Latest / Clean Water Conversations / Episode 3 with Sally Reynolds

Transcript

Episode 3 with Sally Reynolds · Clean Water Conversations

0:14
SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone and welcome to Clean Water Conversations, the podcast where we have casual discussions about creating clean and clear waterways right here in Lancaster County.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: I'm Ken.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Hi, and I'm Allison.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Allison, welcome to episode three.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: Episode three.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: Yay! All right.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: Now, on the last episode, we answered the question about why are we doing a podcast?
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Of course, the the short answer of that was the storytelling.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: Right.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: Tell the stories about the good work that's being done.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: Get the word out.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: Have you gotten any additional questions?
0:48
SPEAKER_01: I have gotten the who's next a couple times.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: People want to know what what's coming up.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I definitely have gotten that one.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: And I also have gotten some suggestions like, hey, how about this person would be great, a great guest.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: That's good.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we'll talk off mic about that.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Schedule, schedule people up, you know.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: So, folks, if you have any suggestions on guests, on topics, if you have any questions, you want to give us some input, you want to, you know, respond to something we said on the podcast.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: What trivia should we use?
1:18
SPEAKER_00: That that's a good one, too.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Trivia ideas.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: So hit us up at info at LancasterCleanwaterpartners.com.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Now, one of the interesting things that you may get feedback about is one of the the little rules we have here on the podcast.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: The the rule that hasn't been broken in three episodes.
1:41
SPEAKER_03: How is that possible?
1:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't heard our show before, we have a little rule uh against unexplained acronyms.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of people out there, maybe new to the conservation world, kind of like me, that don't understand the acronyms.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: We like them explained.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: So even those of us who use them all the time often can't remember what it actually stands for.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: So if one of our guests, or even one of us, because we were guilty of it just as well, uh, use an acronym without explaining what those letters mean, you will hear this.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: And then I will stop the podcast and ask them to back up and explain what those letters mean.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: Now, our guest this week, again, didn't have to didn't have to buzz for the acronyms.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: Pro.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: She is really a pro and in in the marketing world.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, she's used to it.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Um loved having her on.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Love talking about marketing.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of my wheelhouse.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: It is my people.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: Sally Reynolds is the digital operations marketing director at LP Media Group and also a graduate of the Lancaster Watershed Leadership Academy 2023 class.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: So she had a lot of really good insights.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, I'm excited for you folks to hear it.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Connecting some dots.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And um March is Women's History Month.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: So it's perfect that we're starting off our first episode in March with a woman who is doing who is showing leadership and doing amazing work for Clean Water in Lancaster County and then down at the Chesapeake Bay.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: 100%.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: Connecting to even more things out in the clean water world.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: So here we go.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, we are here with Sally Reynolds, who is the uh Digital Operations Marketing Director for LNP Media and a graduate of the 2023 Lancaster Watershed Leadership Academy.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: Woohoo!
3:51
SPEAKER_02: Yep, happy to be here.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Clean Water Conversations.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: We are so glad to have you here.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: Great.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: So good to see you, Sally.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: It's great to see you again.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: It's been a while.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: I know.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you've been out and about doing all kinds of fun things.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: I've been out and about.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Well, we'll get caught up here.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: We and we always start these off with an icebreaker.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: So your question, I know that you are an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy novels.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: So which fictional world would you most like to visit and why?
4:22
SPEAKER_02: It's an excellent question.
4:24
SPEAKER_02: And I always, when I'm walking in the woods, I'm always hoping, hoping that a door to an alternate dimension will open in front of me and I can walk right through and right into it.
4:33
SPEAKER_02: Uh so yeah, I mean, there's so many that I would love to walk into.
4:37
SPEAKER_02: I think for me, probably you have to go back to childhood and the emotional impact of the first, you know, sort of fantasy books you read.
4:45
SPEAKER_02: So for me, obviously the big ones would be Narnia, a series of Lord of the Rings.
4:49
SPEAKER_02: And so I would absolutely 100% go live in either of those worlds.
4:53
SPEAKER_02: And if I had to pick location in those worlds, of course it would be Rivendale and Lord of the Rings, or maybe Lorien.
4:59
SPEAKER_02: And if I was going to be in um, you know, Narnia, it would probably be right as you walk through the wardrobe.
5:06
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, you get into the woods, and then Mr.
5:08
SPEAKER_02: Tumness is there.
5:09
SPEAKER_02: Mr.
5:09
SPEAKER_02: Tumness.
5:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Mr.
5:10
SPEAKER_02: Tumnes.
