Start Date
01/23/2020
End Date
01/23/2022
Description
Most organizations actively communicate with their visitors through traditional channels such as newsletters, websites, and social media, but most are missing out on increasing visitor engagement and safety where most visitors already are, mobile devices! Modern, agency driven mobile apps allow organizations to leverage this important new communication channel while also empowering trails users to safely enjoy their public lands by taking advantage of offline maps and wayfinding.
People are increasingly recognizing the health, quality of life, environmental, and economic benefits that recreation offer. As a result, now more than ever it’s important to connect people to the outdoors.
Most organizations actively communicate with their visitors through traditional channels such as newsletters, websites, and social media, but most are missing out on increasing visitor engagement where most visitors already are, mobile devices! Millions of trail users actively using mobile devices every day, but most public agencies and non-profit partners are not leveraging this important communication channel. Specifically, we’ll talk about how the importance of mobile devices for trail users, review some of the popular outdoor mobile apps and their key features that visitors are using, how those apps fail at delivering long term value to trail managing agencies and then the different approaches and associated benefits/challenges for organizations to consider as they consider publishing their content to a mobile device.
We’ll review the key components and benefits of a new mobile app platform, OuterSpatial, which is leading a cost-effective approach that gives stewards of our open spaces — including government agencies and nonprofits — control over what information is presented and how it’s presented and opening up an engagement channel with visitors. We’ll discuss the importance of this stewardship-first approach and how empowering the stewards of our land to publish quality content to visitors can create an experience that’s more welcoming to recreationalists. The session will feature Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation and their partners as they discuss their popular new Trails LA County mobile app, including the benefits and challenges they’ve experienced. We’ll also review a number of state and local park and trail organizations actively leveraging a mobile app in California, Oregon, Alaska, Massachusetts and other areas throughout the country.
Distance Learning
Yes
Course Equivalency
No
Subjects
Business Practices / Contracts / HR
Parks & Recreation
Technology / CADD / GIS
Health, Safety and Welfare
No
Hours
1.50
Learning Outcomes
- Gain a better understanding of the associated challenges of building, deploying, maintaining and marketing a mobile app and why building your own custom app is likely not going to create a return on your investment.
-Learn real-world cost-effective strategies for publishing recreation information to their visitors via mobile devices.
- Learn about the benefits of publishing your data and deepening your engagement with visitors via mobile devices.
- Gain a better understanding of the level of effort and process for publishing authoritative and accurate recreation content to a mobile app for visitors to plan trips to their parks and trails and - We’ll share simple tools we use to plan, track, and assess marketing efforts and payoff.
Instructors
Ryan Branciforte with OuterSpatial, and Zachary Likins and Michelle O'Connor with Los Angeles County Parks and Recreatio
Course Codes
Provider
American Trails