Smokey Bear 2.0 Wins Notable Interpretive Media Award

The Smokey Bear 2.0 Mission won first place in the Digital Media category of the NAI Media Awards! The Mission was a collaboration between Mission Conservation, the USDA Forest Service, The Corps Network, and Agents of Discovery in an effort to teach people about wildfire prevention.

The NAI Media Awards promote excellence in the delivery of natural, cultural, and historical interpretive services. Entrants are evaluated by a panel of experts, who provide valuable feedback on the projects.

The Awards are split into seven categories: Interior Exhibit, Outdoor Exhibit, Digital Media, Video, Site Publication, Book, and Pandemic Pivot. The Smokey Bear 2.0 Mission won first place in the Digital Media Category. The panel particularly appreciated the Mission’s interactivity and easy-to-understand educational language, as well as the accommodations for visually-impaired and hard of hearing players.

This year’s Smokey Bear 3.0 Mission is ready to help players prevent wildfires year-round. Players can participate from home, at school, and even at certain sites during the SoCal Explorer Campaign! To make wildfire prevention education fun, players are guided through augmented reality games by the iconic Smokey Bear. By making these games interactive and engaging, the educational content becomes easier to process and remember. The Mission is free to play in Spanish or English on the AoD app, which also features text-to-speech and options for increased accessibility. Because the games are available as free downloads through the Google Play and App stores, people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to play and learn about wildfire prevention.

Check out our presentation during the award ceremony: