Your Very Next Step newsletter for May 2014
By Ned Lundquist
www.yourverynextstep.com
“Memories are hunting horns whose sound dies on the wind.”
– Guillaume Apollinaire
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
– Lao Tzu
“Your Very Next Step” adventure/outdoors/conservation newsletter, published by Ned Lundquist, is a cooperative community, and everyone is invited, no…encouraged, no…urged to participate. Share your adventures with the network today! Send to lundquist989@cs.com.
This issue of YVNS comes to you from Denver International Airport.
*** To subscribe for free:
Send us your comments, questions, and contributions to lundquist989@cs.com.
Contact Ned at lundquist989@cs.com.
*** In this issue:
*** Ned’s upcoming travel
*** 10 Mouth-Watering Culinary Tours Around the World
*** Washington Monument reopens after repairs
*** Anacostia Watershed Society
*** Freedom to Float
*** Anacostia Paddle Night
*** America’s 10 Best State Parks
*** PLANET EXPLORE
*** Reviewer Bill “Laughing Dog” Garlinghouse Wins Old Town Kayak Package
*** Here’s Bill’s winning review:
*** Hammock Camping 101
*** The Ultimate Hang
*** National Rail-Trail of the month:
Trail of the Month: May 2014
Wisconsin’s Shoreland 400 Rail Trail
*** Trail/Outdoor/Conservation volunteer opportunities:
1.) Volunteer & Stewardship, Anacostia Watershed Society, Bladensburg, MD
*** Travel/Adventure/Outdoors/Conservation employment opportunities:
1.) Social Media Manager, The North Face, Alameda, CA
2.) Sports Marketing Coordinator, The North Face, Alameda, CA
3.) Deputy Vice President of Communications, National Parks Conservation Association, Washington, DC
4.) Media Relations Summer Intern, National Parks Conservation Association, Washington, DC
5.) Fish Hatchery Superintendent, State of Wyoming, Dubois, WY
6.) Fisheries Technician 1- Tagging Trailer Assistant, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Lewiston, ID
7.) Coho Fisheries Monitoring Intern, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Olema, CA
8.) Bicycle Technician, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Hilton Head Island, SC
9.) Field Bike Technician – Bay Area Bike Share, Alta, San Francisco, CA
10.) Party Bike Tour Driver, The Thirsty Pedaler, Louisville, KY
…and much more…and it’s all FREE!!!
*** Do you have a travel adventure, conservation or outdoor update to share?
Send me your stories and I’ll post in the “Your Very Next Step” and on the YVNS website (http://www.yourverynextstep.com/).
*** Ned’s upcoming travel, maybe, perhaps:
May 11-16, Seattle / Bellingham / Bremerton
June 9-10, Abu Dhabi, UAE
June 11-12, Bahrain
August 18-19-22, Tacoma, Wash.
August 22, 23, 24, San Diego, Calif.
October 28-29, Nassau, Bahamas
*** 10 Mouth-Watering Culinary Tours Around the World
*** Washington Monument reopens after repairs
Steve Hendrix
Washington Post
Visitors can go inside the obelisk for the first time since it was damaged by an earthquake nearly 3 years ago.
*** Anacostia Watershed Society
The mission of the Anacostia Watershed Society is to protect and restore the Anacostia River and its watershed communities by cleaning the water, recovering the shores, and honoring the heritage. The vision is to make the Anacostia River and its tributaries swimmable and fishable, in keeping with the Clean Water Act, for the health and enjoyment of everyone in the community.
*** Freedom to Float
The Chesapeake Bay watershed has a storied history and great natural beauty, but it can be difficult to explore because of limited shoreline access. A new coalition is working to help more people enjoy these remarkable waters.
http://www.npca.org/protecting-our-parks/air-land-water/great-waters/freedomtofloat/
*** Anacostia Paddle Night
Friday, June 6: Join NPCA and Anacostia Watershed Society for a free night of paddling along the Anacostia River. We’ll launch from the Ballpark Boathouse and explore the new Anacostia Water Trail. Learn more about Anacostia Paddle Nights and register online at: anacostiaws.org/calendar.
*** America’s 10 Best State Parks
http://www.fodors.com/news/photos/americas-10-best-state-parks?ref=news_fd_042614
*** PLANET EXPLORE
PlanetExplore is an on-line community designed to help individuals and families learn about and participate in outdoor activities and events in their area. Powered by partner organizations that share our passion, PlanetExplore is a portal to the outdoors designed to inspire and enable people of all ages to become regularly active outside, and to develop the benefits gained through a connection to nature.
