Register here.

For complete information about the workshop, including offsite sessions, preworkshops, special events, and more, download a pdf of the registration packet.

Room rates at the Riviera Hotel have been lowered to $89 for our event. (Click here to reserve a room in NAI’s block.) Please help NAI keep conference costs down by booking your hotel room in the host hotel. See you in Vegas!

NAI National Workshop

The 2010 NAI National Workshop in famous Las Vegas, Nevada, will be an exciting and dynamic experience for interpreters from all corners of the profession. Las Vegas is a complex city, at once a thriving oasis and a vast desert, a glitzy resort destination and a historic frontier town. Just as this city defies simple definition, so does the interpretive profession. Join us in Las Vegas to explore the many sides of this unique city and the many sides of our varied vocation.

The professional development and networking opportunities at every NAI workshop include inspiring and informative keynote speakers, concurrent sessions, preworkshop training, special events, and offsite sessions that allow you to learn about a unique corner of the country. Discover the stark and breathtaking beauty of the Mojave Desert, incredible feats of human ingenuity and engineering at the Hoover Dam, and the exciting world of interpretive exhibits like zoos, aquariums, and museums along the famous Las Vegas strip.

Attendance at concurrent sessions is included in the workshop registration fee. Full information for each session, including day, time and location, will be available soon on the workshop website. Sessions are listed alphabetically by title below.

The 2010 NAI National Workshop Program Guide, which also has session information, is scheduled to be available online for download in early October 2010. Sessions may change without notice, please make sure to check at the registration desk in Las Vegas for current session times.

Click here to view the list of sessions.

Exhibitors, click here to find out more and reserve your booth today!

Exhibitors Include:
The 106 Group
Acorn Naturalists
American Park Network
Association of Partners for Public Lands
Best Exhibits, Inc
Big Muddy Workshop
BookSmart
Budd Wentz Productions
Center for Science Teaching & Learning
Condit Exhibits
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Eastern National
Environment for the Americas
Erica Fielder Studio
Fulcrum Publishing
Glyphguy Backpacks
GWWO Inc, Architects
Interpretive Graphics
iZone
Jane Rohling Communication Arts
KC Publications
The Kubala Washatko Architects
NAI Association Store
NAI National Workshop – 2011
NAI Interpretive Media Section
NAI Region 4
NAI Region 10
National Park Service
National Park Service-Fire & Aviation
National Park Service/Kansas Parks
Nature Watch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
North Shore Productions
Outdoor Educators Insurance
Rosene Creative
Solid Terrain Modeling
Split Rock Studios
Taylor Studios, Inc.
Tour-Mate Systems
US Fish & Wildlife Service – National Conservation Training Center
USFWS National Conservation Training Center – Let’s Go Outside Program
US Forest Service
US Media
VarroBook
Wildware

Front-line staff is an important asset to any business and if you come back re-charged, you will pass along that energy and enthusiasm to those you come into contact with. This will create a better experience, and hopefully a repeat experience, for your visitors. Remember, the manager who takes care of staff is really taking care of the guests.

As an interpretation professional, you know you can find the newest trends, innovations and technologies available in the field when you attend the NAI National Workshop. You also know that you must constantly fine-tune your skills, learn new interpretive techniques, network with peers, and learn about issues affecting the administration of interpretive sites or supervision of interpretive programs or personnel. You will discover how to enhance visitor experiences, learn which social, political, management or other issues or trends are affecting the field of interpretation, how to develop approaches to target various audiences, or find out how audiences can benefit from using technology in various interpretive settings. In a financial crunch, it is innovative thinking that turns the unknown into opportunities.

Be a force for change in your organization by taking your knowledge back to your peers. Everyone in your organization can benefit from your attendance. Learn successful methods and best practices from leaders in the profession and become skilled at applying these methods in multiple situations then share the Interpreters Sourcebook (proceedings) with your colleagues when you get home. This will be your chance to bring the benefits of knowledge home to your organization!

Communicate why attendance is vital: Interpreters who are better equipped professionally have the advantage – as do their agencies or organizations. Whether you belong to a large or small agency or organization, investments in improving interpretation will be repaid many times over when you come back with your interpretive batteries recharged and having had an opportunity to compare notes with colleagues who may have faced similar circumstances as you face in your position.

Here are just a few benefits of attendance:
• Adopt best practices and strategies in interpretation
• Analyze management trends
• Discuss hot topics with colleagues
• Network and make connections with other interpretation professionals and meet interpreters from all over the world
• Learn from skilled and interesting keynote speakers

During the NAI National Workshop, you will meet the best and the brightest in interpretation and you will see what NAI has to offer. With over 100 concurrent sessions, you and your organization will reap the benefits of best management practices, success stories, tools and practical solutions. You will also have the opportunity to turn your biggest challenges into your greatest accomplishments when you learn from the experts, leaders in the field and fellow practitioners.

