John Tobiason visit

John Tobiason, New and Social Media coordinator for the National Park Service, graciously visited Vancouver for several days over the holiday break to work with us on the Fort Vancouver Mobile project. He met with the FVM research and development team as well as the local National Park Service staff at Fort Vancouver, plus local media members. John did a demo of both the Android and iPhone versions of the Fort Vancouver Mobile app. We talked at length (with Chief Ranger Greg Shine) about a variety of ways we could work together within the National Park Service system, to provide the agency with a model for investigating the potential of interpretive storytelling through mobile devices. We received John's many helpful suggestions and insights about the app -- as well as about the broader app world on a national level (thanks again, John!). John even had the opportunity to raise the Union Jack over the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site one morning (Fort Vancouver was a British trading post). Much more to say about this visit, but I will do that in increments as more of the ideas are developed further in the next few months. Overall, though, we are very excited to see how this partnership with the National Park Service can continue to grow.