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FameLab Revisited

We just took part in another FameLab competition in Troy, New York, at Rensselaer Polytechnic (RPI) Institute sponsored by NASA’s Astrobiology program in collaboration with the British Council. Lisa Brochu is one of three judges along with Cheryl Zook of National Geographic and Planet Science researcher, Dr. Alex Lockwood from Caltech. After the morning round of three-minute presentations, I delivered a two and a half hour training activity to the competitors on the interpretive approach to communication.

FameLab is an international competition in science communication, part of the Times Cheltenham Festivals in Cheltenham, United Kingdom. The best way to get a taste of recent competition is to watch Fergus McAuliffe from University County Cork in Ireland with his award-winning presentation in 2013. He shares how the wood frog (Rana sylvatica) blurs the line between life and death. Fergus recently took his story further at a TedX talk on “Sharing Science Through Story.”

Famelab finalists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on July 29.

These three-minute elevator talks given by early career scientists demonstrate the power of effective interpretation of scientific research. And it aptly simulates the real-life circumstance of having only a few moments to connect with a foundation executive, major donor, or program director when chatting at a meeting or catching the elevator at a conference hotel.

In just three minutes a scientist can put her or his listeners into a jargon-induced coma or light up their minds with the potential for wondrous new discoveries in science. FameLab provides a chance to practice and get training and feedback. The regional event in Troy, New York was won by Graham Lau, a field geologist, who had his entire audience ready to stomp their feet to assist him in a daring escape from a crumbling glacier during one of his field studies. He will compete in the U.S. competition as a result of his success in the regional event. Fifteen other scientists also took part and the quality of their work was amazing. You can see some of the presentations at http://famelab-eeb.arc.nasa.gov.

Several years ago, Dr. Mary Voytek, Senior Scientist for Astrobiology at NASA, learned of the FameLab competition and realized what a benefit it could be to astrobiologists and other scientists in the U.S. She placed the management of the events into the able hands of Daniella Scalice with the National Astrobiology Institute. They gather postdoctoral students, graduates, some undergraduates and early career scientists at regional and online events and the winners and some runners up go on to compete in a national competition. The winner of the national event will be sent to Cheltenham to compete with the winners from 25 other nations.

We admire these brilliant young scientists who take the challenge to become powerful communicators with the public. Dr. Shawn Domagal-Goldman, another NASA astrobiologist and coordinator of the Pale Blue Blog, served as emcee of this event at RPI. Paraphrasing Shawn, we once had Dr. Carl Sagan speaking eloquently for the importance of exploring space on national TV on a regular basis but we lost his amazing personality and articulate voice in 1996. Now with the extreme fragmentation of television with hundreds of channels, and dozens of social media outlets on the Internet, we need hundreds of mini-Sagans taking their inspired work to the public in myriad ways. FameLab and NASA’s Astrobiology program are helping pave the way for the future of powerful science communication. We’re proud to be a small part of that movement.

– Tim Merriman

Light Up People’s Brains with Music

When I was in the third grade, Lloyd Higgerson, the music teacher, came to our class and introduced the opportunity to be in the band. I wanted to play trumpet and my parents bought the instrument and encouraged me to practice. And practice. And practice some more. It was lots more pressure than I wanted so I quit band one day at school. When I arrived home, I found Mr. Higgerson waiting with my parents, in what could only be called an intervention. They all explained that I should not expect to quit learning new things when it became challenging.

The Hulihee Palace (historic site) in Kailua, Hawaii, hosts a monthly music celebration that is free to all who wish to attend.

Music became a part of my life from then on. I was in the marching band and a dance band in high school that performed at proms for other schools. In college I learned guitar and enjoyed participating in hootenannies, informal acoustic music gatherings on the Southern Illinois University campus. In my 30s I bought a mandolin and slowly learned to play well enough to play in a band. Playing music puts me “in the zone” in a major way.

If you’ve seen the video about recent research regarding music and the human brain, you know that researchers are finding out how music engages our senses in a holistic way. We use all of our brain when we play music and it helps us in other areas of cognition and emotional intelligence. Music is a catalyst for engagement. I am grateful that a dedicated music teacher bothered to ask my parents to keep me involved.

