Put the HEART Back In Your Community:

Unifying Diverse Interests around a Central Theme by Tim Merriman,

Ph.D., CIP, CIT

Geography of Nowhere W.H. Kuntsler

Community Attractions

Community Experience Plan

Corridor Experience

Plan

NAI Definition of Interpretation Interpretation is a mission-

based communication process

that forges emotional and

intellectual connections

between the interests of the

audience and the meanings

inherent in the resource.

Traits - Descriptors

Tangibles - Traits

Yellow Hard Rock Calcium Egg-shape Pitted

Story

Intangibles - Ideas

Miracle Faith Hope Bezoar Healing Life

Tangibles ---- Intangibles

Yellow Hard Rock Calcium Egg-shape Pitted

Miracle Faith Hope Bezoar Healing Life

Universals

Yellow Hard Rock Calcium Egg-shape Pitted

Medicine Faith Hope Bezoar Healing Life

Henri Poincaré

Just as houses are made of stones, so science is made of facts. But a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.

Pine & Gilmore’s Theory

• Agriculture economy

• Manufacturing economy

• Service economy

• Experience economy

Traits of Experience Economy"

•  Theme the experience"

•  Harmonize impressions with positive cues"

•  Eliminate negative cues"

•  Mix in memorabilia"

•  Engage all five senses"

Pine and Gilmore 2000

Visitor Experience Model

Entry Exit Connections

Decision

Commitment Interpretive Planning, Brochu 2003

Commmunity HEART

• Holistic • Engaging • Appropriate • Rewarding • Thematic

Holistic • Community Experience Plan with major stakeholders

- Assessment Tool - Planning Tool - Funding Tool - Evaluation Tool

• Coordinated marketing and promotion

• Design Balance

Engaging • Emotional and intellectual connections

• Connects tangibles to intangibles (universals)

- Love, survival, family, life, death

• Relevant to audience experiences

• Social marketing

Through interpretation, understanding, through appreciation, through appreciation, protection.

Freeman Tilden 1957

Curiosity

Understanding

Care about

Care for

Stewardship

Awareness

Dragged Along

Social Marketing - The Interpretive Continuum

Appropriate

• Message is appropriate for core values

• Authentic experiences for the community

• Experiences designed for target markets

Audience Interests

• Experience Seekers

• Facilitators

• Hobbyists / Pros

• Spiritual Rechargers

• Explorers From Why Zoos Matter by Falk, et al

Rewarding • Triple bottom line

- Economy - Ecology - Equity

• Logic models –Outcomes-based - Output objectives - - Outcome objectives - Impact objectives

Logic Model Objectives align with organizational goals

Impact

Outcomes

Outputs

Goal – Conserve water in the community.

Out

puts Develop

Xeriscape Exhibit Hold 25 Xeriscape workshops Conduct 5 guest seminars on Xeriscapes

Out

com

es

250 in workshops each year 1,000 attend seminars Sell $100,000 in Xeriscape plants annually

Impa

cts Decrease per

capita water use in community by 5% in five years.

Thematic

• Central message or theme unifies diverse interests

• Up to 5 sub-themes support the theme

• Serves as an advance organizer

Hangzhou, China

Water and people in balance create a harmonious union with the environment.

Hangzhou Sub-themes • Hangzhou has integrated all kinds of water scenery including rivers, lakes, the sea and brooks.

• Hangzhou has become prosperous due to rivers over thousands of years of history.

• Protection of Hangzhou’s water quality protects our quality of life.

The National Tea Museum

Hangzhou,

China

Mto wa Mbu – Tanzania Mosquito Creek near Ngorogoro Crater

The farther backward you can look, the

farther forward you are likely

to see.

Winston Churchill

http://www.communitieswithheart.com

Heritage helps people value the past and imagine the future.

"   by Lisa Brochu and Tim Merriman

http://www.heartfeltpublications.com http://www.amazon.com

Tim Merriman timfmerriman@gmail.com

Lisa Brochu

lbrochu57@gmail.com

Limited number of books with us – 140 SEK each