The Art of the Invitation

November 21, 2024 EID Coaching

Earlier this month I was speaking at the Australian Wildlife Tourism conference about smart practices when designing interpretive visitor experiences where I introduced several strategies and some cautionary items to think about. Sadly of course, I presented via zoom, as escaping to an Australian spring would have been really nice but not in the cards.

The art of the invitation was one visitor receptiveness strategy I touched on, in order to build an earth relationship and connect with a sense of place.

In this conference context of inviting visitors to engage first hand (using all senses) with the heritage site, I pointed out the need for adapting one’s messaging so that adventure opportunities are voiced as invitations. Visitor uptake is improved by this format reimagining. Visitors often prefer to remain aloof and don’t naturally gravitate towards interaction with nature -they need nudging and guiding within an atmosphere of relaxed comfortableness. Many times, we don’t set the stage properly or we are too subtle with our suggestions without clear assistance and practice. Result: visitors don’t engage because we have not made it mildly enticing and easy. Let’s look at an example.

Here is a sign at a park entrance that was titled, “What do you want to do today?” It has eight sub- titles as in “Learn about Plant Diversity and “Have an Adventure” (see image). Having a sign like this is a positive first step because it answers, “what is there to do here?” – a question that often lurks in the visitor’s minds. Secondly, it is not just a big list but the ideas are grouped into categories with mini-bulleted lists to help and not overwhelm the reader.

So far so good. When you drill down the “Have an Adventure” section more, you will find generic expressions as in “Look into an underwater mini-world on the boardwalk.” There is an image associated with this one bulleted opportunity that suggests “looking” means changing your normal upright posture ie. getting down on your belly. Getting visitors to alter their perception in different ways that will heighten their nature awareness is a key strategy that heritage sites need to facilitate more.

However, people don’t generally jump into different situations they are not used to or employ their senses in new and novel way without assistance and some carefully designed coercion- this is where the art of the invitation comes in.

Remember I said mildly enticing. The above “look” expression is more of a command than an invitation. An invitation would be more along the lines of “don’t miss the dragonflies breaking their back as they begin their life of aerial acrobatics.” The idea is to spark curiosity about something as in this case -why do dragonflies break their back in order to begin flying? This is not the time to use words like nymphs and incomplete metamorphosis(although I am sure I did that in my early years fresh out of university biological science).

Of course, such an invitation is timely and this would require being aware of seasonality and changing visitor messages throughout the year. This just might be an outcome your site interpretive plan delineated.

Letting your visitors know what is “naturally” happening this day, this week, this season as rationale to go exploring to encounter something different can also be very inviting. This would also encourage frequent visitors to check out “What’s happening today” because why else would you if the message never changes. Adding a personal touch also increases the invitational draw, as in “Meet Joan at the boardwalk at 2pm to see a whirlygig up-close.” By saying whirlygig but not saying whirlygig beetle you also maintain the mystery.

Imagine if you entered a clothing store and they had a sign that said “try a hat on” or it said “express yourself this winter by sporting a rainbow- coloured hat from the popular, newly arrived collection. Francois is here to help you.” Which would be more effective in engaging your visitor? It is time to re-read the suggestions you provide for visitors to test their level of invitation and start ramping up their effectiveness. We have delved into this art of the invitation in previous blog posts and an excellent backgrounder is offered here: Interpretive Invitations — EID Coaching

So what about that seasonality thing? We need to think about it way more than we do. Remember my reference to having shared cautionary items. Here is one: Beware of the invite that is no longer there. I run into this so often when I am invited by a sign to do something out-of season or I am reading a description of a living thing that is only appropriate for a few weeks- maybe a month, in a year. Don’t fall into the seasonality trap. Review your signage.

This following sign is another good first shot at presenting to the visitor, at least, the diversity of life that could be encountered at different times of the year(so it’s worth coming back) during the circular year. It is all a bit of a jumble: fun for those who have a good natural history knowledge already and can pair words and images together like solving a puzzle, but confusing for those with little background.

EID always wants signage to encourage visitors to do something to increase their earth relationship. Was the intent to have visitors search for certain seasonal flagship species? Would it have been easier to provide helpful hints like directing visitors to certain locales to increase their spotting chances? Would it have been mildly enticing to create a game like having bingo cards available with different images in each square (instead of alphanumeric symbols) using the images on the seasonal chart sign? People/families could hand them in for discount prizes on field guides for example.

Yet is it clear that these fellow passengers on planet earth appear at different times and in different forms? Knowing what the exhibit outcomes were that they wanted to achieve would be intriguing in order to assess success. Why were these specific species chosen to represent their season? Was it easier to find these denizens here at this site because of a certain soil- atmosphere- water regime-habitat assemblage? What’s the story here?

In the above example of boardwalk looking, we are told we can look into the underwater mini-world. Well that only pertains to two thirds of the year (not bad, and certainly better than reading all year about flowers that bloom for only a few weeks of the year). You still have no idea of what you might look for & when or how. We can set our visitors’ expectations better, can’t we?

Remember I mentioned making engagement easy. That does not happen by telling our visitor to look into the water under the boardwalk and then showing a picture of people lying on their stomachs and peering down. Setting expectations and nudging them along would require:

clear directions of how to get to the boardwalk,
clever ways to get visitors to lower themselves from their normal comfortable bipedal position,
observational aids like facemasks and magnifiers,
collecting apparati like dip nets and trays,
laminated critter sheets showing the weird and wonderful underwater adaptations they have.
awareness of where all the aids are available (as in a borrowable backpack from the visitor centre or bookable at what times at the boardwalk “invitation station?”)
We describe this concept more fully in our blog post Interpretive Invitations — EID Coaching Assuming you have potentially whet their appetite for adventure, you need to follow through with the next steps that get the visitor interaction ball rolling. Don’t leave it to chance.

I recently encountered a self-guided sign that not only addressed seasonality but also talked about next steps. Take the time to read this well written text in this next image.

As the sign is read year- round the interpreters tackled the seasonality issue by discussing them all at once. The image though shows only the summer and fall portions. Not only is it relevant for when the visitor is there but it also provides a hint at changes that you could be noticing at different times of the year. The way it is written is not command-style either as in a Stop Look and Listen approach. Rather it is like an observant author sharing their thoughts providing for the visitor a confirmation as in “I noticed that too” or a future challenge, “I need to be on the look-out for that.” There is even a clear section on the sign that says “Next Steps.”

Helping the visitor engage with nature is facilitated by making a “doing” interaction easy and enticing. The expansion of the invitational station concept with observational aids plus practice with participatory activities needs to take place. I visualize these places as micro- visitor centres situated in key places that aim at assisting the visitor with sensory alertness and perception-changing. Self-guided signage can play a reinforcing role in tandem with these stations where interactions with the earth, and time spent in touch with nature, embraces seasonality and ongoing change. Let Mike and I know through contact@eidcoaching.com if we can help you conceptualize what this kind of station might look like at your site. There is no better time than the present.

Living in Harmony

November 8, 2024 EID Coaching

I was pleasantly surprised at a park visitor centre this fall when I encountered an exhibit heading about repairing your broken Earth relationship, as it posed some very interesting questions worthy of in-depth exploration.

Having a harmonious relationship with the earth could be the answer to many of our existing environmental problems. Assisting visitors to adopt such a lifestyle is extremely important. Without realizing it, people have broken and continue to break their connections with mother earth and these broken connections are causing big problems. The human race needs retraining to improve their earth relationship and begin crafting their lifestyles to lessen their impact.

I was elated to see that a park visitor centre felt it was their job to help humans to do this.

Modeling positive behaviours along a wide spectrum of categories is key, whether that be an individual or a centre. Fundamentally we need more caring role models that treat our fellow living passengers gently and respectfully. Small steps - as in taking spiders outside to watch them or release them rather than stepping on them as a first reaction. Then we can build toward understandings of how life works on the planet.