Think about the opportunity this knowledge creates for non-formal, free-choice learning programs. The National Center for Education Statistics released a report in 2012 on the arts in formal education. The good news was that music is still in 94% of grade schools showing no decline in the previous decade. Dance and theater did not fare as well.

The annual Mount Fuji Festival in Fujinomiya, Japan, is a celebration of culture through music and dance for people of all ages.

Music as a part of programming at a zoo, nature center, museum, aquarium, community or historic site has great value. It lights up the brains of visitors just to hear music. If you involve them in making music the brain benefits are even greater. Music that is congruent with a place, culture and community can create lasting memories as it helps engage the brain in diverse ways.

Many free-choice learning sites host concerts, dances and varied arts performances. I haven’t seen many that teach music or bring musicians in on a regular basis. When I was a state park interpreter, I hosted monthly bluegrass and old-time music open-mike jams at the outdoor amphitheater. It was some of the most popular programming we offered and really appealed to local people who rarely took advantage of other park programming. It was a celebration of their local culture and a great social event over and over. As a nature center director, I started a music festival that became a great fundraiser and hosted many outdoor dances. We also had monthly music jams where players could learn from each other.

With our upcoming move to Hawaii, I am now learning to play ukulele and enjoying every minute of it. I hope to find opportunities to jam there, where the ukulele is part of the cultural soundscape at every community event (even though the instrument was originally introduced by the Portugese and is not considered a traditional Hawaiian instrument by many).

As a planner of interpretive experiences and trainer, I suggest that we think more about how to make music a part of the programming and ambiance of the places where we enjoy sharing our natural and cultural heritage. Neuroscience researchers suggest that the benefits of music to our well-being and in making memories are much more than we might have expected. Mr. Higgerson was obviously way ahead of them.

– Tim Merriman

13 Reasons to Take Our 2015 Tanzania Ecotour

Join us for this exciting opportunity from January 22^nd to February 1^st in Tanzania. Download the itinerary and TANZANIA REGISTRATION

If you want to see lions, leopards, cheetah, elephants, cape buffalo, black rhinos, hippos, monkeys and diverse kinds of birds in their natural savannah habitats, you cannot do better than visiting the national parks and conservation areas of Tanzania.
Tanzania has over a hundred distinct tribes and we meet and spend time with people from many cultural communities over our eleven-day tour as we visit a Maasai village, tour Mto wa Mbu village, and visit the Iraqwi cultural center.
We travel as a very small group of 10 to 12 persons in Toyota Land Cruisers custom-designed for the rugged terrain of Tanzania that provide excellent photography opportunities from open roofs and windows.
We stay in unique ecotour lodges, permanent tented camps and portable tented camps that keep us close to the landscape and wildlife.
We are in the Serengeti during one of the best periods to see tens of thousands of wildebeest and zebras during the great migration that occurs each year. And the big cats follow the migration.
Gabriel Kavishe of Maasai Magic Safaris is our exceptional guide who grew up in a Chaga community, attended a boarding school with Maasai young people, and worked with some of the most skilled researchers studying the wildlife of this unique nation.
Lisa and I are making our eighth trip to East Africa to lead the tour and train guides. We enjoy serving as thoughtful hosts for people from other parts of the world.
It’s expensive to make this journey but the price only goes up each year so now is the very best time to make the commitment in terms of price.
Africa loses incredible wildlife resources to poaching and habitat destruction each year but if you go now, you can have a very similar experience to what enchanted visitors like Ernest Hemingway in the past.
Space is limited and we had 3 reservations in the first 15 minutes the itinerary was posted so putting down your deposit early will guarantee the trip of a lifetime to Tanzania and the Serengeti.
This is not a strenuous trip because we mostly observe wildlife from vehicles with open tops that permit easy photography in a safe environment. We do some easy walking in cultural communities.
When else can you walk in the footsteps of your ancestors? We’ll visit Olduvai Gorge where the Leakeys found evidence of the earliest people.
Our ecotours are designed to promote conservation of the local environment and contribute to local economies. Your fees help both conservation and humanitarian projects in East Africa.

If you have questions, we are anxious to answer them – call us now at 970-231-0537 or download the registration packet and let’s get started.

– Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu

daniel — Tim and Jim learn from Daniel about the traditions of Iraqwi people in protecting their home and cattle from cattle thieves.

