can also look up what alphanumeric code corresponds to certain herbs, mosses, fungi, mammals, etc. and find out where they “are hiding” in the drawing.

This had potential to be a good interactive tool but it needed to be connected directly back to certain areas along the trail. The accompanying text also did not match up to the items drawn. If they had reinforced each other and related to the actual trail this could have been neat. Choosing what went into the drawing based on the trail sightings would have been the preparation needed.  This would have been perfect as a placemat in the cafeteria and as a laminated take-home placemat gift, all acting as wonderful educational and marketing tools.

Clever use of graphics in a SGT trail pamphlet cover is seen below in Le Relais. They tried to pique curiosity about the trail, without words, by using a mosaic of images that you would eventually encounter from various trail stops. Some may call it a form of dramatic foreshadowing, others may call it previewing - in any case both techniques are effective when you attempting spark interest and to lure in a reader/viewer using a 2-D format.

Have you considered the interest level of your visitor?

McGillivray Falls Trail in Manitoba used trail stop descriptors on one side of the leaflet, thus avoiding the often overabundance of text dedicated to floral identification. Meanwhile the leaflet’s backside was used for a list of flower descriptions and accompanying drawings. Not a bad plan to concentrate on a topic like flowers in one section so it doesn’t dominate or dilute the SGT desired messages. Of course in this case the assumption has been made that there is a large visitor base who desire to know more about the common flowering plants along the trail. As an interpretive planner, or evena front line interpreter, have you checked whether this is the case or whether other topics might be of more interest?

This brochure dropped the ball as they concentrated on a litany of botanical descriptors as the way to describe different aspects of flowers like you were reading a condensed book on botany (Remember - ou are not Wikipedia and no condensing 10 years of knowledge into one brochure). 

Here are some points to remember if you decide to focus on how to tell plants apart from each other:

·         Having a drawing with arrows alerting one’s attention to key visual differentiators on the plant.

·         Deciding what is it about the plants you are choosing that is importnat to highlight.

·         Having seasonal descriptions for each species and describing what time of year they bloom.

·         Indicating where on the trail you are likely to find certain species and their preferred habitat. (eg. dry, sunny or moist, shady)

·         Careful what vocabulary you use — in the case of the Falls Trail they referred to umbels, pinnately divided leaves, and inflorescence. Unless they are shown in a drawing or are a trained botanist then these technical terms should probably be substituted for more common words, or no name at all, just a description of the parts function. (Of course if it is the site’s objectives that visitors should learn these words before leaving, there would need to be some “doing” involved — but that is for another blog post.)

·         For the reader’s ease, determining how to arrange the plants you chose to place in the brochure is important. In this case with the Falls Trail the vertical ordered placement seemed quite random.

Courtesy Bill Reynolds

·         Being careful when using the term “flower” in your title when including a lichen and a fern.

·         Don’t always relying on flowers - they can be overrated. Why not have some fun with leaves and their varied shapes and arrangements, or checking out their undersides. Try using the word ”underbelly” as it’s guaranteed to crack kids up. 

·         Instead of focusing on simply describing the identifying characteristics for the visitor, why not turn it into a discovery for by directing them to check out hidden details. (e.g. look closely at the lower petal lip to see if it has a vein and describe its colour)

·         Highlight the secret and saucy life of plants and their reciprocal relationships with insects and their interdependency with us.

Have you drawn the connection to the visitor’s life?

McGillivray Falls Trail reminded me about the importance of context whenever we have an interpretive trail that follows close to a river. We should always mention where the water is flowing to and where it is flowing from. In addition, this is also a great opportunity to include a connection to the water cycle and how we humans are intricately tied to it – as in drinking from the water fountains in a local airport, or from the taps that provide the water for cleaning dishes at the local McDonalds or from the faucet in the bathtub at home.

 Have you built in a way to measure your SGT success?

If your hoped for takeaway message was, let’s say, “Insects that crawl in and around meadow plants are beautiful” are you checking after the walk to see if visitors are making comments like, “Gee, I didn’t know crawling insects were so beautiful.”  If you are not accomplishing what you set out to do then it is time to go back to the drawing board and decide if a self-guided trail is really the best vehicle to use. Prototyping your trail and doing dry runs with different test audiences can help you out before making an expensive mistake.

