25 th Anniversary Activities

1. 25th Anniversary Activities Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment

2. Overview • Ad hoc committee (co-chaired by Susan Russell-Robinson, USGS and Heather Breeze, DFO) • 25th Anniversary Publication • Special session at Coastal Zone Canada 2014 • Geocaching event • Multi-media display • Static display • Postcards/bookmarks • Awards ceremony • Overall communications/messaging • Tasks and timelines – p. 25-27 of briefing book • Messaging/communications – p. 28-30 of briefing book

3. 25th Anniversary PublicationAnn Rodney, EPA • Outline developed (p. 24 of briefing book) • Funding in process of being secured • Contractors identified • Statement of work for contractors under development • Launch at Coastal Zone Canada 2014

4. Special Session at Coastal Zone Canada 2014Susan Russell-Robinson, USGS and Heather Breeze, DFO • Multi-media presentation (setting the scene) • Video (existing + interviews with key individuals) • Still photos • Maps • Three speakers from the Gulf of Maine Council: • Habitat restoration • State of the Gulf and indicators • Climate Network • Panel (five people + moderator) • Diverse perspectives, e.g., First Nations/Aboriginal , artist, fishing/resource user, youth, NGO/community group, GOMC… • Questions: Why is the Gulf valuable to you? What is your vision for the Gulf of Maine in twenty years? What needs to be done to achieve this?

5. Geocaching EventKathryn Parlee, EC and Sophia Foley, NS Environment • Will be launched June 2014 (Coastal Zone Canada 2014), perhaps at Awards ceremony • Preliminary plans: 25 sites in total, 5 in each jurisdiction • Looking to partner with organizations • Participants will have to find out information by going to the cache site (there will not be something cached) • Once they have gone to a certain number of sites (to be determined), they will be able to fill out a form for a geocache prize • Potential prize: geocoin, looking into other options

6. Multi-media displaySusan Russell-Robinson, USGS • Will be developed in-house by USGS • Storyboard under development • Looking for video of the Gulf of Maine (e.g., underwater images of habitats, coastal habitats, iconic species of the Gulf, people fishing, aquaculture, other users of the Gulf…) – will have specific requests in January. • Interviews with various people: why the Gulf of Maine is valuable to them • Maps, photos, other images of the Gulf

7. Static display and postcard/ bookmarkSusan Russell-Robinson, others • Static Gulf of Maine Council display at Coastal Zone Canada 2014. • Many items for the display already exist (e.g., pull-up banner for State of the Gulf, banners for other committees). • Pull-up banner for the Gulf of Maine Council will be creating (funding TBD) • Committees will be asked for materials to hand out (e.g., ESIP fact sheets, State of the Gulf postcards, GOMC publications, etc). • Postcard or bookmark will be developed with key information on the council, to hand out at CZC and other events.

8. Awards ceremonySophia Foley, NS Environment and Joan LeBlanc • Will be held after special GOMC session at Coastal Zone Canada 2014 (Tuesday, June 17th) • Award winners will be encouraged to attend (looking into funding options) • Launch of 25th anniversary publication • Announcement of geocache event? • This will be the 25th anniversary “party” • Press releases in association with this

9. Messaging/CommunicationsTheresa Torrent, Maine Coastal Program and Kelly Cowper, EC • Members of the Outreach Committee will be working on 25th anniversary communications. • The draft Communications Strategy in the briefing book will be revised and messages further developed. • We will be working with the Coastal Zone Canada 2014 communications team. • Will also work with partner organizations e.g., for geocaching events.

10. Requests for Council • Support participation of Outreach Committee members from your organization in 25th anniversary activities • Support participation of staff from your organization at Coastal Zone Canada 2014, particularly the GOMC Session. • Three GOMC speakers are need to speak at the Coastal Zone Canada special session on June 17, 2014. Who is best to do this (and wants to do it)? • Habitat restoration • State of the Gulf and indicators • Climate network • Who wants to be involved in the special session in another way (e.g., introducing speakers, panelists)?

11. Requests for Council (cont.) • Who would like to be involved at another 25th anniversary event (introduction of multimedia display at a venue in your area, announcing a geocache event, participating in a geocache event…)? • Specific requests for video for the multimedia presentation will be sent to Council and Working Group in January/February 2014. • We want to interview people (video) about the value of the Gulf for the multimedia presentation. Any suggestions for interviewees, including Council members? • Are there events (after June 2014) where the multi-media presentation could be used, as a podcast or a freestanding computer display?

12. Requests for Council (cont.) • We may need another small amount of funding(<$3000 in total) to pay for one or more of the following: • Bookmark/postcard • Geocache prize/support to distributing geocache prize • Transportation of multimedia display • Development of Gulf of Maine Council pull-up banner Are there any suggestions as to how we could fund these items, if our proposed funders don’t come through?