01 Jun “Coffee with…” a look into the nps office of communications – Nicole Segnini

It’s been a week! A week full of meetings and more meetings… and a lot of information to process. But I am loving every single minute of it! I have been working at the Department of the Interior building in Washington DC. That’s because the National Park Service is a DOI Bureau (and not many people know that!).

Throughout the week I have been meeting one-on-one with staff members at the Office of Communications and learning about their roles. My supervisor Victoria Stauffenberg called these meetings “Coffee time with..” so needless to say… I’ve had a lot of coffee this week! And boba tea as well! I’ve learned so much about how the office operates. We have two divisions: the Public Affairs and the Digital Strategy teams. Both are very different but work well together in order to implement communication strategies to support the National Park Service mission of preserving special places and connecting people to parks. The Public Affairs team works with Public Information Officers and the social media coordinator to communicate the message, while the Digital Strategy team works more behind the scenes of the technology and mediums to be able to do so, like our app and websites (both internal and external). The teams also work in partnership with park stewards and experts to be able to implement these communication strategies.

A big goal is to be able to showcase the diversity of all the parks and get people to understand that they are not just the big famous ones (like Yosemite) but also other smaller ones as well as war memorials and historical sites. For example, I didn’t know the National Mall here in DC was a designated National Park. I’ve been talking to friends and family members who are shocked to learn that they have actually visited quite a few parks but they had no idea. I am eager to be able to learn more and communicate about our 430+ national parks and their beauty, importance, and history.

Even though my first week was mostly filled with lots of meetings and learning about the National Parks Service, I was also able to do my first “task” and that was translating an infographic (here: https://twitter.com/NatlParkService/status/1398266191781761026?s=20) with the latest campaign: Park Like A Park Ranger. This summer, (like most summers) parks are going to be packed. And we want people to know that before they head out there so they are able to plan beforehand. Also, the pandemic is still happening, so we want park visitors to still follow safety guidelines and be patient. It was a little tough to translate some of the phrases because sometimes Spanish cannot be as funny, punny, and witty as English. I’m sure we (Spanish speakers) have all had moments where we go: “ya va.. ¿como se dice esto en Ingles?” or “¿como se dice esto en Español?” But it was a great opportunity to practice translating something and also learning a little bit more about our “voice”.

I can’t wait to keep learning and start getting my hands on more tasks and projects. Stay tuned for more!

AND don’t forget to Plan Like A Park Ranger if you are visiting National Parks this summer! https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/plan-like-a-park-ranger.htm