5:11
SPEAKER_02: I also happen to love uh a ton of series, but um Garth Nix did some great uh fantasy series.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: I would read, I would walk into any of his worlds, and also Brandon Sanderson is a super favorite author.
5:21
SPEAKER_02: And also um the Outlander books, although I haven't watched the TV series, I love the moment in the first book where she walks between the standing stones and walks into that dimension.
5:31
SPEAKER_02: That's what I keep waiting to happen in my life, and it hasn't happened yet.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: There's still time.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: I I know, I can still hope.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: This makes a lot more sense about the Dune conversations and the love Dune.
5:43
SPEAKER_02: I can walk into that world too, although you know, some of the worlds are a little hostile.
5:47
SPEAKER_02: Um, so there's a lot more sort of peace and beauty in the Lord of the Rings and the Narnia world.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Very good point.
5:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: Well, tell us about your background.
5:55
SPEAKER_02: How far back?
5:57
SPEAKER_02: Because I was a bubblegum welder in my early 20s.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you want me to go that far back.
6:01
SPEAKER_02: What?
6:02
SPEAKER_02: Wait, what does that mean?
6:05
SPEAKER_02: That is exactly what I was gonna ask.
6:07
SPEAKER_02: I had a barely two-week-long stint at the swell bubblegum factory in Havertown in my very early 20s when I was lost and confused.
6:15
SPEAKER_02: And they brought me into the job, and basically there's a rack of three foot-long strands of pink bubblegum, a hot iron in front of you, and then a chopper and wrapper on the left.
6:25
SPEAKER_02: And you spent eight hours a day grabbing down the strands and then squeezing them together on the hot iron so that it becomes one long continuous strand of bubblegum to feed into the hot chopper.
6:35
SPEAKER_02: So I got it within 15 minutes of being trained, and then realized my job was to stand there for the entire day, doing nothing but that.
6:41
SPEAKER_02: So that didn't last long.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: No.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
6:45
SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: That was something.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if it was amazing, but it was it was like wow.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: So anyway.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: I feel educated.
6:52
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: And I want to ask this question more often than how far back?
6:57
SPEAKER_02: How far back do you really want to go?
6:59
SPEAKER_02: There's many other like questionable jobs, but uh, we'll do the high-level overview.
7:03
SPEAKER_02: Is most of my 20s when I wasn't doing questionable jobs, uh, was working uh for restaurants.
7:07
SPEAKER_02: So I waited tables a little bit at the beginning, but I speak very rapidly.
7:11
SPEAKER_02: And so it was a huge problem because I'd stand in front of the table, give my intro, tell them the specials, they'd look at me with like, you know, they hadn't understood a word I said.
7:21
SPEAKER_02: Uh so then I went into the kitchen and cooked for uh most of my twenties while going to college at Temple University.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then uh worked at some crappy restaurants, worked at a couple really good ones.
7:32
SPEAKER_02: White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia was excellent.
7:34
SPEAKER_02: And then I also moved out to California to work uh at Shea Panice in Berkeley.
7:38
SPEAKER_02: That was an amazing experience.
7:40
SPEAKER_01: I forgot about that gem of information.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: So, so cool.
7:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:45
SPEAKER_02: And I loved it all throughout my 20s, but it's also it's a hard life if you want to have a family and kids.
7:50
SPEAKER_02: And so by the end of my 20s, when my husband and I got married and he was a bartender, we both realized that we could not continue on with that lifestyle.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: Some people can.
7:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh for us, it was the balance of life was just too hard to maintain.
8:01
SPEAKER_02: So we left that and then I went back to school and so did he.
8:05
SPEAKER_02: He became a high school teacher.
8:06
SPEAKER_02: And then I got my master's at Cornell in professional studies in the hotel school.
8:12
SPEAKER_02: Went to work as the operations analyst at the Washington Hilton and Towers, didn't love it.
8:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh, left that job after three years to do ta-da, marketing, finally, uh, for uh marketing as a consultant for in a consulting firm for hotels and resorts.
8:26
SPEAKER_02: And it was database marketing and email marketing.
8:28
SPEAKER_02: So it was very digital even back then.
8:30
SPEAKER_02: And I used to, I lived in worked in a home office and I would have to get my desktop tower computer, shove it in my car once a month, drive it to Philadelphia, plug it to the you know, servers, get the database updates, and then drive it back home again.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: So that back then you'd do like, you know, twist 20 stacks of floppy disks that you'd zip up to send stuff to your clients.
8:49
SPEAKER_02: Um, so did that for like 17 years, uh, really enjoyed it.