Gain support from your supervisor: Review the daily schedule on the NAI website to identify concurrent sessions, pre-workshop sessions, and networking events that address specific needs within your organization. Each session includes a short description of its contents; use these well-chosen words to justify which of your organizational needs will be met by which activity or session.

Identify your organization’s current initiatives such as cutting costs, streamlining processes, building partnerships or overcoming specific challenges and then find corresponding sessions to attend. You will meet presenters with experience in these areas and get to know fellow attendees who face the same challenges you do. You will be able to use these important contacts as sounding boards throughout the coming year.

Look at the list of off-site sessions offering behind-the-scenes overviews of local interpretation facilities. Many of these have faced challenges in interpretation and are willing to share their successes and failures with our group through behind-the-scenes tours specially tailored for NAI.

Identify current exhibitors and vendors with whom you can discuss future contracts or services. Find new vendors who you are considering adding to your bidders list or your file of interpretive services suppliers. Learn about new vendors that represent applications and technologies you had not thought of using before. Let your imagination soar as you make new connections.

Prepare a list of the benefits that can be realized by your attendance. Then, explain to your supervisor the relationship between these National Workshop activities and your professional and organizational goals. It’s important to be able to logically describe the benefits to your organization and how you can make a positive impact with what you bring back with you.

Commit the funds early to make sure they are there in the fall.

Create a winning proposal: Put your ideas in writing and submit a proposal to your supervisor. Include your intended schedule of concurrent sessions and why the knowledge gained will be valuable to your operation.

List all areas where your division or department faces challenges and the sessions you want to attend or who you plan to visit with who can help you overcome these challenges.

Provide a list of partners, exhibitors and colleagues (both current and potential) and note not only what you hope to accomplish during meetings, but also point out the efficiency associated with being able to meet with so many current and future business partners over a short time period. This can be especially true if you work for a Federal agency consisting of distant units.

Strengthen your proposal by listing division or department goals and the corresponding workshop sessions. Don’t forget to include the cost of registration, airfare, meals and lodging in order to make it a well-rounded proposal and let your supervisor know that it is NAI has capped early registration at $385 and regular registration at $460 this year. Mention that if you were to compare the cost of this workshop’s registration with that of workshops of similar length, you would see that very few other workshops or conferences include as many meals as NAI registration does. This dramatically offsets per diem expenses and makes NAI registration a great bargain.

Don’t quit there; give feedback to management: Follow up with your supervisor after you return from the National Workshop. They will want to know your impression of the workshop, what you gained from it and how you will be able to apply lessons learned. This is where you will refer to your original proposal and goals to achieve while at the Workshop. Let your supervisor know what you have learned and how you will implement this knowledge. Share your new knowledge with colleagues in mini-workshops back at the office. Most importantly, let your supervisor know that your participation in the NAI National Workshop was a worthwhile investment for your agency or organization.

So, plan your strategy, prepare your proposal and secure your approval to go. Bring the benefits of knowledge and professional growth home to your organization!

Tuesday, November 16
8:00 am–5:00 pm – Pre-workshop Sessions (additional fee)
7:00–9:00 pm – Opening Reception in Exhibit Hall

Wednesday, November 17
8:00–10:15 am – Welcome and Keynote, Jeremy Spoon, Ph.D.
10:45 am–3:15 pm – Concurrent sessions
3:30 pm – Region Meetings
Evening – Special Events (additional fee for some)

Thursday, November 18
8:00–9:00 am – General Session and Awards
9:15 am–3:15 pm – ConcurrentS essions
3:30 pm – Section Meetings
7:00 pm – Excellence in Interpretation Awards

Friday, November 19
8:00 am–5:00 pm – Off-site Sessions (additional fee)
7:00–10:00 pm – Scholarship Auction

Saturday, November 20
8:15–9:45 am – Welcome and Keynote, Sharon Schafer
9:45 am–4:15 pm – Concurrent Sessions
6:00 pm–midnight – Fellow Award Presentation, Banquet, and Karaoke (additional fee)

Jeremy Spoon, PhD

Jeremy is assistant professor of anthropology at Portland State University and a research associate at The Mountain Institute in Washington D.C. His interests in local ecological knowledge, environmental sustainability, mountainous protected areas, place-based spirituality, and political economy have led him on a unique path to interpretation’s door. His focus on connecting indigenous people and interpretation has taken him from Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park to Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park (Nepal), Hell’s Gate National Park (Kenya) and now to the Great Basin where he has conducted efforts that facilitate people from seven nations of indigenous Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute/Chemehuevi) to tell their stories in the public forum of interpretation.

