• 25Nov

    Thanksgiving – More Than a Holiday

    Yesterday, the fourth Thursday in November, we celebrated Thanksgiving in the United States. Some track this tradition to 1621 when a harvest celebration was held in Massachusetts. Some suggest it goes back further to a Spanish harvest celebration in San Elizario, Texas, in 1598. By 1660 it had become an annual tradition, not just when there was a good harvest.

    I like to think of it as more than a holiday, an attitude, an ongoing realization that some of us were born into circumstances that are simply lucky. Our families have loved and cared for us. Our nation provides freedom and a chance for a good education. Our national beliefs respect diverse people who have a great variety of religions. We have much for which to be thankful.

    In National Association for Interpretation we have enjoyed 57 years of getting together with colleagues who work in natural and cultural heritage interpretation. We share a common interest in protecting people, places and stories that support us, inspire us and protect us in varied ways.   With more than 5,000 members in 27 countries we have a chance to share ideas continually on the Internet and at conferences. We can be thankful for a unique family of people who share their time, ideas and resources willingly. Literally thousands of hours of volunteer time by thousands of volunteers give NAI a feeling of camaraderie and kinship – professional family. Those who give the most are often those I overhear telling how grateful they are for what they get from NAI. Giving to others has its own special rewards.

    I am personally grateful to NAI as a member of 37 years and staff member of 16 years. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our members and the chance to learn from all of you. And I appreciate the dedication of hundreds of Board Members and Region/Section Officers who give time to planning, organizing and delivering our varied services. We give awards each year but there are many yet unrecognized who have given much. We are thankful for their gifts of themselves.

    Bruce McHenry, a friend to many of us and colleague of six decades, passed away on May 10, 2011. He was an example of someone who retired from National Park Service but not from his profession. He continued to take part and share his time and ideas until the last year of his life when health circumstances limited his travel. Recently we were notified of a $100,000 bequest to NAI from his estate. Bruce was generous in every way throughout his career and was kind to leave a financial gift. Mostly we will miss his cheerful presence and assurance that we are doing the right kind of work. We are thankful to have known Bruce McHenry, David Larsen and many other friends we have lost in recent months and years to the reality of our limited tenure on Earth.

    I am thankful for dedicated staff, who never complain about long hours or logistical challenges. They simply dig in and figure out how to do it better each day, month and year.

    We can be especially thankful every day of the year for the people who work in service of our nation for putting their lives on the line for what they believe. Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and other nations, Peace Corps Volunteers serving all over the world and aid and medical professionals and volunteers working in refugee camps to help those who are thankful simply to be alive deserve our thanks.

    Those of us who have more than we need can be thankful daily for what we have, while continuing to look for what we can do to help others.  Thanksgiving is more than a holiday. It is an attitude of optimism and appreciation we can use daily to keep working for a better world.

    - Tim Merriman

    Permalink Filed under: Communication, From the Executive Director, NAI Administration, NAI blog, Volunteers Tags: 1 Comment
  • 06Sep

    Labor of Love

    As we celebrate Labor Day, it seems somewhat ironic that a significant portion of our modern technology is aimed at relieving us from the drudgery of manual labor. Labor Day was originally established to celebrate the American laborer, our productivity, our commitment to investing a fair day’s work into producing a quality result. Modern factories invest heavily in robotic means for assembling products which may improve consistency of the output and reduce labor costs. It can also displace laborers and ultimately de-humanize the workplace.

    We’ve heard this story many times in recent years; factories mechanize their operation and lay off workers, all in the name of increased efficiency and reducing production costs. While we are used to this refrain in modern industrial settings, have you ever thought about this phenomenon occurring in an interpretive setting? Perhaps the same changes have been slowly creeping into our interpretive world as well.