8:53
SPEAKER_02: And then the company was uh bought by or you know, taken over by a hedge fund, and then everything changed as you could would expect.
9:01
SPEAKER_02: And so I was looking for a new job.
9:03
SPEAKER_02: LMP was looking for somebody to come in and start up their new database marketing program, which I was hired to do, and I've been there ever since almost uh 10 years, yeah.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: So oh wow.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: So you did mention a little bit the um the old technology, the way we we used to do things.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: What skills did you need when you started out there and compared to what do you need now?
9:30
SPEAKER_02: I would have to say, quite honestly, I feel like it's the same skill, which is you know an intense desire to learn, not to be intimidated by anything, get your hands in there, learn it.
9:40
SPEAKER_02: And also nowadays you can Google anything.
9:42
SPEAKER_02: So if I've got a new platform that I have to learn, you know, we onboarded our team with Asana, uh, which is a project management software a couple of years ago.
9:50
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, okay, just you know, dig in, learn it.
9:52
SPEAKER_02: If you can't figure it out, guess what?
9:53
SPEAKER_02: Google on the side, how do I do this in Asana?
9:55
SPEAKER_02: And there's your answer.
9:57
SPEAKER_02: So I really feel like that is the skill for anybody in any field is curiosity and desire to just throw yourself into it and figure it out and not be intimidated by it.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm still new to the conservation world, so that's what I'm doing every day.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: So I and and loving it.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah because there it's just such a fascinating, there's so many things to learn, and they're all like so pertinent because we all need clean water.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it that's um uh just I that spoke to me.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: So I completely got that.
10:29
SPEAKER_01: Why is it digital marketing that you're drawn to?
10:32
SPEAKER_01: You said that even back then it was the same kind of thing.
10:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that might have just been sort of happenstance that I ended up, you know, transitioning from being an operations analyst to uh working for a company that was database marketing and email marketing for hotels and resorts.
10:46
SPEAKER_02: And then once you're kind of in the digital space, which you know that was, email is digital, um, then all the other things just kind of come along.
10:54
SPEAKER_02: Oh, now there's social media marketing, you know, oh, there's geofencing, there's targeted display, there's Google custom intent audiences.
10:59
SPEAKER_02: So they all just kind of start to attach themselves to the digital role, I think.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: So the digital role did start in much more narrowly because those things, social media wasn't a thing back then, and there was no social media marketing.
11:11
SPEAKER_02: So the other pieces have just been kind of building over the years.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: So, how do you embrace that learning that you have to do of something new at the same time delegating because your plate doesn't actually get any bigger?
11:21
SPEAKER_01: Or I'm pretty sure you have the same 24 hours in the day, but I wouldn't bet on it because of the amounts amount of things you get done.
11:29
SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's also honestly from the workplace standpoint, it's hiring the right people.
11:33
SPEAKER_02: And we have got an amazing, and I really mean that sincerely amazing digital marketing team.
11:37
SPEAKER_02: So I am not the Google product expert.
11:39
SPEAKER_02: We have a guy, Scott Paparella, who is.
11:42
SPEAKER_02: So I learn from him, even though he's you know on my team.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: And then we have a social media expert, Katina Kaufman.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: You know, she's fantastic.
11:48
SPEAKER_02: She knows much more of the depth of the platform than I need to know.
11:52
SPEAKER_02: I need to know the high level and the strategy and sort of the workflow issues.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: But in terms of the experts beneath me, they are the ones who really, you know, bring that piece to the table, to that deep, deep, deep learning that I don't have to do.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: I think that crosses over with what you were saying, Ken, about the conservation world about there's such content experts that we need to answer some of the questions and help us problem solve.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, to your point, Sally, if we can't do the workflow, if we can't provide the strategic planning, if we can't provide the longer term vision of how does this fit in with something bigger, it it's you're right, it's the same kind of skills, but how we bring the right people in, it's a pretty amazing process.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: For sure.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: And now people are wondering like, wasn't this a clean water conversation?
12:35
SPEAKER_02: Where's the clean water?
12:36
SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is marketing is super important because what you said earlier, you said we all need clean water.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: And I was thinking to myself as you said that, you know, from a marketing standpoint, I'm not sure everybody knows that or buys that or believes it because, you know, well, I've got a well or I've got I can just turn on the tap and there's my water.
12:52
SPEAKER_02: So I don't think people really think about it.
12:54
SPEAKER_02: And actually, I wasn't aware of clean Lancaster Clean Water Partners until you did marketing for Water Week, right?
