by Heidi Bailey
Imagine if you could instantly talk to interpreters around the world—share stories, exchange ideas, discuss experiences, and request solutions to problems. Imagine if you could easily talk to your visitors while they are planning their trip, throughout their stay, and even after they have gone home.
How would you like to find out what appeals to your visitors and what they think of new programs and exhibits before you implement them? Would you be interested in multiplying the number of personal contacts you make with just a few keystrokes?
All of this is possible, and other than your time, it doesn’t cost a dime.
Many of our visitors and potential visitors are living in online communities and traveling through virtual spaces. These places exist in the realm of social media. Social media is a burgeoning new communication tool that allows people to interact online. The potential exists for social media to create new opportunities for interpretation.
Social Media and Interpretation
Interpretation is a communication technique that takes place in an informal setting and offers a way to connect people’s minds and hearts to places. Yet interpretation is primarily a one-way process, with programs and exhibits designed by staff sitting behind closed doors. Social media creates an opportunity for interpreters and the public to engage in genuine conversation.
Until recently, I thought of social media as just a fancy form of text messaging and sharing photos—a place that my teenage nieces went to gossip with their friends. Then a colleague of mine returned from the 2008 NAI National Workshop and said, “Technology is huge. You should look into social networking.” My friend is the lead interpreter at a National Park Service site and her advice is always excellent, so I looked.
In the process, I discovered a dizzying array of terms I didn’t understand—like widgets and Web 2.0—so I bought the book Social Media is a Cocktail Party by Jim Tobin and Lisa Braziel. The premise of this book is that social media is nothing more than a conversation between people. To participate, you must behave as you would at a party—listen and respond with genuine enthusiasm, don’t be pushy, and if you are going to share information or a story, it should be interesting and entertaining.
Social media is not a place for stuffy press releases, slick ads, or tedious education campaigns. Social media is a place for engaging with people in a personal way. This makes it a wonderful avenue for interpretation. Social media is an opportunity to make interpretation what it should be—a two-way conversation between interpreters and the public that allows us to share the delight of discovery.
This article is the first of a three-part series that introduces the tools of social media and offers thoughts on how they might benefit interpreters.
Social Media Tools
Social media is a suite of online technologies that provides users a podium from which to express their knowledge, experiences, and opinions. Have you ever read an online review of a product or movie? This is social media at work. You are gleaning information from another person’s experience.
Social media allows you to attend people’s online “parties” and listen to their conversations. One of the keys to successful interpretation is to know the attributes of your audience. By listening to what your target audiences have to say, you can learn to give them what they want.
A catch phrase that you may hear is “Web 2.0.” In Social Media is a Cocktail Party, the authors explain Web 2.0 in this way: “Two-way communication has transformed the Web from a place to house brochures into a place to house conversations.” In other words, the Internet has evolved from a static information source into an interactive environment.
The Web 2.0 world has the potential to change the way we run public comment periods, the way we design exhibits, and the way we meet the needs of visitors. A public comment period can become a dynamic discussion forum. Exhibits can be co-designed with a team of people representing different interests. The evolving needs of visitors can be met faster and more precisely.
As an example, a number of years ago, geocaching became a popular pastime for GPS users. Caches started to appear in parks and protected areas, sometimes causing damage to resources. Managers were slow to respond to this new field of recreation because it took them a while to realize what was happening. Eventually, rules and regulations concerning geocaching began to appear and some sites embraced the idea by planting their own caches. By monitoring social media sites, we can pick up on these trends more quickly.
Networking with Visitors
You may have heard of social networking sites like Facebook. People use these sites to build personal profiles and to keep in contact with friends. Sites like this also allow professionals working in similar fields to exchange information and ideas. NAI maintains pages on several of these sites, which you can find at www.interpnet.com. I encourage you to join one of these online communities and start interacting with interpreters around the world.
It’s important to understand that a Facebook page is not a traditional Web page. Nor is it a press release or an ad. A Facebook page is actually more like a coffee house or a pub—a place where people congregate to meet friends, swap stories, share pictures, and exchange information. Your interpretive site can join in the discussion, but networking with visitors online only works if you show up on a regular basis and contribute something interesting to the conversation.
People can also build online communities around photos. Sites like Flickr allow people to organize, share, and even tag their photos with related information such as geographic coordinates. Photo sharing is another form of social networking and these sites can often be connected to sites like Facebook. For instance, Bright Kite is a photo-sharing site that describes itself as a “location-based social network.”
