Free Ambassador trainings invite residents to welcome Los Alamos visitors

Residents had two free chances this week to learn how to serve as Los Alamos ambassadors, with one session held Monday at the White Rock Visitor Center and another set for Wednesday morning at the Century Bank Conference Center. Discover Los Alamos and the Los Alamos Ambassador Program offered the trainings as a practical way to help locals answer the questions visitors, newcomers and neighbors ask most often.

The Monday session ran from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the White Rock Visitor Center, 115 N.M. 4. The second training was scheduled for Wednesday, July 22, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Century Bank Conference Center, 751 Trinity Drive. The Ambassador Program is free and includes an approximately 1.5-hour in-person class that teaches techniques to become a more effective ambassador. Earlier notices asked participants to RSVP at ambassador@losalamos.org.

Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation says the program was designed to create a “community of helpers.” Jennifer Armstrong, manager of the Los Alamos Ambassador Program, and Melanie Peña, director of Discover Los Alamos, have previously presented the effort to groups including Rotary Club and at projectY cowork Los Alamos, underscoring that the trainings are part of an active outreach effort rather than a one-time volunteer signup.

The program also fits into a larger tourism and business network that already shapes how the county is presented to outsiders. Los Alamos County describes the community as the “Gateway to Three National Parks,” and its tourism plan says it focuses on action items expected to support tourism as an economic driver. LACDC says its work includes management operations of the county visitor centers and the Los Alamos Ambassador program, tying the trainings directly to local visitor service and downtown business support.

That connection runs through the places visitors are most likely to ask about. County visitor information points to Bandelier National Monument, the Bradbury Science Museum, the Los Alamos History Museum, the Los Alamos Nature Center and Manhattan Project National Historical Park. In a county where visitors move between Los Alamos and White Rock, and where travel often starts at a visitor center or a storefront conversation, the ambassador program gives residents a way to provide directions, explain local attractions and help shape a first impression of the community.