13:00
SPEAKER_02: That's because I was working for the newspaper and you were marketing with us.
13:03
SPEAKER_02: So until you did your marketing and raised awareness of what you're doing, I had no idea.
13:07
SPEAKER_02: I didn't think about water, really, you know?
13:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you found it.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, that that kind of dovetails perfectly into my next question.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, how does the local news currently tell the clean water story?
13:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it is something that we have told through a couple of key reporters, especially.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: I think Ad Crable's been very involved in helping that tell that story.
13:31
SPEAKER_02: But I think, you know, we have a lot to cover in news.
13:33
SPEAKER_02: We have crime, we have, you know, school board meetings, we have uh local uh political races.
13:39
SPEAKER_02: And as a really dedicated local news source, and we, I mean, I when I tell you that the people at the organization just work so hard and try so hard to cover everything and to give it the ultimate in clear, you know, clean, true, unbiased factual information, it's it's very, very true.
13:58
SPEAKER_02: It's an amazing editorial team.
14:00
SPEAKER_02: And and and um environmental writing is part of that.
14:04
SPEAKER_02: It's probably not the number one.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so you have to have a couple of reporters for whom that is the passion and they'll bring that to the table.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: And then you also have to have within the conservation world relationships.
14:14
SPEAKER_02: So, like um our river keeper Ted, you know, knows a couple of our reporters.
14:19
SPEAKER_02: And he Ted has even told me that, you know, if a reporter from any organization, news organization, calls him up or emails him for information, he's gonna get right on that first because he knows how important it is to work with news media to get the important word out about the work that we're doing and about the work that needs to be done.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: What do you think that the news is going to be telling in five years from now as it relates to conservation or clean water?
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Well, like for example, I think one of the most recent news stories was Kamala Harris going to Pittsburgh, right?
14:47
SPEAKER_02: And I think it was it's five, six billion dollars nationwide, 200 million for Pennsylvania dedicated to helping improve water infrastructure so that we have less, you know, combined sewer overflows into our rivers and streams.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: So like that was a big piece of news.
15:02
SPEAKER_02: And so what I would hope, hope, is that, you know, in the next five to ten years, the news is a follow-up on that that says, you know, hey, you know, or even more sooner, these projects have been started and they'll be completed, you know, at this uh time.
15:15
SPEAKER_02: So it's a lot to cover.
15:17
SPEAKER_02: And and there's which, as I learned in the academy, so many different places and ways to make an impact.
15:23
SPEAKER_02: So that's one area of impact, but then there's all the, you know, other and like non-point sources of pollution that need to be addressed.
15:30
SPEAKER_02: So I would hope that would also make it into the news.
15:33
SPEAKER_02: I would hope that it's both a combination of the success stories as well as stories about the areas where we need work.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and your point that people don't take, they don't have the awareness of a simple thing like clean water is important for all.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: Because you're right, we trust when we turn the tap on, that's there, it's healthy.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, so how do we create our messaging?
15:53
SPEAKER_01: How do we craft that narrative so that it is calling out the projects and right in front of us?
15:58
SPEAKER_01: But also I love what you said about the follow-up of there was this big influx or this big push for a certain geography.
16:03
SPEAKER_01: And then what happened?
16:04
SPEAKER_02: Right.
16:05
SPEAKER_02: It is, it's, I mean, the word you use is telling that story.
16:08
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's reaching out to news media and sharing what the concerns are and then what the action steps are uh that you've taken and what successes there have been, and just keep communicating that out in every channel you act you can.
16:18
SPEAKER_02: So it's the one-on-one channels with news media, it's also putting it out on your own social media, it's putting it out in your own blog posts, it's you know, doing advertising in the paper or on radio or wherever else you do it to tell your story and really get it in front of people.
16:31
SPEAKER_02: And it's and it's not free.
16:33
SPEAKER_02: So, yes, a story in the newspaper will be free, but that's only done, I think, you know, for more sort of significant moments and issues.
16:40
SPEAKER_02: You have a lot of other things to tell about that probably wouldn't be sort of quote, newspaper worthy, unquote.
16:46
SPEAKER_02: So you're gonna have to pay to get that word out there.
16:49
SPEAKER_02: You might have to do a paid Facebook campaign to reach new audiences who aren't, you know, in your you know, current list of followers.
16:56
SPEAKER_02: You might need to, you know, again, get on the air somewhere.
16:58
SPEAKER_02: But you have-I mean, people I think assume that you know marketing is free.
17:02
SPEAKER_02: It's not reaching new audiences really isn't free unless you're lucky enough to go viral.
