After Action Review - Trail Promotion at the Back Home Appalachian Music & Arts Festival in New Martinsville, West Virginia

After Action Review
Adventurer's Project manned table and backdrop at the Back Home Appalachian Music & Arts Festival 2018 in New Martinsville, West Virginia, USA.

At approximately 8am on Friday, June 29th, 2018, I arrived at the non-profit tent on the north side of the Wetzel County Museum/ Wetzel County Convention & Visitors Bureau.  This was the first manned event that these materials were used in.  The backdrop was assembled about a week ago at Wolf Run State Park.  Otherwise, the other materials were procured in June of 2018.  All in all, their cost was probably in the ball park of $300.  The felt for the backdrop probably accounted for a least a 1/3 of that.  Unfortunately, tracking their expense wasn't a priority.

During the festival, there may have been 8 people who approached the table over 2 days.  But in all fairness, the crowd in the street was anemic and by the ones in my sight, I can't say that the vendors had a good turn out either.  For what was supposed to be for 15k to 20k entries, there wasn't enough food and for what was there, some of them ran out of supplies in mid-event.

On the evening of Friday, 6/29, I approached one of the event organizers and asked to be moved somewhere else.  The public did not know that that the tent was for non-profits and they passed me by.  I was under the tent by myself, but I was told that there was going to be a children's area and games the next day.  So, I decided to remain under the non-profit tent roof because I was told that things should get better and then there was the issue of the back drop being tied to two benches with ratcheting roof straps.

On the next day, only one other non-profit set up under the tent.  The project probably had the majority of those 8 people inquire about it then.  At about 5pm, I made the decision to cancel the remainder of our event that day and the next.   I broke down our supplies and headed back to camp.

The things that went well:

1) talked to the CVB before the event

2) got the word out to our base in more than 35 days in advance

3) confirmed our spot with the CVB about a week prior to the event

4) I was very functional on both days

5) From what little interest that we had, American Discovery had the most.

6) The trail promotion for the North Country Trail in equality with the Buckeye went rather fluidly.  American Discovery went about as well as it could have considering that it doesn't have a panel on the backdrop dedicated to it.

Things that went wrong:

1) the back drop needs stabilization legs, particularly for outdoor venues.

2) 3 walls need to be designed for our tent.  Two of them should move out at an angle.  All three walls should have information pinned to them and that would increase what we can post by 200%

3) had I known better, I could have brought another table.  On that table, I could have brought my hiking gear and had a demonstration.

How we can do better:

1) We can schedule to have that demonstration during our trail promotion event at the festival.  We have ample PA equipment.

2) We can prop up that event with a lead hike, shuttle service, or both.

3) the chapter that comes out of the Adventurer's Project may have to determine if this is some kind of investment?  Not necessarily with money, but with time and energy.  This is on the basis of the uniqueness of this event.

4) our setup needs it's own LED lighting and battery

5) if my motorhome is still available, we could use my before proposed trail promotion setup in one of the city's parking lots.  For those of you who don't know, my motorhome is 24ft long.  And if a piece of fabric were as long and wide at it is, it could be fixed to the side of the motorhome to create a giant sign.  Also, it has it's own awning.

5) North Country's map was too small for the backdrop.  It was a copy of the one used in the National Park Service brochure and it was the same size.  It probably needs to be printed on a plotter (architectural printer).

6) We have a crew of 4 in Far SE Ohio right now.  2 of them and myself are from NE Ohio.  The other one lives in the west of our area and probably doesn't know much about the east?  It seems that my questioning of local officials needs to become more interrogative.

What If???

What if we could pay the royalties to some Hollywood production company to show one of the more recent hiking movies to the general public?  Or what if one of the 501(c)3's could get this for free?

In the future, if the Wetzel County CVB has the non-profit area in the same place, a large sign the size of one piece of ply or larger needs to be created for it.

PTSD Haven Independence Day Festivities NEGATIVE

The question of whether the Road Fork Section - Buckeye Trail (North Country concurrent) is remote enough for PTSD war trauma during Independence Day festivities is negative. It is not a haven for them.  But, I was hoping that it was.

