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Feature | Creative Ways NOLS Pivoted
EXPOSE Creative Ways NOLS Pivoted During COVID
By Anne McGowan Development Communications Coordinator
The Wilderness Risk Management Conference, previously held annually in person, moved online in 2021 with enthusiastic support from attendees. Illustration by Kacie DeKleine, photo courtesy of Gabi Kilko-Jackson On a recent evening at NOLS headquarters, Alumni Relations Coordinator Aimee Newsom closed her computer and smiled. “That was a great group of grads,” she said. “There were 23 participants, all really engaged. And the speaker was terrific!”
Aimee was hosting a virtual gathering, one of dozens NOLS has held since last May when it became apparent that, because of the coronavirus pandemic, NOLS’ popular in-person reunions were no longer possible.
The first gathering last spring featured a tour of NOLS’ Noble Hotel in Lander, where many alumni have stayed before and after their courses. Since then, topics have included outdoor and wilderness medicine skills, NOLS history, outdoor photography, and chats with the president.
“I think graduates and non-grads alike are thankful for the opportunity to connect with NOLS online right now,” Aimee said. “We’ve seen grads, parents of grads, prospective students, and even folks who have only ever heard of NOLS in passing logged in for our events.”
Aimee is always looking for speakers, teachers, and experts who love NOLS and are interested in sharing their knowledge online. “We’re open to all sorts of topics and would love to hear from folks who have ideas,” she said.
Alumni events, though, are not NOLS’ only online offerings. The Wilderness Risk Management Conference, held in person every year since 1994, moved to an all-online event in 2020.
Hosted by NOLS in partnership with Outward Bound, the Student Conservation Association, and the WRMC Steering Committee, the conference provides a forum for outdoor industry professionals to learn and share common practices in wilderness risk management.
“The decision to switch to an online conference wasn’t difficult,” said Gabi Kilko-Jackson, NOLS Risk Services Business Manager. “It’s what we had to do. This community has one opportunity a year to gather and discuss risk issues, so we had to find a way to make it happen within the challenges of COVID-19.”
The result: the largest-ever turnout for the conference, many from outside the United States.
“In a typical year, we have 500 attendees. In 2020, we had 650 for the virtual event,” Gabi said. People who have wanted to attend for years, but were held back because of travel and other expenses, were able to attend virtually.
“We were surprised—blown away, really—at how grateful people were that we moved to a virtual conference,” Gabi continued. “Some were struggling with how to get the information they need, not to mention the opportunity to network with each other.”
The 2021 WRMC will again be an online event. While Gabi and the NOLS Risk Services team hope to return to an in-person format in the future, “I think we’ll try to always incorporate an online component,” she said.
This year’s conference will run from Oct. 18-22, 2021. Registration opens in June.
Other Online Courses
• NOLS Risk Management Training for Administrators is offered entirely online. • NOLS Wilderness Medicine offers all-new Wilderness
Emergency Management Training, Hybrid Wilderness
First Responder recertifications, and Wilderness
Medicine Instructor Training courses. See more about this topic in the story on Wilderness Medicine’s hybrid WFR on page 25.
Anne McGowan grew up camping and hiking with her family in Pennsylvania. She followed her love of words and books to a career in writing.