The Interpretive Farm, Oz Style

We were recently driving south from Melbourne to Phillip Island in Australia to watch the amazing emergence of 16,000 little penguins from the ocean at dusk. Along the highway we spotted a series of signs much like the old Burma Shave signs in the U.S., which were sequences of messages that pique your interest. These did the same, but the point of interest was a dairy farm. We were ready for a break from driving on the “wrong side” of the road and the traditions of afternoon tea in Australia are compelling.

The Caldermeade Farm and Café entry feature on the highway included a stack of milk cans atop an easily read sign. Clear directions to the parking area take visitors past fields of farm animals. A nice welcome sign at the entry trail to the café immediately made options available – we could either go straight in for tea, pet the baby cows, see the other small animals (piglets, chicks, bunnies), or wait an hour to see the cows come home and get milked in the barn. We could see families out in a farm petting area with young Holstein calves and goats and opted for tea instead, but we did note that the large milking barn had viewing windows all the way round allowing a self-guided view of the activities in the barn. We went into the café and enjoyed delicious scones, like the American biscuits you’d get with biscuits and gravy but served with berry jam and fresh clotted cream with hot coffee. Heaven. As I paid the bill, we browsed the gift shop, which had tea towels and other items with iconic black and white cows, along with a variety of the jams and honey made on the farm, local wines, and of course, a variety of stuffed toy farm animals. On the way out I was amused by the farm weather station that used a rock on a rope to monitor conditions.

This kind of interpretive farm is interesting for so many reasons. It helps city dwellers, especially children, understand where their daily milk and related products originate. The combination of good food, places to walk around and touch animals and a storyline about the farm creates a quality, complete experience. It makes you want to tell others about it. We could have stopped at the fast food shops one kilometer further and paid less for a quick snack that would be even more quickly forgotten, but we can do that any day in any place. This unique experience created a memory, embedded in all of our senses.

Farm interpretation (also known as agritourism) is not new. Winery tours with interpretation have been popular in some areas for many years. In Scotland, you’re likely to come across tours of malt whiskey distilleries. The interpretive tour of New Belgium Brewery in our hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado is excellent. And nothing beats the Bluebell Creamery tour in Brenham, Texas, especially on a hot summer’s day (a product sample is included with every tour).

Caldermeade was especially inventive in using signs along the highway at the decision point. We had no idea where we would stop along our two-hour drive, but we knew we would stop somewhere. Their clever signs invited us to stop and try their fare. And we were glad we did.

And, by the way, the penguins were amazing on Phillip Island. If you get to Melbourne, go see the penguins and have a snack at Caldermeade Farm on the way.

–Tim Merriman

5 Ways to Turn T-shirts into Memorabilia with a Message

I love owning, wearing and buying t-shirts. They are comfortable, usually inexpensive, and serve as a palette for art and messaging. I can think of five good reasons to use them at interpretive sites and in social marketing campaigns as a way to promote your mission and message.

Brand Recognition – At its simplest, a good t-shirt with your logo or an theme-related slogan will advertise your brand to everyone who sees it. People who love you will wear it everywhere and that lets others know that you exist.

Event Memorabilia – If you offer special events, great t-shirts each year become collectors’ souvenirs of the event. Each one should have something that ties it to events from previous years thematically but also show something distinctive for each year. Don’t forget to include your logo or brand identity in addition to any specially designed logos for the annual event.

Great Messages – Really well thought out messages or quotes that link with the brand or organization can get people to notice the wearer and start a conversation. For example, printing the bold phrase “Only elephants should own ivory” is a great message on a shirt for an elephant conservation organization.

Art with a Message – A beautiful t-shirt with exceptional artwork always attracts attention. Like a great written message, artwork makes a statement that can start a conversation between the wearer and the observer that can provide the opportunity to invite people to your organization’s website for additional information.

Iconic T-shirts – When a t-shirt represents something special in your life, it becomes a treasure. Creating a unique shirt for political campaigns, fundraising efforts, or links to once in a lifetime events may create a collector’s item (which may then become a fundraising opportunity as well). The problem with these iconic shirts is that they are likely to stay in the closet. I have a treasured political campaign T-shirt I rarely wear because I want it to last. I rarely show it off, so its message doesn’t get seen as often as it should.