17:06
SPEAKER_02: So you're gonna have to put some money behind it.
17:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: Now you had mentioned Ted, and you know Ted, of course, from the lower Susquire.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, when did you first get involved with them?
17:19
SPEAKER_00: And what's that experience been like?
17:21
SPEAKER_02: And thank Allison for that because that's all you.
17:25
SPEAKER_02: She's ch No, no, you you've changed my life because uh well you have, because uh one of the many sessions that we did as scholars in the um uh watershed group.
17:35
SPEAKER_02: Um give me the fullership account.
17:37
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
17:39
SPEAKER_02: Uh, was we had a presentation from Justin Mando, who was the um chairperson for the board of the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association.
17:47
SPEAKER_02: And he was amazing.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: He had pre before before the presentation, he had checked all of us out on your website, you know, read our bios, memorized our photos and our names, and then spoke really eloquently about the work that Lower Susquehanna Riverkeepers does, as well as, again, that sort of storytelling component and how important it is to tell the story in a way that resonates with people.
18:08
SPEAKER_02: So after he got done speaking, I was like, wow, okay.
18:11
SPEAKER_02: I joined the academy because I wanted to find a way to get involved and make a difference, you know, and on an issue that was local in scope but had also larger, you know, uh implications.
18:24
SPEAKER_02: Yes, exactly.
18:25
SPEAKER_02: And after he spoke, I was like, okay, this is the group.
18:28
SPEAKER_02: This is the this is it.
18:29
SPEAKER_02: Um and I liked it because it was very concrete, very actionable.
18:34
SPEAKER_02: Um, I love planting trees, but you know, the sort of the the eventual success of planting trees is so far horizon.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: Whereas with Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, what we do is much more immediate and concrete.
18:46
SPEAKER_02: So anyway, so after that speech, I said to him, I'd like to be on your board.
18:50
SPEAKER_02: And he's like, sounds great.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: Sounds good.
18:54
SPEAKER_02: So he sent me an email, we connected, I sent him my resume, I got interviewed, and I am now on the board.
19:00
SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:02
SPEAKER_03: Very cool.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: And what is that kind of leadership role like?
19:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, like you said, you can volunteer, you can be a leader within lots of different organizations.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: Why a board role?
19:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I honestly I probably walked into it not really knowing what I was getting myself into.
19:15
SPEAKER_02: And I'm used to being a manager and I'm used to making decisions and in, you know, collaboratively, but ultimately it's like I'm gonna make the decision.
19:23
SPEAKER_02: And working on a volunteer board is not like that at all.
19:26
SPEAKER_02: It's like gaining consensus.
19:29
SPEAKER_02: I would just personally like to make the decision, but I can't do that.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's been an exercise, it's uh been great.
19:37
SPEAKER_02: The people on the board are fantastic.
19:38
SPEAKER_02: I love working with them, all kinds of different skill sets, but I definitely have to sort of uh be conscious of myself and that I'm not the manager.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: And I need to kind of, you know, be uh a little more scaled back.
19:50
SPEAKER_02: Um so the role is basically uh direction and guidance.
19:56
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Ted is running day-to-day operations and he has a deputy director, uh Devin Wynan, who's awesome.
20:02
SPEAKER_02: And we've got a communications person, and we're hiring a part-time office admin person.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: So they are running it.
20:08
SPEAKER_02: I am not running anything.
20:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh so it's more guidance, strategy, direction, you know, where are we kind of long-term going?
20:17
SPEAKER_02: That's that's more the role.
20:18
SPEAKER_02: And also the the role is also big on fundraising and marketing, too.
20:22
SPEAKER_02: So we need, we are a tiny organization with a tiny amount of people and very little money.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: And we to do the good work we've been doing, we do need to continue to raise money.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: And we also have to raise awareness, which is marketing.
20:35
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, people don't know who we are, they don't know the good work we're doing, so we got to get that word out there.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: So I'm trying to put my energy toward that piece as much as I can.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: That's awesome because the expertise of board members provides so much leadership, but it comes in so many different forms.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: So many flavors, yeah.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: We have a finance guy, we have some educators, we have John, uh, who's got a lot of great, you know, nonprofit experience.
20:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, we have, you know, all kinds of people and probably could use more people too, with with all kinds of diverse backgrounds to really uh get the benefit of all of that experience.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, I have to give a shout out to Leadership Lancaster, their core class.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: One of their requirements is to attend a local community group board meeting just to observe.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: And we recently had one of their class members come to our board meeting and we've encouraged them to go to the conservation district.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: And so maybe that could be another place that yeah, you can recruit.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: I thought it thought it was such a great element of the leadership training and great idea.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: Understanding what that role is and how it's different from a job or from a volunteer, or it's a really unique thing that is an opportunity for the right right person can bring that skill set.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: So I'm so glad that you took that, saw the opportunity, took it as w a place you can fit in and be helpful.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: Cause I just so appreciate how all through the academy you encouraged all of us to think how we can be helpful, but you in particular.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Said, well, these are my skills and I can do this right now.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: And then I've got the bigger vision longer down the road.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: So I love it.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: I like to be very hands-on.
22:08
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, that that's that's where my happy place is.
22:11
SPEAKER_02: So yes.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Was there anything specific from the Leadership Academy that kind of helped prep you for this role?
22:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, I think the Leadership Academy for me was so much about uh connections and awareness.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: And I just had honest to Pete, no idea of all the organizations that are doing such great work here in Lancaster as well as, you know, uh around the Chesapeake area.
22:34
SPEAKER_02: So it was about sort of a very eye-opening experience.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: And I also had really no idea about the many, many issues.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I kind of knew generally, quote, save the Chesapeake, you know, in very broad terms.
22:45
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: But I really didn't understand all of the water quality issues that face us.
22:49
SPEAKER_02: And that, you know, again, when we turn on the tap, there's a lot that's been in that water before it finally gets to you clean.
22:56
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, the sewage from Harrisburg, okay, it's getting maybe filtered out of the water finally, but we're drinking the Susquehanna and the Conestoga.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: And there's, you know, fecal coliform bacteria in that water, and there doesn't have to be.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: So how can we get to a place where there that isn't in there anymore?
23:11
SPEAKER_02: Because it's not good for us, it's not good for the fish, it's not good for anything.
23:14
SPEAKER_02: And if you like to fish, if you like to swim, if you like to kayak, wouldn't you rather do it on clean water?
23:19
SPEAKER_01: 100%.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:20
unknown: Yeah.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to keep some money in my wallet too.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: Always a good thing.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh so tell us uh about your work on the Little Conestogo Blue-Green Corridor project.
23:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I haven't done much with them.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh Jim Schultz is the guy who leads that, and he's amazing.
23:37
SPEAKER_02: He's a fantastic guy.
23:38
SPEAKER_02: All I've really done is uh LMP Media Group is the vendor for their website.
23:43
SPEAKER_02: So I worked with Jim to scope out, okay, you know, what look and feel do you want?
23:47
SPEAKER_02: We have a designer who obviously put together the mock-ups, but what what look and feel do you want?
23:50
SPEAKER_02: What pages do you want?
23:51
SPEAKER_02: What content do you need on those pages?
23:53
SPEAKER_02: You know, what are the calls to action?
23:55
SPEAKER_02: So kind of just, you know, structuring what the website was going to be, working with the designer on the look and feel on the colors, and then uh she built it out, and then we did the user acceptance testing, and then now we just do updates for him when needed.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: So that's all my involvement has been on that project, but it's also been something very interesting to become more aware of.
24:12
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's a huge project happening right in Lancaster that I don't know how many people are super aware of.
24:18
SPEAKER_02: I think the people who live near it are.
24:19
SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, it's a pretty Yeah, the scale of that project is pretty massive.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: Two and a half miles of stream restoration, floodplain, buffers, yeah, all kinds of pounds of sediment, nutrients, reduction taken out of the system.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: Pretty amazing.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for helping to tell the story with that website.
24:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Now, one thing that is very um unusual to me, I guess, is marketers in the conservation world.
24:45
SPEAKER_02: We need more marketers.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly where I was kind of going with that.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: It's a different way of it's a different way of thinking, it's a different way of storytelling.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Um so by all means, you know, if there's anybody out there listening who's a marketer, get in the conservation world.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: We need you.
25:04
SPEAKER_02: Well, we do like when we did our capstone project.
25:07
SPEAKER_02: That was me, Latisse, and um Stephanie.
25:11
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
25:11
SPEAKER_02: I just like I'm uh fatigued at home like, how can I forget Stephanie?
25:14
SPEAKER_02: I'm talking to her almost every day.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: Um, we uh, you know, had all of our actions we had to do in terms of um, you know, the tree plantings and which transit trees, and then the volunteers who were gonna come table for the event and working with the um uh Mountville Borough, who were fantastic, you know, to work with about our project in uh Spring Hill Park.
25:34
SPEAKER_02: But you know, the piece that I think I did bring to that was now you've got to make the neighbors aware that it's happening so that they will come.
25:40
SPEAKER_02: So it's lawn signs, so it's door hangers, so it's social media posts, so it's getting in the borough newsletter, you know.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: So to me, all of that marketing is letting people know what you're doing.
25:49
SPEAKER_02: It's if you're a store and you have a sale on carpets, marketing is letting people know about your sale.
25:54
SPEAKER_02: If you're in the conservation world, you gotta really market yourselves to help people know who you are and what you're doing.
26:00
SPEAKER_02: So it's telling the story, but I think maybe telling the story to me is like maybe a little too passive, whereas marketing is very active.
26:07
SPEAKER_02: It's pushing that word out there, it's finding the right channels, it's finding the right audiences and getting that in front of them.
26:12
SPEAKER_02: So you'll tell the story, but then we also need to if nobody reads the story, right?
26:17
SPEAKER_02: What's the point of telling the story?
26:18
SPEAKER_02: So that's where you have to go, I think, beyond just telling the story and really pushing that story out there, which is marketing.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: And that difference of active and passive is a really fascinating way to think about it because it's not storytelling afterward.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: I think of sometimes we can interpret the word storytelling like this thing happened and here's the result of it, right?
26:36
SPEAKER_01: Right.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: It what you just described, everything is pre pre-event, pre-trees in the ground.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: That's where the big buildup has to happen.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: And so without that part of a full project management or project implementation, you're not going to have the same kind of results.
26:49
SPEAKER_01: So exactly.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for just saying it that way.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: That was really helpful to think about storytelling in the pre-stage, not the post.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: Both are important, but the door do you neglect the three?
27:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: It's the door that you're walking through to the other dimension.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we're bringing it back.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: Well done.
27:10
SPEAKER_02: Is Jamie on the other side of the door?
27:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm coming in.
27:13
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: So we mentioned marketers.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: What other type of partners would you like to see participating in the academy that would really help this conservation world?
27:28
SPEAKER_02: Um, people who it's gonna sound crass, but I'm gonna say it anyway.
27:33
SPEAKER_02: People with deep pockets or people who know people with deep pockets.
27:36
SPEAKER_02: Again, our struggle at Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, I mean, we're so tiny and our budget's so tiny.
27:41
SPEAKER_02: Um, it would be just so helpful to have somebody help us, you know, make those connections and help us get in front of the right people and foundations.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: Now, we do obviously have some foundation connections, especially over in York, because uh Lower Susquehanna Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association Association has been more connected over there because they're on that side of the river.
28:02
SPEAKER_02: But the river flows through both counties.
28:04
SPEAKER_02: So we need connections on this side too.
28:06
SPEAKER_02: So that's one uh type of person.
28:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I think business people, business people who are really savvy and know how to run an operation nuts and bolts, which is where John has been so helpful because he comes from that nonprofit uh sort of business background and understands, you know, the way a financial statement should look for a nonprofit.
28:27
SPEAKER_02: So I don't bring that piece, but it's so great to have somebody who does have that, you know, financial background.
28:32
SPEAKER_02: Um, for us in specific, it would be great to have someone with like kind of like a construction background because we're looking for a home.
28:39
SPEAKER_02: And if we find a home, you know, that we're maybe going to eventually purchase, boy, you know, we probably have to make renovations.
28:44
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, who among us, well, I think Ted knows that kind of stuff, but Ted's supposed to be out on the water.
28:49
SPEAKER_02: So who among the board really knows anything about construction or renovation?
28:53
SPEAKER_02: You know, none of us.
28:54
SPEAKER_02: Um so I think practical-minded people.
28:57
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we have educators.
28:58
SPEAKER_02: Educators are fabulous and we love them and we need them.
29:01
SPEAKER_02: But I do think we need more of that really kind of like business, finance, nuts and bolts type of people as well.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: Agreed.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: Come join us, all.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:11
SPEAKER_02: Anyone who's running their own business and has a little spare time or is like, you know, the president of the business, we need you.
29:17
SPEAKER_02: Any kind of business, a plumbing business, you know, a siding business.
29:21
SPEAKER_02: Anybody who's got that kind of experience would be so valuable.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: We had a partner sign up recently who is a power washing company.
29:28
SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: So you're right.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: We need to go back and ask some of those specific business things.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: Because obviously the water connection, but my wheel spinning.
29:37
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: Moving on to our next segment, which is conservation lightning round trivia.
29:44
SPEAKER_02: Oh boy.
29:45
SPEAKER_02: No pressure.