People need to be reminded that the earth has its own interconnected life support systems to recycle its air, water and soil. Because of this every living thing is connected to everything else (including us) – a fact that reinforces the interdependency between living things- this understanding of critical connections all living things have to each other has been forgotten, due primarily to our living in cities. Out of sight, out of mind. I was intrigued to discover how this park was going to undertake this urgent task.

Can a small text-bound exhibit accomplish this by asking visitors to read a list of action steps for five different components: plants, animals. rocks, sky and water? I think not. There is an assumption that the human visitors need to heal and repair a broken relationship, where they may not feel that to begin with. There was no criteria to help you assess this- what defines an harmonious relationship in the first place?

By reading the do’s and don’ts under each category you get a sense of what the lofty exhibit interpretive goals must have been- the sheer number of changes is totally unrealistic especially with this small exhibit format and no learning situations having been designed. This definitely would lend itself to focusing on one topic at a time with a changing topic format over time if dedicated floor square footage was limited.

Could the goal have been for visitors to commit to do this grab bag list of actions when they leave the exhibit? What were they thinking? “OK. We will break up the 20 tasks into 5 lists of 4 by hiding them behind little doors (see the handles in the images) that the visitor will have to open -this will be the hook to keep the mystery alive and keep them reading and that will get them (magically?) to commit some of these to memory…” Are you kidding me? Please get in touch with us to get our initial feedback on interpretive design ideas to ensure they will match to goal achievement.

Opening the little doors lost interest after the first one when you discovered it was a bunch of black words on white background. Immediate action works best – if the expectation is that the action takes place back home you need follow-up reinforcement. I saw no printed takeaways or pledges with the promise from the site would remind you one month from that visit day.

WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION? Where was the fun- the challenge?

The choice of positive behaviours as illustrated in the two images, seemed a bit random-what do you think? Some of these points are valid mainly from a park management perspective, some are important takeaways, some are outright strange.

Why rocks were chosen as a heading for one, instead of soil -the placenta of life? Initial learnings on the subject of fertility (a critical missing piece) introducing soil’s role as the basis of food energy and a model of recycling would connect to behaviours about how we treat soil. Additionally, the need for each of the topical behavioural changes to be made, would have more impact if they were encouraging visitors to go to places to see things first hand. In this case, visiting a permaculture farm would reinforce initial learnings.

Do not graffiti rocks and don’t stack rocks in piles as two actions they want visitors to not do has little in my mind to do with having a respectful relationship with a rock. Since time immemorial indigenous human beings have left markings on rocks and piled them for various reasons such as directional aids and to gain good luck in the upcoming hunt. The action of leaving rocks where you find them is respectful not on behalf of the rock but because of the micro flora and fauna that depend on that rock as a home.

In all cases whenever there is an action to be embraced you would need to explain the rationale behind why the action is being recommended otherwise it falls flat as a useless platitude. “Because the ranger said so,“ is not going to wash these days. Of course, simply providing the rationale in words is not usually enough unless you also have some real - life first hand interaction where you see the problem in front of you. However, providing rationale and explanations without an emotional foundation is often not convincing.

Why was sky chosen and not air? Why is light pollution the priority - it certainly is not as important as implementing actions that would keep our air clean.

Read the list they compiled for animals. Are these getting at actions that would heal our relationship with animals? What do you think? At the very least, should we not be thinking of actions that would increase our abilities to observe and treat animals (mega and micro) as fellow passengers who have families and live in communities?

When I read the list for plants, I wondered why there was nothing regarding our dependence on them for oxygen and their taking carbon out of the atmosphere in light of our continuing release of carbon at alarming rates. The native-invasive issue is a good one but certainly subsidiary to the former understanding and reason for an ongoing thankful relationship with green plants (Full disclosure: I used to have a bumper sticker that said “Have you thanked a green plant today?”)

However, none of these actions will build a sense of relationship! They are more a result of having one. We urgently need more dedicated springboard facilities in neighbourhood areas to take this building of an harmonious relationship task on, just as we support recreational facilities and libraries for healthy bodies and minds.

Has anyone seen a good springboard format for having people develop a deeper more personal relationship, learn to live more lightly on the earth and deal with any environmental behaviour change? Let us know.

The development of Earthkeepers Training Centres by the Institute for Earth Education had the building of an harmonious earth relationship as their objective. One of the aspects of the resident program included conducting earthwalks. The Institute produced a book called EarthWalks -an alternative nature experience that has a compilation of activities designed and refined to re-establish a human relationship with the earth by addressing the feelings of joy, kinship, reverence and love. Now we are talking. If you do not spend time outside and you do not reduce your anxiety, increase your comfort and be filled with wonder in fresh air, clean water, while revelling in interrelationships, patterns, smells, and colours- you will never rebuild your sense of belonging and respect for your earth home.

The book Earth Education: A new beginning by Steve Van Matre covers how to create exciting learning situations where heightened feelings for the natural world combined with increased ecological understandings would form the foundation for positive environmental habits. The emphasis is on cumulative learning experiences with specific outcomes in mind.

If you believe experiences like these are critical for our expanding disconnected population then I heartily recommend you absorb these books available on Amazon and at www.ieetree.org

Soup to Nuts…A Survey Tool, Economics & Heritage Sites, Labels in Art Museums, & Indigenous Planning

October 25, 2024 EID Coaching

At EID we think it is important to bring a variety of voices into blog posts. So this post has a series of links to some information we hope you will find useful for your site and in the planning process.

Track ‘N Time Survey Tool

This first link is “tooting” our own horn. It is the link to the recent webinar led by Lar Wohlers on the Track ‘N Time Survey Tool that you can use right away and is free for three months. The presentation is a little over an hour. Please contact Lars at lars.wohlers@eidcoaching.com if you are interested in using the survey tool or have questions.

https://youtu.be/943kMRvOH3c

Economics Rabbit Hole

Lars recommended the book Interpretive Planning for Museums by Wells, Butler, & Koke and it is excellent (Marcella Wells will be a guest blogger in the near future). One of the topics in the book dealt with conducting an economic audit on the impact of your site on the community. Since Lars is currently a professor teaching a course in Environmental Economics he provided a few valuable resources to share on this topic.

1. This link looks at the direct economic benefits to communities by national parks in the United States and was conducted by the National Park Service (NPS). It is a straightforward look at the numbers from the 2021 survey.

https://www.nps.gov/nature/customcf/NPS_Data_Visualization/docs/NPS_2021_Visitor_ Spending_Effects.pdf

2. This next link is also authored by NPS and review the impact of heritage site from a social science perspective on a national, state, and local level in the United States. This has a lot of information and good graphics.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm

3. One more link along this economic vein is a blog post by the Canadian interpretive planner Don Enright. We follow Don’s posts and he is spot on with this one. He takes a close look at the economic and cultural impacts of heritage sites he has worked with. Definitely a good read.

https://www.donenright.com/revenue-generation-in-the-heritage-sector/

How Would You Design Art Museum Labels?

Now for something completely different – how to label art in museums. Lorin Labardee, an artist in Tucson, Arizona, puts out a regular newsletter that is funny and informative. This one caught our eye because labels in art museums are…well an issue for us at EID. Lorin provides some good insights and good ideas for breaking the cycle of “museum label fatigue.”

https://www.lorinlabardee.com/blog-1/how-to-love-art-and-not-be-confused-or-dumb-simple-advice-2024?mc_cid=b5a79746f3&mc_eid=fe8ff470e6

Planning & Preserving from an Indigenous Perspective

Our final recommendation is a wonderful article about an Indigenous Nation in Canada creating a “blue” park fully managed and planned by the Nation. By imbuing the preserve with both cultural and natural principles to respect the past and to encourage the culture of today to thrive. This article provides a unique perspective to planning and mixed use.

https://happyeconews.com/gitdisdzu-lugyeks/

We hope at least one of these links is useful and let us know if you have a favorite article or piece of information you would like us to share. Who knows, it may show up in a future post.