Ilan Shamir of Your True Nature is an interpretive entrepreneur who writes, produces, and distributes the “Advice From . . . “ series of T-shirts, bookmarks, and other unique memorabilia mostly at parks, zoos, museums, nature centers and recreation sites. This popular series started with Advice from a Tree and has expanded in all directions. Lisa and I have several, ranging from Advice from a Shark to Advice from a Volcano. When we wear them, people smile and ask questions about the shirt. The messages have their attention because they are short, clever, and visually appealing.

I always prefer an interpretive gift shop with shirts that closely match the theme and feeling of the organization. When you can sell your own site-specific product the branding is always stronger. But shirts like the “Advice . . .” series may be a way to deliver a message compatible with your theme without having to create your own line of tees.

– Tim Merriman

Matching Mission and Message Zooperbly

We recently enjoyed training twenty-eight interpretive professionals from Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania in a day-long interpretive planning workshop at the Melbourne Zoo. Zoo personnel kindly invited us to explore the Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, two of the three Victoria Zoos, in our remaining days in the Melbourne area and we took them up on the offer.

Perhaps what we enjoyed most about the Melbourne Zoo is the clear message that this zoo is about fighting extinction. It’s not only pervasive throughout the interpretive text, but it’s written in bold letters across a landscape feature that draws visitor attention immediately on entering the zoo grounds. Interpretive signs remind visitors that there are things they can do to help in this effort, both at the zoo and at home. A gorilla telephone challenge invites visitors to recycle older cell phones to make an investment in protecting gorillas. The use of a “zooperhero” action figure and engaging language really brings young people to the cause. Teens and preteens are often considered a more difficult audience to reach but this approach targets their interests in both animals and phones and gets them involved in fighting extinction. The zoo provides prepaid mail-in envelopes to make it easy for guests to take action after they return home.

Melbourne Zoo definitely designs guest experiences that interpret animals of the world with a focus on the threats and options in protecting animals. Many of their exhibits seem to be in transition to habitats that enclose people in the environment of the animal, rather than caging the animal in a more human-centric environment. Animal identification signs make the experience more personal, providing the name of the animal (what the keepers call him or her) and its individual likes and dislikes rather than the more standard zoo sign that offers only scientific and common names, distribution, and status. The species information is also provided, but isn’t the main focus. We found this approach appeared to more fully engage visitors with the animals, building a bridge of familiarity from one representative animal to the entire species. It seemed to meet people where they were, instead of expecting non-biologists to be excited about the scientific knowledge of the species found in more traditional zoo approaches.

Murrundinde by the sculpture of his great, great uncle.

After leaving Melbourne, we drove over to Healesville Sanctuary an hour to the east of the city. The guest experience staff met us at the gate and introduced us to Murrundindi, the ngurungaeta (elder/leader) of the Wurundjeri people. At 69 years of age he remains a vigorous spokesman for his people and Victoria Zoos. In the past two years the Sanctuary has formalized the stories of his people using his personal and family stories as examples in exhibits and sculptures along a cultural trail that winds throughout the grounds. His storytelling skills and passion for sharing his culture with people is commanding. We were honored to have him spend time with us, helping us to understand a bit of his history as he told us of his painful transition from hiding his aboriginal history to sharing it with the world. It was wonderful to sit with him in the café and have him explain some of the artifacts he holds dear and get some first-hand tips on playing the didgeridoo.

The Healesville Sanctuary shares the story of aboriginal people while displaying native Australia animals in a beautiful forest environment. We were encouraged to watch a bird show with trained parrots and raptors. It’s a very entertaining show but it goes beyond the typical bird show. The core of the program was a message about using recycled paper products to preserve native forests that provide nesting and foraging habitat for the species of birds being flown in the show. The keepers explained how each species of cockatoo and raptor plays key roles in the ecosystems of Australia. We have seen other bird shows in parks and zoos, but this experience was exceptional in matching messages to the natural history stories and ecosystems.

Blending the natural and cultural heritage of Australia as they do so skillfully at Healesville Sanctuary makes a lot of sense. Landscapes, animals, and people are inextricably linked together and understanding those connections can be difficult when animals are pulled out of context into cages. Braiding the stories of native species, native peoples, and native plants throughout the visitor experience helps facilitate connections for people in a way that rarely happens in zoo settings. Like the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary is in transition as it updates exhibits and programs, but we definitely think they’re headed in the right direction and look forward to returning some day.

