TELE-WORKSHOP FACT SHEET August 14, 2002 Traveling Gracefully: Interpreting Scenic Byways WORKING WITH CONSULTANTS & CONTRACTORS TELE-WORKSHOP SPOTLIGHT SPEAKERS Michael Gross, Ph.D. Professor of Environmental Interpretation College of Natural Resources University of Wisconsin Stevens Point,Wisconsin mgross@uwsp.edu Ronald Zimmerman Director, Schmeeckle Reserve College of Natural Resources University of Wisconsin Stevens Point,Wisconsin rzimmerm@uwsp.edu Craig Sommerville, Owner and President, Split Rock Studios Minneapolis, Minnesota csommerville@splitrockstudios.com Speaker Profiles: Ron Zimmerman and Mike Gross each work as professors of interpretation and provide consultant services.They’re based at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point College of Natural Resources, which offers a major in Environmental Education & Interpretation. Ron and Mike have collaborated as editors and authors for the Interpreter’s Handbook Series, a collection of books for professionals and students of interpretation, and they have each written several articles on these subjects. In addition, Ron and Mike have conducted interpretive training workshops for the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, and other ederal, state and international agencies.They also develop interpretive plans for various clients. Craig Sommerville owns Split Rock Studios, a full-service interpretive exhibit design/build firm. Formerly known as Deaton Museum Services, the company specializes in creating cultural and natural history exhibits for museums, interpretive centers, aquariums, zoos and related institutions. Craig has worked on more than 100 major projects across the country. START WITH A VISION Mike, Ron and Craig shared insights from their years of experience in planning and fabricating interpretive media for byways, interpretive centers and other facilities.This panel of experts began by noting that consultants and architects are often hired too early in the process.According to the panelists, the interpretive development process begins with visioning, followed by storytelling, and, finally, fabricating.They described each of these phases and then discussed how to issue effective RFPs. “Invest time yourself before you hire anyone else,” said Mike.“Know the significance of your byway before you bring people in.” He cautioned that the byway’s staff needs to stay involved in the entire process. He added,“Expertise in interpretive media development comes from consultants, but your byway group needs to have the vision. One person should become the ‘vision keeper,’ that is the primary contact with all consultants throughout the process.” VISIONING A thorough visioning process is essential to a successful interpretive project.Without a clear vision, the consultants must rethink the project, including clarifying the goals and parameters. The vision answers basic questions: Why? Who? What? Who?: The byway staff must know who the visitor is. Surveys, interviews, focus groups and other market analysis techniques can help to identify who the visitor is and what the visitor is seeking.The panelists suggested that byways look at related, similar facilities for valuable information on target markets. What?: Evaluate the tangibles and intangibles of your byway.Tangibles include the physical resources and things to see along the byway. Intangibles refer to the meanings of your byway. Interpretation is based on the premise that to be effective, it must link tangible resources to their intangible meanings. Intangible meanings include systems, processes, events, ideas, values and universal concepts. For instance, the life and death stories of the people who created, worked on or traveled on this road are all rich in intangible meanings.Themes should be developed that unify these messages and experiences. Good themes connect the tangible resources to their intangible meanings. Why?: The byway staff needs to answer the driving questions: Why is this institution creating interpretation for this scenic byway? How will it help to serve our mission? What specific goals will it help us to achieve? TELL YOUR STORY (CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT) From the visioning step, your byway can move forward to shaping its message. Ron, Mike and Craig suggested that you find storytellers—interpreters—to assist with this critical part of the process. Interpreters are experts who can help you to develop your visitor center, wayside or other media (CD-ROMs, publications, etc.) that ensure that they reflect the story you want told. The role of interpreter for scenic byways is to connect visitors to tangibles (resources that can be experienced) and especially the intangibles—the meaning of what the visitors experience. One of the panelists added,“You may need a storyteller to communicate those messages.You need to tell people that you have more than a pretty drive.” PRODUCING THE MESSAGE (DESIGN-BUILD) The fabrication phase includes production of panels, exhibits, visitor centers or other communication vehicles for your story. Craig emphasized the need to plan ahead.“Do you have a good plan put together so that you have themes, or umbrella concepts?” he asked.