Women in the Woods

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Women in the Woods
Women in the woods
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The Vision
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Enable women to feel ownership in the beautiful
gift of nature

• This is a program to help women go a step beyond
  their perceived limit and strive for personal
  potential.
  
• Connect women with the wilderness and enforce the
  concept that the outdoors is a play ground and
  classroom for both men and women and that finding
  a niche in nature should not be intimidating.

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Transfer skills acquired from outdoor experience
into ones own life

• Confidence Thoroughness
• Attitude Teamwork
• Organization Balance
• Readiness Empowerment
• Maintenance Simplicity

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Learn new skills in a comfortable, safe and fun
environment

• Give women the confidence, competence and
  familiarity to initiate trips into the wilderness
  on their own
  
• This is an event where women can gain valuable
  knowledge in a non-intimidating setting
  
• Create a strong community of women that enjoy the
  outdoors and provide a network for further
  adventure.
  

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Heighten Awareness of important issues

• Environmental issues Stewardship and
  preservation, Leave No Trace, natural history,
  flora and fauna, etc.
  
• Womens issues social and health related
  (breast cancer awareness, sexual discrimination,
  abuse, social constructs)

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Give Back the Gift!

• Profits of Women in the Woods would go to benefit
  a womens cause (breast cancer, womens shelter,
  etc.)
  
• Women will have the opportunity to be involved
  with programs where they can give back their
  developed guiding skills (Girls Rock, Passage
  Northwest, WIW, etc.)

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Who, What, When, and Where
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Who?

• ALL Women!
• Ages ranging from children to grandmothers
• Single, Married, Rich, or Poor
• Experienced outdoor women and women new to
  outdoor activities.
  
• Anybody who wants to further the vision of WIW
  can help make it a reality

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What?

• Multi-day event taking place on a weekend
• Approximately 20-40 activities/clinics for the
  purpose of learning fun and useful skills for
  enjoying the outdoors
  
• All clinics will be for women and taught by
  women
  
• Clinics will be arranged in accordance with
  experience and interest level
  
• Closing celebration at end of weekend

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Possible clinics and trips

• Whitewater rafting
• Climbing both rock climbing and ice climbing
• Backpacking
• Hiking
• Caving
• Mountaineering
• Orienteering
• Challenge courses

• Biking
• Kayaking
• Windsurfing
• Surfing
• Skiing
• Fly fishing
• Environmental Stewardship
• Outdoor survival skills

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When

• Annually occurring event
• Late spring or late summer
• Women in the Woods Weekend could become a well
  recognized celebration like Earthday.
  
• Outdoor excursions will continue throughout the
  year as interest grows
  

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Where

• First Women in the woods will take place in the
  Pacific Northwest (Bellingham, WA)
  
• Possible playgrounds North Cascade National
  Forest, San Juan Islands, British Columbia . . .
  
• As well as further possibilities

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Women in the woods will be made possible through

• Women guides volunteering their time and
  knowledge to teach clinics
  
• Grants and Underwrites
• Sponsors
• Women taking part in the clinics and trips to
  learn about the wonders of the outdoors
  
• Volunteers dedicated to the vision of Women in
  the woods

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Dates

• WWU Women in the woods test pilot Spring 2003
• First Official Women in the Woods Spring 2004
• Eventually Women in the woods could feasibly
  become both a national and international annual
  event

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Balance
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Where do you fit in?
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Progress-Crews

• GON! (Get Out Now)
• Publicity/Promotion/Market Research
• Video Website
• Guide Recruitment
• Event Programming Logistics
• Gear Equipment
• Expansion Contacts
• Funding

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G.O.N. (Get Out Now)

• Fuel for the Engine
• Keep the momentum going by providing an active
  network of current excursions

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Publicity/Promotion/Market Research

• Create Publication materials Brochures, posters,
  fliers
  
• Design t-shirts to sell
• Determine the best ideas according to tested
  input
  
• Create a strategic way to reach future
  participants
  
• Deal with press releases/radio spots, etc.

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Website Video

• Responsible for
• Designing a promotional video that explains the
  vision in a dynamic way
  
• Designing maintaining a website on Westerns
  server
  
• Working with Wilderness Technology Alliance to
  develop a long-term interactive site

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Funding

• Grant Writing
• Search for Sponsors, Grants and other sources of
  funding.
  
• Write proposals and applications
• Fundraising T-shirt sales, donation, specific
  trips, CPR/First aid courses, etc
  
• Accounting of money, and budgeting

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Guide Recruitment

• Make contact with guiding agencies NOLS, Outward
  Bound, RMI, AAI, etc
  
• Determine how to keep quality control of guides
  high as to maximize safety (create application
  and selection process, requirements, etc)
  
• Implement a program that would train future
  guides (GIT- Guide In Training)
  

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Event Programming and Logistics

• Arrange Times/Places of Celebration Event
• Determine costs of each trip and other logistics
• Link together all aspects of the weekend
  --clinics and excursions
  
• -coordinate registration
• - organize slideshow, guest speaker,
  celebration ideas, recognition
  
• -lots of very necessary details for a
  successful event!

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Gear and Equipment

• Develop a gear swap/borrow board on-line
• Determine ways to get gear
• Utilize the existing gear rental through the
  Outdoor Center (try and make a deal!)
  
• Design an inventory for all accumulated community
  gear
  
• Determine the needs of each event and then report
  to Logistics

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Expansion and Contacts

• Build the metaphorical tracks to guide the
  direction of WIW
  
• Keep an eye on long-term goals as well as develop
  an ongoing strategy and plan for Women in the
  Woods
  
• Develop/nurture contacts and arrange recruitment
  trips to start Women in the Woods in new
  locations, (Missoula, Eugene, Norway)
  
• Work on the CD ROM project which will be the
  interactive manual to start up WIW anywhere.
  

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The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams
Eleanor Roosevelt