– Tim Merriman

Brewing Up Fun Down Under

On a recent trip to Perth, our host Rusty Creighton promised a great coffee break during one of our outings and what he had in store surpassed even my exacting coffee-craving expectations. Yahava KoffeeWorks is an oasis that blends calm and caffeine, nestled among the vineyards of Swan Valley.

The coffee place overlooks a beautiful lake reflecting the fall colors of grape arbors that stretch out in all directions. A spacious lawn accommodates couples and families enjoying the scenery with their coffee.

Inside, Mark Lucas, our barrista, sets out small glasses and begins serving free samples of their best in-house roasts. His coffee interpretation includes countries of origin, roasting practices and a range of options for coffee preparations that I’ve never seen before. Since we’ve recently purchased a small coffee farm in Kona, I’m fully engaged by his low-key presentation.

Cold drip coffee is a bit “lemony,” sharp and good. Coffee syrup mixed with cold milk is creamy and delicious, but not my preferred beverage. The varied dark roasts and blends are excellent, slightly different and easily compared in this taste test. Mark is friendly and skilled in telling stories about coffee. He easily keeps four or five customers served at the same time without slighting anyone. We munch on chocolate covered coffee beans to clear our palates between tastes.

Mark interpreted the coffee options with no sales pitch at all. A giant coffee roaster looms behind him and other barristas bustle around the busy bar. During the brief conversation over the various tasters, we look around to see that there are places to purchase bulk coffee to take home, a freshly brewed cup to enjoy on the grounds (no pun intended), and a variety of coffee-related merchandise. Every wall of the large warehouse style building offered bulk coffee, brewing devices, coffee-flavored food products, coffee-themed clothing and snack items.

The experience shifted us from “sell me a coffee” to a slow stroll through their amazing store. We soon had French press travel cups for brewing on the road and coffee-flavored toffee bars, along with a piping hot “long black” (plain American-style) and “flat white” (black coffee loaded with milk) from the main counter. We relaxed and enjoyed the setting and rich coffee before driving up into the hills to check out some hiking trails.

Yahava KoffeeWorks goes way beyond a Starbucks or other experience economy shop. Like the best craft beer breweries, which offer tours and tasting in addition to sales, this place makes you feel at home with their setting while they interpret their products. By the time we left, it was perhaps the most expensive coffee break we’ve ever taken, but we are, even as we type this, enjoying coffee made with our new French press travel cups. The craft of the coffee interpreter at Yahava made our day.

– Tim Merriman

Six ways to Put Interpretation On Your Manager’s Agenda

I was at the National Park Service training facilities in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, when Mike Watson (then superintendent) said to me, “Interpretation is management.” I had heard our profession described as a management tool for decades, but if it’s only a tool, it’s one of those used too infrequently. I tend to agree with Mike – it’s not just a tool, it’s the way to manage most effectively.

How can you elevate interpretation in your park, zoo, museum, nature center, historic site or aquarium to being considered the fundamental approach to management? Here’s a few suggestions to get you started.

1) Is the interpretive chief or interpreter invited to management meetings? It’s hard to contribute if you’re not at the table. You must know what challenges the site or organization faces. If not invited, ask to be invited. Or buy a box of donuts and show up. They rarely chase off the person with donuts. Show up and pay attention and volunteer ideas about how your programs and activities might help with management challenges.

2) Read the annual management plan and any other documents that identify management issues. Strategize how you might use interpretive programming, signs and facilities to solve specific problems. Could you show how helping people better understand the resource will also help prevent vandalism, unwanted fires, or drownings?

3) Write an annual interpretive business plan or operations plan that includes a logic model with measurable objectives and then stick with it. Show alignment of the objectives and results with management goals.

4) Include your manager on your interpretive planning team to ensure that your interpretive objectives match his or hers. Everyone has to be on the same team.

5) Report monthly, quarterly or annually on your progress toward objectives in your plan. Measure success in terms that management will understand and care about.

6) Refer to interpretation as management when talking about why you do it. If you believe that what you are doing is “icing on the cake,” not the cake, you may find the icing scraped off during periods of budget decline.