He is collaborating with these seven nations to create interpretive and educational content for a planned visitor center, trails, campgrounds, and picnic areas in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. A group of tribally designated representatives co-conducted the research and writing for the project. They also created text for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Vegetation Plan—ensuring that the proposed developments are culturally appropriate to the nations that consider the Spring Mountains to be their creation place and an important source of resources.

A second local project funded by the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) is creating a government-to-government consultation method for these seven nations and the U.S. Forest and Fish and Wildlife Services by generating proposed collaborative consultation and resource management plans for multiple protected areas in southern Nevada. Ecological knowledge is also being collected from indigenous expert knowledge-holders, who will also serve on resource management advisory committees that conduct forest surveys. Finally, families will be invited to harvest pine nuts—promoting intergenerational knowledge transmission of language, stories, songs, and resource management practices.

Jeremy and his Nuwuvi colleagues will share with us some success stories that came about through American Indian and government agency collaboration and how visitor experiences will be enhanced by interpretation through indigenous eyes.

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Sharon Schafer
“The Art of Nature”

Sharon K. Schafer has a varied background ranging from painter and photographer to wildlife biologist and river guide. As a full-time artist, she combines two loves—nature and art. In an effort promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of the natural world, she has dedicated herself to the creation of beautifully artistic yet scientifically accurate images that appeal to the art collector and the environmental educator alike.

Schafer’s sense of adventure and unflagging curiosity about the natural world have taken her to the ends of the earth. She has worked extensively as an artist, photographer, and videographer in the Arctic, Africa, and the Antarctic. Throughout the world, Schafer shares her artistic talent and passion for the wildlands by teaching art and nature-related classes and lecturing extensively about the stunning beauty and amazing diversity of life on our planet.

Her excellence as a wildlife painter has been recognized by the international Society of Animal Artists as well as the Artists for Conservation. Her paintings have been juried into numerous national competitions and displayed nationwide. Schafer’s current traveling show, “The Art of Nature: Images from the Wildlands of Southern Nevada,” which was developed in collaboration with the Nevada State Museum, will be on exhibit during the NAI National Workshop.

Schafer’s multimedia presentation of photographs, paintings, and field sketches, blended with music will take you on a journey into the wildlands of southern Nevada. She will demonstrate and discuss how the visual arts provide a vital and  effective tool with which to engage visitors and evoke a deeper understanding and emotional appreciation of the beauty and diversity of the natural world.

She is currently working in collaboration with the Wilderness Team of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP)—a unique partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service—to bring this program to the visitors and residents of the southern Nevada in an effort to raise awareness of the region’s wilderness areas. This innovative project, which is funded by the Southern Nevada Lands Management Act, will use the visual arts to encourage the viewer to come away with a different perspective: no longer seeing the public lands of southern Nevada as a desert wasteland, but rather as a place of unparalleled natural beauty and diversity that is deserving of their care and concern.

Download the form here.

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NAI Region 7 Offers Scholarships
Deadline: June 18, 2010

Region 7 scholarships are being offered for the National Workshop in Las Vegas and for the Regional Workshop in August.  Details are available on the Region 7 website.  Deadline for both scholarships is June 18.

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NAI Region 10′s  David Weiss Memorial Scholarship Award
Deadline: July 31, 2010

Created to perpetuate the character, and in memory of, master interpreter David Weiss, this scholarship award will be given each year to one Region 10 member who’s skills emulate Ranger Dave’s in the areas of interpretation, environmental education/outreach, creativity and the ability to live by example. Because of the unique combination of award and scholarship you can nominate a qualified NAI Region 10 member or submit the application for yourself. The award consists of a commemorative plaque for the recipient to keep and the recipient’s name added to a living plaque on display at the Visitors Center of the US Army Corp of Engineers’ Bonneville Lock and Dam, located in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

The Scholarship includes $700 for registration, travel, lodging or meals as you see fit to the up coming NAI National Workshop. To apply for the award, please visit the Region 10 scholarships page at www.nairegions.org/10/NIW_Scholarships.htm.

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NCDA Section Offers Grants for National Workshop, Interpreters Road Show
Deadline: August 31, 2010

Members of NAI’s Nature Center Directors and Administrators Section are invited to apply for a $1,000 grant to be used to cover costs to attend the NAI National Workshop in Las Vegas or a grant that covers the cost of the Interpreters Road Show before the National Workshop. This year, the NCDA Section will offer two National Workshop grants and two Interpreters Road Show grants. To apply for one of these grants, download the forms from the NCDA website at www.naisections.org/NCDA.

Thanks also to those who shared their photos with NAI: Victor Cuevas, Tom Davies, Faith Duncan, Linda Duvanich, Chris Evans, Kelly Farrell, Jamie Krupka, Shea Lewis, Thomas Meier, Curtis Miller, Jay Miller, John Miller, Eliezer Nieves, Amy Roell, Phil Sexton, Art Shine, and Neil Weintraub.