I do not run across a SGT leaflet with a built-in evaluation questionnaire very often but in my home province of Alberta, I did find one in the Marl Lake Trail brochure. The evaluation pages were perforated so it could be easily torn off and handed in. The brochure introduction stated “The booklet can lead you to new adventures…” and “The booklet can help you enjoy your walk…” among the delicate high mountain fens. The stated goal of the evaluation was “…to help park staff improve future Marl Lake Trail brochures.”

We should be seeing more evidence of this openness to seek improvement, and accept feedback from the visiting public so they feel more invested. It is also a great idea to evaluate, however, get the questions run by several different visitor types to ensure you are going to acquire helpful answers that you can act on.  In the case of this brochure it felt a bit more like a school test rather than a gathering of information.

Courtesy Bill Reynolds

All the evaluation questions were factual about fens using classic test set-ups with True or False statements, circling best answers and matching phrases. Is this type of test marking to see what visitor’s remembered the best way to improve the brochure? Do the visitors go away really knowing the top 5 things about fens and marl?

After I turned off the alarm bells going off in my head about this brochure, I started to re-assess the intent of the trail brochure and the takeaways desired. In my opinion, open ended questions to determine what the visitors felt about their time spent in this habitat would have been more helpful - like what they found most exciting about fens, or most intriguing about marl, or why we should protect this community? This would have begun to provide the park with better feedback.

If you ever desire to receive feedback on your interpretive resources, we at EID are always open to share our expertise from over a century of experience. Check out our blog page “What We do?” to get a sense of the types of capacity building we can help you with.

SGT: One Size Does Not Fit All

As I was sorting through my collection of self-guided trail (SGT) materials this week, I was reminded of the good and the bad examples I had collected over time and how I still see similar errors repeated when I visit trails today. So, the following helpful points are meant to assist interpretive planners with the 80% of their time spent on preparation before one launches into the 20% time spent on implementation/production for the SGT. These points are relevant whether one plans to use signs-in-place, brochure-numbered posts, QR codes with or without smartphones, or any other form of audio-enhancement.

Preparing a SGT at its most basic is joining a number of interesting places together along a path. Nature trails, historical trails, and sensory trails have been the norm in park settings. Linking together various artworks, zoo animals, botanical specimens or museum artifacts that create a journey for the visitor to follow is also applicable.

courtesy Lars Wohlers

Generally, SGT’s follow the same pattern.  What if we shook up the walking aspect and a microtrail was created that required a “hands and knees” position to focus on the small things in life? What about a trail that would engage the visitor, as in sketching, where your eyes are directed toward certain “scenes” of varying distances using, for example, sighting tubes and picture frames. Or journaling at a few spots along the trail using perspective changing quotes and passages.

Ah, but I get ahead of myself and head down a rabbit hole of sorts. First, some key questions need answering:

What will the trail do?

What are the specific 4H outcomes for the Head, Heart, Hands, and Hunger? (see our Putting Interpretive Ideas into Practice blog posts).  What is special about this place that you want visitors to know and feel? What is it you want them to take away? What do you want them to remember?

Is it about pointing out things?  Is it exclusively about explaining things?

Is it about finding meaning in what we see or experience?

 Is it about reinforcing old skills or learning new ones?

Who is it for?

This step is often forgotten in one’s enthusiasm or evaluated when considering the content and format. One size does not fit all. Would we expect the same story aimed at a grade one child to be interesting for an adolescent or university graduate? Have we included something of relevance for the elderly couple or a family with toddlers? Is there a sense of past, present, and future about the interpreted site?

Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Are they naturalists wanting to learn about plants or birds specifically? This audience seems to be the one that is often catered to. What level of knowledge are you assuming? How do you plan to “hook” and boost the level of engagement for the visitor who wants to stroll through the site?

