Open Forum

Looking for co-panelists to develop a proposal for the NAI 2020 National conference in FL in November. Our idea is to present a 360 view of innovative volunteer interpretation taking place at our organizations.  

Shedd has spent over a year training guest-facing/front-of-house volunteers using an innovative new volunteer structure that gives each volunteer the same foundation of interpretive skills and techniques, with individual volunteer tracks developing further expertise in interpretation or other areas. 

We think a share out of this new volunteer training structure will demonstrate one way to prepare and train volunteers (or staff) to engage guests/visitors with innovative interpretive programming. We are looking for two other panelists to share out ways you are utilizing innovative interpretation at your organization.  If you have volunteers facilitating innovative interpretive programming, or if you have spent some time evaluating innovative interpretation with volunteers, we would love to collaborate with you to share a view of what innovative interpretation looks like from preparation to implementation to evaluation. We are also open to discussing other options to share a 360 view of interpretation. 

Of course, we acknowledge the possibility that the conference or travel to the conference may change due to ongoing safety measures. We hope collaborators would be open to digital means of sharing out this presentation if in-person attendance is not safe or feasible. 

If interested, please contact Beth Kosiba at bkosiba@sheddaquarium.org as soon as possible, but no later than March 23, 2020. The deadline for proposal submission is March 27, 2020.