The Final Countdown! Surviving the last six months before opening
Find this session's presentations here.
New gallery? New exhibition? New centre? How do we avoid the last 6 months of a major capital project turning into a confused rush to the finish panic? Speakers working on recent and current capital projects share some of the things they wish they had known beforehand and reflect on how visitors are responding to the new displays, interactives and programmes.
What are the practical challenges that we face in these critical last few months and how do we deal with them? How do we plan and develop content for digital interactives so that they really support our interpretation, and how do we inform visitors of the new exhibition that is coming their way? Bringing experience both from internal staff and external contractors, from a variety of projects, our speakers each share their experiences followed by a confession/sharing session with the participants, to devise a “Top 10 Tips” list to share with the wider community.
Facilitator
Garching bei München
Germany
Session speakers
As an external exhibition developer company Archimedes Exhibitions have been involved in various new projects around the world. Michael Feser will bring samples from different projects Archimedes have been involved in, counting down from a contractors perspective.
In 2017, the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn/Germany opened their new permanent exhibition areas looking at how code and digitalization play a key role our everyday life. Through the interactive areas ‘CodeLab’ and ‘Smart World’, HNF strives to encourage visitors to actively engage in programming. Hands-on stations help visitors to understand the technical basics of sensors and explain how data, objects and people are networked. Director Dr. Jochen Viehoff will provide insights into the conceptual design and elucidate how visitors cope with HNF’s implementation of these topics.
Communication Strategy Officer & Community Coordinator
Oana Sandu will discuss the communication strategy deployed for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre — a cutting-edge astronomy centre for the public that will host the largest tilted planetarium dome in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With the centre due to open in Spring 2018, Oana will focus on the steps currently being taken identifying content to market to the public, targeting visitors and promotion tips and tools. She will also share how to create a brand for such a new facility.
In July 2016, National Museums Scotland opened 10 new galleries in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, showcasing the Museum’s extensive collections of Science and Technology and Art and Design. Displaying over 3,000 objects, many of which had not been exhibited in a generation ,the project was completed in the 150th anniversary year of the Museum, which first opened in 1866. With almost 150 interactive displays, films and touchscreens, the interpretation provides a wide variety of opportunities to get engage with the collections and their stories. Emma Webb, Learning Manager at National Museums Scotland reviews the process of developing the digital interactives for the galleries, and presents practical tips for ensuring that digital interactives really do support gallery interpretation.
