Greetings Region 9 Members,
Hartford was a love fest. Plain and Simple!! We all say how we get inspired, motivated, enthused, and become even more passionate about our jobs - but folks - it was a love fest. Everyone was smiling - all the time, hugs were abundant, and just the feel of being in the same room with your colleagues - was amazing. I am so honored to be a part of this profession. It is a true calling for us - Interpretation. It was a smaller NIW - but overall warm and friendly - I love that. We had wonderful presentations with passionate speakers - our keynote Sam Ham reminded us how we REALLY can move our audience into a place of inspiration. The field trips were well organized and FUN. But what I really loved was our Region 9 meeting, this was the true love fest.
Again, we want to honor Bill Lindeman the NAI Master Front Line Award winner and Alan Kaplan for his Meritorious Service Award. Jim Covel spoke about the state of NAI. We are doing well as an organization - and are looking at new ways to bring in membership and financial support. NAI is also looking at why members are not always signed up for Sections. You are allowed one section when you register as a member. Enjoy the benefits of these sections by signing up. We are also encouraging all members to become Enos Mills Member, a life membership. In this newsletter - you will learn more about this program. Nancy Rodgers will be looking for members to become officers with elections being held in the Fall. Descriptions for officers are on line at the home page. Take the opportunity to explore this - it is a great opportunity to increase your skills and resume. Bill Lindeman our award winner agreed to Chair the Awards Committee - perfect. Alan Kaplan our Editorial Award winner agreed to Chair the new Membership committee. This is exciting. We are looking for ways to promote our Region at workshops and conferences. If you are attending such an event - please take some membership forms with you - talk about NAI - and highlight the good work we all do. Remember you can earn $25 off your Spring Workshop registration - up to four members.
We have several Student members ready to take on more responsibility in our Region to energize our student members. Look for more about this the first of 2010. We have a new Mini Grant Chair, Emily Jacobs. There is very exciting news about this grant. We received funding for this grant so it will not come from our Region 9 fund. We recently received a grant from the Havasi Foundation in the amount of $1000.00 to fund this mini grant program. So - please -Region 9 Members - start creating and applying for this opportunity - start up money for that program you always wanted. The application will be on line soon.
We have members who attended from Hawaii who are willing to take on more responsibility in Hawaii and create workshops on the Islands. This is awesome. I can't find their names - but will.
We are doing well financially with over $20,000.00 in our account. A round of applause went out to Mary Loan for her work as Newsletter Editor for so many years. Thank you Mary! And another round to Nancy Hadlock for her past work as Chair of the Scholarship committee. And thank you to Sarah Howlett for becoming our new chair this last year. We highlighted our Scholarship recipients Sarah Burkhart and Heidi McFarland. They gave a heart warming presentation about the benefits of receiving these scholarships. A letter from them will be included in this newsletter. I look forward to working with them more in the next year. Wow!!! I want to say thank you to each and every Region 9 member who attended Hartford and created such a warm and caring atmosphere. It was a room full of support for this organization, for Region 9, and for each other.
Remember - 2010 Spring Workshop in ELY...this is going to be a fun 'Road Trip" and workshop. The Committee already has a great lineup of presenters - and still looking for a few more. Read more in the newsletter. We are also holding a one day workshop in the Bay area hosted by East Bay Regional Parks and Region 9. The workshop will focus on the Nature Education Facilities (NEF) grant of 93 million being offered the first of 2010. Check the website often at California State Parks for more information. We will also be holding an ART LOVE FEST in May with Faith Ann Rumm helping with this along with several other talented artists from Region 9 members. What to learn a bit about the brush stroke, design, and how to draw and just to be together in a fun setting. We are hoping to have this at little or no cost. The idea is just to get together and enjoy the day.
We have a Face book page - please become a FAN. Jeff Miller hosts this site - please add to the site to make it a more interactive tool for us. And before I close I want to thank Michael Charnofsky for the wonderful bird walks last spring.
There is more - but for now - I wish you all wonderful Memory Making with your family and friends over the holidays - set some new goals in your personal and work life - take care of yourself - and keep the love fest going
Robin Joy - Director
What is the Enos Mills Fund?
Perhaps more so than any other field within the conservation profession, interpreters have touched the lives of countless visitors to natural and cultural heritage sites across the country. The manner in which these contacts took place may have been through an onsite field trip, guided nature hike, historical reenactment, facility tour, or classroom presentation. Regardless of the situation, interpreters have played a vital role in connecting the public to the rich natural and cultural history of our surrounding world.
For over 50 years, the National Association for Interpretation has served as the professional family for interpreters. Through provocative workshops, professional mentoring, regional and sectional newsletters, and a host of other services, members gain the opportunity to benefit from the connections they make through NAI. As a member, your investment in NAI and the profession ensures our ability to maintain quality services and enhance your connections during these challenging economic times.
Beginning in 2008, the Enos Mills Fund provides a way for NAI to build capital reserves through individual member donations. The Enos Mills Fund embraces any size of contribution. Members can submit donations at any time that works best for their schedule (and pocket book). Any contribution you make this year or in the future that is a donation above your annual membership cost goes into the Enos Mills Fund in your name and accumulates. When it reaches $1500, you become a Life Member with no need to pay annual dues to stay involved at the Professional Plus level.
How is the additional funding used? NAI currently lacks surplus funds "in the bank," so money is borrowed during part of the year until revenue fully covers expenses. Building cash in the bank to cover low income periods early in each year will eliminate the costs of borrowing, free up more funding for member benefits and provide protection from unexpected losses. Some members may wonder why NAI simply does not increase the cost of memberships to build this cash operating fund. With a struggling economy, an increase in dues may cause some members to either reduce their membership level or quit NAI altogether. We would rather keep all of our members involved and benefiting from services.