How long are your visitors here for? Why do we design only short trail with densely packed signs along the trail? How about inserting interpretive enhancements at longer intervals on the longer trails? What about inserting viewpoints that are not dependent on long distance vistas but help the visitor to look up in the canopy or gaze at a nurse log? The stop designed with these kinds of stops might need special equipment like hammocks or kneeling pads.

Creating swollen trail nodes with interpretive stations could encourage visitors to linger and explore their individual senses or some neat site feature that will connect with the visitor. Maybe it will pose questions like:

Do they live in the area? Do you live in the same watershed, same country, same continent? Can we provide some comparisons, some similarities?

Some other visitor types to consider…Is it their first visit or do they come regularly? How do you counteract the “been there- read that” SGT experience? Do you provide options? Many heritage facilities are continually creating multiple background materials for changing exhibits. Why don’t parks and nature centres do the same and adapt to changing situations and multiple guest interests? Ever thought of a leveling system of booklets that lead to graduation? “Wow you have attained the gold level! Congratulations!” This consideration is as important as translating into different languages or the visitor’s spoken dialect.

Courtesy Bill Reynolds and his grandson Jakob

Where should it be?

This should be determined by answering what do you want your visitor to discover and then picking the best spots that demonstrate this.

When will this trail be used?

Is it meant to be taken more than once and at different seasons? Seasonality seems to get overlooked at times, especially with plants, as the text and drawings often represent only one season. This connects back to taking approaches necessary to counteract the “been there, read that” trail syndrome.

Mechanics Checklist:

The SGT intro should include how the trail is marked, estimated length of walking time, distance, change in altitude, washrooms, accessibility, safety concerns and expected behaviour.

Prospective trail walkers need an orientation. Maps should show the shape, distance and position of the trail, and its location in the park along with the location of the park in relation to the nearest population centre(s).

A SGT leaflet from Maine’s Acadia National Park notes that “Stops were selected for the purpose of introducing the visitor to a small slice of life {in this case} near the edge of Jordan Pond.”  It followed up at Station One by saying, “An evergreen corridor welcomes you - a balsam fir holds its branches out as though inviting you to slide your hand along its flat, soft, dark green needles.” All communication should have an element of welcoming and invitation for the visitor, especially to offset, at times, what can be perceived as onerous safety rules.

A summary should include where to get follow-up resources for enthusiasts, where to contact the relevant staff and where to locate the information centre and other nearby SGT’s. Shenandoah National Park’s interpretive trail booklet mentioned the other park SGT’s and how they each emphasized a different facet of the interwoven influencing factors in the Park’s story.

First cautionary note: Don’t try to tell people in one hour what it took you 10 years to learn.

This formula has been around for ever:

Total number of stops: 10-15

Total number of words per stop 30-75 (this was for written text; however, oral listening should not extend this by too much)

Yet I still find examples where the site has gone textual overboard and they wonder why general interest visitors walk by the designated stops along the “interpretive trail.”  Not only the length of each text but the content depth needs to be dialled back in many cases.

courtesy Bill Reynolds

Something I have never seen in trail brochures is levelling of text for one stop so that the layout shows a short, medium and longer paragraph version of text - each one building on what came before and each one using a smaller fontsize. This caters to the person who has either a small, medium or large interest in the topic at hand. Labels in museum exhibits often employ this strategy and I have noticed some signs- in-place doing this. Incorporating a QR code can accomplish this levelling aspect - note how the example below includes instructions.

Also in the example below, the voices of local indigenous youth are employed to share their knowledge about native plants. Different viewpoints and connections to our heritage need profiling and a scientific or naturalist perspective is just one lens.

courtesy : Bill Reynolds

Expanding out on the topic initially discussed also can be done with audio as the listener can choose more tracks after the base track.

Second cautionary note: Don’t try to explain thousands of years of change or a series of complex interrelationships in one stop.

Glaciation erosion, evolution, geologic time scales don’t lend themselves to a 30-75 word descriptor even with graphics. So why do we keep trying to include them in SGT signs and brochures?

On the complex interrelationship topic, here is one half of the text from the last station on a nature path: “Locked forever to the spot where germination takes place, all wild plants must be able to satisfy their needs there if they are to succeed.  Sunlight, amount and distribution of rainfall, soil content and structure, temperature range, and plant and animal competition pressures all help to determine which plants will thrive.”

