Training/ Outreach Discussion from JTHG / Preserve America break out session
Big city and small towns have similar needs. Dubuque, Iowa and Brunswick Maryland representatives formed this group.
Reaching new audiences and creating awareness through training opportunities is a challenge.
Moving Regulator to EducatorIt is important to create awareness of the benefits of historic preservation and reach a wider-audience with proactive approach and instilling values to the group. Be flexible when trying to reach new audiences.
Tough to get people to understand historic preservation is sustainability. Three pronged approach social, environmental, and economic helps reach a greater audience. People are interested in the bottom-line.
Dubuque wants to train contractors and commissioners on Historic Preservation Briefs. They have found the need for something more easily related to a wider audience. There is a desire to help them become craftsmen and promote the fact that green jobs are a niche. Other (SAT) projects have been models for training disadvantaged members of society with marketable job skills found in preservation. How do we hold these up as examples and connect communities interested in this approach learn about these projects?Need better information sharing.
For Brunswick, MD economic development is a main goal. They are trying to capture the attention of the 650 cars in a commuter parking lot that pass through their historic downtown which is full of empty store fronts. Is this a matter of programming and PR or resource assessment? Where do these fit in with training?
Work with media; notifying public of training opportunities and also to share the results of training after it has occurred.
Funding Training
What has been your experience with any digital / web-based training in the face of budget cuts?
Seek out sponsors for training sessions. Dubuque had a sign company sponsor a webinar on wayfinding.
Additional thought how can we keep these discussions going? Here is a review of several free, open-source software programs for creating an online discussion forum. Maybe ACHP & NPS can co-host.
Dubuque tries to bring trainers to them and then invite others to participate and share limited resources. Important to foster collaboration to make regions stronger.
NHAsare a good regional network to foster this kind of resource sharing and have effective training at a high standard across the board. Not only in this session but I spoke with other participants who spoke highly of the JTHG hospitality training program.
Sustainable City network is another great resource.
Brunswick sited the Canal Towns partnership composed of 8 communities as another example of training collaboration- also important for metrics and data gathering.
Metrics
Not enough emphasis is given to collecting baseline data. It is difficult to measure success of projects which have been in progress for years without prior data. What do you do if you want to measure effectiveness but don’t realize this until the middle of the program?Communities find it especially difficult to measure awareness campaigns. This might be a good area to direct resources.
Think of targeted groups to get feedback from. Both mentioned using general visitor feedback surveys but Dubuque also gets feedback from meeting planners as a way to gauge wayfinding effectiveness since it is something they look for as part of their professional services.
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