Why should a member give to the Enos Mills Fund? There comes a point in everyone's career when "giving back" means something more than a tax deduction. If you are member of NAI and truly believe in its role within the profession, please consider a contribution in whatever amount is appropriate for you. Member support is desperately needed to make this program a success.
I encourage you to consider support of this campaign. You can donate through the NAI website by going to www.interpnet.com and clicking on Becoming a Donor on the left-hand menu.
Thanks for joining us in this important effort to keep NAI and your professional family healthy and growing.
Bradley Block
Enos Mills Fund Campaign Chair
The NAI Hartford Experience through the eyes of a "Newbie"
First of all, I must start off by stating, how much I really appreciated the support and friendliness of Region 9 members and truly enjoyed meeting each and every one of you that had the opportunity to attend this year's conference. Thank you all for supporting the scholarship program and making it possible for me to attend and have such a life changing experience in Hartford!
Speaking of change..."Change" and "doing more with less" was definitely the prevailing theme at this year's Hartford Conference. Timing couldn't have been more perfect too, with all the budget cuts, and difficult times we are all faced with this year. It was my first time in Hartford, and only my second time to the East Coast. This was also only my second time to an NAI Conference (Portland, last year was my first experience), but most importantly, this was my first NAI conference as an official Park Interpreter, as I was formerly the Volunteer Coordinator for Santa Clara County Parks. I was as excited as a kid in a candy shop when I arrived in Hartford! As we know, timing is everything, and I was thrilled to find myself on the shuttle, from the Airport to the hotel, with not just Shelton Johnson (my hero), but three other fabulous award winners as well! This really started my week off on the right path.
This year's conference drew a much smaller crowd than last year's; however, I really enjoyed the more intimate group size. I found myself really getting connected with other interpreters and bumping into the same stellar people over and over again as the week progressed. The reception was very nice, the bite sized desserts delicious, and I enjoyed meeting some of the wonderful exhibitors too. The next morning key note speaker, Sam Ham, of course, met all my expectations, and was truly inspirational! Not to mention, the theme of this year's conference was very neatly woven into many of the concurrent sessions.
I've chosen two of my favorite sessions to write about and share the insights that I learned with you. The first session I've chosen to write about was a very well done presentation on Interpreting the Civilian Conservation Corps, by Alec Gillman & Tim Rayworth, with an excellent living history component integrated into it. The best part about this presentation were the parallels they drew with the audience in today's modern world. When the living history actor came out and started talking about banks going out of business, the recession, soaring unemployment, this "new" president (Roosevelt) talking about "change" and how we were going to pull ourselves out of this recession and deal with the environmental crises' and natural disasters--it almost gave me the shivers to see just how full circle we have come in about 75 years! It was very well done, and hit on many of the intangibles that we could all easily relate to today. The overall theme of stewardship and pride was powerful and really inspired me to put together a program at my own site on the CCC's (we even have a monument dedicated to them in our park!).
The most provocative and powerful presentation I went to was The Soulful andscape, by Erica Wheeler. I walked into this session, really without a clue as to what to expect, and was blown away! Erica wasted no time diving right into the depths of our souls and pulling some amazing writings out of the group; within minutes I found myself tearing up and becoming emotionally touched by her style, grace and passion. She pulled out her guitar and sang some awesome folk music, then had us do some quick writing exercises then put our writings into music - on the spot! Now that is talent! I really enjoyed her spirit and enthusiasm, and her ability to get right into the depths of connecting to visitors on a much deeper level in very simple, unobtrusive ways. Such as having visitors write a simple sentence about their experience in the guest book, rather than just a name. Or sharing music, poetry, or stories with your audiences and encouraging them to write for just 2 minutes about their experience at your park/site (ask for one or two volunteers who wish to share with the group). These audience writings can even be helpful to make sure the visitor is connecting to your theme. Here are some questions that she gave each of us, I found them very thought provoking and I'd like to share them with you: What do you think visitors are coming to find or gain from your site? What do you most want to share (object, place, idea) about your site? What do you love most about your site? And last but not least, what are the obstacles that prevent you from sharing this object, place or idea about your site? It was an invaluable exercise and I encourage anyone to take a moment to contemplate the answers to those questions as well as attend one of Erica's sessions in the future or go to her website and purchase some of her fantastic music or just read about her (www.ericawheeler.com).
There were many other great sessions that I attended and would love to write about, but I've run out of space. Some other adventures I enjoyed include: meeting all the NAI staff when I volunteered to pack up the NAI store and move it upstairs (I was the only volunteer-go figure!), it was nice to chat with them and muscle many heavy boxes together. My off site trip was the 1800's of New England visit to the Old Sturbridge Village which was beautiful and filled with rich history and information, and provoked many new ideas, it was very nice to get away from the big city of Hartford for a day and see some of the country side.
The biggest highlight of my experience at this year's NAI conference was seeing Shelton win the Freeman Tilden Award, I couldn't think of a more deserving person! Lastly, this article wouldn't be complete without mentioning my new found friend that "adopted" me at the conference, Emily Jacobs; Emily, thanks for taking me under your wing and letting me tag-along with you just about everywhere.
All of the NAI Region 9 members that I had the chance to meet were all so friendly (not that I would expect anything less from this profession!), welcoming, and down right entertaining! Many thanks, again, to the scholarship committee for selecting me as the lucky recipient of this year's scholarship! I hope to meet more of you in upcoming events and activities.
Heidi McFarland