We have teamed up with a host of like-minded partners to deliver a calendar brimming with local events for you and your family to become involved. Using PlanetExplore, you can find local outdoor events, become a PlanetExplore member to receive updates based on your interests, explore local parks and outdoor spaces using our Urban Nature Guides, and be inspired by our partner and visionaries blogs, videos and podcasts.
We at The North Face® love the outdoors. It’s in our DNA, and it defines us as a company. That passion and our desire to share this is the catalyst behind PlanetExplore. Our collective goal is to inspire the next generation of enthusiasts and increase outdoor participation among people of all ages.
Join us at PlanetExplore to get connected, get involved, and get outdoors! This is your first step to define for yourself what it means to Never Stop Exploring™.
http://www.thenorthface.com/en_US/our-story/planetexplore/
*** Reviewer Bill “Laughing Dog” Garlinghouse Wins Old Town Kayak Package
http://www.trailspace.com/blog/2014/04/30/old-town-camden-kayak-review-winner.html
*** Here’s Bill’s winning review:
http://www.trailspace.com/gear/hennessy-hammock/ultralight-backpacker-asym/?review=31033
*** Hammock Camping 101
*** The Ultimate Hang
Hammock camping tips, reviews and illustrations
*** National Rail-Trail of the month:
Trail of the Month: May 2014
Wisconsin’s Shoreland 400 Rail Trail
By Laura Stark
“At all levels of government—local, county, state and federal—everybody was really interested in this project.”
Sheboygan County is rural, small-town America—no doubt about it. This is Wisconsin dairyland, situated halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay, where the county seat is the Bratwurst Capital of the World. It’s not the type of place that one would expect a thriving walking and biking culture, which made it the perfect candidate for a grand, national experiment that began in 2005. And in Sheboygan, the county’s largest city, the Shoreland 400 Rail Trail was a little trail designed to have a big impact on changing modes and minds on transportation.
“We’re not like larger cities,” says Chad Pelishek, the City of Sheboygan’s director of planning and development. “We don’t have traffic jams or difficulty finding parking. Walking to downtown is something new because it’s so easy for us to get in our cars and go.”
The Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) has a long name but a simple premise: What happens to a community when people-powered transportation is made a priority? To find out, the federal government gave four communities across the country, including Sheboygan County, $25 million to invest in walking and biking infrastructure. A report detailing the results of the NTPP is expected to arrive by the end of this month.
“Sheboygan County is 500 square miles in size, so our municipalities are fairly spread out,” says Emily Vetting, associate planner for Sheboygan County’s planning and conservation department. “Because it’s so spread out, there are a lot of barriers to biking and walking, so we directed the focus of the NTPP in Sheboygan County on short trips within those communities that could be made by biking and walking.”
The Shoreland 400 Rail Trail is short—less than two miles—but according to the county’s website, within one mile of the corridor lies approximately 31 percent of the county’s population, 10 of the 16 Sheboygan public schools, 53 churches and approximately 80 manufacturing/production employers.
Not only does the trail thus provide a prime opportunity for walking and biking to work and school, less than a mile away lies the grand jewel of the city, sparkling Lake Michigan. Perhaps surprisingly, blue-collar Sheboygan—where nearly half the jobs are in the manufacturing sector—is known as the “Malibu of the Midwest” for its exceptional freshwater surfing. With the rail-trail so close to the shoreline, the city’s well-loved beaches are only a short stroll or ride away. Topping it off, less than three miles in the other direction, a connection can be made to the Old Plank Road Trail, which offers a 17-mile journey west through tranquil countryside.
This is quite a comeback story for what was once an eyesore for the city. “The rail corridor was a blighted area,” says Pelishek. “People were dumping junk there, and it was overgrown with brush. It’s really a night-and-day difference with what it looks like now.”
And it will just keep getting better. A new landscaping plan will add greenery all along the trail’s winding black path. “We really dreamed big with it,” says Vetting. “We’re aware that logistically we may not be able to fund everything at once, so we’ll do it in phases.” This summer will see the completion of the plan’s first phase, and future phases will roll out as funds become available.