If you want the visitor to have an inkling of plant need satisfaction when it is stuck in one spot, as this previous sentence lays out, then one would have needed to partition out each italicized and alternating bold determinant as its own stop. This could easily have been the concept for the whole trail and stops could be selected to demonstrate each element in action. Making this message relate to the human condition and need satisfaction would also strengthen the visitor connection.

Third cautionary note: Please, not another beaver or lichen stop!

I have travelled all over the globe and I have encountered the same type of introductory text as the primarily fact-driven text on signs about these two living entities no matter wherever I take a trail. Talk about “been there - read that.” We need to really search for elements that stand out as differentiators while noting the universal message that can tie many communities together. We don’t just have a stop about trees so why do we talk generically about lichens? Lichens vary alot and need more respect. What makes your site special? Let’s never forget to highlight this.

“Have a good look at the tree across the track because you won’t find it anywhere else but here on the buffalo plateau.” I really liked this line that drew attention to a special park feature from a gorge nature walk in Victoria, Australia. A great opener and a great reason for a stop!

Then it falls flat. “It is called Buffalo Sallee. The fine leaves distinguish it from the other gums in the park.” That’s it?   The only interesting thing about this gum tree is its name and leaf shape?? At least we should have a message about the mission of the park and protection values.

When planning that SGT ensure there is real appeal and interest in any reading or listening the visitor does along the trail.

We will pause for a week and take this up in our second segment. Please throw me a crumb and let me know if there was anything – even a morsel -- that got you thinking in a different way and was helpful to you in this post.

Action Now: Solarpunk to Generation Carbon

As smoke again enveloped the Edmonton, Alberta area where I live and another health advisory discouraged outdoor activities, a sense of frustration occurred. This combined with our county having had the first ever evacuation order due to spring grassland fires, I just felt a blog post relating to this ongoing human-caused tragedy was called for.

As citizens and individuals active in the natural and cultural interpretive profession we have a communication and facilitative role to keep the dialogue going and impact people’s lifestyles on behalf of the Earth - our home. This role is about repairing our relationship with the Earth’s communities and natural systems, striving for harmony with all living things, and putting clean air, water and soil above all else. People often say, “It’s the economy, stupid!” that’s the key to survival, BUT counter that with “You can’t breathe, drink or eat the economy, stupid.”

When EID started our blog posts we wanted to draw from different perspectives, form more interrelationships, and break down silo thinking -- not just draw from the interpretive, educational and museum fields. Here are a few relevant items that have crossed my desk that focus on our climate crisis and I think promote interrelationships between fields.

Solarpunk Shines a Light

Being exposed to the concept of Solarpunk is an example of this cross-fertilization of perspectives we need in order to keep our profession relevant. This group is offering a digital conference on June 24 and this YouTube link will tell you all about it: Solarpunk Conference: From Imagination to Action Kickstarter - YouTube

So what is Solarpunk? Solarpunk is a social movement that encourages all of us to ask: "What does a sustainable, equitable future look like?" and "How can we get there?" These are the questions our politicians, businesses and communities should be asking on a regular basis. Our visitor centres and museums should be playing a stronger role here to really engage our visitors in the future of their natural and cultural heritage. Truly, is there anything more vital than this? 

"Solarpunk is really the only solution to the existential corner of climate disaster we have backed ourselves into as a species," says Michelle Tulumello, a Solarpunk art teacher in New York state. "If we wish to survive and keep some of the things we care about on the earth with us, it involves a necessary fundamental alteration in our world view where we change our outlook completely from competitive to cooperative."  

I recommend you start with the following introduction to Solarpunk on YouTube: New to Solarpunk? Start Here. Advice when viewing – the narrator goes at a fast clip so be ready to pause during the 4 levels of action steps or slow down the speed of delivery. It can seem overwhelming, depending on where you are in your lifestyle, at the present moment.  However, the introduction is a comprehensive resource of strategies that potentially can be doled out in small doses to your site visitors…and for moving forward personally.

