May, 2017

Within a days drive of many urban centers, this park is one of the most visited in the nation. It holds many cultural stories as well as natural resource stories. The park brought Erica in as part of their seasonal spring training to inspire fresh ideas, build skills and hone techniques for connecting diverse visitors to the park.

See the Familiar Through New Eyes

Two-day spring training: While many of the staff members possessed a wide breadth of resource knowledge and interpretive training with several rangers holding multiple advanced degrees, others were brand new. Having people with this breath of experience and fresh ideas, helped with some wonderful cross pollinating of wisdom and creativity.

Introducing Erica: "For those of you who have had the more traditional interpretive training, we brought Erica here because she is going to make you think  in ways that you didn’t expect, and you’re going to think of new and creative ways to tell these stories.There’s incredible skills here in this room now, so it’s not that anything you're doing is now wrong, but we can take it to a whole other level.”

What participants said:

Rethink Programs and Gain Techniques

"I learned new ways to draw the visitor in, which has gotten the wheels turning in how I can incorporate creative techniques into my programs.”

"Even cut & dry program parts like intros and info can have soulful moments. You can turn generic reflection into reflective questions"

"Using sensory information and colorful language can really improve the visitors experience. I also learned that reflective moments can really strengthen your program."

Work collaboratively and Team-build

“ My favorite was working with my future team to come up with a program. It allowed us a chance to get a feel for each other. I liked bouncing ideas off of each other and bonding with my team.”

"The collaborative program was what I liked best because of the all the feedback and fine tuning involved."

"The group program gave an opportunity to work collaboratively with co-workers. It was a first, and enlightening.”

Increased tools and skills

"I've been using some of the techniques you taught us for sensory engagement and have actually gotten some really good feedback on them. In particular, I make a point of having people focus on being present in the moment and really taking in their surroundings while we walk between stops... I then ask people to share what they notice or feel, and it makes for a perfect segue into my discussion of how people in the Smokies were in tune with nature and used natural phenomena like phases of the moon to guide different aspects of their lives."

"I would recommend this program as an opportunity to move beyond and build on the traditional interpretive building blocks.”

"This training was great. Very engaging and I feel like it provoked me to think about my own natural skills and how to use and improve upon them.”