Reserve 5 Gallon Jerry Can

- I emptied the Jerry Can into the HHR. It didn't really need it, but I filled the can on May 7th and it's just getting to be time to fill it again.

- I got 100 copies made of Adventurer's Project's sign up sheet. I have no idea what this is really going to take? I've never asked, but in the last 3 years, nobody has ever volunteered this logistical information. We're possibly going to "perform" before 15,000 or more people?

Backdrop Materials, Metropolitan Area

I believe that I completed typing Adventurer's Project's backdrop materials. I just have to get them printed and laminated.

I know that I need to get some multipurpose sign up forms printed.

There's about 60k residents in Washington County, Ohio. But from a rough estimate, I'd say that the majority of them live in unincorporated areas. And that might remain true for the rest of the Parkersburg - Marietta - Vienna Metropolitan Stastical Area?

Camera Battery Charger Found & Geotagged Photos

I just found my dedicated digital camera and the battery charger for it. We're now set to take magnificent photos to stock for Adventurer's Project and supply geotagged photos for the Buckeye Trail Association's (BTA) Trail Management Team (TMT)

The dedicated unit can geotag photos using a bluetooth connection to my smartphone. My smartphone can do this, but with my last unit, the dedicated digital camera took them at a higher quality. I'm hoping to have the BT's first 360 view shot.

One thing that I have for my dedicated unit is a camera tripod. With its legs folded, it will just be a stick to steady it. Now what I need for the TMT is a trail that is in ideal condition. These are reference photos. It's so that if they plan to do maintenance here, they can see where they plan to do it and get accustomed to it.

As a volunteer section supervisor, the TMT is my immediate superior in the hierarchy of the BTA. They work with the entire trail and can originate from anywhere in Ohio and surrounding states.

Back at Lane Farm Campground, Charging Batteries, Upcoming Trail Promotion & NFS Map Compatibility

I'm back at the Lane Farm Campground near Marietta, Ohio. Today, I'm charging my auxiliary batteries and devices with the motorhome and car engine.

The auxiliary batteries were at 11.8V. I started charging them and realized that I needed to go to the store. When I got back, I started charging them again, but the motorhome's engine was running a little funny. After about 10 minutes, it was normal. My theory is that I'm jumping the cab batteries spread its power out to the weaker auxiliary batteries and after I took off the clamps from before, I should have let the cab batteries get to full charge.

Right now, it takes about 90 minutes to recharge the auxiliary batteries from a partial depletion with the 2 gauge, 20ft jumper cables on.

Right now, I'm looking at having a good day on maintenance tomorrow. Yesterday, I simplified my back drop for this upcoming trail promotion event. I called the Wetzel County CVB to confirm it, but haven't got a response yet. Basically, I'm only going to display their interpretive and general maps on their respective panels. As for Adventurer's Project's panels, I'll be displaying our volunteer needs for the most part.

Last night, I compared the forest map for the Marietta Unit of The Wayne to latest editions of the Whipple and Road Fork Section. Adventurer's Project will have map support for the 2003 edition of the National Forest map from Road Fork Section - Buckeye Trail, Point 18 to the Whipple Section, Point 07 (both sections are North Country concurrent).

That means that the locations as stated in our media will use both the points and locations such as road names, landmarks and communities. However, beyond what the forest accurately maps, it will depend mostly on Buckeye's map points.

Flooding Conditions at the Lane Farm Campground

Its 9:36pm and I'm up listening to the Weather Band. Its saying that the area has a flash flood watch, but this time it's not quoting the Bloomfield flood gauge, which is about 15 miles up the Little Muskingum River. I may have to stay up until 2am when its expected to expire. I'm coming up with a contingency plan. I wish this thing was better on dirt. I'd have it in a roadside campsite on higher elevation.

I might have enough surplus wood for longer parking boards? There are some sites that are big. And if the boards are long enough, I might should make it out? I could store them in the supply depot until their needed.

My mountain bike is something like a 24in. I got it out of the trash one day. I'm 6'6, so its uncomfortable to ride for any given point of time. My 61cm road bike is in the supply depot. It needs every spike replaced and I'm really thinking about having it done by the Marietta Adventure Company next month.

The shop still has my weed whacker. It's been there quite a while. I should check on it soon.