    A fellow interpreter sent me a link to a recent blog from the Edmonton (Alberta) Journal entitled “Why Living History Needs Living People.” In this opinion piece the author, Paula Simons, describes her experience with living history interpretation at Fort Edmonton. There was a striking contrast between live volunteers portraying people of historic Fort Edmonton and the new (and very expensive) Disney-style treatment in the Capitol Theater that was heavy on gadgetry at the expense of authenticity. The article ends with a plea:

    But please, please, please – before we spend millions more on the next piece of high-priced, high-tech infrastructure that may require major upkeep in the future, could we not, instead, spend a few thousand dollars to hire more student interpreters and recruit more costumed volunteers? We need to do much more to bring Fort Edmonton to life with living, breathing humans – instead of blowing the Fort’s budget, and dimming its authentic spirit, with holograms and projections and pre-recorded people.

    While we all support the idea that interpreters should be paid a fair wage consistent with their training and talents, that also means that paid interpretive staff come at a cost (even though an interpreter is a bargain for what they contribute to the mission of the organization). Some organizations have opted for the technological fix, replacing live interpreters with other media. Sometimes this works well, but also runs the risk of long-term ongoing expenses for maintenance, repairs and updates—and that’s if you have the talent on staff to perform these tasks or can easily contract with vendors to do the work. In a worst-case scenario the talent to fix or update custom technology is no longer available and you’re faced with starting all over again at a significant cost.

    I’d like to pose another option: using the services of trained volunteers and/or interns to augment paid staff in delivering interpretive products to audiences as an alternative to technology. With training, these people can do a first class job of interpretation, and they have the capability of responding to individual audiences and customizing their interpretation accordingly—something technology can’t always do. Moreover, those interns and volunteers may become some of your best candidates for future paid positions, may vote for funding for your operation, may donate money as well as time to support your interpretive programs or contribute in a variety of other ways in the future. Digital devices aren’t going to deliver those added perks to your program.

    Labor can be a good thing, particularly when it’s a labor of love. That’s certainly the case with passionate interpreters, be they paid or volunteer.

    - Jim Covel

    Permalink Filed under: From the President, Management, Volunteers 2 Comments
  • 26Aug

    ART – Authority of the Resource Technique

    A very helpful security guard at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton.

    Should we interpret the reasons for rules and policies to people who are misbehaving or just use whatever law enforcement authority we have first and educate them later? Dr. George Wallace answered that question well in 1990 in an article in Volume 1, Number 2, of NAI’s bi-monthly magazine. Authority of the Resource Technique (ART) as Dr. Wallace explained it was designed for folks working in parks and wilderness. I think it has much broader application and we teach it in the Certified Interpretive Host course with his permission.

    According to Dr. Wallace, ART “asks the ranger /manager to subtly de-emphasize the regulation and transfer part of the expectation back to the visitor by interpreting nature’s requirements” (Legacy, 1990). His article explains that this technique starts with the approach to conversation with the public when they are doing something inappropriate. Chat with them shoulder to shoulder like you might chat with a friend. A face to face encounter will likely take the conversation toward confrontation. The three steps in ART are:

    1. Give an objective description of the situation

    2. Explain the implications of the action or situation observed

    3. Tell them how you feel about it and what can (should) be done to improve the situation

    Dr. Wallace points out in the article that, “We hope for long-term changes in peoples’ interests and respect for nature in general and an intrinsically motivated stewardship of the wilderness in particular. Such changes are likely to last longer when we help people to test their own beliefs and values and arrive at a more principled wilderness ethic of their own accord.” He points out that it may not work in some circumstances and you then have to turn to the “authority of the agency.” You cite the rule or regulation and write a citation or intervene if reason did not work.

    I think the application of ART to museums, zoos, nature centers, aquariums, tour companies and historic sites is just as good as with wilderness settings. We work in places where the use of law enforcement and security is not very desirable as a first tactic. In trying to build advocacy for our agency or programs a citation, arrest and fine are negatives. And research has shown that our visitors mostly want to do the right thing, if they know what that is. ART is designed to help them understand the basis for the rules.

    Often we hire security personnel for their military or police experience, but then we want a more gentle approach with our visitors or guests. Host training helps them understand how to use ART and why that is the desirable approach at an interpretive site. Verbal Judo, developed by Dr. George Thompson (1941-2011), takes a similar approach in community law enforcement. His website refers to the approach as “redirecting behavior with words.”

