The venue was remarkably fitting – a renovated, historic train station sitting squarely on the original route of the National Road, the first major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government. On Thursday, dozens of attendees there enjoyed presentations on two aspects of working with heritage resources in Ohio. The event was co-sponsored by Preservation Ohio and the Ohio National Road Association, and made possible through the financial support of the Ohio Humanities Council. Attendees came from all over the state, including from Preble, Athens, and Trumbull Counties.
The morning speaker was Jeffery Guin, currently Manager of Emerging Media for the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia, and most recently Public Information Officer for the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, an agency of the National Park Service. Guin is a nationally-recognized leader in using technology to share stories of the past.
Guin’s talk was entitled “How to Make the Past Matter on the Social Web,” and centered not only on various practical online tools for preservation organizations, heritage attractions, historical societies, communities, but also on methods to approach and execute social media plans. Guin encouraged attendees to use a “thoughtful approach” to the task, thereby increasing the likelihood that such efforts can be sustainable and effective.
Several cases studies were also shared which demonstrated the power and practicality of social media campaigns dealing with heritage attractions, ranging from Twitter online discussions and heritage area photo contests to the story of a Pennsylvania community of 700 which used an online campaign to win a Pepsi Refresh grant to help restore the local train depot – and against substantially larger competition.
In the afternoon portion of the event, historic preservation consultant Judith Williams and Tedd Hardesty, Principal of The EDGE Group spoke on “Effectively Using the Ohio Historic National Road Design Handbook.” The handbook, completed in 2006, is a remarkable, 200-page plus bound volume which sets forth a comprehensive set of guidelines, examples, and tools to guide those working on advancing preservation along the 225 miles of the road across Ohio.
After discussing the approach in creating the document, Williams and Hardesty presented an overview of how the handbook is organized, largely centering on three periods of the road’s remarkable history as well as four possible motivations for its use. The pages of the handbook include not only remarkably practical overviews of design and logistical considerations, but also insets highlighting practical examples of communities where outstanding work has already been accomplished – from “pike towns” to urban centers.
One of the primary messages shared by Williams and Hardesty was that the handbook had a practicality which transcended the National Road, and could be successfully used by other historic corridors and heritage areas.
“It as a remarkable day” shared Preservation Ohio Executive Director Thomas Palmer. “It’s not often that conferences include such a wealth of practical tools which can be used the moment attendees leave. The clear message we heard today was that the past has great power if it can be understood, packaged, and communicated effectively. Many thanks to the Ohio Humanities Council for making this day a reality.”
