Do you enjoy looking at maps? Most people DO NOT.

Conservationists love geography and we love maps, don’t we?

I know I do. I have a vast collection of paper maps, and I am heavy, heavy, heavy user of Google Maps, Google Earth, GPS systems, etc. I spend a lot of time looking at maps, selecting zip codes and county boundaries to approximate watershed boundaries, and compiling market research data to tell a story about the people who live there and how you can reach them with your message. I really enjoy it!

And, truth be told, the whole point of this Water Words That Work business venture is my business trips take me to interesting corners of the country, where I can see my my clients’ fascinating work, and write it all off as a legitimate business expense. That’s my idea of work/life balance right there: Looking at maps and planning trips.

So — I understand why conservation organizations want their logos to be maps, when you want to name their organizations after geographic features, when you want to fill the space on your home pages and brochures with maps. But I have learned through both experience and research that this is actually not a good idea.

Here’s why. Taken a whole, everyday citizens are astonishingly, resoundingly, stunningly disinterested in geography. In a 2006 study on Americans’ geographic literacy, the National Geographic Society found:

• Six in ten (63%) cannot find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, despite near-constant news coverage since the U.S. invasion of March 2003.
• Two-thirds (67%) can find Louisiana on a U.S. map and half (52%) can find Mississippi – leaving a third or more who cannot find these states, in spite of months of intensive media coverage of the 2005 hurricanes and their aftermath.
• Moreover, half (50%) cannot find New York State, even though it is the third most populous state in the union, after California and Texas.

And here’s the real reason for those shocking numbers: Most people think geography is boring! Most people think maps are boring! When we push maps on people when we want them to take action for conservation, we are actually stepping on our own feet because we are boring them.

What most people are interested in is other people. That’s why faces are high on the list of Foolproof Photos. When I have the Due Diligence Test Panel review communications efforts from conservation organizations, the highest scores for images invariably do to pieces that have big striking pictures of peoples faces, like the one below:

For most, this image is far more eye-catching than a map

Every time you find yourself saying “I could put a map here,” stop and take a deep breath. Then ask yourself “could I put a face here?” instead.

An email in my inbox had the provocative subject line “What do you think about the word ‘Stewardship’?” The reader is working with a production company and getting ready to invest a significant amount of effort and money in a video project.

Here are my thoughts on her question:

The word “stewardship” ought to be great — but it is not. After all, “stewardship” has its origins in the bible. But it’s not one of the better known passages and only those who are quite serious about the bible get the reference. In this video below, you can see a group of Maryland residents attempting to define to “Forest Stewardship.” Alas, you do not see the word “stewardship” evoking the response that we would hope for.

Of course, these citizens would be even more befuddled if we asked them to define watershed stewardship!!

As far as substitutes go, the closest term on the word that works list to “stewardship” is “responsibility.”

Here’s some fresh environmental writing advice from veteran pollsters David Metz and Lori Weigel that shows how you might use the term:

Click the image to see the full environmental writing report

Good luck!

This month, I am hosting the Carnival of the Blue — an online smorgasbord of recent posts from bloggers around the world who write about the ocean. It’s a chance for loyal readers of this blog to find some new bloggers to check out, and for readers of other blogs to discover mine. Here is a sample of some writing worthy of your precious reading attention:

1. Squirm of Worms on Wandering Weeta’s blog. A moving tribute in words and pictures to that most humble of coastal inhabitants.
2. Eight Ways Elephant Seals Have Evolved on Kind of Curious. The blogger explores some of the unique adaptations of the elephant seal, and posts some terrific photos of these odd animals at the Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve in California.
3. Tuna and Reflections on the Gulf Oil Spill – Conversations With My Grandpa on Observations of a Nerd. Christie Wilcox contemplates the art and science of cleaning up oil spills.
4. Conquest of the Land, A La Chubby Checker on NeuroDojo. Zen Faulkes introduces readers to the terrestrial escapades of a fish, the blenny.
5. The Mangove Land Crabs of Punta Santiago and The Dolphins of Punta Santiago on the time traveling blog. The author introduces readers to the animals he encountered while exploring the coast of Puerto Rico.
6. A Drop in the Ocean, on the of winds and water blog. Blogging sailors Darcy and Kyle report on their experience breaking free of the ICW and sailing the open oceans.
7. Gulf Oil Spill Disaster: Spawn of the Living Dead for Atlantic Tuna on the Living the Scientific Life blog. GrrlSientist warns of the devastating consequences that the Deepwater Horizon spill will have for the beloved (and delicious) Atlantic Bluefin tuna.
8. Humpback Whales Realize the Importance of Girl Power, on Dr. Carin Bondar’s blog. Dr. Bondar explores the friendly and durable relationships that female humpback whales develop with each other.
9. The Water is Alive and Why is a Cooked Lobster Red? on Deep Type Flow. Blogger Alistair Dove answers a pair of question that I had frankly never bothered to ask myself!

Enjoy the carnival!

Whenever my client projects call for working on slogans and taglines, I reach for my well worn copy of the Nonprofit Tagline Report by Nancy Schwartz. I have never come across a better resource on the subject.

So when Nancy lets me know that she has lined up some sponsors to run the 2010 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards, I think you need to know about it. Do you have a clever, evocative, inspiring, heartwarming, and motivating tagline?

Click here to enter it 2010 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards! Good luck to you.