    ART is easily applied in most settings with some practice. NAI Host training includes role playing activities to help any staff member understand her or his role in using informal interpretation to turn a potential law enforcement situation into an interpretive opportunity – a chance to connect with the resource.

    - Tim Merriman

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  • 12Aug

    Who Is the Face of Your Organization or Agency?

    We like to think that our organization or agency is well represented by any staff member? How prepared is each worker to be the “face” of our organization? Did we train them for that?

    I once heard a Disney trainer talk about the incredible number of people a guest meets in one day at a Disney theme park. I don’t recall the exact number but it was dozens. He asked the audience, “How many have to mess up to ruin the Disney experience.” Everyone in the audience of hundreds murmured “ONE.” We all know how our experience has been ruined by one act of mistreatment or misjudgment.

    Sometimes maintenance workers, drivers, security guards, cashiers, receptionists, campground hosts, volunteers, docents, and interns have more direct “face” time with the public at interpretive institutions than the interpreters, public relation specialists, educators and rangers do.

    I was in Yellowstone National Park in May of 1988. I kept track for the day of the number of park employees I encountered. It came to 37, but only three wore the familiar Arrowhead insignia of the National Park Service (NPS). Most were concessionaires and volunteers. The public views them as park employees if they work in the park and insignias go unnoticed. The Yellowstone experience is holistic from the visitor’s view and can be enhanced or ruined by any of the NPS employees, contractors, partners or volunteers.

    Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) was an early adopter of National Association for Interpretation’s (NAI) Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) program. Their administrators asked us what interpretive training was available for those who do not guide, give presentations and handle formal programming. We admitted we had no such training package. They kindly offered to pay for some of the costs of generating such a program and wanted to be the test case for how it would work.

    To make a long story shorter, we developed the Certified Interpretive Host (CIH) course and tested it with TPWD employees at Bastrop State Park in 2004. The two-day course is one-third customer service. The other two-thirds is informal interpretation. The course has two major objectives:

    • Every conversation is a chance to connect our audience with the resource

    • The mission is everyone’s JOB ONE at our site along with specific job descriptions

    One maintenance worker in the test course said at the start, “I’m just happy to not clean toilets for a couple of days.” At the end he said, “This is the first time in my 25 years here that I have felt like a member of the professional staff.” We all learned through the role playing of his fascination with the history of Caddo Indians and his skill at flint napping. His job was important to him and that came out clearly in the activities. The course gave him explicit guidance on how he can do his primary job but still be empowered to talk to visitors in ways that encourage stewardship and support for the TPWD mission.

    Disney Corporation trains staff for two weeks before putting any of them in front of their guests. Many of us have worked at interpretive sites where orientation amounted to being handed office keys, vehicle keys and told where we could work. We had to learn the mission, management objectives and motivations of our agency by on the job training. Sometimes that does not work very well.

    NAI’s Certified Interpretive Trainers (CIT) are allowed to teach the CIH or “Host” course to their constituents. They learn the two-day curriculum for CIH after completing the CIT credential, a five-day course with follow up materials to be submitted for peer review. Trainers do not have to certify those trained. The training is valuable whether the credentials are conferred. Many organizations who use the CIH training have commented that it improved the culture of their organization around their mission. We hope it does that while improving the experience of every visitor or guest. If you want to know more, call us at 888-900-8283 (toll-free). Everyone who represents your organization is the “FACE” and deserves training that makes their time with your customers, guests and visitors more effective.

    -Tim Merriman

    Permalink Filed under: Communication, From the Executive Director, Management, NAI blog, Professional Development, Volunteers Tags: , , , , 1 Comment
  • 31May

    Stories of the Fallen

    An 18-year-old marine enjoys a few quiet minutes, dug in on the soft, volcanic sands of Iwo Jima.  It’s late in the day on February 19, 1944, and he survived a day of treacherous fighting, yet many of his fellow marines did not live to see the sun set.  He was sure that tomorrow would probably be his last day.  He was surrounded by death and had come to accept it as the fate of any marine involved in the bitter island-by-island fighting in the Pacific Theater.  He was most concerned about his mother and how she would feel when she learned of his death, so he composed a letter to console her.