“The chosen plants will tie into the neighborhood’s identity,” says Vetting. “For example, there’s a bar along the trail that brews its own beer, so hops will be planted there, and next to an Asian food market there will be trees native to that area that are also sustainable in a Midwestern climate. An area near a pizzeria will get shrubs and flowers with Italian feeling.”
Says Vetting, “Once you have these landscaping facets in place, it helps to ensure the trail’s longevity. People take ownership of it. Success is more guaranteed when neighborhoods take pride in it.”
Although rail-trails have been around since the 1960s, including Wisconsin’s famed Elroy-Sparta State Trail, this was the city’s first, and the NTPP funding was essential to it being built. Vetting estimates that about $1.3 million for the trail came from the program. The first shovel was turned at the trail’s groundbreaking ceremony last summer, attended by Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI), who campaigned the NTPP through Congress, and Marianne Fowler, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s senior vice present of federal policy.
“At all levels of government—local, county, state and federal—everybody was really interested in this project,” Fowler recalls. “There was more public engagement in Sheboygan than in any of the other pilot program communities.”
By the fall of 2013, the trail was complete, but being that Wisconsin was itself on the cusp of winter, the trail’s usage is just getting off the ground this spring. In fact, the trail’s official dedication will take place this coming June 2.
“The trail opened in the fall, and just a day or two after it was finished, it snowed,” says Bob Esler, a retired high school teacher who has lived in Sheboygan since 1967.
Esler, a railroad buff, was so enthused about the project that he wrote a small book—160 pages—on the area’s railroad history and designed historical signage that will be placed along the trail this summer. The trail will also sport a new logo he designed, inspired by the logo of the Chicago and North Western Railway, which once utilized the rail bed. The trail’s name itself comes from the bright yellow trains that once whistled down the tracks from Chicago to Minneapolis, a trip that was 400 miles and took 400 minutes.
“The 400 was a streamliner,” says Esler. “Its first car was a tavern lunch-counter car with a soda fountain and a short order cook. They used them from 1942 to 1971 when the trains stopped running.”
Esler himself was once a passenger. “As a kid, I grew up in Milwaukee, so when I went to college in Chicago, I rode the 400 to visit home,” says Esler. “It was a nice way to go. I’d sit in the parlor car and, after I turned 21, I’d get a drink!”
When RTC spoke to Esler last week, the weather had finally taken a turn for the better. It was 70 degrees after a long, cold winter, and he was airing up his tires for his first ride down the rail-trail. Perhaps an echo of the community’s sentiment, he enthusiastically exclaimed, “I haven’t been on the trail yet, but I plan to go on it soon!”
http://www.railstotrails.org/news/recurringFeatures/trailMonth/index.html
*** Trail/Outdoor/Conservation volunteer opportunities:
1.) Volunteer & Stewardship, Anacostia Watershed Society, Bladensburg, MD
If you are looking for a good cause that deserves your time and effort, look no further! Here at AWS no contribution is more valuable to us than your hard work. We offers a variety of volunteer opportunities that will engage your hands, your head, and your heart in the protection and restoration of our local lands and water. Volunteers are accommodated individually and in groups.
Volunteer Outdoors!
Interested in hands-on environmental restoration work? Help us with one of these outdoor stewardship projects—
• River & Community Trash Cleanups
• Non-native, Invasive Plant Removals
• Native Plant Restoration
• Meadow Restoration
Regularly scheduled volunteer events are listed on our event calendar at http://www.anacostiaws.org/calendar.
Please see the calendar for complete event details and participation instructions. Other types of activities, including native wetland plantings, may be available from time to time. AWS will arrange special projects for organized groups of volunteers. Please see A Note About Volunteer Groups below for more information.
Attention Students! Community service hours are available when you volunteer with AWS! Ask us for details, or bring your community service form with you.
Photographers and Videographers are also needed to document our restoration work along with capturing the beauty of the wildlife and the river. Contact our Communications Manager at 301-699-6204 x117 or email info@anacostiaws.org.
A Note About Volunteer Groups
Does your business, organization, church, or school want to volunteer with AWS? Volunteering in a group is simple and easy. All you have to do is contact an AWS volunteer project coordinator to make arrangements. We will match the size and capacity of your group to a fun and rewarding volunteer activity that everyone will enjoy! Visit the links under
Stewardship Projects above for descriptions of all our volunteer activities.
AWS tries to accommodate all special requests for group volunteer events. Dates and times for special group projects depend upon availability of AWS staff and project resources. All volunteer events are subject to rescheduling or cancellation in the event of severe weather or emergencies.