Rooted in Solarpunk’s philosophy, Canadian consumer brand Expedition Air employs upcycling technology to sell products like paintings and T-shirts made from carbon-captured material. Their consumer offerings de-risk the uptake of this novel material while helping to envision a future in which products and art, are carbon sinks. Are you able to support initiatives and brands like this at your centre?

Parent company to expedition Air is Carbon Upcycling Technologies, who have a reactor technology that allows material to be broken down and CO2 absorbed, creating enhanced concrete additives. Does your site have any future construction plans where you could use this upcycling approach?

Carbon Almanac - Where Kids Help Grown-ups Save the Planet

I am pleased to give a shoutout to the Carbon Almanac Network (CAN) who brought my attention to solarpunk through the daily email they send. I recommend subscribing to CAN’s daily carbon almanac email blast for ways to work carbon reduction into your lifestyle. dailydifference@thecarbonalmanac.org   All heritage sites should be raising visitor awareness of this free educational service. One can also listen to Episode 102 of the CarbonSessions podcast episode, to get exposed to this movement.

The Carbon Almanac Network, a team of +300 contributors from around the world, deserve a mini-profile expansion. They worked together under the guidance of marketing guru, Seth Godin, to create a book called Generation Carbon about climate change.  ”Now more than ever, we need established facts, a common understanding across generations, and collective action.”

Generation Carbon is a book of facts, not opinions and tackles the difficult questions kids have about climate change. In 3 days from April 29 to May 1,2022, when it launched, it was downloaded more than 10,000 times. Their aim is to get Generation Carbon to hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of kids as long as the ever- widening network continues to spread the word. To receive your free personal downloadable copy of Generation Carbon: It's Time to Start click Generation Carbon – A Carbon Almanac for Kids (thecarbonalmanac.org)

The educator’s guidebook followed the 69- page climate almanac for children. In addition, Generation Carbon is a companion podcast where kids age 6-10 help grownups save the planet. Young changemakers are challenged to finish the eBook’s mission — the game plan is based on the multiplier effect to teach five adults about climate change using a bedtime study challenge, almanac exercises, bathroom wall fast facts poster, etc

The Climate Test Kitchen of California

The second news item spotlights the State of California that continues to step up with market- based climate solutions.  As the fifth largest economy in the world, California continues to play a leadership role in policy making that deals with climate change and has been called a climate policy test kitchen.

In a previous job my colleagues and I were always being reminded that to be effective at successfully focusing effort and change agentry you needed to grasp - what gets measured gets done!  In California, a key part of lowering greenhouse gas emissions is accounting for them and this is exactly what the state is setting out to do.

The bill that cleared the California Senate on May 30, 2023 would require companies that operate in the state and generate more than a billion dollars a year to report greenhouse gas emissions across their supply chains using a standardized formula. Climate disclosure is a critically important step to reduction.

Our public facilities, as well as corporations, need to provide this information and model the way forward. As a customer, investor, or a regulator it is very hard to compare voluntary, non-standard disclosures and expose greenwashing if nothing is measured.

Is your site willing to examine the environmental and social effects of your supply chain in the exhibit areas, the gift shop, or the café? Would you be willing to share this information with the visitor along with what actions you are taking to have less impact?

It’s funny (sad, actually) how corporations are trying to prevent transparency and do not want to be held truly accountable , by spending money on greenwashing and anti-emission reduction lobbying efforts, so “business as usual” can continue. Putting shareholder’s profits above the environmental and social health of communities is a reality we have come to accept. Can we turn around profit before people, to people before profit?

Industry lobbyists stymied a similar proposal last year. How should this impact our role at a natural or cultural heritage site?  I believe it goes back to raising awareness of issues that all citizens need to be cognizant of, for their physical, mental and social well being.  Modeling new carbon reducing approaches is something we could champion.

Courtesy Booth Hansen architects web site. With 217 solar panels, the building is LEED Silver certified, the first in the USA for a new children’s museum. Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview, Illinois.