Too often organizations are so compartmentalized that management, interpretation and marketing are in separate offices and rarely meet together. But ideally, all of these departments work together to help achieve the overall goals and objectives of the site. Your programming becomes more valued when you show the same interest in overall goals and objectives as the manager.

Interpretation can do more than the traditional approaches of creating awareness and building understanding. Showing the power of interpretation to assist with or even solve management problems simply enhances its value. Sam Ham’s new book, Interpretation: Making a Difference on Purpose documents how it may be used effectively.

– Tim Merriman

70th Anniversary of D-Day – A Time to Remember

Seventy years ago today Allied forces hit the beaches of Normandy, France, at Utah and Omaha Beaches after an early assault by Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc. The date was June 6, 1944. More than one million people annually visit Normandy Cemetery where 9,387 of the U.S. military are buried, mostly casualties of D-Day. The American Battle Monuments Commission manage the site and interpret the invasion, what has been interpreted in film as, The Longest Day. RIP

U.S. soldiers, recently back from Afghanistan, stopped at Normandy to pay respects - March 2012. — U.S. soldiers, recently back from Afghanistan, stopped at Normandy to pay respects – March 2012.

8 Key Ways to Keep Valued Employees

We create a culture at work made up of behavioral norms. One of the most important roles of a manager or director is setting values for that culture. Ideally, the corporate culture promotes a feeling of comfort and support that keeps employees motivated and productive. Here are eight key ideas to consider if you want a culture that gets the most out of your employees and co-workers and helps them feel like they are part of a team, all pulling the same direction.

Pass It On – Treat employees as you want them to treat both internal and external customers. Most of us say we want our customers treated well, but that is very hard for staff to do if they are treated poorly. If your workers live in a culture of care, communication and support, they will pass it on. The Customer Comes Second by Rosenbluth and Peters is a great place to learn more about this concept.
Train Continually – Some managers worry that well-trained workers will inevitably move on, nullifying the investment in training. But what happens if you do not train them well and they stay with you? You will have a poorly trained workforce representing you poorly for all time. Well-trained workers are more likely to stay because the work environment is supportive. They feel valued when you invest in their education.
Reward Continually – Say thanks daily for work well done and find small ways to reward good work along with the bigger ones of promotions and bonuses. Birthday lunches, a social hour at the end of a workday occasionally and other signs of appreciation encourage people to know and help each other. Plan an occasional day offsite for an employee social event.
Support Honesty – Tell employees what you know when you know it and encourage honesty and transparency. When you lie or conceal information about organizational change, you have to require others to lie or conceal information. You encourage deceit and that backfires for they know you do not value honesty. If you are truly proud of your products and services, being honest about them should not be a liability. If you need encouragement in this area, watch the movie, Miracle on 34^th Street for the 67^th time (1947 movie).
Plan with Input – Involve everyone in planning. If we all understand the direction we want the organization to move, we pull together. When we don’t agree or don’t fully understand what the ultimate goals are, we pull in opposite directions and that costs the organization in money, goodwill and dysfunction.
Meet Regularly – Weekly updates help everyone stay on track. It’s easy to remind everyone of objectives and thank them for progress if you get together frequently. Posting objectives with monthly updates is also a way to keep measurable results in front of everyone.
Maintain Pay and Benefits at Industry Standards –Pay is definitely one of the measures of caring from the employer. If they see you being rewarded financially in your role, but they are held back, they will soon be looking for a better work environment. Giving bonuses based upon performance will reward achievement of objectives.
Coach Workers Toward Desired Behavior and Review Often – Avoid “you’re doing it wrong,” and give suggestions for desired behavior, “I might suggest you . . .” or “You may find more success by . . .” Scolding and public embarrassment actually do not work with children or animals and certainly has no place in the professional workplace. Regular performance reviews help employees understand your expectations, how they are doing, and how they might improve. The review provides a chance to compliment and coach. Quarterly reviews are ideal, allowing you to update each employee on their role in meeting objectives four times a year and resolving any issues promptly before they can become major problems.

Workers stay with organizations a long time when they feel like they are working with people who care about them. Deceptive behavior or abrupt, unexplained decisions on the part of managers unsettle everyone. These tried and true suggestions can help you create a sustainable workplace based on thoughtful practices designed to build a culture of communication, caring and support. – Tim Merriman