    John survived the war.  He returned home from the war and became a science teacher, a role model and a friend to many, including me.  That letter came back home with him, a reminder of how fortunate he was to survive, and also a reminder of how many other mothers lost their sons and daughters.  I had the honor of reading that letter to John’s family at his memorial service at the end of a full and productive life.  The family never heard the story before, never knew about the letter.  I’m afraid all too many of these important stories will disappear if we don’t make the effort to capture and re-tell them.

    At NAI’s national and international workshops, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several staff members of a little-known American agency, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).  The ABMC was designated by Congress in 1923 at the urging of General Pershing.    They are responsible for maintaining American cemeteries and monuments on foreign soil commemorating soldiers from WWI onward.  The ABMC takes care of 24 cemeteries overseas—many located on or adjacent to battlefields–and their audience includes the families and comrades of over 125,000 soldiers buried in those cemeteries.

    http://media.oaktreesys.com/abmc/video/ABMCTour.wmv

    It was fascinating talking to the commission staff, learning more about their mission and their work.  Through the years, much of their work was helping family members and comrades locate the graves of friends and loved ones.  In doing so, staff members were often found themselves and audience of sorts, hearing the stories of the fallen from their surviving comrades.  In recent years a new trend has appeared.  As we are rapidly losing the last of the veterans from WWII, there are fewer and fewer requests to locate graves.  But there is a rapidly growing audience coming to hear the stories of the battles and soldiers that fought them.  The ABMC staff increasingly find themselves to be interpreters, helping to connect today’s audiences to the battles and struggles of the past.  Having heard so many stories from veterans, the ABMC interpreters are in a unique position to serve as spokespersons for the dead, to tell the stories of the fallen in a very personal way.  And when you’re huddled in a foxhole or a trench with men dying around you, war is very, very personal.  When you lose a son, a daughter, a brother, a father—war is very, very personal.

    Many interpreters work in settings where we interpret conflict—historic battlefields or other sites where people lost their lives to violent actions.  It’s important that our audiences understand not only the course of events that occurred in those locations, but also that they understand the individual lives that were lost.  When we understand the personal cost of war, perhaps we’ll be more reluctant to engage in it—and we will more fully grasp the nature of sacrifice that our armed forces have made, and continue to make.  That’s what Memorial Day is all about, remembering those that have sacrificed their lives for our continued freedom.  As interpreters we can tell the stories of the fallen, not only to help commemorate their deeds but also to help us all remember the true cost of so many privileges we so easily take for granted.

    - Jim Covel

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  • 27May

    Netluck – A Local Opportunity for Food and Friendship

    When I was a kid, I lived in Vandalia, Illinois, a small town. Potlucks were the common meeting place for people to socialize (translate into modern terms as “networking”). Churches, Parent Teacher Associations, band parents, scouts and all sorts of informal groups chose to convene these wonderful meetings. I say “wonderful,” because these gatherings were informal and each person brought a food dish to share, usually one of their best creations. At the worst it was a great meal and at its best you made new friends in a very unpressured setting.

    Professional development in associations, like National Association for Interpretation (NAI), include formal workshops and conferences at regional, national and international levels. Keynotes, concurrent sessions and offsite sessions are the formal fare of the gatherings. Yet, all of these include networking opportunities for people to visit with each other, usually with a meal, snacks and beverages. Many participants comment that their best moments at formal events are the conversations over a meal or a beer or glass of wine. Still, many cannot get to an event as often as they would like.

    Many years ago, we began inviting NAI members in the Fort Collins, Colorado, area to occasional Netlucks (networking potlucks). Everyone contributes food so no one has great expense. No program is offered usually, but occasionally it includes a tour of a facility or a slide show of an interesting trip somewhere. Sharing good food and chatting with colleagues is the main idea of the netluck. We do it on no particular schedule and anyone’s home or any interpretive site can be the host. The NAI National Office is host at times.

