lincolnshire heritage forum museum development in 2013 professor david sleight, dean of public...
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Lincolnshire Heritage ForumMuseum Development in 2013
Professor David Sleight, Dean of Public Engagement
& Chair of Heritage Trust for LincolnshireCopyright 2013 All Rights Reserved
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Introduction
Context
First Impressions
The Dreaded Paperwork!
The Visit
The Judging
Feedback & Follow-up
Thoughts on the Future of Museums?
“Museums for changing lives”
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Context: well done!
2005-6 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-130
10
20
30
40
50
60
UK % Adults visiting a museum/gallerySource: DCMS
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Context: what does this mean?
- Constant gradual growth- Sustainable- Despite demand for people’s time
in 2012 Olympic year – visits still grew
- Cultural engagement causes yet more greater cultural engagement
2005-6
2006-7
2007-8
2008-9
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
UK % Adults visiting a museum/gallery
Source: DCMS
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
2005-6 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-130
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
MuseumsLibrariesHeritage Site
% UK Adult Visits by
venue-type
Source: DCMS
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: “ … you don’t get a second
chance to make a first impression…”
Every detail counts Precision, clarity & efficiency of
communication Visually stimulating: “rich media” Use online/internet resources
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: “Why bother… I never win competitions…”
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: “Why bother… I never win competitions…”
UK Marketing Manager for Omo Washing Powder, ran competition in 1980’s with 10 x washing machines as prizes…
Guess how many entries they had?
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: “Why bother… I never win competitions…”
UK Marketing Manager for Omo Washing Powder, ran competition in 1980’s with 10 x washing machines as prizes…
Guess how many entries they had? =4
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: Paperwork…
• Have your team consulted with each other, stakeholders, visitors & volunteers?
• Have you captured the best examples?• Can you connect your work to development aspects in the
sector?• Written in a direct and engaging style? (no jargon, accessible
“Plain English”, use of tense?)• Checked text: grammar, punctuation, used your spoll cheeker?
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: Paperwork 2…
Use criteria closely:• How was the event/exhibition funded? (remember in-kind value)• The aims, including target audience, and how these were
predicted & met?• Where you received support from• Educational benefits of your project (link to wider agendas?)• Access considerations • Publicity & Marketing• Challenges faced, solutions devised, new discoveries
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: Paperwork 3…
Supporting information:• Photographs• Press releases & publicity• Feedback from users/visitors
• Digital, online materials & “rich media”• “A picture tells a thousand stories…”
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: Media…
• “A picture tells a thousand stories…”
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: The Visit
• 8 Venues across Lincolnshire in 2 days - judge’s logistics!• Welcome and Meet the Team• Efficiency in communication (multiple judges, multiple guides?)
– on specific activity applications avoid “mission creep”!• Balance of voices, views – who is taking leadership now, who is
showing leadership potential for the future – is the team being developed?
• Passion, enthusiasm, commitment• Sustainable, enduring, achievable• Ambition – future plans
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: The Judging!
• Rigorous criteria applied• Paperwork is so valuable to shortlist and reinforce at judging• Personal perceptions of the visit count: some examples (e.g.
civic welcome at Chain Bridge Forge, Spalding)• Is the event or initiative appropriately slanted – e.g. Halloween
Night at Louth Museum, why do it? • Where on the continuum of museum development the museum
is
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: Feedback & Follow-up
• Come to the Awards Event, hear what other venues are achieving and feedback they are receiving
• Contact the judges (after the awards are completed!): offer of feedback and further development support where possible
• Use outcomes to publicise and project your achievements (don’t necessarily have to win!)
• Contact each other and share best practice (e.g. digital devices)• And as Obi-Wan might have said “Use the Forum, Luke!”
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Museum Awards: Feedback & Follow-up
• Come to the Awards Event, hear what other venues are achieving and feedback they are receiving
• Contact the judges (after the awards are completed!): offer of feedback and further development support where possible
• Use outcomes to publicise and project your achievements (don’t necessarily have to win!)
• Contact each other and share best practice (e.g. digital devices)
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
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Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
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Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
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Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
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Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Thoughts on the future of museums:
• Arts & Cultural activities are becoming increasingly mobile, portable, accessed in site-specific locations (increases impact, engagement and generates wider inclusion of society)
• Arts & Cultural funding continues to support innovation and experimentation – but increasingly funders require it to be set in continuum of history, links to the past, community engaged
• Museums have the potential to be venues for wider cultural activities – where infrastructure permits, and hubs of community activity
• Communities are empowered to take responsibility – where does your expertise exist? “Resilient Communities”
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Thoughts on the future of museums:
• “Resilient Communities”• Funding will increasingly flow to publicly engaged activities• Funders increasingly require a public engagement statement• Beyond regarding the public as visitors through the turnstiles or
“bums on seats”• Engagement takes many forms: real, physical, virtual, remote –
it’s all about how does your work have impact with and for people?
• How does it bring people together, on the experiential-knowledge-cultural continuum?
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Archives Museums Libraries Community VenuesArts Centres &
Theatres
Developing a seamless continuum
Lincolnshire Museum Development: from a judge’s perspective
Contact details:
Professor David Sleight FRSA FHEA
Dean of Public Engagement
University of Lincoln