Since photo sharing often revolves around a place, this is an excellent tool for connecting people with interpretive sites. Photos allow visitors to see a place before they embark on a trip or enable them to take a virtual vacation to a place they may never visit. Visitors can also discover new meaning in a landscape by viewing a place from another person’s perspective.
A popular form of photo sharing is called a “map mash up.” A mash up is created by mashing two different social media tools together to create something new. The most common mash up is a custom Google map. You can create map mash ups that attach photos, interpretive text, and visitor information to a map of your site. Check out an example from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum at www.ushmm.org/maps.
Penelope Seal is the official spokes-seal for TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Predators), a project of the Census of Marine Life. Penelope has her own profile page on Facebook that she uses to keep her growing network of friends apprised of her activities.
The Five Fs of Social Networking
Fans
Social networking sites like Facebook allow members to join online fan clubs and follow the activities of an organization, museum, or interpretive site. Fans interact with an organization’s profile page by posting messages, photos, and other content. These posts generate updates that let their friends know about new activity on the page. This feature creates a dynamic environment that is more interactive than a traditional Web page. Another way for fans to interact with a site is to become “friends” with an online presence, such as a historical figure, mascot, or animal.
Feeds
Internet users monitor feeds to keep track of new posts. A feed provides a snippet of information that allows users to decide if they want to read more about a topic. On social networking sites, a feed is generated when people make updates to a profile page. To ensure a regular stream of feeds, you will need to make the experience of interacting with your page rewarding for visitors. Think of ways to keep fans engaged—start discussion topics, run contests, or invite fans to comment on programs.
Fun
To get involved with social networking sites, you need to adopt a communication style that is conversational and fun. Each time you post new information online, simply ask yourself, “How would I tell this story to a friend?” Social networking is about people chatting with people, not agencies talking at people. Put away your technical writing manuals and pull out your personality—say what you need to say in a fun and engaging way.
Fascinating
A fun communication style is only part of the social networking equation. Your subject material must also be fascinating enough to capture people’s attention. Think about whether or not the information you want to share is something you would tell someone at a party. For instance, you might tell people about an interesting event that is coming up or wow them with a little-known fact. You probably wouldn’t discuss routine maintenance or launch into a dissertation about an obscure topic—don’t do it online either. Your fans will be more interested in visiting your page if you have something fascinating to say.
Frequent
The most important aspect of developing a thriving online fan group is frequent participation. Take a moment to think about how you maintain relationships in your personal life. Perhaps you meet friends for lunch or phone family on a regular basis. Your best friends are likely the ones you spend the most time with. Social networking works the same way. You must be committed to making frequent posts on your page and sending out regular updates to your fans. If you do this, your fans will reward you by spreading your message and rounding up new fans. This is the power of social networking.
Heidi Bailey is the author of the first electronic book published by NAI’s InterpPress, Putting Interpretation on the Map: An Interpretive Approach to Geography. She holds a bachelor of science degree in geography from New Mexico State University and a master of science degree in recreation, parks, and tourism from West Virginia University. Contact her at geointerpretation@yahoo.com.
This column is a series designed to help enhance your PowerPoint presentations. Each edition pinpoints common pitfalls faced when planning, preparing, and presenting PowerPoint shows.
The other day, I visited a popular coffee shop around the corner from my home in Marquette, Michigan. I ordered a hot beverage and sat down to enjoy a National Park Service multimedia program (i.e., podcast) called Yosemite Nature Notes.
Community History in the Canadian Rockies: Students Combine Stories and Technology to Map Their Town
by Laura Silver
Into the woods: Students check out the technology near the Bow River. Photo by Angus Leech.
It started beneath the earth, 175 million years ago. The Pacific tectonic plate inched under the North American plate. Land masses collided and enormous slabs of rock were forced upwards—the Rocky Mountains. Backdrop, destination, and testament to the area’s rich geological and social history, the snow-capped peaks surround the town of Banff in Alberta, Canada, and occupy a central spot in its past—and present.
A Town, A Park, A Landscape
Situated entirely within the borders of Banff National Park, the town is home to nearly 9,000 locals and welcomes three million visitors each year—not to mention the wolves, elk, and bears that live in the park and occasionally wander into town.
But it wasn’t always like that. According to the town of Banff, the first human settlement in the area dates to approximately 11,500 B.C., at nearby Lake Minnewanka. By 1750 A.D., mountain passes in the area provided fertile hunting and fishing grounds for Cree, Kootenay, and Plains Blackfoot tribes. The European presence in the area started 100 years after that, when representatives of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company descended on the Bow Valley to lay tracks that would connect British Columbia with the country’s other provinces. The town’s name comes from Banffshire, Scotland, the birthplace of two of the original directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway. But cars had a presence too. In 1911, the Banff-Calgary Coach Road made it possible for automobiles to access the mountain hamlet.