29:46
SPEAKER_02: You said you had practice at that time.
29:47
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I do.
29:47
SPEAKER_02: I do love, well, I mean, if you could do trivia on like, you know, fantasy and sci-fi.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Close.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Close.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: You are an avid bird watcher.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: So here's how we're going to play this.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: I am going to give you the physical description of a bird, most of which are listed in birdwatchinghq.com's most common birds in Pennsylvania.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: And then you tell me the name of the bird.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: So if I utterly fail, do you hopefully not air this segment?
30:17
SPEAKER_00: We can go back and edit, give you the give you the right answers.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh so I'll ask the question, chime in as soon as you know.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Just go ahead and interrupt me.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: So um, I'm not even going to run the clock because every time we run the clock, we run out, and it's just interesting to see.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: The answers to the rest of the question.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there you go.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so your first one is described as a beautiful thrush that features a rusty red breast.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
30:45
SPEAKER_02: I like these.
30:45
SPEAKER_02: It's a nice and easy.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, great.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: A relatively small bird with a short bill.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: They have a white belly with a mostly black back that features streaks and spots of white.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: The males have a red spot on the back of their head.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: The females too.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: It's a woodpecker.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: It's a is it a red-bellied woodpecker?
31:06
SPEAKER_00: It is a downy woodpecker, but I will give that to me.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh striped heads has an erect, straight back posture while on trees.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: The bodies are black and white overall with a long chisel-like bill.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: The males have a red spot on the back of their head, the females do not.
31:26
SPEAKER_02: Oh, is it a flicker?
31:27
SPEAKER_02: Or a uh yellow shaft of flicker?
31:29
SPEAKER_02: No, wait.
31:30
SPEAKER_02: Um stick with the woodpecker theme.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh, giving away answers.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: A sapsucker.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: It's a hairy woodpecker.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: A hairy woodpecker.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: Now bear in mind, I don't know birds.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: So I would be utterly failing this.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: You're doing a great job.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: In the summer, the males are a vivid yellow with a black cap and a and black wings.
31:53
SPEAKER_02: It's a goldfinch.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: It is indeed a goldfinch.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: Very nice.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Males have gray crowns and a black bib, white cheeks, and chestnut on the sides of their face and neck.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: Their backs are predominantly brown with black spirits.
32:10
SPEAKER_02: Is it a white cheek sparrow?
32:12
SPEAKER_00: It is a house sparrow.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: That's close enough.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: Adult males are rosy red around their head and upper breasts.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: They have brown streaks.
32:22
SPEAKER_02: Purple finch or a housefinch?
32:24
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's a house finch.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: Nice, there we go.
32:27
SPEAKER_02: I can never tell the two apart anyway, so yeah.
32:30
SPEAKER_02: They're so fat.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: A large black bird that is entirely black with an iridescent sheen.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: Is it a grackle?
32:37
SPEAKER_02: Or is it a crow?
32:38
SPEAKER_02: Or is it a crow.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: It's an American crow.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: Males are all black except for the bright red and yellow patch on their shoulders.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it is a red-winged black bird.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: This bird has blue feathers with a white belly, a red head.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: Oh.
32:57
SPEAKER_02: Wait, wait.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: Let me finish it.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: Let me finish it.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Blue feathers with a white belly, a red head, and a red pompadour-like crest, known for its distinctive and melodic laugh.
33:12
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Again, stick with the woodpecker theme.
33:15
SPEAKER_02: Oh, is it a pileated?
33:17
SPEAKER_02: No, it doesn't have a blue.
33:19
SPEAKER_02: It's Woody Woodpecker.
33:24
SPEAKER_02: That was good.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: I was wondering if maybe you'd get that one.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
33:32
SPEAKER_02: Oh, because he's hot bugs bunny.
33:33
SPEAKER_02: Did you see Ana Barbera?
33:34
SPEAKER_02: Never mind.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, that is our show.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: I would like to thank Sally Reynolds for coming in and chatting with us.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: We really appreciate you coming on the show.
33:46
SPEAKER_01: Super fun.
33:47
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
33:47
SPEAKER_01: It was great.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm so glad that you're in this conservation world and being part of the leadership to make it even better.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
33:54
SPEAKER_00: We need more marketers.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, we will be back in just a couple of weeks.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: And in the meantime, take care.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: Bye-bye.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: Bye.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Cleanwater Conversations is brought to you by Lancaster Clean Water Partners.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: If you have comments or suggestions on the show topics, please contact us at infol at Lancaster Cleanwater Partners.com.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.