    If you feel disconnected from the profession where you work, consider creating a netluck in your own backyard. You can easily invite all the colleagues you know in your area and get this networking started. If you need help with contact information of NAI members who live in your area, call us at NAI at 888-900-8283. We can help. Happy netlucking.

    -Tim Merriman

    P.S. If you live in the Fort Collins, Colorado, area or will be in our area on June 3, we’re hosting a netluck at our home. Join us. For a map to the house call me from 9 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday, at 888-900-8283.

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  • 15Mar

    Future Interpreters

    It’s time once again to start lining up our high school student volunteers for the coming summer. It’s a process we look forward to each year—not only previewing potential new help for the summer but also meeting some remarkable young people. For over 25 years we’ve had a summer teen program where students served as docents, camp staff or program assistants. The energy and enthusiasm these young people bring to the organization are a welcome addition as we go into the crowded summer season. In turn, students value the opportunity to gain work experience, learn how to work with large and varied audiences, and make a real contribution to promoting the mission of the organization. Students also enjoy having some real responsibility, being treated as peers by staff and adult volunteers, and getting positive feedback from the guests they work with. Overall, it seems to be a win-win.

    There’s a deeper benefit from these programs, far beyond the immediate payoff for both the participants and the sponsoring organization. These teens are actively forming what will become their adult identities, they’re exploring career ideas and looking at potential college programs. This is the ideal time for these young people to experience the rewards—and challenges—of going into interpretation. I’m always aware of the need to keep feeding talent into the pipeline that will produce the interpreters that will make up this profession in the coming years. Providing opportunities to explore this profession prior to entering college may be the best way to recruit future interpreters. We’ve even added a dedicated Certified Interpretive Guide class for our teen interpreters that are seniors in high school. They are among the sharpest participants I’ve ever worked with in CIG classes, and they know that certification—along with the skills that come with it—will serve them for many years in their future lives.

    In the years that I ran a nature center we always had a junior ranger program. This program included the aspects of nature study and related subjects that one would expect in a junior ranger program. But the participants also provided a valuable service in taking care of our animals at the nature center, as well as helping to lead hikes and campfire programs. By the time they graduated from junior rangers, many of these young people had considerable experience with some basic interpretive programs. Some of those junior rangers have gone on to become biology professors, field researchers, rangers and interpreters. I would venture to say all have gone into their adult years with a deeper appreciation for interpreters and are lifetime supporters of the work we do. An added benefit was the cadre of parents of the junior rangers that became steadfast supporters of our interpretive programs and were happy to provide resources, write letters to support funding or offer testimonials at board meetings.

    This concept goes back decades. When I was growing up just about every nature center, science center and junior museum had programs where young people could participate long-term as student aides, apprentices or assistants to the interpreters in some capacity. I was one such helper at the Rotary Natural Science Center in Oakland, California many years ago. The program that extended over 30 years at that institution produced a number of nature writers and photographers, naturalists and interpreters that work for a variety of agencies across the country, even some professors and media personalities. We also grew up with the knowledge that we could make an important contribution, that our time and effort was valuable, and that interpretation was a great career if you enjoyed the particular types of rewards that come with this line of work. This is where many of us got hooked, and we’ve been with it ever since.

    I know that it’s much more complicated these days to run a program for teens. The constraints and legal requirements are greater, and teens have a great many more demands on their time, making it more difficult to volunteer on a regular basis. However, these programs where teens have an opportunity to try out being an interpreter in some way may be one of the best ways to invest in the future of our profession. (Of course that’s in addition to supporting NAI.) If you have an existing program, feed and nurture it as that’s how you can help grow our profession. If you don’t have a program like this, consider starting one in some way. It will be one of the things you’ll always look back on with a great sense of pride and satisfaction.

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  • 03Dec

    Reflections on a National Workshop – Las Vegas

    I come back from national workshops tired from sleep deprivation and energized by colleagues. Writing about what I enjoyed is challenging for a few days. We have been back more than a week so I have a few high points to reflect about.