Knowing that one’s visitors are in a leisure mood is an important consideration in how you approach critical topics but does not mean you shy away from them. Surveys continually demonstrate that our heritage sites have high credibility in the visitors’ minds so it behooves us to be that credible source of information. It is not about being a mouthpiece against certain industry practices but it is about being a mouthpiece for beneficial community well being.  We in the interpretive and heritage site field all have an important role - let’s jump in and prime the pump with information that increases awareness and models actions for others that will benefit all the human and non-human passengers on the planet.

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The Currency of Kindness

Our last email contact with you was dealing with the welcome aspect of the visitor experience and it was a whopping two webinars worth.  This item is short and sweet but still packs a wallop.

We believe that successful interpretive planning requires the design of the total visitor experience- pre, during and post visit.  It needs to:

·         reflect a holistic individual,

·         offer visitor interactions between place and visitor, and

·         be developed using the curation of mission-based, outcome- driven experiences. and

·         incorporate a sense of welcoming,

One element of welcoming is the need for inclusion, for feeling like family and for providing the sense of community, safety and kindness.

I follow British-based Positive News and want to share with you an article about the Kinder Shop in a Cumbrian town where the currency is kindness. This resonated with me on the concept of community, as I believe it has relevance to heritage sites that need to UP their connection status and level of caring within their local population.

You can accomplish more through more people by tapping into the wider community of resources available. You also can align quickly with more support by widening your net of people contacts and become less insular. Reaching out for assistance makes everyone stronger and builds relationships that are so so important these days.

Enter the Kinder Shop pop-up and the concept of exchanging goods for time. Here, all the goods were donated by local businesses and priced as volunteer time at nearby charities, with the suggested number of hours displayed on the ‘price tag.’ This concrete initiative was a way to promote kindness and understanding within the community.

They found a catalytic way of thinking about linking volunteerism, the time-starved person and everybody’s interest in getting a deal. The response was overwhelming, with 1,143 hours pledged to help local charities in just one day.

What about primarily promoting understanding in the neighbouring community about what you do at your site? Does your heritage site or does your neighbouring community have a space that could act as a pop-up, where you could display donated goods from local businesses Then the exchange for donated time could not only be for assisting your site but also your “community” of land trusts, archives and affiliated conservation organizations.

Do you have a wish list of projects that need to be done but no person power to do them –, exhibit upkeep, trail maintenance, wildlife cam viewing/recording, bench painting, planting flowers, researching artifacts, help in the bug room, etc.

In the case of a natural heritage site what about promoting earth kindness by exchanging local business free goods for donated time to undertake community projects that you co-ordinate?  Think of this as an extension/outreach project to build strong interrelationships and for being visible in your community… it is worth its weight in gold. How about building & mounting bat boxes, constructing bee hotels, or a native plant seeding day?

I have always been slightly perturbed when I would hear the lament from grumbling staff that they are being required to “do more with less.” My comeback was always so let’s do “more with more”. A bit like the glass half empty concept versus viewing it as half full. We may be given less money, and less staff but that doesn’t mean we can’t look for more. Yes, that takes time but can be a blessing in disguise.

Less budget does not have to mean less resources – it can just mean more partnerships. Having the money to buy what you need is the easy way. However, how might one find the resources to do the things that need doing without money exchange?

We need to start thinking of “exchanges” both in terms of what we and potential partners could offer, in addition to what we and others need in terms of time. The more co-ordinated mutual support, network we have built up - the stronger we all are from a social health, community spirit and desire to thrive perspective.

How DO you unearth a mountain of goodwill using the currency of kindness? How can you become a catalyst of people resource exchange and be a matchmaker in the process? And who DO you direct it to?

For more info on this great uplifting news source and this specific topic go to  The shop where the currency is kindness - Positive News

"Yes, Virginia, We Really Did Record Our Webinar Sessions on Welcoming the Guests."

At EID we think one of the most important interactions with the visitor is the Welcome. That is why we decided to focus on the Welcome Experience for our first two webinars. However, we need to apologize for the delay in getting these two sessions on “Sharing Great Ways to Greet the Guests” up and running. There were a few technical glitches that came up that you, as the viewer, should be aware of.

