The primary goal for the River Walk events is to improve overall attendance, specifically

from current University of Minnesota students. We plan to accomplish this by improving

and expanding the advertising effort through the use of university resources and social
media, as well as broadening the featured topics with a greater emphasis on
environmental interpretation in order to appeal to a greater student audience.
Our target audience is the wide variety of both undergraduate and graduate students
from all University of Minnesota colleges and departments. We expect that this
audience will have a varied base knowledge of the Mississippi River as it relates to our
campus, and will differ greatly in their awareness of environmental education and
awareness efforts regarding this local natural resource.
We will also target an intervening audience made up of the University of Minnesota
teaching faculty, by encouraging them to include an experiential component to their
coursework that would make connections between River Lifes teaching points and
course content, introduce their students to River Life as an engaging and fun on-
campus activity, and offer incentive in the form of course credit for students who
participate in a River Walk program.
River Life main objectives are as follows:
1. Informational: After having participated in a River Walk event, each attendee will have
sufficient knowledge regarding the University of Minnesota River Life program and
the details of the interpretive program to be able to educate at least one peer about
their experience.
2. Motivational: Students who attend will leave with a greater appreciation for the river
and its role in their everyday lives, which will in turn foster a sense of stewardship for
the river and a desire to take a more active role in the conservation of our region of
the Mississippi and other nearby natural resources. In addition, attendees will be able
to answer a follow-up survey question reflecting this attitude.
3. Behavioral: Every participant will learn at least one simple change they can make in
their own lives to improve the health of the Mississippi River and have implemented
that change within two weeks of attending the event.
Through the River Walk events, River Life aims to deliver a two-part key message to
students. Firstly, an awareness of the national park status of the East and West bank
campuses and an appreciation for the opportunities this affords University of Minnesota
students. Secondly, a basic knowledge of a few major species of local flora and fauna
and their phenological impact on surrounding areas of the Mississippi River.
All promotion for the River Walk events will focus on establishing a high level of
connectivity between the many different channels of communication, in order to make
all relevant and supplementary information more accessible and make navigation
between platforms as user friendly as possible. Some suggestions for improvements to
the current promotional effort include:

A poster campaign on each of the three main University of Minnesota

campuses as well as amenable Dinkytown businesses, preferably indoors so
as to avoid weather damage and/or vandalism. Each poster will include a
description of the River Walk event as well as a QR code linked to the main
River Life website.

Using the Universitys Undergrad Update email platform, a message about the
event will go out to the entire student body and feature an event description as
well as an image of the posters and links to all relevant social media sites.

In addition to University email, the campus-wide texting service for all school
related events will be utilized to provide updates closer to event times as well
as the River Life URL for students to access more detailed information.
The event details are presented in the following sample agenda:

12:00 Meet on the front steps of Northrop Auditorium

Introduction of event guides and guest presenters

Collection of participants email addresses

Begin with awareness and appreciation questions of the participants to gauge

their initial knowledge level

Introduce and explain scavenger hunt and hand out activity sheets

12:10 Head out on walk

Overview of river history followed by springtime phenology information

Transition to presentation and discussion of river health

Guest presenter talk on riparian ecology

Guest presenter talk on regional flora and fauna with respect to phenology

Revisit awareness and appreciation questions with participants to learn what

knowledge they retained and what they found most interesting and/or relevant

12:30 Conclude walk back with discussion of changes participants can make to
help improve the rivers health, provide feedback and suggestions, and take
opportunity to reinforce key message of event
*Interpretive materials for the event will include the scavenger hunt activity sheets as
well as informational brochures for participants to take home after the event
In the week following a River Walk, participants who provided a home mailing address
will receive a thank you note; this note will be constructed of pulp paper embedded with
wildflower seeds and printed with a simple thank you, as well as planting instructions to
further enforce the sustainable theme of the event.
Participants will also receive a brief follow-up survey via email with similar questions to
the conclusion of the walk, in order to ascertain what information is retained in the long
term, as well as all future promotional materials sent out by River Life if they indicated
an interest on the email sign-up sheet prior to the event.
The results of the follow-up survey will be used as the primary evaluation tool for the
River Walk events. In a brief 5-8 multiple choice and short answer questions,
participants will be polled to gauge the following:

Participant demographics and psychographics

Retention of key message(s)

Overall impression of the experience

Initial and final feelings of stewardship toward the Mississippi River

Likelihood that they will advertise the event to others via social media and/or
word of mouth

Finally, a sample budget to be utilized with this event plan is shown below.
Promotional Materials:

Informational brochures for general distribution, designed and created by

the event plan team.

Pricing: Free with access to departmental color copier, 50 cents each if

printed through University computer lab

Event posters, designed by the event plan team

Pricing: $8 per square foot through St. Paul Printing Services

Embossed pens, designed by the event plan team

Pricing: 60 cents each plus $6 shipping and handling

For Participants Only:

Tee shirts designed by the event plan team

Pricing: $14.99 each through St. Paul Printing Services

Mouse pads designed by the event plan team

Pricing: $7.99 each through St. Paul Printing Services

Program Materials:

Scavenger hunt activity sheets

Pricing: Free with access to departmental color copier, 50 cents each if

printed through University computer lab

Wildflower seed paper, designed by the event plan team

Pricing: $1.90 each for 8 1/2 x 11 in. sheets through Botanical Paper
Works, shipping is free

Informational Brochure for

participants to take home
River Life is a program at the University of
Minnesota that involves people at all levels
to engage with the Mississippi River, as the
University of Minnesota campus sits inside
the Mississippi National River and
Recreational Area.

Water Walks are educational and

interactive walks that take place along the
river. Every uesday at noon, a group
leaves from Northrop pla!a with a leader to
learn a"out a river topic. he walk guides
lead all participants in learning a"out the
topic that day. #n less than an hour, you
arrive "ack at Northrop a more educated
citi!en.

$isit our we"site at riverlife.umn.edu

or contact %at Nunnally at &'()&(&)*+', -
pdn.umn.edu
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River Life
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Scavenger Hunt activity
sheet for interpretive program
Blue Vervain
Verbana hastata
A perennial herb, look for
serrated leaves and bright
blue to purple flowers, 18 to
42 tall
Awl Fruited Sedge
Carex stipata
Grows in small clumps up to
42 tall, look for long, thin,
bright green leaves with
green to black seeds
Skunk Cabbage
Symplocarpus foetidus
Look for a large maroon cup
surrounding thin green
stems with white flowers.
You might smell it before
you see it!
Spotted Jewelweed
Impatiens capensis
Up to 60 tall, this
summer bloomer is a
popular attraction for
hummingbirds
River Otter
Lontra canadensis
This shy, omnivorous
mammal is most active at
night, and act as an
important ecosystem
regulator
Freshwater Mussel
Quadrula fragosa
Most populous in North
America with more than
300 species, mussels
are an important health
indicator for rivers
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Our long-lived, territorial
national bird prefers to
feed on fish and small
mammals, and will
commonly mate for life
Great Egret
Casmerodius albus
Prefers quiet stretches of
river to hunt fish, frogs,
and crayfish, the male and
female share responsibility
to incubate their eggs
*sourced from National Park Service website