    • We had 860 participants from all over the U.S. and five other countries.

    • Bert Szabo was there and I appreciate that very much. He’s turning 90 this week and was one of the Founders of the Association of Interpretive Naturalists (AIN), a parent organization of NAI, more than 50 years ago. I appreciate his enduring presence, generosity and good humor very much. And his son and grandson are members, so he has been a great role model all these years. Thanks, Bert, for staying involved. You inspire all of us.

    • Six student scholarship winners (pictured above) gave brief speeches during the Scholarship Breakfast that were inspirational. The number of scholarships we give each year has gone down with lower income from the scholarship auction. Thanks are due all of you who brought items to the auction and those who purchased items. You are helping young people get connected and inspired each year at the National Workshop.

    • Dr. Jeremy Spoon of Portland State University (pictured at the top of this post) gave great insight into working with indigenous people in the Great Basin. He thoughtfully shared the time with a colleague, Richard Arnold of the Pahrump Paiute Tribe, who shared world perspectives through their eyes. I very much liked his explanation of the Paiute view of the ten directions – north, south, east and west of course, but also past, present and future, up and down and inward. Their Forest Service partner, Bob Loudon, also explained this successful collaboration from the agency view.

    • Amy Lethbridge gave a keynote on personal missions using the words of guides from Panama. It was a nice reminder that each of us has an opportunity to think about our own mission along with that of our agency. She invited members of her audience to share their missions and they were wonderful.

    • Sessions are being highly praised in evaluations, but I missed most of those due to meetings with various sectors of the organization. They provide some of the most important experiences for many who attend. The conversations between meetings and over meals, sharing music at night and just along the way from place to place were interesting and a reminder of how important it is to informally share ideas and challenges with colleagues.

    • It was also great to see so many colleagues honored at awards ceremonies from Media Awards to Awards of Excellence and Professional Awards. It was especially fun to see the surprise in the face of Ray Novotny when he was honored with the President’s Award. Any of us who have worked with awards know Ray as the NOMINATOR. Each year he picks out people he believes are deserving of recognition and he writes excellent nominations that have led to many being honored. His thoughtful recognition of others was certainly deserving of special attention.

    In 1974 I first learned of this professional network. Dr. Paul Yambert asked me if I was planning to attend the joint meeting of the Association of Interpretive Naturalists and Western Interpreters Association at Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. I had not heard of either organization, but I applied for support to attend and received it. There I saw several presentations by Josh Barkin of East Bay Regional Park District that inspired me to write puppet plays, incorporate music into more programs and become a workshop presenter myself.

    Regional Workshops and National Workshops are a great place to find your professional family and reunite with them each year or two. Thanks for all of you who joined us in Las Vegas. Vegas, the city, is never memorable for me, but you folks are. See you in St. Paul next November.

    - Tim Merriman

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  • 27Aug

    America’s Great Outdoors Initiative – Share Your Ideas

    Bison in Yellowstone National Park.

    The U.S. Government and President Obama are soliciting ideas about protecting the places we love in the nation. There are public hearings being held all over the United States and their America’s Great Outdoors Initiative website allows you to post your ideas. I posted my ideas there as follows.


    I find the comments on my post there interesting for they reflect the broad range of thinking in the U.S. about government intervention and shared responsibility. Some do not want the government in our lives in any manner whatever – no taxes, no public education, just NO.

    Those of us who love parks, wilderness, natural areas, clean air, clean water and a healthy environment know that the shared responsibility for those must depend on all of us. Leaving people to their own with no protection of natural resources would doom mankind to an early extinction at our own hands. There are those who would cut every last tree, mine every mountain and drain every oil basin, no matter what the damage to our land, air and water.

    A hundred years ago most Americans lived on farms and learning about food, land and energy was a part of everyday life. Young people today assume that food comes from grocery stores and energy comes from wall sockets. How would they learn about the real sources. Simcity and similar video games do teach about such things in a virtual environment, but nothing helps you understand how the world works as well as hands-on experiences with the real places and things.

