Sense of Place Keynotes
A journey through song, story and conversation
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“You are missing out if you aren’t booking Erica for a workshop or training. Her “sense of place” concept featured excellent hands-on exercises in an area so often perceived as intangible, while her keynote was just the dose of inspiration we needed.”
—Chief of Interpretation, Arkansas State Parks and Tourism
New Mexico Council on Aging Keynote, Albuquerque, NM
TEDx speaker, interpretive trainer, award-winning songwriter, and creative mentor Erica Wheeler has spent decades bringing people and places together through story, song, and place-centered experience.
She has been a featured keynote at conferences, parks, museums, tourism organizations, and community gatherings across North America.
Known for her warmth, humor, and insight, Erica’s keynotes blend artistry with grounded perspective—helping audiences reconnect with purpose, place, and what matters most in their work.
Erica’s work is dedicated to cultivating meaningful connections between people and place, so that both people and places can thrive.
Erica’s keynotes provide an uplifting journey through song, story, and conversation.
When your audience needs more than motivation or another set of tactics, these keynotes offer something more: they offer a shift in how attendees see themselves, their work, their place, and each other.
Through a unique and customized journey, Erica’s keynotes help people pause, remember what matters, and return to their work with renewed clarity and purpose.
Whether your event centers on tourism, education, interpretation, conservation, heritage, or well-being, these keynotes bring the heart of the work back into view.
National Association of State Park Directors Conference Keynote
Keynote Themes
Each keynote is customized and tailored to the audience, event theme, and location
The Power of Place
How our relationships with places—natural, cultural, remembered—shape meaning, identity, and care. This keynote invites audiences to reconnect with place as a source of insight, belonging, and responsibility.
Story and Belonging
Exploring how stories, both personal and collective, help us make sense of change, complexity, and one another. Illuminates how stories help us make meaning in our lives, and can reconnect us to what we value most.
Reimagining Sense of Place Narratives
A perspective-shifting keynote for those working in tourism, education, heritage, and conservation. This program invites new ways of seeing familiar work, helping audiences reconnect with purpose and possibility.
Memory, Well-Being and the Power of Place
A grounding keynote about presence, meaning, and care—for ourselves, our communities, and the places we serve. Especially resonant for gatherings focused on renewal, resilience, and reflection.
Wisconsin Governors' Conference on Tourism Keynote
Bring A Sense of Place Keynote to Your Event
If you’re planning an event and want a keynote that feels deeply aligned with a sense of place and purpose, let’s explore what might serve your audience best.
Each keynote is shaped with care—responsive to your theme, your people, and the moment you’re creating.
Let’s start a conversation.
Selected Apperances
Governor’s Conferences on Tourism (AR, NM, WI)
National Association for Interpretation (Annual Workshop & Regions)
National Association of State Park Directors
National Park Service (Founders Day, National Mall)
American Horticultural Society Youth & Garden Symposium
Maryland Land Trust Alliance
Parks Ontario
New Mexico Council on Aging Conference
…and more