“Do you already have decisions made on fonts,standards, graphic elements?” He explained that with standards in place, you can expand and add components while retaining uniformity in the signs and exhibits. The group also discussed choosing the medium for the message. Craig noted that many choices exist now for state-of-the-art interpretive panels and cost has come down in the last few years.He advised checking with sources on the durability and quality for each type. One consideration in choosing a medium is the exact location of the panel. Exposure to ultra-violet light, saltwater or mountain snows can dramatically influence the longevity of various materials. “Work with an interpretive planner experienced with a lot of locations and materials,” said Craig. He explained that the planners often work closely with the same or certain design-build firms that can provide the proper materials for the location. Often, the cost of materials can affect your decision. Craig commented that porcelain enamel costs about $4,000 per panel. Fiberglass embedment costs are between the porcelain and laminates. He noted that Folia or Izone products offer a five-year guarantee, but there’s a lot of fine print.These laminates might still be a better choice in high-exposure areas.“They’re about $300 to $400 per panel.You can reproduce quite a few before you reach the price of porcelain,” he said. The panelists referred byway leaders to a resource paper written by Dick Ostergaard with the Center for Design and Interpretation at the San Juan National Forest. His work discusses the characteristics, benefits and limitations of various types of exhibit materials and provides helpful details on signs (America’s Byways Resource Center can assist in connecting byway leaders with a draft of this document). Another form of interactive media includes audio devices.The panelists said the costs are coming down.The trick to successful audio tours, they said, is to make the audio personally engaging. “Treat them like old-time radio shows with sound-effects,” one panelist commented. “It’s specialized work,” said Mike.“Find the right storyteller who knows the techniques.You know the story. Help the storyteller understand it and then communicate those stories.” The team cited audio tours for Mount St. Helens, Gettysburg and Alcatraz Island among their favorites.They also noted that radio repeaters (with the blue signs that say “Tune in to 98.6 for Tourist Info”) are generally very boring.They mentioned www.cartours.org and www.antennaaudio.com as possible resources for information on audio tours. Although cassette tapes for tours have been popular, the team said that most places are going to CDs. Some even sell the CDs. However, selling merchandise may be off-limits for federally funded programs, and sales may be limited by equal-access issues, too. For example, audio media that accommodates unsighted visitors or print materials for the deaf may not be sold.Then again, if the material is a cost item for those with sight or those with hearing, then you might be able to sell it. Investigate the full scope of selling any interpretive media very carefully before you commit any money, and certainly educate yourself about all of your media options. PLAN FOR RFP RESULTS Check with various online resources to find experienced consultants, especially people familiar with accessibility issues, the panelists said.The time you spend researching and planning before you issue an RFP produces better results and can lower your costs. The three experts also said that it’s possible to ask your RFP to do too much. Craig said that he sometimes sees RFPs that include both research work and design-build components.“You might be able to put together a team, but sometimes it’s better to send two RFPs,” he said.“Most companies are specialized.” Craig said that Split Rock Studios typically receives RFPs for design-build projects that are not involved in a low-bid or quote process.“Spend time before the RFP goes out talking to vendors,” he said.“Then vendors have an idea of what to expect.You can build a trust level.” He also advised checking out the vendor’s reputation and he said to get to know the key individuals who will be doing the real work.The panelists all agreed that you should ask for resumes from people actually doing the work. Call the references! The panelists also noted that if there’s a group or expert you want to work with, verify during the negotiating stage that the General Contractor is willing to work with the expert. The team cautioned that some RFPs produce poor responses because many projects are simply under-funded. If the budgets aren’t workable or seem unattractive, you won’t find qualified vendors. Check with the American Association of Museums for reasonable figures or call vendors and ask for ballpark numbers. Craig emphasized,“The more accurate information you provide, the more we’re prepared to provide numbers.” Your background work can also reduce costs.The interpretive plan should be done in advance, then you can look at the design- build step. Look to your themes to identify symbols, colors or