Opening Titles:  

Ottoville, American Samoa -- February 4th, 2010

Mapping New Territory

David Vaeafe - American Samoa Visitors Bureau:  The register with FEMA actually started when us being in the same building straight after the tsunami and so forth, I arriving on island a month before and FEMA arriving straight after the tsunami, and as executive director of American Samoa Visitors Bureau, we are the national tourism office for the government of American Samoa.  Our purpose is to grow and promote the tourism industry on island, and also to promote the destination offshore.  American Samoa is one of the last sort of undiscovered places of the South Pacific.  I noticed that as you started to set up office, that you had these amazing maps with a lot of detail and information on them, and that was one of the things you couldn't get on this island no matter where you looked and how hard you tried, so in talking with Ken Tingman who started to pop into our office on a regular basis, he mentioned that he had a staff member who actually produced all the material as required and offered to assist cause I said that we were looking for a map that we could use as a basis for producing our new collateral for the American Samoa Visitors Bureau, as we were a new entity, so Ken sent a staff member up, Jonathan Colwell,  who basically sat down with me and asked what I was looking for and what I needed.

Jonathan Colwell - Geospatial Intelligence Unit Lead:  I had a request from the visitors bureau.  I spoke with them and they said that they had no good maps of the islands, and had seen the maps that we had around our Joint Field Office.  They were wondering where they could get a hold of a map of the island 'cause they had nothing.  I told them basically that I make the maps, I produce them, and asked them what information they would like depicted on the maps. 

David Vaeafe - And I said I well was looking for a topographical map of the island of Tutuila and the Manui'a Islands showing the main roads and axes, and also listing the villages.

Jonathan Colwell - We talked about what he would like to see on the map, and then I went down and created a map showing the things that would be useful for visitors that are new to the island.  

David Vaeafe - Virtually a day later he came back and produced this map which was exactly what I required and what I needed and from that basis we used that map to produce our first printed brochure on the country itself in time for the cruise ships that started arriving on the third of February.  Working with FEMA was actually wonderful. Actually being able to sit down with someone who had all this information at his fingertips and to be able to produce something basically on order - it was great to have that resource and have the talents and talk through the issues and the requirements and being able to produce something - that was spot on.

Closing Title:  For more information, visit FEMA.gov