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Outreach Meeting Notes - May 22, 2023

5/30/2023

Mission Statement, Website, Difficulty Chart

Next meeting scheduled: Monday, June 5, Social from 5:30-6; meeting 6-7:30pm

Present at the meeting: Steve, Stuart, Diane, Al, Robin, Barb, Tim, Ann, Ken, Lorna, Reed and ??

Agreed that we need 'graduated' events. Ones that can easily be accomplished by young and old, as well as predicable events each month that people can plan for. We could have the first week of a month be at an easy level (someone suggested "Turtle Hikers". Then the second week of a month could be "Next level' etc for each week up to the highest level of Effort. My comment (sounds great, do we have enough persons who would commit to fulfilling this schedule?) Need to work on details....
In order for graduated events to happen, we need an easy to use "Effort Scale" for the user to see if they wish to go or are capable of going on the event. Consistency in the use of this Effort Scale (note that we have changed the scale title from Difficulty to Effort - more user friendly) Al, Ken, and Reed
RE: About US page on web site. Using words like Wonder, Connect, Reconnect, Enjoyment, Exploring, Discovery, Friends, Responsibly, Robin has submitted the following: “Explore the wonder of the outdoors around Bennington, Vermont with friends who know the way… for free.”
Need to link up to BATS with their permission, logo, and preferred 2 line description of their club
Idea of 'Forest Mediation"' was presented. Not forest bathing, but something where people would hike to a quiet place, do some quiet meditation, share some snacks, socialize a bit. Include some forest education by the leader or a designated participant.
Need to connect with the Vermont Land Trust
Provide a Google Map link to the location of events. People can make a better decision to join the event
Include Leave No Trace link for viewers to take a deeper dive into the meaning and purpose.
Local resources for people to get outdoors and enjoy nature - Diane
Rewrite of an intro section to About Us. We had a couple of authors, that we know, do some editing on this section and when you read this you will know why they are writers. Read the first 2 paragraphs of this link.
Connect with Lake Paran: (Billy) Have met Camille who is the Program Director. Have placed a link on our website to theirs and suggesting that they link from Lake Paran to BenningtonGMC site.
Provide a link to Prospect Ski Resort Web Cam
Thoughts from a Section Meeting: When another section does trail maintenance they place a sign indicating this activity at the beginning of the work. This invites a conversation with the work crew as the hikers go by.
Will investigate the use of MailChimp for our club usage of email. Not sure if our needs are that great but it would be an idea to understand how other sections are using it
FYI: If you are ever asked what software program we use for our Bennington Section website, the answer is that it is completely created and served through the tools provided on WEEBLY.COM. We have heard that other sections use various services including WordPress
Include a section on useful outdoor APPS on the website (trails, plant/bird/tree recognition, compass, stars, step counter, peak finder, navigation)
Could schedule an "App Walk" to look at various apps along a short hike.
Lorna offered corrections and suggestions to the "About Us" section
Diane offered corrections and suggestions to the "Hiker Support" page.
Reed researched different outdoor rating scales from organizations - see below.

Trip rating systems from Reed
Albany Chapter ADK
from http://albany.adk.org/

from AMC
https://cdn.outdoors.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/16093641/difficultyratings_upload-scaled.jpg

This shows a jpg file of an enormous chart that is too small print to easily read. You can click on the + sign to make it big enough. This is an incredibly detailed system.

I found it by clicking on an activity and then finding the link under difficulty in the trip description. I had used a simpler system when I lead trips for the Delaware Valley chapter of the AMC about 5 years ago. I couldn't find that on their website. I think all their activities now go through outdoors.org which is the website for their “mothership”.

From Central Bucks Bicycle Club
https://cbbicycleclub.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=665317&module_id=542407

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Appalachian Trail Meeting -May 23d, at 6 pm

5/16/2023

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From Sivia: Dear A.T. Community members and partners,

You are invited to a Bennington Appalachian Trail (A.T.) Community Public Meeting on May 23d, at 6 pm.
Where: Bennington Fire House multi purpose room on the third floor. The facility is located at 130 River Street in Bennington and is handicap accessible.
Meeting Goals: Provide an update on activities, share plans for this summer, and to solicit input on future efforts.
We will begin with a presentation about what it means to be an A.T. Community and what activities and events the town has been doing so far. There will also be discussion about last year’s Trailfest event, its impact, and learn about planning and ideas for this year’s Trailfest. We will also hear from our organizational partner, the Bennington Chapter of the Green Mountain Club, about their plans for this year and how we can all engage with them to be more involved.
If you are interested in the outdoors, hiking, stewardship of the trail, and improving Bennington as a destination for outdoor recreation, we encourage you to join in the discussion to learn more about our local Green Mountain Club chapter and how the community can support our A.T. designation.
Most importantly is that we want to hear from the community. How can we maximize the benefit to our community by having this designation? What ways can we do more to support hikers visiting our town? What ideas do you have to make us more hiker friendly? What ways can we be leveraging our status as an A.T. community to focus attention on the outdoor recreational resources we have available?
We encourage you to come out and share your thoughts and ideas. Please let me know if you have any questions, have thoughts, or need accomodations.