Today, Japanese restaurants, souvenir shops, and bars punctuate Banff Avenue. The town is also home to a dozen art galleries and several museums. The Buffalo Nations Museum chronicles the resilience and traditions of native peoples in the area. The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies highlights the natural and human history of the area and features modern-day representations of Rocky Mountain life in the arts.
Walking down the tourist-dominated main drag—rugged, towering Cascade Mountain on one end, the formal Cascade Gardens on the other—it’s easy to forget that people actually live here. But a group of students is helping to change that.
Charting the Past
The town of Banff in Alberta, Canada, has a rich and interesting history—told by a team of youngsters in a unique way. Photo by Doug Leighton/Travel Alberta/Banff Lake Louise Tourism.
Two seventh-grade classes at Banff Community High School used global positioning systems, mobile phones, and multimedia tools to tell personal stories rooted in the town’s past as part of an interactive walking tour of their town. Along the way, they deepened their knowledge of their hometown, honed their voices, and harnessed technology to share the stories of people who came before them. The Banff Mobile History Tour chronicles the mountain town’s beginnings through audio and video presentations, originally designed to be activated at hot spots (GPS-triggered coordinates) in town, and now available via an interactive, Web-based map with audio and video at www.banffmobilehistory.ca (click on “History Map”).
The tour, which debuted in spring 2008, presents moments in time that shaped the town’s history. Students’ recorded voices introduce tour-goers to native populations, explorers, and longtime residents.
The seventh graders started by pinpointing spots of interest in Banff, the highest town in Canada (elevation 4,537 feet). Then they researched related events in the town’s history and dug up historic images to illustrate the stories they chose. Students wrote and rewrote (and rewrote) scripts, which they recorded and paired with the archival images they found, presented in hard copy during the on-site tour, and now available on the Web.
The nonlinear tour showcases natural and cultural attractions within the two and a half square miles of the town of Banff. Student commentaries touch on the early days of the town library, the impressions of one of the first tourists to Banff National Park in 1905 (she married her guide), and the back-breaking work of a Canadian Pacific Railway worker (“The only thing I really wanted at the end of the day was sleep.”).
The origins of the settlement of the area are reflected in a reenactment of a conversation between explorers Duncan McGillivray and David Thompson, who, in 1800, were the first white men to visit the Bow Valley.
The students started with facts, but didn’t shy away from humor. The portrayal of railroad workers’ discovery of the hot springs outside Banff in 1885 provided an opportunity to insert some modern-day yucks.
A: “It’s not very deep, but, man, it sure is hot.”
B: “Let’s get a move on, I haven’t bathed in a week.”
C: “So that’s what that smell is.”
B: “That’s not me, it’s the sulphur.”
Tools of the Future
Bringing history to life is a group effort. Luckily, the students had a large supporting cast for the creation of The Banff (Magical) Mobile History Tour. The project was a collaboration between the local high school, a government-sponsored arts initiative called Learning Through the Arts, and the Banff New Media Institute at the Banff Centre. The project was funded by Inukshuk Wireless, a partnership between Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, designed to build and manage a wireless broadband network throughout Canada.
Angus Leech of the Banff New Media Institute, part of the Banff Centre, says the idea to involve students in creating a tour sprang from a training session for educators. One instructor, social studies teacher Irv Semenok of Banff, said he wanted to add some pizzazz to a standard part of the seventh-grade curriculum. Each year, Semenok assigned reports on local history and each year, his students uncovered little-known details of their town’s past, but each year, the bulk of their work ended up in a file drawer. Semenok wanted to create an online archive of the students’ work.
Mount Rundell dominates the Banff skyline. Photo by Laura Silver.
Leech told him that the Banff New Media Institute could take the project a step further by using GPS, audio, and video. As senior researcher at the institute’s Advanced Research Technology (ART) Mobile Lab, Leech leads teams who study and create location-based art, technology, and media design. His lab conducts research on new technologies, leads trainings for diverse audiences, and develops software for use on mobile devices such as iPhones and BlackBerries. One of its goals is to explore interactions between people, media, and the out-of-doors.
Before coming to the ART Lab, Leech spent a few years as a low-tech interpreter at Dinosaur Provincial Park in southern Alberta, where he examined the relationship between text, place, and performance.
“My job was to do guided hikes— heavily scripted—to bone beds where hundreds of dinosaurs died at once,” he said, “and to lead bus tours and do live theater where we dressed up as animals and dinosaurs and did stupid dances.”
