Legacy Magazine

By Jeff Miller

In November, I attended the annual 2009 NAI National Workshop in Hartford, Connecticut, along with nearly 700 other U.S. and international attendees.

The author (right) with workshop keynote speaker and Environmental Interpretation author Sam Ham.

There were over 110 concurrent educational sessions in 13 different educational tracks offered during the five-day workshop. The sessions covered aspects of frontline interpretation, planning and research, non-personal interpretation, and interpretive management, among other topics.

I attended a variety of sessions to improve my skills, to learn about issues affecting programs, to learn skills that help improve visitor experiences, and to help motivate me to be better. I saw rangers at sessions about zoos, interpreters at sessions about writing, and management staff at sessions for emerging technologies. I even saw Elvis (more on that later). The variety of sessions offered and who attended which session was quite diversified.

I was able to gain valuable information to enhance my skills as a tour guide and interpreter at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. The training sessions really do help with the knowledge, skills, and abilities that are needed to be a good frontline interpreter. I am always striving to make my interpretive product better, and the training provided at NAI Workshops assists with that goal. It also adds to the necessary tools to perform my job duties and be a better representative of California State Parks. I will be better prepared to enhance the visitor’s experience and, I hope, inspire, inform, and educate them, too.

At NAI 2009, I presented a two-hour session on creating themes for presentations, tours, signage, printed materials, exhibits, etc. It was a hands-on learning session designed to provide information and inspiration for others to take back to their locations and in future training of other staff members. It was a learning experience for me as a presenter, and I hope a valuable learning experience for all of those who attended. Presenting sessions is also a great way to become involved at conferences and workshops, and I thank the participants who attended my session.

I want to share a couple of memorable personal experiences from the week. One was at the Excellence in Interpretation awards ceremony. It provided a place for NAI and federal agencies to present and honor the winners of their respective national awards. The organizations were NAI, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service. The highest interpretive honor one can win from the National Park Service is the Freeman Tilden Award. This year the winner was Ranger Shelton Johnson. Many of you know of him and may have been fortunate enough to see his portrayal of Sgt. Elizy Boman, a Buffalo Soldier in Yosemite in the early 1900s. He was also in the recent PBS series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. It was an honor for me to be there when he received this national recognition and also to have a chance to chat with him. Ranger Johnson has inspired me to be the best frontline interpreter that I can be.

The second story I want to share happened one day when I and a few other participants went to the Museum of Connecticut History, located in the Supreme Court Building in downtown Hartford. While we were there, there was also a large school tour group. They had been given worksheets from their teachers and were on a scavenger hunt through the museum. We overheard them looking for a typewriter and other things. I heard a few of them saying they were looking for the most powerful item in the museum—one that you had to be 18 years old to use. There was an old mechanical voting machine in the first room, and I knew that is what the teacher wanted them to find. It was quite discouraging to hear and see as they congregated around a Colt Firearms exhibit (Colt is based in Hartford) and decided that a gun was the item they were seeking. It made me realize how important the words I say on my tours may be, and to always choose them carefully.

So eventually the week came to an end. All I can say is “Wow!” It was a fantastic workshop and great learning experience. The NAI Workshop provides the opportunity to meet and network with the best and brightest in our field. It brings us together from around the globe. We have the opportunity to share our most current ideas, our experiences, our thoughts. We learn, we tell stories, we sometimes play musical instruments. We laugh, we cry, we bond. We realize what a special group of people we are.

I have been to many conventions, conferences, and workshops over the years. I have never been to one like an NAI Workshop, where every person you meet loves their job and loves what they do. They want to share all they can with you over a few short days. I hated for the week to end, and to say my good-byes until next year’s workshop.

It was during a promotional skit for the 2010 NAI National Workshop in Las Vegas where I saw Elvis. I hope to see Elvis again in November, but more than that, I hope you will consider attending this outstanding event in Las Vegas.

Jeff Miller is a tour guide and interpreter at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. Contact him at HearstCastleJeff@aol.com.