Purpose
In the chapter "Conservation Esthetic" in
Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac (enlarged edition,
with essays), Leopold described a series of levels at
which individuals interact with a resource (concept
also in Module 101).
These levels encompass a broad range of expectations
a visitor may hold when encountering a park interpreter.
Visitors have chosen to invest time and money to visit
a park site, and it is their right to simply want to
"have a good time." Allowing for visitor enjoyment
in the context of preserving park resources for future
generations is a directive written into the NPS organic
act. This component explores the concept of a quality
experience, what an interpreter can do to facilitate
this experience, and ways in which these types of experiences
can and often do lead to the overall outcome of stewardship.
Objectives
Upon completion of this component, the learner will
be able to:
Use
a decision path for identifying what an audience
or individual visitor is seeking;
Properly
place "simple enjoyment" in the spectrum
of visitor wants and desires in visiting a site;
Effectively
use the visitor center as a base for a complete
range of quality visitor experiences.
Approach
In addition to skills leading to appropriate interpretive
decisions, an effective interpreter must recognize when
visitors merely seek to enjoy park resources in leisurely
ways. Many visitors want to enjoy a park and need guidance
in finding places of solitude, recreation, and leisure.
These experiences are part of a spectrum of visitor
interests and can be just as valid in building constituencies
as interpretive devices.
Developmental approach should be built around information
and support resources which interpreters have or can
provide which enable visitors to enjoy park resources
in a recreational or leisurely manner. Visitors who
gain satisfaction through the appropriate recreational
use of park sites may become stewards of those sites
through their activities. Ultimate protection of any
park site will depend on a broad based support of the
many potential constituents.
Content
Outline I.
Quality visitor experience--Getting to their real purpose
in coming
A. Variety and relevance
1. Visitors are sovereign--THEY make the choices
a. Module 101 revisited for various groups
2. Visitor motivations come in many forms.
a. any legal and appropriate use of resource
can lead to meanings, regardless of what the visitor
is seeking, and that enjoyment comes in infinite
sizes and shapes
b. stewardship ethic may grow from any satisfying
use of park resource, not just interpretive efforts.
Facilitating that relationship is an important
role of interpreter
3. Professionalism and quality service as ingredients
B. Focusing on visitor wants
1. limitations of time and money
2. the question beneath the question
a. probing to assure clarity
b. limiting your response to the question asked
3. resisting the urge to inflict interpretation
and cultivating the concept of stewardship through
leisure enjoyment
4. delivering on the visitor's wants
a. simple methods of giving directions (inclusive)
--clear destination, give only necessary information,
have visitor repeat back for clarity
II. Role of visitor centers as a foundation for a quality
visitor experience
A. Traditional roles
1. Coordinated services with other sources
2. Information management
a. making regulations, compendium, other limitations
clear and visible, and treating in a firm, yet
even-handed manner
3. Facility requirements
4. Quality of resources and appearance
5. Basic Maslow theory
6. Orientation and information focused
B. Changing roles
1. Providing for wants as well as needs
a. identifying wants
2. Electronic wants
3. Avoid tendency to inflict information
4. Evaluating your visitor center for "friendliness"
to all visitors
5. Making your visitor center work as a partner
with other information sources
C. Connection of facility with opportunities throughout
park/site to enjoy maps, photos, directions, etc.
1. Using exhibits, site bulletins, and other resources
to illustrate opportunities to enjoy site
D. When the opportunity occurs
1. Connecting an "enjoyable" visit to
resource stewardship.
Dealing with People, video available from Mather Training
Center
Interpretation for the 21st Century: Fifteen Guiding
Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture, Larry
Beck and Ted Cable, Sagamore Publishing, 1998.
Suggested
Developmental Activities
1. Study the types of activities which visitors participate
in which do not include interpretation. Evaluate how
and why these could lead to stewardship principles.
2. Analyze visitor centers within your area which provide
information in support of leisurely and/or non-interpretive
(recreational) activities at your site for clarity,
focus, and support.
