The journey of 1000 miles..

Okay, so I can't even keep up with my personal blog. What makes me think that I can keep up with a blog about my quest for PhD-dom? This morning, as I was wasting time, trying to tamp down the fears I have about working on my dissertation proposal, I ran accross a plea on craigslist for an excercise buddy. The person was seeking someone that could help her stay on track with her weight loss and fitness goals. It struck me as a good idea that when a person embarks upon something that seems so unattainable, that they *do* need to rally the troops, circle the wagons, and call upon the forces of the internet to help them.

So here we are.

A few lines of background. I am one semester away from being done with my coursework toward my PhD in Forestry. My particular area of focus is Resource interpretation. (i.e. - how we interpret the natural and cultural world for visitors like in museums, nature centers and parks). I have assembled a crackerjack committee that includes a public historian, a statistician, and experts in the field of recreation, recreation marketing and interpretation.

Immediate goals -

• to finish my dissertation proposal this month. That will entail lots of reading and writing in the coming days.
• to blog/write every day detailing my progress

My project focuses on Alaska and the visitors who go there. More specifically I am interested in how the National Parks can position themeselves as a destination within the state of Alaska.

So, without further ado- my project objectives- taken from a contract that we have with Alaska National Parks:

1) To evaluate Alaska national park visitor experiences and connections with respect to a tourism specialization continuum and identified sequence of visitation stages.

2) To create a decision making tool that incorporates audience specialization, experiences, connections and visitation stages that allow managers to effectively reach specific audience segments at specified stages in their visit regarding relevant aspects of the Alaska National Park experience.

3) To determine the most effective images, messages and themes to market the Alaska National Parks experience and the most effective way to use these images, messages and themes.

I can't promise that this will be entertaining, but hopefully you all can throw me a few lines of encouragement, suggestions and tips every now and then.