Silvia Cassano
(802) 673-6990 | [email protected]
Co-Chair, Bennington Appalachian Trail Community Committee
Learn more about the Bennington A.T. Community

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Notes from Meeting, Monday, May 8, 2023

5/13/2023

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NEXT OUTREACH MEETING - MONDAY, MAY 22. 6:30-8:00

Meeting was held at at Ann and Billy's House (6:30-8:00pm), 303 Prospect St, Bennington
Present: Steve, Hamilton, Lorna, Lin, Reed, Robin, Barb, Stuart, Diane, Ann, Billy

Meeting Overview
Meeting was to present and explore an expanded view of GMC Bennington section. Our section agrees that an outreach is needed in order to help as many persons as possible connect with the outdoors. This connection to the outdoors is also being provided by many other organizations in our community, town of Bennington and southern Vermont area. Why don't we use our resources (meetup, website, section business cards, trifold brochures) to fulfill the connections to any and all.
Below is a summary of the 2 groups that met separately to begin the task of reviewing and determining the new presentation of our BenningtonGMC website and a trifold brochure for use by all to accomplish this goal.
A big welcome to Diane and Stuart who recently moved to our community and took an active part in our discussion.

General Outreach

Vermont Institute Natural Science, Lake Paran Camps, Community Garden (master gardeners), BATS, Bike Hub, Snowbusters, SVMC, Park McCullough House, Bennington College, Front Porch Forum (All GMC meetup events to be posted there), Dutch Hill, Rail to Trail, Town of Bennington, town Library, Bennington Blotter, Bennington Museum, Kiosk on Rt 9 LT trailhead, Education classes, document plant, tree, and nature walks on website for future viewing
One topic came up frequently: we need a comprehensive community calendar to put in one spot all the activities of all the organizations that have an outdoor connection. Our thoughts were that would be a natural for the town to implement and support.
Idea: describe various trees around Bennington with weather proof signage. Species, importance, contribution in the eco system, QR code to Wikipedia for further info
Expanded membership activities: Local GMC club sponsor students who participate in activities, persons noted in the community for contributions to the outdoors, encourage Meetup only members to gain credit for membership by actively participating in activities, occasionally have 'GMC member ONLY' event on Meetup, allow limited sign up for Meetup activities with priority being given to GMC members.
Concensus agreed that we should also publish our events on Front Porch Forum.
Also decided that we could offer to host other organizations events on our Meetup page. This is what we would call and FYI event. No signups, just a redirect to the other organizations webpage or contact info

Website Design

Welcoming home page - quick, easy access to what various community members are interested in.
GMC offers outdoor engagement, camaraderie, adventure, connection to others and nature,
specific web design thoughts: no backs to cameras, kids in picts, stewardship and accomplishments of GMC in Vermont,
Font Clarity
Search Engine visibility
Cross linking between various websites - town, chamber of commerce, Bike Hub, Adirondack Mountain Club, AT Club, Rural Lands, other LT sections
Bennington Banner link to website; periodic publication in the banner
Keep in mind many people see website on phones or pads and not bigger screen computers. Photos should load quickly and preserve clarity. Photos are good to click on instead of a lot of words.
Community Services: Stories, wildflower walks, plant ID walks, Dayhikers, section hikers, through hikers
Reorganize info on website - Hiking (Day and Thru), Biking, Paddling, Snowshoeing/Skiing, Trail Maintenance, Learning
Connect with Realtors and employers in the area for a benefit to those moving to town or already in employ.
Bios of various members of our section
Include info on how to join GMC

Trifold Brochure

What do we want to say about ourselves?
How big is our circle of "ourselves"? Just GMC members? affiliated outdoor organizations? Schools?
Many activities that are written in the Website Design area also apply in the trifold brochure.

Followup Activities/Plans

Robin mentioned something about the nature observatory history in making signs for outdoors
Billy to connect with Bike Hub and BATS organizations
Ann to research new tools for Weebly website design that provide expanded viewing and interaction
and begin review and reorder website
Need a volunteer to publish any meetup events to Front Porch Forum.
Need someone to followup on VINS in schools
Schedule a field trip to VINS
Town of Bennington contacts - Jonah Spivak, Steve Love, Others...??

Answering the question to WHO are 'US'
The following picts show a progressive increase in our view of 'US': beginning with GMC mothership, -> GMC Sections, -> Bennington Section, -> Bennington outdoor organizations, -> community organizations, -> southern Vermont/Northern Massachusetts/Eastern New York areas. Some of these graphics will be used at a meeting Tuesday, May 23, as part of an Appalachian Trailfest meeting. 3rd floor of fire station, 6 pm. All are welcome!
Our 'US' is as big as we choose to devote our energy.

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Read, Think, Ponder, Respond

Outreach Meeting Notes - May 22, 2023

Mission Statement, Website, Difficulty Chart

Appalachian Trail Meeting -May 23d, at 6 pm

Notes from Meeting, Monday, May 8, 2023

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