AWS volunteer projects are funded, in part, through government grants. In compliance with the terms of those grant awards, AWS maintains the right to invite members of the general public to participate in all volunteer events, scheduled or arranged independently.
Anacostia Watershed Society
The George Washington House, 4302 Baltimore Avenue, Bladensburg, MD 20710
phone: 301-699-6204 fax: 301-699-3317
http://www.anacostiaws.org/get-involved/volunteer-stewardship
*** Travel/Adventure/Outdoors/Conservation employment opportunities:
1.) Social Media Manager, The North Face, Alameda, CA
At The North Face, we push the boundaries of innovation with our product design and development of premier apparel, equipment and footwear to enable and inspire athletes and enthusiasts to Never Stop Exploring. We remain deeply proud to
be the first choice of the world’s most accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers, snowboarders, endurance runners, and explorers. If you have a passion for the outdoors and enjoy a fast-paced environment, this is the place for you!
The key responsibility of the Social Media Manager is to manager all TNF social media efforts across Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, activity-specific social media sites, and other emerging media to deliver key brand messaging and content.
Leverage end-to-end creative, copy, and sports marketing content across relevant sites to drive awareness, tnf.com database growth, and traffic for tnf.com. The Social Media Manager will be the internal champion and evangelist for social media across the organization. Establish control-related standards and procedures.
Qualifications
Education/Experience:
Years of Related Professional Experience: 5.
BA/BS in Marketing, Digital Marketing, Communications, or Design or equivalent years of education and experience. 5 years experience in digital marketing. Strong preference for a background in the outdoor and/or apparel industry.
Skills:
· Demonstrated social crisis management experience.
Prior management of agencies, freelancers, and/or direct reports.
Proven ability to grow communities, in terms of engagement rates, raw growth in
follower numbers, and rank vs. brand competitors.
Competency in coordinating programs with distributed global teammates.
Organized, flexible, and collaborative.
Advanced knowledge of digital media (search, email, affiliate, mobile, etc).
Knowledge of web development.
Strong project management skills.
Ability to lead cross functional digital marketing projects for on-time
in-budget delivery.
Strong written and verbal communications and negotiations skills.
Special Requirements:
Travel – 10%
Key Responsibilities
1. Direct team of coordinators to manage the daily tasks of sourcing and publishing social media content, maintaining a daily dialogue with the brand’s fans and followers, and moderating, monitoring, and measuring the flow of both fan and brand content.
2. Coordinate with the content development and production teams to devise both paid and organic content distribution strategies.
3. Set the path and POV for the brand’s social media editorial voice, purpose, and short-term and long-term calendars.
4. Broaden social media access and tactics beyond the marketing function to other areas of the business, including customer service, retail, sales, and product.
5. Advise brand and media planning teams on the newest and most effective paid social media placements.
6. Devise brand-accurate strategies for consumer engagement, including user-generated content, sweepstakes, and contests.
7. Communicate with VF sister brands on social media wins, campaigns, tactics, pitfalls, agencies, and toolkits.
8. Determine and continuously adjust the brand’s social media software toolkit for publishing, monitoring, and quantifying the impact of social media content and communication.
9. Contribute to both seasonal and go-to-market campaigns with innovative social media strategies.
10. Collaborate with corporate communications to establish and refine or crisis management monitoring and response protocols.
https://vfc.taleo.net/careersection/jobdetail.ftl?job=THE0023I&lang=en&sns_id=addthis-service-code
2.) Sports Marketing Coordinator, The North Face, Alameda, CA
https://vfc.taleo.net/careersection/jobdetail.ftl?job=THE0024D&lang=en&sns_id=addthis-service-code
3.) Deputy Vice President of Communications, National Parks Conservation Association, Washington, DC
Spearheads the development and implementation of integrated media and marketing campaigns to support our programmatic priorities and raise the visibility of our brand with key audiences. Determines the overall content of, and coordinates
operations for, all earned media, including digital, print, radio, and television. Works closely with the Vice President of Communications to ensure coordination and integration of ongoing communications campaigns, including media, online, and design. Participates in organizational messaging, and provides strategic guidance to media team and policy leads in developing talking points and collateral materials to support those messages.
