Update on 25th Anniversary ActivitiesTwenty-fifth Anniversary CommitteePresented at the March 2014 Working Group Meeting, Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment

Overview• Ad hoc committee membership• Logo (consent agenda)• Communications (discussed earlier)• Funding: USGS• 25th Anniversary Publication• Multi-media display • Special session at Coastal Zone Canada 2014• Geocaching event• Static display • Postcards/bookmarks• Awards ceremony• Briefing Note (p. 13 of briefing book)

Ad-hoc Committee• Heather Breeze (co-chair)• Susan Russell Robinson (co-chair)• Ann Rodney (+ publication sub-committee)• Lorraine Gailey (+ Environment Canada Comms

team)• Theresa Torrent (+ some Outreach Committee

members)• Kathryn Parlee (+ Dan Earle)• Sophia Foley• Joan LeBlanc

Status of Funding and PublicationAnn Rodney, EPA

• Status of Funding• Submitted to USGS

• Contractors identified• Statement of work for contractors under

development• Launch at Coastal Zone Canada 2014

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…)

• Interviews with various people: why the Gulf of Maine is valuable to them

• Maps, photos, other images of the Gulf

Special Session at Coastal Zone Canada 2014Susan Russell-Robinson, USGS and Heather Breeze, DFO

• Multi-media presentation (setting the scene)• Three speakers from the Gulf of Maine Council:

• Habitat restoration (Slade Moore and Don Hudson)• Indicator Work and State of the Gulf (Heather Breeze and Christine

Tilburg)• Climate Network (

• Panel (five people + moderator)• Rob Snyder (Island Institute) (confirmed)• Richard Getchell (Aroostook Band of Micmacs) (confirmed)• Youth rep (Gulf of Maine Institute) (confirmed)• Moira Brown (New England Aquarium, Canadian Whale Institute,

considering invitation)• Danika van Prooskij (Saint Mary’s University) (considering

invitation)• Lee Sochasky (moderator)

• Travel and conference registration for speakers (if needed) and panelists being covered by USGS (thank you!)

Geocaching EventKathryn Parlee, EC; Sophia Foley, NS Environment; Dan Earle, GOMI

• 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 – probably need funding to mint the coin

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 created (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.

Awards CeremonySophia Foley, NS Environment and Joan LeBlanc, Council Coordinator

• 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 the awards

Requests/Questions for Working Group• 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.• Expect more requests for video, photos and potentially

interviews for multi-media presentation• Do we have clarity/direction on the Communications Plan

related to the 25th anniversary?• Funding… geocoin? Specific comms needs? other?

Ideas after the Council meeting:Susan Russell Robinson: srussell@usgs.govHeather Breeze: Heather.Breeze@dfo-mpo.gc.ca