    I would like to see every 18-year old give some period of time to her/his community, parks, non-profit service organizations or military service with no exemptions at all. We would all learn earlier in our work lives what value there is in public service. It would provide a valuable opportunity for contextual learning in all directions. Military personnel face those realities on our behalf.

    During the hard times of the Great Depression, my father worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) cutting trees in Illinois. He had a 7th grade education and was unemployed with three children to feed. He used to complain of the long days of outdoor labor and low pay but later would brag of the good work that was done and the value of a job of any kind in those dark days.

    In my first job as a park ranger and visitor center manager, I was very aware that the visitor center was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a picnic shelter. Later walls were added along with exhibits and a visitor contact area. I often had young workers from Youth Conservation Corps or Young Adult Conservation Corps helping me. I’ve written before in this blog about the great experiences with those programs. They give young people a better understanding of how the world really functions. All the resources we use in life still come from the Earth.

    The America’s Great Outdoors Initiative is a great chance for you to share your ideas or give your view on the ideas of others. It is especially a good time to share the value of outdoor experiences for young people to learn about our planet. I welcome whatever judgment you make of my suggestions.

    -Tim Merriman

    Permalink Filed under: Communication, Cultural Interpretation, From the Executive Director, Leadership, NAI blog, Nature Interpretation, Volunteers Tags: , , , , , , , No Comments
  • 21Jan

    Preaching to the Choir

    It’s an old saying. It’s a reminder that the choir may not need the sermon as much as others. Interpreters can easily end up being the friendly entertainment for the “choir.” They are the easy audience to attract.

    In 1980 I moved to Pueblo, Colorado, to run a one-year old nature center. It had been started by the local Audubon chapter. We lived initially on federal revenue sharing grants. President Reagan took office two months after I arrived and he and the Congress quickly eliminated the federal revenue sharing program. I learned that I had three months to find funding to support our staff of two or watch the center die.

    I had been a state park interpreter before this job as a nonprofit director. Preaching to the choir was common in state parks. I started by doing just that at the nature center. It was easy to do. I would advertise a 6 AM bird hike on Saturday and three Audubon members would show up. They didn’t need me to take them birdwatching but we all enjoyed these social outings. I finished each one with some concern that no revenue resulted and it was the same three or four people each week. This was a free program. We needed money, more members and to have some impact on those not already very interested in nature.

    We discussed our options and decided we needed a fee-based program that introduced new people to birding. We came up with “Breakfast with the Birds.” We asked local markets for donated bakery goods and juices. We started the program at 8 AM, not 6 AM. Those new to birding would not want to get up at the crack of dawn. We charged $5 for this introduction to birding, continental breakfast and fun in the outdoors with new folks, not the “choir.”

    We would have thirty to fifty show up and would make a good profit for this struggling but growing nature center. Some would also join us as members. We taught participants about birding and birdfeeding at home. We sold birdfeeders and bird seed mixtures at our gift shop. These were our first customers for those products. We met people who would not have considered a 6 AM birdwalk, but were interested in birds. Our choir didn’t show up. They were out birding long before these events began.

    When I think of the challenge of building a membership at a nature center, I know there will be a natural audience who is already interested – our “choir.” It’s great to do some programming for them but not be totally focused there. Building constituents often means thinking about “potential markets.” Who might join us and be interested if we design for them? Tens of millions of people feed birds at home so they are a potential audience for any new nature program.

    Cultural programs are similar. You can plan programming for the history buff and they are out there. Most organizations need a broader audience to support their efforts. If you plan for the potential audiences at a historic house, they might be those interested in geneaology or antiques.

    We still need the “choir,” those already interested in our natural and cultural history programs and sites. They make great volunteers, serve on the Board, and will bring their friends. But we build stronger constituencies by thinking about who is not coming, but has some interest in our mission. They will respond to a softer approach and may one day be part of the choir.

    -Tim Merriman

    Permalink Filed under: Budgets and Fundraising, Communication, Cultural Interpretation, From the Executive Director, NAI blog, Nature Interpretation, Volunteers Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
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