All the Best,

Bill, Lars, Mike

Role Play

October 11, 2024 EID Coaching

Our Role… Your Role

The juxtaposition of these two titles (Our Role, Your Role) on large outdoor interpretive panels really made an impression on me. They were part of a panel series situated on a viewing platform that overlooked a ravine where a now abandoned artificial peregrine falcon nest had been built on the opposite side. Read the text on the following two images.

This is an excellent call to action providing the visitor with a follow-up to a learning they have acquired at your site. We all need to include this type of “things to do” back home stimulus as part and parcel of the various teachable moments visitors encountered. Thinking about what visitors are going to DO with the information we provide should be always on our mind. Answering WHY we have told them something goes hand in hand with this. Our role… your role is an instructive coupling that presents a heritage protection message the visitor takes home with them. If you have seen a good example on your travels, send it to us.

Fossil Finesse

Had to share a form of personal interpretation that I encountered this summer that stood out as an engaging approach to presenting historical earth timelines as a starter exercise to a Fossil Walk. How do you set up a participatory role for your programme attendees to get across the appreciation for a chronological succession in time gaps between the creation of different forms of lifeforms as they appeared on earth and subsequently showed up in the fossil record.

This interpreter had pre-prepared about 12-15 stiff white cards (see image) labelled with names of life forms (like flowering plants, shellfish, dinosaurs) and major geological events (like last ice age) and he distributed them among the attendees. He also included Humans as a life form card which is critical to place people in relationship. This programme was being done on a beach where we were to soon explore for fossils. To kick start the proceedings, he set timeline boundaries on the beach surface by placing the card labelled (EARTH CREATION) at one end then walked in a straight line to another spot (20-30 yards away) and placed the card labelled NOW.

Then he asked the participant cardholders to place their cards in order of when their creatures first appeared on earth (due to their fossil evidence). As there were around 50 people on the walk, he had thought about a role for everybody. Any suggestions from non cardholders were encouraged. Lots of discussions took place among people of all ages and levels of expertise and cards were moved about once everyone had seen the whole complement of life forms to be sorted.

The interpreter had facilitated an experience and had taken himself out of the role as being the only sage on the stage. When he confirmed with us that we as a group were satisfied with our timeline choices, he summarized our work and had only two minor card shifting corrections. This set the context for the types of fossils we were going to find that day and the ones we were not due to the age of rocks that were exposed on the cliffs at this beach. We were never bombarded with any geologic terms. It was just a fun activity that involved the group along with couples and families working together. The activity set up the concept of a time relationship to ground us all around the fact that different types of fossils and only certain types of fossils will be found in certain places.

The Role of a Saltmarsh

Often, I find the role and significance of different habitats remains elusive to visitors when they try to fit information being presented to them about different habitats into their life. This interpretive sign accomplished this to a degree better than I have normally run across.

image courtesy Bill Reynolds (apologies for the light glare)

The title drew me in as it stated that the writer actually loved a salt marsh and s/he/they was going to point out the many ways why. I found the 5 key points were abit buried in text and I would have bolded a few words up front as sub-headings beside each number, so the quick reader (scanner) could grasp the points without having to read the whole paragraphs. As an example, Shoreline Protector, and Contaminant Filter are two sub-headings I would suggest to grab attention.

There is a subtle call to action related to the information about the Nature Trust and about how people can donate land to it.

The earth has a role in the great scheme of things as does a natural or cultural heritage organization as does every planetary citizen- let’s keep that in mind and try to interconnect them to the benefit of all life forms.

Signs…one too many or not quite enough

September 26, 2024 EID Coaching

We’ve had signage on the brain lately so time to put in my two cents worth on this topic. An April 2024 visit to two sites, one a large botanical garden in Texas and the other to a smaller heritage garden in Arizona, provided some interpretive signage food for thought.

But before getting into the details of those sites, here’s a few general thoughts on signs and planning:

§ Why do you have a sign in that location?

§ What is its purpose?

§ Does it support the site mission?

§ Is the sign’s intended outcome clear?

§ Have you considered a prototype of the sign so you can evaluate if it is doing the intended job? (The latest research states you have between 8 - 30 seconds before folks move on)

Sign Placement – Where should it go?

Knowing where to place directional or interpretive signs is an important decision for a site. It has been my experience that when visitors arrive they are ready to get out of their vehicles, go to the entrance, pay the fee, find the bathroom, and start the “dance of experience” at the museum or park or zoo or other heritage site. The walkway to the entrance is a time for invitations, anticipation, and some directional landmarks. Anything more is usually a waste of space and money.

Yes, the entrance and arrival area need to be welcoming and pleasing and clearly marked. All of these things were well done as we drove into the botanical garden in Texas. We clearly knew where to go.

In addition, a statue in the entrance driveway of a father with a young person made me smile and sent the message - “Not just for moms and women.” - and the dad even had a little “belly”. This is all good stuff and sets a friendly atmosphere.

One Too Many…

Once folks are out of their vehicles and head to the entrance, they pass several side paths with a nice array of plants and way too many signs. These signs tell the story of the monarch butterfly on its journey through Canada, United States and Mexico. There are also a few other pollinators tossed in for good measure. Most folks aren’t aware of the signs in this area and don’t want to be diverted from their primary destination – the entrance.

Of course, you could intentionally go from the car park, through these paths and then to the entrance path but that is highly unlikely. A well- marked walkway makes it clear how to get to the entrance door.

Once inside the front entrance there is plenty of open space, cool air, an obvious fee area, a gift store, restrooms, lots of plant pictures and large windows that invite the visitor to head outdoors and experience the garden’s delights.

During our exit from the main garden grounds my friend and I spent about 45 minutes exploring the signs and paths we ignored when we entered (This is known as “fun” for us interpretive geeks). During this time we only saw one couple wandering down these side paths as they moved toward the entrance. All other visitors headed directly from their cars to the entrance, or when exiting they went directly to their cars. Perhaps if we had visited on a weekend foot traffic patterns would be different, but I doubt it.

Sign Fatigue…

So, not only a lot of signs but lots of information which usually means at some point “sign fatigue” sets in. After a while even interpretive geeks like my friend and me were simply reverting to the standard 8 second average viewing time. Occasionally something would catch our eye, but not on every sign. And it wasn’t even about the signs being text heavy, it was simply too many signs that did not really lead to any experience or even to a destination.

Please don’t misunderstand, the messages along these paths are important. Knowing about pollinators and the amazing journey of the monarchs is an outcome everyone needs to absorb in their Head and Heart. And, if the site thinks this is an important outcome for all visitors to leave with here are some things to consider:

1. Perhaps this information about the monarch and pollinators is better placed inside the main garden where more visitors would have access to the message. Then a simple A-Frame sign inviting visitors to find out about pollinators, and specifically the monarch story, could be placed along the entrance way. This kind of signage builds anticipation and sets the stage for a key visitor takeaways. Realistically, that is about all you can expect to achieve in the pre-entrance phase of the visitor journey.

2. How about this idea…if the site really wants visitors get to experience pollinators before they enter the main garden, why not cover the pollinator section with a tent like netting (seasonally removable) and fill the area with all kinds of native butterflies. Talk about an attraction! That would certainly get visitors’ attention and indicate the site believes knowing about pollinators is important. Then you only need a few targeted signs for the Head and the Heart inside the netting.

