Sense of Place
Deep Dive Experience
Follow the Sense of Place Compass and Uncover Ideas and Insights to Develop Meaningful Stories
August 25 & 26, 2026 • Online
12:00–4:00 PM (ET) Tuesday and Wednesday
Join me for a two-day guided journey exploring place, story, and meaning.
Explore a place that sparks your curiosity from your past or present. It could be a place you've loved for years or somewhere you've recently discovered. It could be one that emerges during our time together or one that keeps calling for your attention.
Over two days, you'll explore one place through personal experience, observation, research, and reflection, uncovering new layers of understanding and following the story threads that emerge.
You'll work with the same Sense of Place practices I've shared with parks, museums, historic sites, communities, writers, and educators across the country.
Many of us have ideas we'd like to explore, but rarely give ourselves the uninterrupted time, structure, and guidance to stay with them long enough to discover what they might become.
This experience offers that kind of space.
Over two days, you'll explore one place through personal experience, observation, research, and reflection, uncovering new layers of understanding and following the story threads that emerge.
You’ll leave with a richer understanding of your sense of place, a collection of insights, discoveries, observations, and story ideas, and an emerging narrative thread you can continue developing in your personal or professional work.
This is for you if
You've always wanted to write about a place that matters to you.
You are already working on a story and want to deepen it.
You’re simply be curious why certain places continue calling your attention.
This experience is designed for people who are completely new to the Sense of Place approach as well as those already immersed in writing, interpretation, education, or creative practice.
You don't need to arrive with a finished project—or even a place already chosen.
The Sense of Place Compass Journey
Over two days you’ll move through the full Sense of Place Arc and discover how stories naturally emerge through observation, memory, research, reflection, and meaning-making.
Part One: Personal Experiences
You'll begin with practices that help you tap into your own memories, lived experiences, questions, and observations. These become the first doorway into understanding why this place continues to call your attention.
Part Two: Place Knowledge
Next you’ll explore outwardly, uncovering knowledge about the layers of story that extend beyond your own experience and begin seeing the place in a broader context. You might be inspired to learn about the history, nature, or others writings about your place.
Part Three: Meaning
As these perspectives come together, patterns begin to emerge. You'll explore why this place holds meaning, what larger ideas it represents, and how your own experiences connect with wider and deeper cultural stories.
Part Four: Story
Finally, you'll begin shaping the narrative thread that has been quietly emerging all along. Rather than facing a blank page, you'll be working from a rich collection of observations, discoveries, research, memories, and insights that provide direction for whatever comes next.
About This Work
For decades I've shared the Sense of Place framework with National Parks, museums, heritage sites, educators, writers, communities, and organizations across the country.
This experience offers something different from simply learning about the framework. It's a chance to experience it from the inside.
By moving through the complete process yourself, you'll gain practical tools you can continue using long after the workshop, in your writing, your work, and your everyday relationship with place.
You’ll Leave With
A deeper relationship with one meaningful place.
A Story Bank—a rich collection of memories, observations, research, discoveries, and story ideas.
New tools for observing, researching, and making meaning.
Greater confidence developing stories from lived experience.
A narrative thread you can continue developing in your writing, teaching, interpretation, creative work, or personal life.
Register Now. Join us for the
Sense of Place Deep Dive Experience
August 25 & 26, 2026 • Online
Tuesday 12:00–4:00 pm ET
Wednesday 12:00–4:00 pm ET
Fee: $497
Questions? Email Erica
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be a writer?
You do not. The Deep Dive is for anyone who wants to explore a place that matters to them and develop a deeper relationship with it.
There will be writing and reflection, but this is not a writing class. Writing is simply one way we'll notice, gather, and make meaning.
What kind of place should I have in mind?
Choose a place that holds meaning, curiosity, memory, or an unanswered question. It can be familiar or new, past or present—any place you'd like to understand more deeply.
Any place that keeps calling your attention, a question, or simple curiosity is enough to begin. Your answer might come to you during the workshop, which is wonderful too.
What if I've attended something similar with Erica before?
Your relationship with place is always changing, so returning to the practices often reveals new stories, questions, and meanings.
Every time you engage with the practices you can bring to life a completely different idea because you have grown and changed since the time before.
What You'll Experience
Over these two days you’ll explore a place through different perspectives: personal, collective, factual, evocative, researched, and felt.
Through questions, reflection, meaning-making, and guided practices, you'll gather details, insights, stories, memories, knowledge, and connections that deepen your understanding of that place.
By the end of the two days you’ll have ideas and stories you can continue developing in your writing, teaching, interpretation, creative work, or personal exploration.
Day One:
Place Connections Through Three Perspectives
Your memories: Writing about lived experiences and personal stories
The present moment: In-the field/out your door observation & awareness
The deeper layers: Exploring through research and curiosity more layers of time
You leave day one with a rich collection of memories, observations, questions, and discoveries and a “Story Bank” that becomes the foundation for everything we'll explore on Day Two.
Day Two:
A Deeper Connection Through Story Making
Gather: Explore the stories that are emerging through questioning and discovery.
Weave: Use emerging patterns, connections, and themes to find the story threads.
Develop: Begin shaping a narrative that weaves together self, place, and meaning.
By the end of day two, you’ll leave with a deeper relationship to your place, fresh insights to continue exploring, a practical and repeatable framework you can continue developing long after the Deep Dive ends.