Technological Alliances
Leech didn’t ask students to do any fancy footwork, but he was excited about the prospect of involving a younger generation in the Mobile Lab’s work. But even with first-hand experience in the field, the Calgary native knew that the Banff New Media Institute couldn’t go it alone. “We needed to team up with an organization that had a rigorous curriculum-development experience,” said Leech.
The institute already had a relationship with the New Media Program of Learning Through The Arts (LTTA) at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, which works with schools throughout Canada to bring teaching artists into classrooms to enhance the curriculum using dance, music, painting, and for the last few years, media arts. Its new media manager John Scully has been involved in designing and delivering training sessions for educators at the Banff Centre for the last four years, with positive results. He noticed that teachers were excited about seeing how locative media could be used in the classroom. So, the notion of sharing the technology directly with students wasn’t that far-fetched.
“It just kind of bubbled in our brain for six months,” said Leech, “until we noticed there was this funding opportunity out there.”
The project partners applied to Inukshuk Wireless for a grant in the area of mobile media and secured more than $100,000 for the pilot program—the first time a mobile technology project had been funded.
Do the Locomotion
Locative media is an evolving field that uses technology—most often some form of a global-positioning system (GPS)—to help augment an experience of place. And in the case of this project, it provided instructors with an opportunity to learn about a new medium for learning as well. One of Scully’s goals was to engage teachers in new software—Apple’s GarageBand for audio recording and editing and iMovie for video editing—already available on Macintosh computers at the school.
“We wanted to enable the teachers who are working with the Banff community school to work with the tools that are in their environment,” said Scully.
To facilitate the process, he used some of the funding to hire Calgary filmmaker James Reckseidler to help students with the technical and artistic aspects of the project.
“He wasn’t just a media artist,” said Scully, “He actually had quite a passion and an interest in the history.”
Reckseidler, who spent four years as a historical interpreter at Fort Calgary, said the technology gave students the chance to add another layer to the scenic and historical backdrop.
“The technology was actually only a device,” said Reckseidler. “We had wonderful landscape to work with already. What was surprising was how much more the stories came to life when you provided a bit more information about them.”
Scully said the multimedia aspect can add a sense of immediacy.
“You’re able to bring another sound, another voice, another picture right into their hands,” he said. “Plus, there’s real power in having someone speak in their own voice.”
Where there is technology, there are technical glitches. Many students complained about complications with software, the frustration of losing work on computers, or the challenge of writing for the ear rather than the page. But Scully had a strategy to combat those challenges: “Let’s go back and revise your script,” he told students when the equipment did not work as expected. “Let’s go back and work on drama, develop presentation skills.”
Banff National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts nearly four million visitors a year. Few of them get to hear a teenager’s interpretation of the site. The Banff Mobile History Tour was presented to parents at a special reception and was open to the public during a single rain-soaked weekend in May 2008. The turnout was dampened by the weather, but students had other opportunities to share their work. School classes from the neighboring town of Canmore and from an Aboriginal school in southern Alberta also participated in the tour as audience members.
“They thought it was really cool to walk around in Banff and hear these stories told by other students their age,” said Angus Leech. His mobile lab developed the Bluetooth receivers that allowed the phones to communicate with GPS receivers. The receivers kicked into action at locations that students had tagged.
Not every locative media project has access to the same set-up. Learning Through The Arts’s latest locative-media project—based at a school in Calgary—uses Mediascape, Hewlett-Packard software that disseminates place-based audio and video stories on hand-held GPS-enabled devices.
Scully is optimistic about advances in the field of GPS—originally invented for military use—and looks forward to seeing what artists will do with the technology. “The more we get comfortable with this, the more we can do it on an ongoing basis,” he said.
Leech of the Mobile Lab agreed that technology helps pave the way for opportunities that might not otherwise be available to students.
“A story is so much more powerful, has so much more resonance if you tell it in the place where it happened,” said Leech. “There’s a lot of potential in that, in terms of learning.”
For More Information
The Banff (Magical) Mobile History Tour.
www.banffmobilehistory.ca
The Banff New Media Institute.
www.banffcentre.ca/BNMI
Learning Through the Arts.
www.ltta.ca
Banff National Park.
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/ index_E.asp
James Reckseidler.
http://james.reckseidler.com/
Hewlett-Packard’s Mediascapes.
www.hpl.hp.com/mediascapes
Savannah, an educational adventure game that uses hand-held devices.
www.futurelab.org.uk/ projects/savannah
Laura Silver is a freelance writer, independent radio producer and licensed New York City tour guide.
Posted in Interpreting Public History, Technology