3. This area has great potential for an exit experience. Yes, in most cases when folks are done they are done. But setting up an intentional exit experience could provide a strong remembrance and reinforce the garden outcomes regarding pollinators and the monarch.

Not Quite Enough…

At the other end of the spectrum is a lovey 4 acre (1.6 hectares) heritage garden in Tucson, Arizona. It is on land in the Sonoran Desert of the North American Southwest inhabited for over 3,000 years by the ancestors of current members of the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui peoples, was conquered by Spain, became part of Mexico, and eventually became part of the United States through the Gadsden Purchase. It is enclosed by a colonial Spanish style presidio wall. The garden’s focus is the fruits and vegetables grown by this arc of culture, offers a variety of natural history activities for the community, and is used for public events.

This site is not easy to find even though it is off of a fairly busy street on the west side of the city. Every time I visit I get a bit nervous trying not to miss the turn off and often need a GPS map as a reminder of where to turn. There are no signs along the major road to ease my arrival anxiety; there is not even a sign indicating there is a parking area ahead once I make the turn.

Once out of the car the adobe style wall indicates which direction to head and as you approach a walkway leading to the entrance some signs begin to appear.

When you look beyond entry sign there are some very colorful signs along the path to the entrance in English, Spanish and O’odham. Unfortunately, they are tucked behind vegetation and can be missed. On the positive side, the signs are not trying to educate or interpret. They are pleasing and do pull the visitor along.

At the entrance to the main garden is some information about current events and a definite sense of going back in time. Though getting to the inside entrance to the garden is not difficult, if you are a first time visitor you may start to wonder, “Where am I going and when will I get there?”

A few suggestions…

1. To reduce the “Am I in the right place” anxiety a couple of signs along the main street would be useful. Perhaps coordinating this with the city transportation department is the way to go with one sign ½ mile from the entrance and another indicating where to turn.

2. Once the turn is made a colorful sign decorated with native vegetation visitors might encountered in the garden could help direct folks to the parking lot. It would also help to build anticipation. Having this sign in 3 languages would let visitors know a wide range of folks are welcome.

3. What might be most useful is for the staff and other associates, along with an interpretive planner, to walk through the arrival and entrance experience and decide where to best place important landmark signs.

So, to wrap things up a bit here is what we think an interpretive sign should do:

¨ Provide directions to a trail, building, event, etc.

¨ Help folks know where they are

¨ Reduce arrival anxiety

¨ Encourage some kind of interaction with an object or the natural world

¨ Stimulate the Head and Heart

¨ Prepare folks for something coming next

¨ Make sure visitors haven't missed something important

¨ Provide some reinforcement for what they have just experienced

Here are some things to AVOID when planning signs:

Þ Not too many -- these are just landmarks for what you want people to do or leave with in their Head, Heart and Hands, and to reinforce site outcomes. The cultural experience or natural environment should be the "star."

Þ Don't expect visitors to do much reading or stopping on the walkway to the site entrance. Folks want to get in and get going.

Time for us to take a “sign break” and move on to other topics in upcoming posts. However, if you would like to work with EID on your signage in the arrival, welcome, entrance and orientation area then please take us up on our offer of a free coaching session.This offer is available for the rest of 2024. Email us atcontact@eidcoaching.com and we will set up a date and time that works for you. Meanwhile, enjoy the signs of autumn wherever you may be.

Engagement: It’s all about the Approach

September 13, 2024 EID Coaching

Normally I shy away from reading self-guiding heritage district interpretive leaflets having been turned away too many times due to their normally dry text, lack of images and plethora of descriptive terms about carpentry and architectural features like dormers, and pediments. All the while, the writers usually assume you are aware of the diverse assemblage of terms already and that you can pick out the many defining characteristics by yourself, if presented the house. On occasion, the writers may have included a back page explanatory list or glossary of terms resembling a scholarly text. The end result for the viewer often becomes a constant wondering – “are THOSE examples of cornices??”

None of these approaches provide a fun entry to exploring the streets of a heritage district. What is actually encouraging you to discover on your own and pick out hidden details of homes that illustrate a pride of workmanship, setting them apart from our modern often stark, cookie-cutter homes of today? Is the goal of the walk to be a learning adventure as part of a delightful stroll? Well then how to go about it?

Well, finally we stumbled on an example that used a game approach – a form of scavenger hunt. We picked up an, “On the Hunt for Heritage“ brochure, from the MacNaught History Centre and Archives in Summerside, PEI, Canada. As the brochure remarks, “…the neighbourhood is a living testament to the tastes and skills of previous residents.” In the brochure introduction, they referred to the amble among the streets as an “invitation” to accept a “challenge” to feature find (my use of bolding and creative coupling).

Image courtesy Bill Reynolds Photos used in Culture Summerside published brochure by John Clevett

Upon accepting the challenge, you then open up the rest of the brochure to expose 8 colourful pages of 12 photographs per page, illustrating six examples for every term (two per page) as in pediment and oculus (see image). The writers’ wise choice was to eliminate cluttering up the page with word definitions to accomplish a successful visual search guide and thereby exemplifying the old phrase – a picture is worth a thousand words. If the human stroller was intrigued enough to want to find out the exact parameters behind what makes a cupula – a cupula- then our friend google will no doubt suffice.

At the base of each visual image example there is a line where, as part of the challenge, you are asked to enter the street address where you ON YOUR OWN, have found the feature being shown in the photograph. Is this not what interpretation aims at accomplishing -DOING and DISCOVERING? This is the engaging alternative to SHOWING AND TELLING that often happens on the too common guided walk or self-guiding brochure, where the building is pointed out to you and the text (or person) explains what (one hopes) you are seeing.

There is a map of the heritage district as a middle fold out portion of the brochure so you know the boundaries of where your search should be conducted. They ask you to return to the archives or the cultural centre to find out how well you did and to “compare your score with those of other observant and curious people.” They have made this a game which definitely will improve the enticement level for the younger audience. However, I find this a simple yet effective way to build up “observant and curious” skills in our client base -people of all ages. Will this help to make future walks for these amblers more interesting, by expanding their searching eyes? Will this help to engender a desire for preservation of diverse architectural styles?

This short blog post is an example of an alternative approach for us – we have been toying with the idea of doing shorter but more regular posts. Versus our longer posts on a monthly basis. Please provide us with feedback on your preference.

Appealing Approaches to Signage

August 28, 2024 EID Coaching

If your OBJECTIVE is to introduce visitors to different creatures that inhabit your natural area, ones visitors may not be aware of at your site, AND you feel self-guided signage is a way to accomplish this, THEN here is a fun example. It packs a lot of information onto one sign and may get away with it for several reasons as it stimulates your eye and mind. How is this being achieved:

courtesy Bill Reynolds So many positive aspects to this interpretive sign

· The sign is divided into 3 differently coloured sub-panels

· There is a cute, anatomically accurate image of a woodcock associated with each text block

· The typeface comes in two sizes in case you either want to get a quick overview (the larger size) or have a deeper interest and want to read more (the smaller size)

· There are eight separate images of a woodcock so the shape for recognition purposes is well reinforced

· The text is mostly well spaced and not too long for easy reading

· Most of the facts presented are intriguing and pique a wide-range of interests

· The writing is conversational and first-person style

· The title is large, colourful, and declarative in a boastful way (I almost expected to read a sub-line saying …and hear me roar)

This said, if you were to time how long it takes someone to read all the content and compare it to the average visitor’s reading/standing time in one spot (somewhere between 8 - 30 seconds), I would wager there is too much content. Each coloured sub-panel is a sign in itself. The blue section especially is a bit crammed and I would create another section for the four texts circling the probing woodcock image just left of centre.

Also, you are not asked to do anything with what is mentioned while at the sign (like using tweezers to forage and pick up worms) or to follow up at the visitor’s centre regarding evening trips to listen to or catch a glimpse of the spring mating display.

