How Can I Use These Technologies?

For QR Codes: Using your smartphone or tablet, search your app store for “QR Reader” and select the QR Reader app of your choice.

For Aurasma: Using your smartphone or tablet, search the app store for “Aurasma” and install the Aurasma app.

Considering thePossibilities:

Cultural ResourceManagement’sConversations with the Public

Today, most archaeology in the U.S. is associated with a cultural resource management (CRM) or public archaeology project, and transportation agencies are responsible for a large portion of that work. The educational outreach programs that arise out of these projects demonstrate the possibilities there are to engage the public in conversations about archaeology. Cost consideration and aggressive scheduling have become the norm and challenge us to develop educational public outreach for our projects that results in a meaningful experience for all participants.

Consider this real-world proposal example:

What are the Questions You Should Ask?

The possibilities provided by everyday technology and social media do not mean we should abandon traditional outreach techniques — rather, combining these approaches will ensure expanded and exciting storytelling that results in sustained and meaningful conversations with the public. And as our target audiences conduct more complex compound searches, we must customize our digital presence. Think through what you intend to do, what approach should you use, and whom you intend to reach if you want your message — the story you are telling — to reach those you want to reach.

Nearly all of us are now connected. We use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, Storify, and Snapchat for text, picture, and micro-video sharing and can follow a multitude of blogs focused on our particular areas of interest.

The first step in communicating our work is to consider the story. Every project has something unique and important to share. Budget and schedule constraints may present stumbling blocks and time allowed for projects may be shorter than we might like. Also, the site’s story may not be fully understood until sometime after we depart the field. However, taking the time to identify the specific piece that we want to reveal allows us to move easily to the next step and identify our target audience(s) for our story.

Whether we are having conversations with clients, agencies, colleagues in associated disciplines, those who assist us in our research efforts, vendors, or the homeowner whose front yard we are digging in, our outreach initiatives need to have focused relevance to our audience.

Providing brochures to a group of first-grade students will not work as well as a focused hands-on activity within a lesson plan. In some situations a site tour may not be possible for safety reasons, but you remain convinced it is the most effective means to tell the story of the site and its people. By understanding the audience you are engaging, you can present the story using a method that best engages and informs them and caters to their specific needs.

The use of social media as a platform for information sharing has become standard practice. In the fourth annual American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) social media survey, 90 percent of the participating state departments of transportation (43 and the District of Columbia) are using social media for public engagement. This is made possible by the 90 percent of American adults with cell phones, of which 56 percent are smartphones, with tablet ownership on a huge upswing. For this reason, social media and mobile platforms offer a means to present instant, focused stories relevant to your audience and their lives.

By presupposing the most effective means of communication without considering the audience or the method, we greatly reduce our chances of meaningful communication. Is this approach effective from a financial standpoint or a public engagement perspective?

What are the Stories that You Want (or Need) to Tell? Finding the Compelling

& Engaging Storylines

Who are You Sharingthe Stories with? Creating Conversations that are

Targeted, Focused & Relevant

How are You Sharing Your Stories?

The Case for Using EverydayTechnologies in Telling Your Story

“Public Outreach. CRM firm will organize several opportunities for the public to learn about the results of the data recovery investigations at Site 99XX123. These opportunities will include (1) a public open house scheduled during the latter half of the 99-week excavation period (the specific timing of this event will be coordinated with the client and its ongoing activities), (2) a website that features information about the ongoing site investigations, (3) a public presentation at a local venue scheduled to coincide with the State Archaeology Month, and (4) preparation of a written article describing the investigations at Site 99XX123 for publication in the Journal of the State Archaeological Society. ”

Presented By:Hope Luhman, PhDLouis Berger

Embedded QR Codes LinkTo Contextual Content

Micro-Videos and Augmented Reality Expand Traditional Outreach Means

Erik QualmanSocial Media2013 VideoYouTube

Hope LuhmanContact CardInformation

ZooarchaeologyAugmented Reality

Microvideo

@Cultural_LBFollow Hope