logos that unify the byway. “If you can create the graphic images and preliminary writing, that helps to lower costs because it takes a lot of time to do the research and writing,” one of the experts said. Nancy Brunswick, a USDA Forest Service Byways Resource Specialist participating in the Tele-workshop, commented that byways often lack funding for consumer research, but you can do qualitative (versus quantitative) research using focus groups, windshield surveys and other questionnaires.These self-reported travel patterns are still helpful, she said, noting that the Logan Canyon byway in Utah used self-reported data for determining preferences in design and activities. The team agreed that assigning one individual as the contact also helps minimize miscommunications and duplicated efforts.This individual should be the keeper of the vision and serve as the contact for stakeholders and for contractors.This communication liaison should also be authorized to sign-off on each element. Lastly, a firm deadline is important for satisfactory results. BOX: THREE GENERAL PHASES OF BYWAY INTERPRETIVE DEVELOPMENT It could be very beneficial to separate your project into three phases,and release a new Request for Proposals (RFP) at each phase. Creating steps helps professionals to be responsive to developments And adjustments within each phase. Remember, the more information and direction you provide in your RFP, the more accurate the responses will be. 1. Identification (Visioning) Clarify the "why, who and what" of your interpretive project.This includes identifying the target markets, mission, goals and stories for the byway. 2. Communication (Concept Development) Interpretive professionals will develop a narrative and conceptual drawings describing where, when and how interpretation will take place. 3. Construction (Design-Build) In the design-build phase, your byway will conduct formative evaluation, (such as reviewing mock-ups and testing ideas), and commission the actual construction. PHOTO: Before you hire professionals, make sure you know your byway’s significance and assign one person as the vision keeper who will be the point of contact from planning to installation. SIDEBAR: BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY OF INTERPRETIVE RESOURCES Courtesy of the National Association of Interpretation http://www.interpnet.com/home.htm http://www.interpnet.org/interpnet/miscpages/programs/certification_bi bliography.htm Beck, Larry, and Ted Cable. 1997. Interpretation for the 21st Century: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture. Champaign, Illinois: Sagamore Publishing. Ham, Sam H. 1992. Environmental Interpretation:A Practical Guide for People with Big Ideas and Small Budgets. Golden, CO: North American Press. Knudson, Douglas M.,Ted T. Cable, and Larry Beck. 1995. Interpretation of Cultural and Natural Resources. State College, PA:Venture Publishing, Inc. Trapp, Suzanne, Michael Gross and Ron Zimmerman. Signs,Trails, and Wayside Exhibits: Connecting People and Places. 1994. Interpreter’s Handbook Series. Stevens Point,WI: UW-SP Foundation Press, Inc. Gross, Michael, and Ron Zimmerman. Interpretive Centers: The History, Design and Development of Nature and Visitor Centers. 2002. Interpreter’s Handbook Series. Stevens Point,WI: UW-SP Foundation Press, Inc. Zehr, Jeffrey, Michael Gross, and Ron Zimmerman. James Heintzman, consulting ed. Creating Environmental Publications:A Guide to Writing and Designing for Interpreters and Environmental Educators. Interpreter’s Handbook Series. Stevens Point,WI: UW-SP Foundation Press, Inc. (Out of Print). Veverka, John A. Interpretive Master Planning:The Essential Planning Guide for Interpretive Centers, Parks, Self-Guided Trails, Historic Sites, Zoos, Exhibits & Programs. Acorn Group,Tustin, CA; Reprint edition (January 1999). Waysite -The National Park Service wayside design team site. Helpful information, on design, construction, and materials for wayside exhibits. http://www.nps.gov/waysite/index.htm America’s Byways Resource Center provides information, connections and expertise that help build better byways. State coordinators, local groups, volunteers and organizations with ties to nationally designated scenic byways look to us for hands-on assistance in planning, preserving, promoting and managing scenic byways. 2002 Tele-Workshops Alternative Funding: Looking Beyond Traditional Sources Don Charpio, Bureau of Land Management Economics, Partnerships and Your Byway Community Ernesto Sirolli,The Sirolli Institute Traveling Gracefully: Interpreting Scenic Byways Ron Zimmerman and Michael Gross, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Sharing Your Heritage: If You Promote It,They Will Come Amy Jordan Webb, National Trust Heritage Tourism Program Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Sustaining Byway Organizations Web Site Technology Stephen Clyde, Utah State University, National Scenic Byways Online America’s Byways Resource Center 227 West First Street, Suite 610 Duluth, MN 55802 Tel: 218-625-3469 Fax: 218-625-3333 1-800-4BYWAYS (1-800-429-9297) Ext. 5 www.byways.org copyright 2002 America’s Byways Resource Center