On another note, there is an interesting text that says, “I have a dedicated following of hunters in the fall and bird watchers in the spring.” This conservation site appeals to users that enjoy the resource in different ways and doesn’t shy away from its mission, so they must have a management approach allowing for compatibility between these uses.

There are a few word choices that may be unfamiliar to the general public in the text - can you find them? What wording do you think should be altered to be more easily understood? Send us your thought via email – respondents always receive some gift to recognize their contribution.

Also, on an avian bent, I present a different style of sign that deals with bird knowledge by using a similar large size in an outdoor setting. The approachability occurs through the appeal of reading (eavesdropping on) a letter from an avian snowbird travelling between homes. It is a clever way to use a conversational tone again, this time with fewer declarative facts and more poetic, descriptive, and humourous anthropomorphism to boost the visitors’ knowledge banks.

While the letter reads well, it is a bit lengthy (15-18 lines), the lettering is a bit small, and cursive writing might be an obstacle. Some other thoughts came to mind…It is easily recognizable as a letter to an adult familiar with airmail or any snail mail for that matter, but can that be assumed for those under 30 years of age? Would a screen shot of an email or an Instagram format work for a wider age range? Is the use of a stamp with the bird-in-question’s image too subtle for those visitors who are NOT already familiar with what a sanderling or plover looks like? Nice touch but perhaps needs more image reinforcement on the sign.

With the line beginning, “Could you mention me to the visitors you see…” the interpretive text cleverly explores a sensitive management issue regarding nesting. The sign works at raising awareness of this shorebird’s beach-nesting habits and the necessity of keeping a distance at critical times. The text also inserts an anticipatory feeling of having (at a safe distance) a glimpse of the plover’s hilarious running bird dance. Again, though, there is no interactive component or follow-up with interpretive programming that would connect the visitor to a real life view of the plover in a controlled encounter. Pointing out the availability of binoculars for rent in order to get a good look at the bird would be one way of doing this.

courtesy Bill Reynolds AKA EID Coach AKA Curiosity Catalyst

And here is another avian letter to consider. Starting with “Greetings to my two-legged friends” as the letter opening line, it does a good job of catching one’s attention. Then the mention of food and an exotic destination gets the travel interest hooks in you as the sanderling says, “got my beak in the sand checking out Chile’s gastronomic delights.” Interspersing a catchy little phrase like this one of, “all the while maintaining my curvaceous silhouette,” keeps the reader chuckling and alert.

The choice of letters from two migratory bird - one species being a nester on the islands and one species being a stopover rest and recovery type - is a good decision and critical to getting across the knowledge of these two major reasons for migratory bird protection areas. I would have highlighted these two important aspects more pointedly as I am assuming these are the desired conceptual take-aways. There is a bit of a tug at the visitors’ emotions and an attempt at forming a relationship with the life cycle of these two birds who share their beach home, food, efforts at raising a family (every year) and travel great distances under meteorological hardships in order to exist with the “two legged friends.”

If these birds believed in possessivse property rights, this home invasion by the humans would be viewed as a form of trespassing. Luckily the natural world has a different boundary perspective and land sharing deals go on without exclusive ownership. Hmmm!!

Potato Mash-Up

August 15, 2024 EID Coaching

Prince Edward Island, Canada is famous for their potato crop and a visit to the namesake museum was a stop on a recent trip itinerary. Out front of the Canadian Potato Museum was a very prominent, clear, colourful sign that was easy to read at a distance, had clear lettering on contrasting background, and it was sparkling clean - that is not always the case for visitor centres and I could fill a book with bad examples much more easily.

However, even though all these points are very important, what I really want to stress today is the last line on the sign. They are letting you know about the “Country Kitchen” availability with the universal symbol of knife and fork being recognizable as an eating establishment.

This is a welcoming and orientation design decision that informs & impacts the visitor journey experience along with potential attendance, which therefore impacts interpretive contacts. Travellers need to know and locals need to be reminded that you have food and beverages on site.

Never Underestimate the Power of Food

In EID, we talk about the holistic 4H visitor and how appealing to their Head, Heart, Hands, and Hunger is so critical to interpretive success. Eating areas onsite should be designed to reinforce your site mission and messages period! Or you are cheating your visitor…and your site!

Food can be about revenue generating possibilities, getting the visitor in the door to improve awareness, and beginning the forging of a relationship between your site and the visitor. Awareness of food and interpretive partnerships with food vendors are undersold as collaborative opportunities. The visitor may not have originally intended to make this stop but now…here they are. Maybe they didn’t have time to visit the museum on this occasion but perhaps in the future they will, and you now have a chance to influence that return decision.

In addition, if visitors know they can grab a bite at the museum that might mean they don’t have to find another place to eat with the result being they might potentially never come back. Visitors can accomplish both food and leisure attraction visit needs with your one-stop shop, so they might as well drop-in.

With a crop-food product as the main focus of this site, it would be a simple task to reinforce mission connections through the direct act of eating the topic being interpreted. In the majority of cases, more effort is needed.

Too many sites we visit are missing the opportunities to have an interpretive presence integrated within their food and beverage operation that could contain subtle cues reinforcing your site goals and make your site experience more engaging for the visitor. You need to advocate for this interpretive addition and we would love to have a conversation with you about how to do this at your site regardless of your topic focus. Our email is: contact@eidcoaching.com

Focal Point: Don’t Overdo It

From a display perspective, the Canadian Potato Museum, took an interesting approach to interpreting disease and death among the plant world. They decided to employ silk-lined miniature (8 inch/20 cm) coffins to house various pest-afflicted potatoes. They mounted them on the wall with an associated vertical text description and a photograph of the pest in question. The first one was effective to catch your attention but a wall array of them all displayed in the same manner lost its initial effect.

A plant agronomist would have been glued to the display but a potato in numerous discoloured and mis-formed shapes (even in beautifully designed little coffins) as a visual display did not hold the average visitor. Using one as an arresting focal point then highlighting the diversity of parasites and associated conditions around their lives, for example, could have been more effective. Inter- relationships between the animal and plant world can be relevant to many visitors and open up a world of intrigue for the person who is not involved in crop management and viewing their livelihood through a pest/host perspective. As always, determining the outcome for different kinds of visitors remains paramount for design decisions and displays.

Side Note: You could have interpretive fun with the gravestone moniker R.I.P with titles like: Rejoice in Parasitology; Rest in Potato Peace etc. Send your examples to contact@eidcoaching.com and the best one will receive a 1- hour coaching consult- free of charge from EID.

Participatory Analogy

Discovering a yoga potato poster down a hallway was an unexpected find. A diamond-in-the-rough or a tuber-in-a-trough, so to speak, was languishing behind-the-scenes but it carried with it so much participatory potential. Such a novel way to actively engage the visitor and make the grow-harvest cycle relevant by doing yoga moves that mimic what potato growers do. How the site had used or were using the poster was unclear; however, if integrated into the site visit, it would have added a fun component.

It could be used individually or to lead your family as a self-guided approach throughout the site. I really believe it would best be done as a fun pre-registered event for a group, because not every visitor would be attired properly and doing the complete exercise routine would take some time. It has potential to be broken up into seasonal chunks with certain stations being done in different regions of the museum. Stretch and bend like growing sprouts exercise as one example could be handled relatively easily with photos to guide the visitor through the task.

Maybe even a video of a staff member performing the poses on the museum website as a “follow along” for folks at home before they even visit. Then when they arrive at the site they can repeat the pose at the same on- site location.

Do you see other ways to apply this use of a sport exercise analogy to a natural history process? Would some process at your site lend itself to a comparison like this, using yoga or some other athletic maneuver – judo, football, sailing – to engage the visitor? Have fun with this one and let your imagination go. Send us what you come up with in the comment section of the blog post and we will share it with others.

