Smiling millennial shoots a selfie on a mountain pea
You sense that National Park Service officials might be a little worried. Maybe all state and local park officials should be worried as well.
Judging from several news reports, it appears the NPS is worried about "Millennials." You know, the generation born between 1980 and 2004, the one that came out of the womb with an iPhone attached to the hands.
There are 80 million of them and park officials are concerned this new world digital generation is not going to be interested in old world dirt, trees, rocks and rivers.
It might be paranoia. There doesn't seem to be any hard data indicating millennials are not interested in parks. Sure, right now, parks are actually experiencing record attendance. They had approximately 300 million visitors last year.
But the people who rangers see coming through the gates are not young people, but a lot of gray hairs from the Baby Boomer generation. Once that generation gets old, then will millennials take their heads out of their iPads and start hopping into their cars to drive to a park? Big question.
"If we were a business and that was our clientele (millennials), then over the long term, we would probably be out of business," said Jonathan Jarvis, NPS director. "The question is who's going to be the next generation of park supporters."
To get the ball moving with 20-somethings, the National Park Foundation (a non-profit organization that supports the NPS), has hired an ad agency and created a cool web site to spur participation from the younger generation.
The NPS logo was also redesigned to make it hipper.
On FindYourPark.org they offer a map of all the national parks by state (research shows most young people think national parks are all located out West, while in reality there are a ton of interesting national parks or historic sites in nearly every state).
At the NPF site - www.nationalparks.org, you will also find free hiking guides, guides on out-of-the way adventures (something millennials love), free screensavers and a bunch of other goodies. Some of those have more appealing titles than you usually find at parks such as "The Places Nobody Knows" or "25 Unforgettable National Park Hikes."
The NPF has also hired millennial actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt's production company, Hitrecord, to create cool videos about our national parks.
In addition, the NPF is also conducting their own contest that will treat eight millennial-age social influencers on a week long expedition in Mesa Verde National Park.
"We're looking for avid bloggers, dynamic social media personalities, and online influencers who have a unique story to tell, are open-minded and eager to learn, and love sharing their experiences with others," read a statement on the contest site.
Jarvis even plans to hold an AMA ("Ask Me Anything" session) on Reddit.com, the aggregate news site popular with millennials.
Suggestions on how to raise park awareness with millennials
Sure, getting millennials psyched about parks is challenging. Because consider that today, the NPS is not just competing with television and movies, but also with some gigantic entity called the Internet along with iTunes, Netflix and a host of other electronic attractions. All expanding faster than the universe itself.
But, like every generation, there are hot buttons that can be pressed to generate interest. Here a few strategies to consider.
- Appeal to their Adventurous Side - this is the Red Bull adventure seekers generation. The generation that runs under barbed wire and through fire in their Warrior Dashes. This is the generation raised on TV shows such as Survivor and the Great American Race and Naked and Afraid.
Naturally, the NPS is not going to want to encourage young visitors to jump off the cliffs of the Grand Canyon in a wingsuit. But, our vast array of incredible and diverse national parks offers a sense of adventure that would appeal to many millennials. We get the feeling, not all of them necessarily want to fly through a canyon at 120 mph. Park officials just need to promote some sort of sense of adventure that perhaps millennials don't realize they can find in our national parks.
- Appeal to their Near-Empty Wallets - unfortunately, this generation was the one that went though the Great Recession as youngsters and then entered the workplace. They are seeing below-average growth in wages, if they can even find a decent job. Things are tight for this group.
But there is a solution - the country's inexpensive national and state parks. Want an adventure? But can't afford to hike the Alps or the Himalayas? How about hiking in Glacier National Park, the Grand Canyon, pr the Grant Tetons?
- Appeal to the Social Selfie in Them - as you know, if millennials come across something fun and interesting, they are going to want to be a part of the picture and share it with their friends. Nothing wrong with that. How many generations have generated a gazillion miles of film and video on their adventures? This generation doesn't have to lug all that equipment around, there's a movie camera, high-pixel camera and a presentation device right there in their pockets (their phone).
So, park officials could generate a bunch of pictures showing, not Photographic Points of Interest, but Selfie Points of Interest (hint: they are the same thing).
Show millennials where they can take some jaw-dropping selfies.
On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, display jaw-dropping selfie photos. This will get the attention of millennials. They are always looking for something cool to do. Our national parks certainly have that. (The NPS does recognize that they need to promote heavily on these social media outlets).
- Appeal to their Sense of Travel - millennials want to explore the world. Have them start with the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park and other wonders in their backyard.
- Get Younger Spokespeople - to kick off FindYourPark.org, the park service elicited the help of First Ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush. Nice ladies. Very popular. But they are probably not going to resonate with millennials that going to a park is a cool thing to do. Need popular millennials for that job. (They have also enlisted the assistance of pop stars such as Mary Lambert, a 25-year-old singing sensation.)
- Appeal to their Use of High-Tech Gear - alright, you are dealing with the technology generation. Turn that around and use that technology to show millennials how they can have a great experience in a national park.
A GoPro campaign is a no-brainer. Google Street View is another, where Google bug-eyed cameras mounted on a backpack can now document natural wonders. GPS devices for orienteering. Very cool. Drones? We know they are mostly not allowed, but perhaps they can be somehow in a limited capacity.
Apps? You could go crazy with apps. Apps that show the night sky, apps that show meteors, apps that show where to find the best sunrise. Apps that create incredible images - multi-images, artsy images, mini-documentaries, etc.
Show how this cool technology could be utilized in the giant playground that is the NPS.
- Appeal to the Bicyclist - the millennial generation is also the generation that doesn't really car that much about cars. Many don't even get their license right away. But they do like to bike.
Many it an adventure to bike through a national park. Offer a bike-sharing program to ride around national historic sites. Create mountain biking tours and adventures.
- Appeal to the Real Experience - the problem with this digital age is that videos documenting every corner of the world, even the most remote places, are now available. Why go anywhere when you can see it all from your living room? When virtual reality becomes mainstream, you can sit in your living room and even feel like you are walking along a trail in Yosemite National Park.
The NPS needs to battle this notion big time. Make it uncool to experience a park in your living room (because it is uncool). Get influencers to influence fellow millennials to get off their couches and set foot on an actual park. Don't be a poser, show that you actually did it for real (genuineness is a key trait with millennials, since they experience so much deceit and trickery online with trolls and other malcontents).
A clever ad campaign by the NPS and NPF is going to take a lot of work. It appears the NPS with its Find Your Park campaign is making a start.
There are ulterior motives as well. Parks need funding to survive. With 408 properties to manage, that's quite a bit of maintenance. As most park employees know from the federal to the city level, funding for parks is one of the first things that hit the chopping block when budgets are tight (and when are they ever not tight?).
It is estimated that parks need $11 billion to fix cracking roads, worn buildings, bridges and other infrastructure. President Obama has submitted a budget that is $432 million higher than normal to at least start addressing this issue.,
Millennials are a major force in voting and will be even more influential going forward. If they don't push their legislators to fund parks, they won't get funding.
Next year is the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service. The fate of our national parks are riding on this appeal to millennials. These parks are our natural treasures. The real crown jewels of America. We need to inspire young people to explore and preserve them.
If you are a millennial or know one, be sure to plug our parks. Even if you have to use a smartphone or social media to do it.