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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior HFC onMEDIA May / June | 5 Issue 7 From the Manager In This Issue Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are D-Day certain to miss the future. Remembered –John F. Kennedy page 2 If you are a member of the National Park Service or, for that matter, if you are a federal employee, you are affected by change. Like its colleagues in the field and program offices, Harpers Ferry Center is changing. And like change anywhere, the experience is at once New Employees exciting, and unsettling. As HFC Manager, my task is to ensure that we manage change page in a manner that ensures we meet all our commitments to the parks, that we ensure the 3 highest possible levels of both quality and accountability, and that all of us at HFC always remember that this center exists only for the purpose of serving the parks. In the coming months, you will see Harpers Ferry Center move from being a produc- Retirees er of interpretive media to becoming a facilitator of the production of interpretive media. page 4 There will be a much greater reliance on contractors and a focus on a project manage- ment approach to all our work. We will improve our communication with all parties before, during, and after projects. Never Judge page a Book by 5 its Cover If you want to make enemies, try to change something. –Woodrow Wilson Change is neither easy nor comfortable. While we will try to restrict the discomfort to within HFC, there are issues that we and the parks must work together to solve. Through HFC Films Receive Awards our experience in a recent month-long OMB PART (Program Assessment Rating Tool) page 7 undertaking, we have been clearly warned that like it or not, we must find ways to mea- Education sure the effect of NPS interpretive programs, both personal and non-personal. We need Matters to keep expectations reasonable, and we need to listen to one another with understand- ing and trust. One way that you can help HFC effect change in a way that benefits the National Park Jefferson Rock Service is to let us know your feelings about this newsletter. Does it meet your needs? If page Before and not, what would you like to see in HFC onMEDIA? Email me at [email protected]. 8 After Identity News — Gary Cummins onMEDIA National Park Service 1 HFC onMEDIA is produced and D-Day Remembered published by Harpers Ferry Center. The Normandy American Cemetery Interpretive Center Statements of facts and views are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an opinion or an endorsement by the National Park Service. Mention of On March 23, 2005, representatives of the American Battle trade names or commercial prod- ucts does not necessarily consti- Monuments Commission (ABMC) and a team of Harpers Ferry tute recommendation for use by Center media specialists scrutinized architectural plans, site the National Park Service. drawings, and proposed exhibit displays for the new Nor- Send questions and comments to Gary Candelaria either by email mandy American Cemetery Interpretive Center. The structure, at [email protected] or call 304 535 6058. To contact the scheduled to open in 2007, will sit adjacent to the Normandy editorial staff email Dave Gilbert at [email protected] or call American Cemetery and Memorial on a bluff overlooking 304 535 6102. Omaha Beach and the English Channel in Colleville-sur Mer, Secretary of the Interior France. The meeting was the culmination of a three-year pro- Gale A. Norton cess begun in 2003 to provide ABMC with advice and guidance Director, National Park Service on the design and development of that organization’s first Fran P. Mainella ever interpretive center. Associate Director, Park Planning, Facilities, and Lands The American Battle Monuments Com- to attend a design charette for the new Sue Masica mission was established by Congress in interpretive center. Based on his own 1923 to honor the accomplishments of the involvement in developing exhibits for Manager, Harpers Ferry Center American Armed Forces where they have Gettysburg National Military Park and Gary Cummins served since World War I. The Commis- other American Revolution and Civil War sion administers, operates, and maintains battlefield sites, Brown recommended Editor David T. Gilbert twenty-four permanent American burial interpretive treatments including exhibit grounds on foreign soil. The Commission displays, artifact displays, and audiovi- Art Director also administers, operates, and maintains sual content. The group explored various Robert Clark, Office of NPS Identity twenty-five memorials, monuments or approaches to help connect visitors to markers, including the National World the momentous events of D-Day, June 6, Senior Designer War II Memorial on the Mall in Washing- 1944. Megan Grisez ton, D.C. Designing and building an in- Contributors, April 2005 terpretive center, however, was something ABMC subsequently contracted with Paula Beale completely new to ABMC, and Congress