Namaste

Effectively Observing and Recording Visitors’ Experiences

July 26, 2024 EID Coaching

A New Tool for Gathering & Analyzing Visitor Interactions

Please join us for a webinar on the new Visitor’s Behavior Instrument developed by EID Co-Founder Lars Wohlers. This one hour session will take place on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at:

Noon EDT/11 am CDT/10 am MDT/9 am PDT&MST/5 pm GMT

Observing where visitors go and how much time they spend at exhibition spaces is still one of the most neglected areas of audience research. This is regrettable as Track & Time (T&T) studies are relatively easy to carry out and no other method produces data as reliable. Above all, the actual visitor length of stay as they navigate and interact with individual objects, stations, labels, videos, each other, etc. can be documented effectively and efficiently with the new Visitor's Behavior Instrument.

The information from this new instrument is particularly useful when supplemented with other survey methods such as interviews, questionnaires, or media tracking.

The new Visitor's Behavior Instrument developed by Dr. Lars Wohlers - an independent interpretive consultant, professor of Tourism Management at International University, Co-Founder of Experiential Interpretive Design, and a long-standing Visitors Studies Association member - offers a partially digitized observation option. During the webinar Lars will present the instrument in a practice-oriented manner using a fictitious example.

A special feature automatically embedded in the instrument is the thorough-use index from Beverly Serrell. This gives the evaluators observation data from their own site and also a benchmark index to use and compare local results to a global standard.

If you would like to participate in this webinar on August 14 please send us an expression of interest email to contact@eidcoaching.com . We will send you a Zoom link a few days before the session. If you have any questions please contact us at the above email address.

And once again, many thanks for staying in touch with us at EID.

Is life REALLY like a box of chocolates?

July 12, 2024 EID Coaching

Canada’s oldest chocolate and candy company started by the Ganong Brothers in St. Stephen, New Brunswick is still operated by the same family. They have created a museum to promote their products and celebrate their innovations using their old factory site. This old factory site is not a newfangled exhibit facility, but I found the low-tech display techniques still worked well, along with their having added some positive design tweaks to the standard interpretive fare.

Personalization Adds Vitality

Leading the guided tour was a retired individual whose mother had worked in the factory. He was quite happy to provide reminiscences of “receiving” free candy, while he waited for his Mom to finish her shift. He was also a long-time resident of St. Stephen who personally knew the Ganong family owners. He could relate stories of delivering papers and cutting Ganong family’s lawn. This was not part of the guided script but his personalization added vitality and cemented our interest. When you are staffing an historical site it is good to remember to recruit individuals, if possible, that had first-hand experience with the site. If they can’t be there in person then make sure their presence is there with recorded stories.

The chocolate museum employed some interesting tactics when covering the “Candymaker at Work” display. It could have been a typical low budget diorama with mannequin and equipment artifacts but the designer(s) decided to make the display more accessible:

· there was no glass between visitor and display,

· there was an effective depth illusion due to a well-lit, large-scale photo backdrop, and

· an interpretive horizontal panel provided a more natural barrier rather than a rope/stanchion.

What was really well done was the audio script heard through the telephone device – it was not a generic description talking about “the candymaker at work” – it was a real worker from the past relating his spellbinding story of how he graduated from being a stable boy into becoming the master candy maker (remember from above…make sure their presence is there).

Participatory Puzzling

So many centres have some variation of a picture puzzle that you are encouraged to put together for fun but the displays often lack incentive and relevance to the site. These kinds of puzzles usually end up as child diversions at best. Well, Ganong Museum maximized the concept and hit this idea out of the park.

The puzzle consisted of 21 3-D pieces representing chocolates in a variety of shapes. Each shape had a unique hand-dipped design on top - just like the actual product. You race against the self-punch timer to fill your box correctly according to the template in the box. This was a paired set up so you could compete against another person simultaneously. The museum also displayed a weekly tally scoreboard with people’s names. By combining a puzzle with a competitive timed game to test your quickness in “Play the Packing Game,” they created all the ingredients for mandatory, fun participation.

Quizboard Polishing Technique

Ganong employed another design tweak on the classic quizboard testing technique that bumped up interest level and participation. In a display board close to the end of the tour, they listed 10 true or false questions with 10 corresponding numbered answers on the surface of the chocolate piece (of course) on flipboard images. A visual search of these images was necessary to find the appropriately numbered chocolate with the correct hidden answer. This added an incremental level of engagement.

This “Test your chocolate IQ by uncovering 10 truths and myths about chocolate” display also had a snappy explanation hiding behind the flipboards, not just a perfunctory “T” or “F.” By employing the tour guide along with the self guided experiences, it provided some reinforcement to the concepts presented by the guide, as he could refer back to display items he had previously discussed. It was like he was tying a bow around our learning experience.

Reveal To Involve the Visitor

A second text-revealing design technique relevant to the chocolate museum was used in the cacao plant display. Each yellow cacao pod hanging on an artificial trunk was actually cut in half longitudinally allowing one piece to slide sideways with a slight push by the visitor.

Inside the pod were some nifty little fun facts about cacao production (follow the white arrow in above image to see the text and my fingers that have slid the pod up to the left).

Though a text panel with images may have saved money, its low level of visitor involvement minimizes its attention effectiveness. This display was much more effective.

Give Prominence to Portraits

The successive company president timeline had a little twist that I found more interesting than normal because the “years” associated with the timeline are placed horizontally on the ledge and what takes prominence are the portraits - people respond to people not numbers (unless you are an accountant).

The text focused on the key business strengths each president brought (or is bringing) to the table in order for the company to improve and keep pace with change. Each president bore a nickname like “the businessman” to “the production man” to the “builder” that reflected their special skills. This consistency created a strong message and a unified thought flow about a company that has adapted over time.

Safe Cracking & Code Deciphering

A second gaming technique was utilized using a pre-existing vault door which they could have just had you open, to discover the “secrets behind the door.” Not so quick, this museum bumped the reveal up a notch, by providing the visitor with an unlocking code to use with the classic dial mechanism, along with a swing handle like a safecracker. Too bad they simply gave the visitor the code. They could have used a more imaginative way for the visitor to decipher a code that would have added another layer of fun.

They used this discovery device for simple marketing purposes as the hidden object behind the door was a 2-D lit display of the company’s classic chocolate bars…perhaps a bit anti-climactic. Since visitors were provided with samples of three different styles of chocolate as part of the tour - at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end - the vault game could have lent itself for a special sampling. Perhaps they could have linked the safecracking as a treat dispenser to sample chocolate money to keep with the value of delectable currency theming. What might lay hidden and invisible behind the vault door if you can crack the combination code? It is a technique with many revealing interpretive possibilities.

Even if you don’t have a safe lying around that you could put to an interpretive use and play up the “what’s behind the door” mystery technique, try to apply the concept on a smaller scale to capture the same effect.

We never did find the answer to why life is like a box of chocolates at the museum, which could have been a fun and relevant interpretive twist incorporating some perception and posted responses from the visitors. Uncovering an apt analogy for life’s diversity can be your challenge in your interpretive journey forward. Depending on your interpretive situation, maybe you can show visitors that life is like a tool box or a salt marsh or a Renaissance garden or the Andromeda galaxy or…

Reviving Imagination

June 7, 2024 EID Coaching

Today’s post is all about a few items I read this week which left a profound impression, that I also found relevant to the interpretive profession. Read on to discover the potential of LED’s, Imagination Agents, and a deep listening Attention Academy.

This year, 49% of the world goes to the polls in 64 countries. Voters are being asked to choose between deeply unimaginative manifestos, all firmly wedded to a business-as-usual economic model that is clearly and dangerously failing around the world.

