The document provides information on putting the heart back into communities by unifying diverse interests around a central theme. It discusses using interpretation to forge emotional and intellectual connections between audience interests and resource meanings. The visitor experience model and logic models for outcome-based evaluation are presented. It advocates developing a holistic, engaging, appropriate, rewarding and thematic community experience plan with stakeholders to achieve social, economic and environmental impacts. Water and its role in Hangzhou, China are given as an example of how themes and sub-themes can be developed.

1. Put the HEART
Back In Your
Community:
Unifying Diverse
Interests around
by Tim Merriman,
a Central Theme Ph.D., CIP, CIT

2. Geography of Nowhere
W.H. Kuntsler

3. Community Attractions

4. Community Experience Plan

5. Corridor
Experience
Plan

6. 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.

7. Traits - Descriptors

8. Tangibles - Traits
Yellow
Hard
Rock
Calcium
Egg-shape
Pitted

9. Story

10. Intangibles - Ideas
Miracle
Faith
Hope
Bezoar
Healing
Life

11. Tangibles ---- Intangibles
Yellow Miracle
Hard Faith
Rock Hope
Calcium Bezoar
Egg-shape Healing
Pitted Life

12. Universals
Yellow Medicine
Hard Faith
Rock Hope
Calcium Bezoar
Egg-shape Healing
Pitted Life

13. 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.
Henri Poincaré

14. Pine & Gilmore s Theory
• Agriculture economy
• Manufacturing economy
• Service economy
• Experience economy

15. 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

16. Visitor Experience Model
Decision
Entry Connections Exit
Commitment
Interpretive Planning, Brochu 2003

17. Commmunity
HEART
• Holistic
• Engaging
• Appropriate
• Rewarding
• Thematic

18. Holistic
• Community Experience Plan
with major stakeholders
- Assessment Tool
- Planning Tool
- Funding Tool
- Evaluation Tool
• Coordinated marketing and
promotion
• Design Balance

19. Engaging
• Emotional and intellectual
connections
• Connects tangibles to
intangibles (universals)
- Love, survival, family, life,
death
• Relevant to audience
experiences
• Social marketing

20. Through interpretation,
understanding, through
appreciation, through Stewardship
appreciation, protection.
Freeman Tilden 1957
Care for
Care about
Understanding
Awareness
Curiosity
Dragged Along
Social Marketing - The Interpretive Continuum

21. Appropriate
• Message is appropriate for core
values
• Authentic experiences for the
community
• Experiences designed for
target markets

22. Audience Interests
• Experience Seekers
• Facilitators
• Hobbyists / Pros
• Spiritual Rechargers
• Explorers
From Why Zoos Matter by Falk, et al

23. Rewarding
• Triple bottom line
- Economy
- Ecology
- Equity
• Logic models –Outcomes-based
- Output objectives -
- Outcome objectives
- Impact objectives

24. Logic Model Objectives align
with organizational goals
Impact
Outcomes
Outputs

25. Goal – Conserve water in the
community.
Develop 250 in Decrease per
Outputs
Outcomes
Impacts
Xeriscape workshops capita water
Exhibit each year use in
Hold 25 1,000 attend community by
Xeriscape seminars 5% in five
workshops years.
Sell $100,000
Conduct 5 in Xeriscape
guest seminars plants annually
on Xeriscapes

26. Thematic
• Central message or theme unifies
diverse interests
• Up to 5 sub-themes support the
theme
• Serves as an advance organizer

40. Hangzhou,
China
Water and
people in
balance
create a
harmonious
union with the
environment.

41. 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.

60. The National
Tea Museum
Hangzhou,
China

61. Mto wa Mbu – Tanzania
Mosquito Creek near Ngorogoro Crater

90. The farther
backward you
can look, the
farther forward
you are likely
to see.
Winston
Churchil
l

91. http://www.communitieswithheart.com

92. Heritage
helps people
value the past
and imagine
the future.
" by Lisa Brochu http://www.heartfeltpublications.com
and Tim
Merriman http://www.amazon.com

93. Tim Merriman
timfmerriman@gmail.com
Lisa Brochu
lbrochu57@gmail.com
Limited number of books with us – 140 SEK each