On the Part 1 webinar we discovered a “hole” in the upper right corner of the recording that revealed the Zoom code behind the screen. Our tech person, Nate Byerley, found a way to patch the hole with a picture of our EID logo. The audio is not affected but at times the PowerPoint slides do get obscured.

The focus of this first Welcome Webinar is the arrival sequence, the parking lot and entrances, with examples and analysis of first impressions, inclusivity, comfort, engagement, humor, and accessibility. In addition, staff from the Raven Run Nature Sanctuary in Lexington/Fayette County, Kentucky will present a mini-case study of their entrance with feedback from EID and participants.

If you prefer to view this first webinar in smaller segments at your leisure here is the link you can use: https://youtu.be/yLQxZFRi3FU

During the second webinar Bill and Mike take a deep dive into components of the Pre-Arrival, Arrival and Welcome sequence. There is emphasis on building anticipation, creating a mood, and setting the stage for visitors.  Different techniques to orient the visitors are discussed so they know where they are and where they can go. This session also responds to participants’ entrances and welcome concerns and presents examples on employing humor and a “whiff of mission” in the Welcome sequence to encourage greater focus on the site’s outcomes and mission.

A couple of times we forgot to just use the speaker view on the recording so the pictures of the participants may block some of the PowerPoint text. Sorry about that and we will do better next time. Here is the link if you would like to download the session: https://youtu.be/XcofjZZZAjk

If you would like to explore some new ideas about the Welcome Sequence at your preservation, collection or historic recognition site please contact us at contact@eidcoaching.com and we would be happy to set up a meeting with you. Or if you have questions or comments about the webinars please send those along in an email or in the comment section below.

Thanks again for your patience and for your continued support of our work at EID. We will keep you posted about future webinar sessions.

Sharing Great Ways to Greet the “Guests” – Part 2

 Another Look at the Welcome Experience?

 Please join us on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, via Zoom for this free interactive session with Bill Reynolds and Mike Mayer with Experiential Interpretive Design (EID). The webinar will begin at 9am (PDT)/10am(MDT)/11am(CDT)/Noon(EDT)/4pm(GMT) and will last no more than 90 minutes.

 Along with some new ideas from Bill and Mike, this 2nd Webinar on the Welcome will look at some thoughts on the pre-arrival sequence and find out what ideas participants from the first session have started to implement. In addition we received some topic ideas from a few folks…such as:

·      Ways to incorporate a Welcome into infrastructure and security at sites.

·      How to keep the Welcome relevant and fresh if there is frequent staff turnover?

·      What are some Welcome techniques to use at sites that are not staffed on a regular basis.

·      Are there ways to set welcoming expectations for visitors before they arrive at a site?

We hope you will bring your ideas and experience to this interactive session.

To register for this webinar please send an email to contact@eidcoaching.com by Thursday, March 23 to receive the Zoom link. Please share this information with others you think may be interested in attending. We are limiting attendance to 25 people to allow for more interaction.

If you are interested in sharing some of the ideas you have implemented from the first webinar, please email Mike at mike.mayer@eidcoaching.com . We always like to know what you are doing at your site. For more information on EID visit our website at www.eidcoaching.com.

 And while we have your attention…

Here are a few topics we have found that you might enjoy reading about Welcomes, Emotion in Interpretive Techniques and a new certification for Earth Guides.

 1.     Our colleague and co-founder of EID, Lars Wohlers, sent us this link about how a Welcome can be good for the visitor and good for the bottom line.

https://www.colleendilen.com/2023/01/18/improving-welcoming-perceptions-increases-willingness-to-pay-higher-admission-fees-data/

 2.     Another Interpretive planner we follow, Don Enright, had this excellent piece on the emotional power of what is spoken and not spoken. This was very touching indeed.

https://www.donenright.com/staring-down-the-rabbit-hole-of-change/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jan2023

3.     Finally, The Institute for Earth Education’s School of the Earth is offering a new certification experience for outdoor leaders in June. For more details and how to sign up for this training check out the website below.

https://www.earthguidesinternational.com/

 Thanks again for following us, don’t forget to let us know if you want to attend the Welcome Webinar #2, and as always, comments are welcomed.