One phrase I read yesterday was a perfect case in point example: the concept of waste is a failure of the imagination. Many solutions to our present- day problems could be considered failures of the imagination.

People of all ages NEED to imagine and implement positive and compassionate alternative futures that restore our world through reduced consumption, rewilding and implementing diverse sound climate cooling measures.

What does your imagination conjure up ? This pic captures several lichens on rock Image courtesy Bill Reynolds

Our heritage sites must play a more pivotal role in encouraging societal transition through exposing harmonious earth relationship, low carbon, just and fair societal success stories. Our toolbox must include catalyst skills for imaginative visioning coupled with strategic action. No blaming just ways forward.

I share one formal education example and one non-formal community of citizens example exemplifying this purpose - both providing lessons for the heritage interpretation sector that can provide a place for prospective voters to visualize “what if’s.”

The first item was a reference to the Design39campus, a public school in San Diego, California where educators are known as “Learning Experience Designers (LED’s).” A beautiful way to express the notion of how effective interpretation should be thought of. This is the 10th anniversary of this “revolutionary” type of educational learning centre that is producing impressive results.

It was founded on the inspiring mission of Empowering a Purposefully Engaged Campus to Create a Culture of Impact

Applying this to our heritage situations, I immediately changed the word ”campus” to “sitevisit” to get: Empowering a Purposefully Engaged SiteVisit to Create a Culture of Impact. Each site would determine the nature and end result of that impact -eg. a respectful and loving relationship with the earth and its inhabitants for example. One of the key school principles is Creative Confidence: They believe everyone has creative capacity and their job is to amplify what students bring (change word “students” to “visitors”).

The school is trying to assist students to enhance their inborn imagination and bolster their creative confidence in order to design life-enriching solutions to existing problems. They embrace the following quote:

““Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited to what we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand.””

— Albert Einstein

Perhaps we need to be thinking more about helping our visitors build their creative confidence and design experiences that encourage ways to Imagine positive futures, away from the fears and anxiety that is presently gripping people of all ages. Imagine being a place of refuge and relevant life inspiration.

You may say that sounds fairly lofty but should we not be striving for the moon and envisioning a way forward through major rethinking, considering our present grim political, environmental and social situation.

From the non-formal educational side, I happened upon the work of the British Rob Hopkins who is billed as an Imagination Activist. He is known as the author of ‘From What Is to What If: unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’. As he argues, we do have the capability to effect dramatic change, but we’re failing because we’ve largely allowed our most critical tool to languish: human imagination. As defined by social reformer John Dewey, imagination is the ability to look at things as if they could be otherwise. The ability, that is, to ask What if? If there ever was a time when we needed that ability, it is now.

Rob has a wonderful web site chock full of ideas worthy of instigation. Another book just recently published and titled Imagination Manifesto is available on www.robhopkins.net/the-book/ – a lengthy collection of ideas harvested from 100 episodes since 2020, from the fortnightly ‘From What If to What Next’ podcast. Here is a sampling of some of the 2030-time-travellor guest visions:

· Challenge universities and natural heritage sites (my insertion) to play a civic role and be knowledge transfer centres and bio-regional learning centres: They can actually drive the public awareness around the bio-regions they’re nested in, so they can make much more informed decisions around how we collectively manage the commons and eco-system that we are expressions of.

· Imagination agents - Teams of creative catalysts: they’ll be artists, facilitators and craftivists, trained in the art of invitation to support, enable and activate. These catalysts will see the creative in all of us and guide us with care to become stewards and protectors of the places we live, weaving us back into deep connection with land and with each other.

· The Attention Academy: an immersion in nature without any surrounding presence of cell phones. Or extended periods in a museum, with someone who can bring the would-be viewer forward into how to engage with a painting or artifact.

· Deep listening in classes: banning smartphones in schools, as they are one of the biggest threats to our ability to concentrate and to our attention span. As our collective attention span gets shorter and shorter, our ability to sit and listen to the natural world gets shorter and shorter.

Banff National Park Image courtesy Bill Reynolds

· Giving primacy to the living systems of the Earth: Biome level health requires us to treat the earth as a living organism, for it to have vital signs and dashboards to measure the productivity of the Earth. All economic development and governance policies will be to increase forest cover, creating green belts and rain belts around the world. This economic engine would bring agricultural productivity, vibrant health and address water scarcity.

Are we ready to go beyond doom and gloom scenarios? Are we ready to stop avoiding the issues of the day? Are we ready to help people constructively deal with their environmental fears and anxiety?

Are we ready to play a relevant civic role and embrace being LED’s that stimulate societal “ What If’s” ? Are we ready to utilize deep listening and invitational imagineering to drive citizen awareness around informed environmental decisions?

Free Coaching: Don’t Delay

May 21, 2024 EID Coaching

Your site welcome and orientation sets the stage for all the visitor interactions you are having or not having. This is a critical component allowing for successful interpretation that is not given enough importance.

If you are open to discussing the Welcome and Orientation at your site with the EID Coaches, we will offer you 30 minutes of free coaching time to provide feedback on whatever aspect of your Welcome and Orientation you want to enhance. Take a look at the questions below and send us some quick notes at contact@eidcoaching.com

We will set up a mutually agreeable time to meet with you.

Three Questions to Ponder:

· At present, how does your Welcome and Orientation strive to make your visitors feel at home, so they are ready to be inspired and engaged with the site?

· Which aspects of the Welcome and Orientation might not be meeting your site’s or visitors’ needs?

· What changes have you been considering for your Welcome and Orientation?

If you want to get a sense of our approach to Welcome and Orientation, you can review our blog posts “Sharing Ways to Greet the Guests”

“Sharing Ways to Greet the Guests – Part 2.”

In summary, we explored the concept of the Arrival Sequence: entrance (gate, lobby, plaza), parking lot, and admission/front desk. We shared…

· new ideas to solve existing arrival issues

· practical ways to improve your site’s initial visitor experience

· techniques to decrease “threshold fear,” stress, and anxiety in your guests

· ways to “lay down a welcome mat”

Check them out then SEND US A NOTE ! contact@eidcoaching.com

Missing the Boat – Striving for Impactful Impressions

May 9, 2024 EID Coaching

The Power of a Colourful Character

I have a few more observations to share from my Austrian adventures. The Austrian city of Melk’s visitor approach attracted us right off the bat as Melk had covered their interpretive bases. As you can read in the close-up image of the initial information column, they described having an introductory film, a printed brochure, an audio-guide, QR code enabled audiotracks, and a scattering of signposts along with several information columns integrated into the walk. They even experimented with visual simulation stations allowing you to semi-superimpose an archival image in front of the now existing view.

Town of Melk information column Courtesy Bill Reynolds

They employed an effective large vertical information column outside the town’s visitor centre. Of course, one’s eyes naturally gravitate towards the visuals:

· a map with red dots

· a character in a yellow outfit smoking an odd shaped pipe and

· a series of black and white building photos

There was nothing special about the map although it clearly showed there were a number of stops in a concentrated area that appeared to be quite doable in the time we had dedicated to this outing. The inclusion of a representative three building photos, gave you a positive hint of what was to be seen. The piece-de-resistance however was August Prinzl, the colourful mustard man who supplies the audio voice that will take you on a tour. What appeared to be a theatrical interpretive guided opportunity was unavailable here, especially in this town of regular Danube tour boats (a minor missing the boat example). A tale-spinning character voice was a wonderful concept and was the piece of intrigue that sealed the walking deal for us.

So, we set out but alas, we were not able to meet Mr. Prinzl. The audioguide was not a viable option due to the visitor centre being closed early in the morning when we were there. Using the QR codes would have been handy if we had managed to get the downloads to work but after trying two stations with no luck, we abandoned that for the signposts. When reviewing the texts this is where we discovered the signposts were missing the boat.