Seeks opportunities to raise the organization’s visibility through marketing initiatives tied to our strategic Communications efforts, working closely with staff in Communications, Development, and Membership. Monitors the media landscape to keep tabs on issues that could potentially harm the organization, and alerts the VP of potential crises communications issues. Oversees the media team and the media budget, including related consultants.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
· Provides strategic direction for the organization’s integrated media campaigns, working in concert with policy
staff and the media team to develop targeted, integrated campaigns, including related materials such as radio campaigns and Public Service Announcements. 30 percent
· Develops and maintains relationships with key national media reps, including bloggers; oversees creation and implementation of all media campaigns (regional and national) and activities. 20 percent
· Manages media relations staff, interns, and consultants, and the media budget. Seeks opportunities through marketing initiatives to raise the organization’s brand visibility. 20 percent
· Provides support for creation of tactics such as policy position papers, testimony, congressional letters, reports, and other materials, which support organizational priorities. 15 percent
· Serves as an integral member of the Communications management team. 10 percent
· Monitors landscape for potential crises communications issues. 5 percent
TOUR OF DUTY: 9:00 to 5:00, Monday – Friday
SCOPE OF POSITION: Some interaction via telephone with donors and members, members of the Board of Trustees, NPCA staff, outside groups, and vendors. Interacts with all departments as well as regional directors.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
•Demonstrated experience and leadership in managing a comprehensive strategic communications, media relations, and marketing program to advance mission and goals.
•Innovative thinker and creative implementer of strategic communications campaigns.
•Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing strategic communications campaigns to support programmatic work.
•Demonstrated expertise using social media in a strategic, creative way to support integrated communications campaigns to
enhance brand recognition and programmatic priorities.
•Demonstrated skill in proactively building relationships with top tier reporters and editors and successfully positioning subject matter with the media (traditional and digital) to achieve high-impact placements.
•At least 5 years of experience in a management role.
•At least 7 years of experience engaged in strategic communications
•Experienced in conservation policy
•Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills
•Proven ability to manage an efficient, effective team.
•Demonstrated attention to detail and accuracy.
•Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
•Baccalaureate degree in communications, journalism, or related field, master’s preferred.
Core Values
Live, honor, and own the organization’s Core Values:
1. Commitment to Mission: Commitment to the national parks is essential to our success.
2. Empowerment: Having the tools, skills, facts and inspiration to advocate on behalf of the national parks.
3. Teamwork: Teamwork, built on a fundamental trust in and respect for each other, is integral to our success.
4. Accountability: Being accountable to each other, our members, and the public, as well as to the excellence, timeliness, and integrity of our work, and the implementation of these core values.
5. Innovation: Exercising insightful creativity, perseverance, and strategic risk-taking to successfully complete our work.
6. Diversity: We believe in and celebrate the diversity of cultural backgrounds, community traditions, and political perspectives at NPCA and in the National Park System. By integrating such diversity into our work, we will most effectively accomplish our mission.
http://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH12/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=NPCA&cws=1&rid=318
4.) Media Relations Summer Intern, National Parks Conservation Association, Washington, DC
Join the media team that successfully works to protect America’s national Parks! National Parks Conservation Association media relations interns research, develop, implement, and evaluate campaigns, including writing press materials and pitching and placing news stories. College juniors, seniors, or recent graduates with an interest in public relations and national parks are encouraged to apply. Candidate must be a strong writer who can juggle multiple tasks. Preferred candidate has background in public relations, public affairs, social media, or communications
http://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH12/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=NPCA&cws=1&rid=319
*** From Mark Sofman:
5.) Fish Hatchery Superintendent, State of Wyoming, Dubois, WY
6.) Fisheries Technician 1- Tagging Trailer Assistant, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Lewiston, ID
7.) Coho Fisheries Monitoring Intern, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Olema, CA
8.) Bicycle Technician, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Hilton Head Island, SC
9.) Field Bike Technician – Bay Area Bike Share, Alta, San Francisco, CA
10.) Party Bike Tour Driver, The Thirsty Pedaler, Louisville, KY
*** Send your job opportunities to share with the YVNS network to lundquist989@cs.com.
*** Your Very Next Step is a service of the Job of the Week Network LLC
© 2014 The Job of the Week Network LLC
Edward Lundquist, ABC –
Editor and Publisher
Your Very Next Step
7813 Richfield Road
Springfield, VA 22153
Home office phone: (703) 455-7661
lundquist989@cs.com
www.nedsjotw.com
To subscribe:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.