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A grey Buxton February day really benefits from a bit of Oz-ness. And when that comes wrapped in a big gold ribbon with a pink heart post-it with my name on it, it’s even better. Perth seems long ago and far away.  But there is no doubt that echoes of Australia still resonate in my […]

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I have just spent an excellent morning considering the connections between objects, culture, identity, ownership and meaning with a lively and stimulating group of students from the Masters course in Museum Studies at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester. I was a student there on the equivalent course just over thirty years ago […]

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I heard yesterday that after nineteen years the Environmental Trainers Network will close in March. Their sad announcement states that ‘the continuing impact on our audience of the economic downturn has meant that this year for the first time ever, bookings have become too low and unpredictable for the programme to be sustainable.’ For those […]

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Sitting at the back of the room at on the last evening of the ‘A Way with Words’ course at Plas Tan y Bwlch in the beautiful Snowdonia National Park. I am watching James Carter entrance this group of budding (and some fully flowering) interpretive writers with his Words of Power session.  He invites them […]

Transforming your ‘thing’ – 5 golden ingredients of interpretelling

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   Raw enthusiasm is not enough. If you want people to get excited about  your thing you’ve got to grab their attention – and keep it. Whether you are working with words, action or other media, the following will help you deepen people’s experience, enjoyment and understanding of your place or object. Use them to transform […]

Could your ‘thing’ become a successful heritage attraction? Part 2

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“Not everyone is like you, they do not all share your passion’. That’s are hard thing for us all.  What we love to talk about most might be boring to everyone around us. We are back again to that tricky penny dropper for heritage interpreters, attraction managers etc: ‘You are not doing this for yourself […]

Why ‘it all comes down to experience’.

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There’s a fascinating discussion on the AHI group on Linked In just now about whether we should call ourselves ‘interpreters’ or ‘visitor experience managers’. It has set me thinking.  Setting aside the Humpty Dumpty Syndrome of ‘when I use a word it means whatever I want it to mean’ which allows people to misuse both […]

Could your ‘thing’ become a successful heritage attraction? Part 1

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You almost certainly passionate about your ‘thing’. That’s great and just as it should be.  But don’t let your love blind you. One of the joys of my work is to meet people who are totally fired up by their ‘thing’ The objects of their delight are often things that the rest of us don’t […]

My latest thrill

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I am thrilled to bits to have been invited to contribute to a new course on Representing and Interpreting Culture: World Arts and Museum Ethnography at the School of Museum Studies, Leicester University next month. I have to confess to to a bit of uncertainty about just what I will do in my two hours […]

Zuok’s three secrets of a great experience

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Fab night out in Manchester on Saturday. Having fun times is an essential requirement for a successful visitor experience consultant and I am proud to say I work hard at it. Thinking about why those times were fun is, of course, even more vital.  Maybe this will be the next mentoring product I develop – […]