the Smith Group, an architectural firm Greg Byrne Lakita Edwards recognized this. In the FY 2002 appropria- in Washington, D.C., to design the new Bob Grogg tion bill for the new Normandy facility, interpretive center. The Smith Group, David Guiney Congress directed ABMC to work with the in turn, brought in Gallagher & Associ- Jane Merritt National Park Service, recognizing that ates, an exhibit planning and design firm Sheila Payaqui Nancy Purinton this agency has extensive experience in de- (and a National Park Service Indefinite Mark Southern signing and developing interpretive media Delivery-Indefinite Quantity contractor). Sam Vasquez for battlefields and military parks across Bill Brown attended a second planning the country. meeting in March 2004. Denver Service The National Park Service cares Center agreed to review architectural for special places saved by the Assembling the Troops plans and specifications. David Guiney American people so that all may In March 2003, ABMC invited Harpers of the HFC Interpretive Media Institute experience our heritage. Ferry Center Museum Curator Bill Brown (IMI) and Paula Beale, an HFC exhibit EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™ onMEDIA May / June 2005 National Park Service 2 planner, were also brought in to facilitate visitors to the memorial. New Employees in-depth review of the planned inter- Dede Feghali pretive exhibits. Collaboration between The Project Roundtable Dede Feghali is HFC’s new ABMC and the National Park Service was The March 23, 2005 meeting between Deputy Associate Manager for in full swing. HFC and ABMC was suggested and Human Resources. She comes to Harpers Ferry Center from the hosted by David Guiney of the HFC NPS Denver Administrative Pro- Paula Beale had recently worked with the Interpretive Media Institute. IMI gram Center, where she served American Battle Monuments Commis- periodically hosts project roundtables for eight years as liaison to the sion on another project – as writer-editor on media development. At these round- Washington Office. There she was responsible for program re- of the official park brochure for the Na- tables, project leaders from either within search and development for the tional World War II Memorial in Wash- or outside the National Park Service Servicewide Human Resources ington, D.C. Here ABMC and the Na- present their interpretive media projects Program. Recent projects in- tional Park Service entered into a unique to a panel of interdisciplinary media cluded serving as a member on, and leading sub-teams within, collaboration which included Harpers specialists using narratives, drawings, the Departmental Human Ferry Center, National Capital Parks, and images, models, audiovisuals, and other Capital Team. She was also the the National Capital Region. The National display materials. The panel then typi- NPS Bureau Dispute Resolution Specialist, in charge of program Park Service contributed their expertise cally discusses the perceived strengths coordination of all Alternative in design, interpretive writing, and print and weaknesses of the project and offers Dispute Resolution (ADR) efforts production. ABMC contributed sub- recommendations for improvements. including workplace disputes, ject matter expertise, photographs, and Guiney thought this would be the environmental conflict, procure- ment disputes, public partici- reviewed the brochure through every step perfect forum for ABMC to present the pation policy, and negotiated of the design process. Beale characterizes final concept plan for their interpretive rulemaking. Earlier in her career, the collaboration as a “productive part- center exhibits. Dede worked for six years in nership, where each organization brought WASO as a senior Staffing Specialist in the HR Policy Office; their unique strengths to the table.” The Six media specialists from Harpers Fer- for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife result was a very effective brochure for ry Center participated: David Guiney Service, administering the Ethics Program and providing person- nel servicing for all GS-14s and 15s; and for the Bureau of Land Management, where she pro- vided the full range of personnel services for Headquarters and their Eastern States Office. Staci Gorden Harpers Ferry Center welcomes Staci Gorden, our new Produc- tion Assistant for Audiovi- sual Productions. A native of Washington, D.C., Staci comes to HFC from Issembert Produc- tions, Inc., in Washington, where she helped produce a series of educational videos. She has also worked on several television productions, including the docu- mentary Nine Men Down on The History Channel and To the Contrary, a public affairs show on PBS. Staci received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and a M.A. in TV-Radio- Film from Syracuse University. NPS audiovisual producer Tim Radford (right) argues for a stronger visual and emotional impact in the opening exhibits of the Normandy Interpretive Center, while Ed Boutté (left) and Michael Lacome look on.