National Association for Interpretation NAI Pacific Northwest - Region 10

Our PSA on NPS Youtube Channel

Region10 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:54:37 +0000

To promote National Park Week, where admission is free to all parks from
April 21-29, the National Park Service asked the staff at 397 park units to
create a public service announcement (PSA) promoting their park. Out of 50
parks, the NPS selected 25 PSAs, including the work of Lewis and Clark
National Historical Park, to be featured on their YouTube channel.
The PSA for Lewis and Clark NHP features local actors from the Astor Street
Opera Company who are currently starring in THE REAL LEWIS AND CLARK STORY
(or How the Finns Discovered ASTORIA) and our own Helen Johnson as the
host.

Besides NPS staff, the crew and cast were made up of volunteers from
Astoria, Colorado and Tennessee. The shoot, which lasted three hours, took
place on a cold rainy Saturday, but the crew remained positive and
professional. Four of the volunteers were Film Camp alumni!

You can see the Lewis and Clark NHP PSA at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/NationalParkService?ob=0&feature=results_main

Thanks to everyone who helped and supported the project!

Will George
Park Ranger
Lewis and Clark NHP

Spring Workshop!

Region10 — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:52:53 +0000

We’ll be live tweeting today from the Tacoma site of our Spring Workshop. Links to our Facebook and Twitter pages can be found in the column to the right. Got a question for one of our presenters? Post below.

Earth Day

Region10 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:31:19 +0000

As Earth Day approaches, we all often think of the 3R’s, water
conservation and saving electricity. We think of saving the planet for
the benefit of the human race. And that is a wonderful thing to do!
But, we are not alone on this Earth and when thinking about Earth Day,
we should think about how we can better the planet for our fellow Earth
dwellers! I’m talking about the wildlife that we share our home with.
At Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, we are focusing our Earth Day efforts
on highlighting endangered species found here in the Pacific Northwest.
We are specifically highlighting native bat species and ways that people
can help provide a healthy habitat for our furry, flying friends. Here
in Washington, we have 15 different species of bats, which is a pretty
small number given the fact that there are more than 1,200 species of
bats living around the world!

For many people, the idea of flying bats conjures up images of vampires.
But only three species of bats drink or actually lap blood from living
creatures. These three vampire bat species are found only in Mexico,
Central America and South America.

About one-third of the world’s bats feed on the fruit or nectar of
plants while the majority of bat species are primarily insect hunters.
One little brown bat can consume up to 1,000 mosquito-sized insects in a
single hour. Many of the insects that bats hunt are crop-damaging bugs
that plague farmers every year.

To learn more about bats and other native Pacific Northwest wildlife,
visit Northwest Trek Wildlife Park on April 21st & 22nd for Endangered
Species Days. Visit www.nwtrek.org for more information.

~Jessica Moore
Conservation Program Coordinator
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park

Interpretive Ideas to Share

Chuck Lennox — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 04:41:04 +0000

Ever seen themed trash cans?

As an interpretive consultant, I have the opportunity to discover some very creative and simple interpretive ideas….but rarely the chance to share them. With our new website (isn’t it a beaut!), I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you something fun I discovered on a site visit for a project.

Over several years now in conjunction with a major hazardous materials cleanup, the Port of Anacortes Washington (north of Seattle, Washington on Puget Sound) has revitalized the waterfront and made access to it much easier and inviting.

The labels are from actual canned salmon brands from the past.

Some of the waterfront has a few interpretive signs that tell the story of the Port but one of the most creative and eye catching tools are their themed trash cans. Take a look!

The Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center also commemorates the salmon canning history with this sign above their entrance in downtown Anacortes.

The one element missing that I could not find is the story of these canneries and their labels.

Even the Anacortes Visitor Center celebrates their salmon canning history.

Chuck Lennox

Region 10 Director

Welcome NAI Region 10 Members

Region10 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:23:33 +0000

We are very excited to launch this new website for our region. Take a tour through the site to find information on special events like our upcoming spring workshop, new jobs in interpretation, regional news and connections to the national office publications and social media. Do you follow NAI Region 10 on social media like Facebook and Twitter? If not, look on the right hand side navigation bar on each page and click on the Twitter and Facebook icons. (The NAI Region 10 Twitter feed is an amazing service. Check out the number of sites that are retweeted for your reading pleasure.)

Another new feature is the ability to comment on articles or items posted on the website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and leave a message.

What a wonderful resource we have here! Let’s take advantage of it. We’d like to have a regular blog on the site discussing topics such as new interpretive tools, social media, impacts of funding cuts on your programs and other items of interest to the membership. Do you like to write? Do you have an opinion (stupid question eh?)? Let us know and we’d love to include space for you to sound off.

Special thanks to Roni Hathaway, Region 10 Newsletter Editor and Webmaster, and her crew, Troy Bouchard and Clayton Hanson , for the effort in making this possible. The work of your region only gets done with the work of volunteers. Come join us!

Chuck Lennox
NAI Region 10 Director

Save the Date!

Region10 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:19:48 +0000

Region 10 Spring Workshop: Take Time to Share the Best Practices in Interpretation!

Region 10’s Spring Workshop is set for April 18, 2012. So far, it will be located in Portland, Oregon; Tacoma, Washington, and Portage, Alaska, (and possibly elsewhere depending on technology and interest) and will follow the model of previous workshops with a business meeting and keynote address broadcast to the other sites via the internet, and individual site sessions held at each workshop location.

If you are interested in connecting to the workshop from another location and have the technical requirements, let us know because we can set up connections in other sites as well. This year we will use Windows Live Meeting which will allow us to reach more participants. All that is required is high speed internet access and a computer! If you aren’t familiar with this program, learn more at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/live-meeting-help/.

Jessica Moore from NW Trek is the Workshop Chair. Local site organizers will be Pat Barry for the Portland area Troy Bouchard for the Tacoma area and Lezlie Murray at the Begich Boggs Visitor center in Alaska. You can be a site organizer for your area!

Chuck Lennox, incoming Regional Director, will preside over the business meeting and will introduce the keynote speaker.

The workshop theme, “Take time to share the best practices in interpretation!” says it all. Discover new practices and program ideas…. what’s working for your peers and what might work for you!

For the good of the interpretive profession keep April 18th open to share your ideas, learn new ideas, and network with fellow professionals.

For more information please contact Jessica Moore at jessica.moore@nwtrek.org or Pat Barry at jpatbarry@hotmail.com