Sense of Place Keynotes
Bring the Mission of Your Work to Life
Erica offers a dynamic blend of stories, conversation, and award-winning songs to create a unique, memorable event that helps people reconnect with place, purpose, and why their work matters.
These are keynote experiences that help audiences access the very thing they are trying to create in their work: meaningful connection.
Drawing on decades of experience with parks, museums, tourism organizations, conservation groups, and community audiences, she explores how personal connections to place inspire caring — and how sense of place stories can deepen belonging, stewardship, well-being, and community connection.
Attendees leave inspired, grounded, and with practical ideas for bringing more connection, meaning, and relevance into their own work.
Whether your event centers on tourism, education, interpretation, conservation, heritage, or well-being, these programs help bring the heart of your work — and the purpose of your gathering — to life
“You are missing out if you aren't trying to book Erica for your upcoming workshop or training event. Her work with the ‘sense of place’ concept through her workshop provides excellent hands-on exercises in an area that is so often perceived as intangible, while her keynote was just the dose of inspiration we needed.”
— Chief of Interpretation, Arkansas State Parks and Tourism
Event planners choose Erica when they want to:
* Set a meaningful tone for the gathering
* Bring the event theme into clear focus
* Help participants reconnect with why their work matters
* Offer a keynote that is memorable, grounding, and alive
* Give audiences fresh perspectives and usable ideas they can carry back into their own work
Keynote Topics Include
Revitalize Your Narratives with a Sense of Place Perspective
Uncover fresh ideas to reframe the stories you share and engage visitors today.
Understand the deeper motivations that bring people to your site, destination, or community.
For interpretation, museums, historic sites, parks, heritage organizations, and public engagement.
Sample Titles
From Resource to Resonance
: Finding the Heart of the Matter
How Meaning Forms:
Connecting to the Power of Place, Story, and Belonging
Bring Your Place and Region’s Stories to Life
Tap into the demand for unique and meaningful travel experiences. Spark ideas for narratives that resonate, build connection, and reveal the true character of your region through stories that deepen visitor connection.
For tourism, destination marketing, placemaking, and visitor experience conferences.
Sample Title
The Power of Place in Visitor Experience
: Crafting Narratives That Inspire the Journey
Sustain Stewardship and Reconnect with Purpose
Experience a renewing journey of connection to landscapes and meanings in your life.
Understand why sense of place stories form the bonds needed for authentic and lasting stewardship.
For conservation, preservation, land trusts, parks, and environmental organizations.
Sample Title
From Story to Stewardship:
Why Stories Matter
Cultivate Belonging & Well-Being
A keynote experience that offers a way back to ourselves, our surroundings, and one another.
Through story, song, reflection, and conversation, Erica evokes a sense of place and belonging that is deeply needed today.
For wellness, resilience, purposeful aging, retreats, and community-centered gatherings.
Sample Title
Place as Medicine:
Restoring Belonging Through Sense of Place Story
Customize to bring your region and your mission to life
At the heart of Erica’s keynotes is a simple message: people care more deeply about places, stories, and communities when they can find their own connection to them.
Each keynote is shaped around your event theme, audience, and location. Erica brings a sense of place into the room and creates a shared experience of story, reflection, and connection by researching the region and the mission of your gathering.
Her keynotes do more than inspire: they offer grounding during busy, agenda-packed events — helping people pause, integrate, and carry the event’s themes forward with renewed purpose and presence.
“We invited Erica out for a week to help celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Big Sur Land Trust with a variety of events, including being our keynote speaker, and working with youth and others in the community. Her positive impact reverberated throughout our community and continues to this day. Erica’s ability to connect people and place beautifully aligned with our mission to strengthen communities and inspire stewardship.”
— Bill Leahy, Executive Director, Big Sur Land Trust, CA
About Erica
Erica Wheeler is a TEDx speaker, interpretive trainer, award-winning songwriter, and creative mentor who has spent decades bringing people and places together through story, song, and place-centered experience.
She has been a featured keynote for conferences, parks, museums, tourism organizations, and community gatherings across North America.
Known for her warmth, insight, and grounded presence, Erica’s keynotes blend artistry with thoughtful perspective—helping audiences reconnect with purpose, place, and what matters most.
Selected Appearances
American Horticultural Society Symposium
Association of National Park Rangers Rendezvous (ANPR)
Governor's Conferences on Tourism (Arkansas, New Mexico, Wisconsin)
Maryland Land Trust Alliance
National Association for Interpretation (Annual Workshop & Regions)
National Association of State Park Directors
National Park Service (Founders Day, National Mall)
New Mexico Council on Aging Conference
Parks Ontario Spring Training Conference
State Parks Seasonal Training (MT, ID, AR)
TEDx, Shelburne Falls, MA
Booking Information
Deepen the impact of your event with a keynote that reconnects audiences to meaning, place, and purpose.
Whether your gathering focuses on tourism, stewardship, heritage, leadership, or well-being, Erica crafts a program that aligns with your theme and leaves a lasting impression.
Interested in bringing Erica to your conference or gathering?
Start a Conversation →
Questions? Schedule a no-pressure conversation to learn more, explore formats, and discuss a possible fit.
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