Let your visitor make their mark in the museum. Even the simplest poll can ensure visitors are not just a passive audience but active participants. Ideally this means other visitors can see how others have voted. The “Button Poll” is a low cost idea Tom came up with himself and has used at Fort EdmontonContinue reading “Steal this Idea: Voting as an Interactive”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Steal this Idea: Visitor expectations
If your museum isn’t interested in being a safe space, then what are you even doing? This is only a starting point but it signals your intentions. Here is the program. Your staff have a code of conduct, it’s not unreasonable for visitors to have one too. And you can do it with humour, too.Continue reading “Steal this Idea: Visitor expectations”
Steal this Idea: Fly Your Flag
Your entrance should help tell a visitor who you are every chance it gets. This could include awards and mission statements telling you who they are as a workplace and employer (especially for potential employees or volunteers)… …or stroller parking that makes it clear you are welcoming to parents and families… …or statements that youContinue reading “Steal this Idea: Fly Your Flag”
New training module: Tools for Inclusivity and Accessibility for Neurodiverse Audiences in Heritage Interpretation
How do you prepare your interpreters, tour guides, and educators to support neurodiverse students and audiences? We have a new module that can help. Through our careers, Barbara and I have met and associated with many diverse professionals with expertise and presenting skill. One of them has recently developed a presentation that will be ofContinue reading “New training module: Tools for Inclusivity and Accessibility for Neurodiverse Audiences in Heritage Interpretation”
Review: Fort Edmonton Park’s Indigenous People Experience
The Indigenous Peoples Experience at Fort Edmonton Park is everything I want it to be. More to the point, it is everything that the park’s Indigenous partners want it to be. In November I was lucky enough to visit the IPE on a winter Saturday with my father, brother, and friends. A heated streetcar droveContinue reading “Review: Fort Edmonton Park’s Indigenous People Experience”
Edmonton City as Museum Project: New article on Louise Umphreville
North Wind co-founder Tom Long has a new article up for the Edmonton City as Museum Project. Click here for a full length article on Louise Umphreville, Edmonton’s forgotten Métis matriarch. If you are interested, check out our web-based presentation on Louise as an excellent accompaniment. In person, Tom tells the stories he has been givenContinue reading “Edmonton City as Museum Project: New article on Louise Umphreville”
From word balloons to historic sites: What heritage can learn from graphic historical fiction
Comic books and history are not strangers. Next time you are in your local bookstore, find the (nowadays guaranteed) graphic novel section -stroll past the men in tights and teen manga- and you may find some of these interesting works of historical fiction. As museum and heritage people, there’s a lot we can learn. 1. Continue reading “From word balloons to historic sites: What heritage can learn from graphic historical fiction”
Maslow’s Hierarchy in Interpretive Training
The easiest needs to satisfy according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are the basics. An optimal learning environment needs to be comfortable, safe and have adequate facilities to provide for students’ needs. Washrooms must be not only available, but easily accessible. Rooms need to be reasonably quiet and have adequate heating or air conditioning inContinue reading “Maslow’s Hierarchy in Interpretive Training”
Exhibits with Impact
Coco Chanel advised, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” When it comes to accessories, some is good and more is more. The same can be said about exhibit cases. We often get caught up in our own stories, lost in the jewel boxes of our collections andContinue reading “Exhibits with Impact”
Reblogged: New Zealand Museums
This blog post was originally published as part of Tom’s travel blog in 2019. From Greymouth to Nelson to Marlborough and its copious wineries, to Wellington and its coffee and so up to Tongariro Nat’l Park. As some of you know, B and I originally hoped to come to NZ for a year and workContinue reading “Reblogged: New Zealand Museums”
North Wind Heritage Consulting 