Our field personnel frequently work in some stunning landscapes, unique with fauna, flora, climates and geological formations. In the interest of capturing these settings and the work being done, GBI recently started a photo/media contest for our people in the field. The first contest winner is Kristen Smith, whose photo graces the top of this page.
Coordinating the contest is GBI’s Recruitment and Compliance Coordinator, Sage Bates. We asked Sage to tell us a bit more about the contest.
How did the idea for the photo contest come about?
We have been thinking more and more about public engagement, especially as we move toward the utilization of social media. Instead of trying to describe different projects, we decided the best way to portray this information is to take from the field. We want our field members to be able to share their story and experiences. As a past field member for GBI, I know the field members are taking pictures and making some amazing memories. We wanted to inspire members to send us content without making it a requirement; so we created a contest.
What do you hope to accomplish with the contest? What are the goals?
It is easy to tell people about the work we do, but it makes an even bigger impact to see what that work looks like. With this contest, we hope to be able to teach the public about the experiences our members are receiving. We also want to be able to give our members are creative outlet to showcase ‘a day in the life’. So far, this has been a great way to connect our staff to the project and the members in the field.
What has been the response from field personnel been like so far?
We have had an overwhelming amount of submissions to the contest. We see that members are excited to share their experiences and stories from the field. GBI staff are remote to our field members and this has been a great way to connect the two.
Below, enjoy just a few of our May 2019 submissions.