Stop 21 included an information column (see the image of the English bottom half of the column) that incorporated a building signpost and a descriptive summary point in Melk’s history- in this case circa 1800. When we read the two texts, we found them to be very confusing. This is an example where the information presented may be very clear to a resident or someone familiar with the region but a direct translation for other visitors would fall flat. When dealing with geographical reference points a map is always so helpful for orientation. Keep the range of visitor origins in mind and their lack of geographical familiarity when writing for them.

Limited Space – Laser Focus

Secondly, when reading the transport hub explanation, we discover a reference to an entrepreneur who was building a postal empire -a concept that is foreign to many people as this is now a public service. In addition, a further reference is made to indicate “citizens of Melk fear that this entrepreneur would take control of the Vienna Route” -without context there is not a clear understanding why this should be feared?

There is always limited space on a signpost so the point (not points) being discussed has to be laser-focused. With interpretive writing, points should reinforce the central message. You can’t afford padding- for example, the fact that the entrepreneur was a lumber baron is immaterial to the key point.

In this case, there is a QR code option where the reader could acquire “the rest of the story.” A statement that invites the reader to remember to use the code for that very reason should be inserted. Remember to provide context and acknowledge the “why’s” in readers’ minds.

Spotlight Universal Stories

Thirdly, the connection between the actual post house in front of the viewer and the historical point in time relating to a transportation hub could have been stronger. The entrepreneur is the link and the potential story that people could relate to, but it is not explained how his transportation service and his acquiring a network of postal stations would signal a fear in people. The postal empire concept seems to be a good story hook.

Can you find a universal cultural process relating to human needs and relationships that could be explored and spotlighted for your visitor? Do you think this was dealing with the concern of business monopolies and lack of competition with too much control and concentration of power in one person’s hands? Shades of Apple and Amazon? What do you think?

Please send us your thoughts. Especially with historical cultural differences between now and then, we have to help our visitors relate the stories of the past to their modern life.

Gateway messaging

In a similar vein, we need better approaches to frame and connect what we set out for visitor’s viewing pleasure. Providing the visitor a relatable concept that can mesh with their present- day mental web of experiences will help them immensely to connect and fit in new perspectives.

Central Messaging Courtesy Bill Reynolds

When I witnessed the attention-commanding impact of a few words in large type in the centre of a wall, just below ceiling height, I thought what a solid approach to getting across your central message to the visiting public. I have never noticed this arresting technique being used before. In this case though, the art gallery was missing the boat. The phrase being used, Landscape in Squares, did not set up any useful framework for linking the paintings together nor did it provide any thoughtful way of looking at these pieces of art.

Visitors will benefit from some form of unifying structure so it would be helpful to provide them with a “gateway” message that sums up the distinguishing characteristics of the subject of the exhibit -in this case- a certain landscape approach, or artist or artistic style perhaps. This defining phrase could act as a perceptual tool to help the visitor see a painting with greater clarity or in more depth. A contributing sub-message could hold a prominent place on an adjacent wall.

The same attention-commanding large type message approach could be employed for any interpretive exhibit. This would help to provide the visitor with a takeaway of the essence we are striving for them to experience. By assisting the visitor to clue-in to significant points, you actually give them a leg up so they can “poke their heads above the crowd” and increase their sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

This is one way we can smooth the learning way forward. We can provide conceptual structure & perceptual direction that minimizes visitor state of confusion or embarrassment from a knowledge deficit in front of their peers, spouse or child.

We can also avoid confusion and ensure key aspects of a display are not missed by understanding traffic flow and sightlines. In the case of a winery display in a city museum, giant wine casks have an appeal and a strong linkage to the theme of the exhibit. A novel approach that was seen, allowed visitors to enter the side of the cask into an intimate interpretive slide presentation “room” with table and benches facing a screen. But because of existing visitor flow and poor positioning of the barrel cask, the museum had missed the boat.

Evaluate Traffic Flow

The mini-staircase entrance was shielded from view at the back of the barrel cask, because visitors strolled down the hallway looking at the end of the barrel straight on (see photo) instead of them looking sideways at the barrel.

As a result, my three companions (and I am sure many others) all missed the hidden entrance and the presentation. It was the subtle corner lighting for me (see photo) that triggered an exploratory look around the corner of the barrel, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the mini-stepladder leading into the cask. The subtle corner lighting was sufficient for my curious soul but because it was trying to invite people to the back of what is clearly perceived to be a dead end – it was creating a situation that is not enticing to enter even at the best of times.

If a cask re-positioning was out-of-the-question, then I hate to say it but some form of directional signage was needed here. Signage is usually employed after the fact to fix an initial poor decision. in this case, a band aid could be applied by using a cardboard cutout of a sommelier with his hand open directing one to the back to invite traffic flow into a charming space.

Moral of this story: take time out regularly to see first hand where visitors go and don’t go. Observe different components of your visitor’s journey in order to make changes to:

· avoid sending visitors into constricted dead ends,

· design for clear sightlines into accessory entrances.

Don’t Wine about Low Awareness

While on the subject of wine barrels, and observing traffic flow, I was struck again by the circular iconic face of one, while hiking along a forest trail. I had to squeeze-press this last observation in to this blog post, as this observation created such an impactful impression on me. A passing image that was cleverly unobtrusive, and yet still caught attention by acting as clever backdrop. It was being used as a marketing tool for a local winery advertising its wares to a pedestrian traffic flow wandering through vineyards. Their plastic see-through brochure holder on a bulletin board style post would never have had the same draw.

Effective wine barrel backdrop Courtesy Bill Reynolds

In this case, I am going to suggest we look in a mirror to see how we (our interpretive facilities) are often missing the boat when it comes to effectively advertising our existence by not:

· reinforcing our essence

· using an eye-catching iconic shape

· positioning alongside busy walking paths close to our physical locations.

Looking out for unique locations beyond sharing space in a brochure rack with a gazillion others can bring rewards. If this is presently not in your wheelhouse of responsibility then have a discussion with the people who have this role. Interpreters need to flex their communication expertise muscles for everyone’s benefit. Our profession is about facilitating impactful impressions both to attract the visitor in, and frame their new perspectives in a relevant way when “in”, while being cognizant of traffic flow. Let’s get on board with continual enhancement and ensure we don’t miss the boat of interpretive opportunity and influence.

Show Me the Colour

April 19, 2024 EID Coaching

Glad you could join in for the fourth installment of thoughts and perspectives emanating from Bill’s Austrian voyage. Something that continually haunted me (in a good way) about Vienna that I have not shared yet, was its inspirational and uplifting public art used to brighten blank surfaces like immense building walls.

This served as a reminder again that our visitor centres should be considering more how to employ blank surfaces in order to inspire their visitors and support their mission. This does not require large scale options -although they make a whopping impact- but small scale options usually abound when you look around. I will be touching on a few examples in this post to provide adaptive ideas for you to apply in your setting.

Actually, what jolted my memory was a series of articles from the British e-news service, “Positive News”, that highlighted the positive concept of urban transformations through public art. The end result is a place where people want to be and it feels good- where they can be comfortable and relaxed- pretty much how visitors should feel around our heritage spaces.

Graphic Rewilding

Grey urban spaces are a fertile canvas for Catherine Borowski and Lee Baker’s vast nature-inspired artworks. “Where real rewilding isn’t possible, our goal is to inject the colour and diversity of nature into rundown spaces, urging people to notice – and find joy in – the world around them,” says Baker. This is not meant to supersede the need for rewilding but cultivate an appetite for it in a complementary way.

Lee Baker cites research published in “The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine”, which found that patients in hospitals have reduced feelings of stress when exposed to imagery of plants. Check out their stunning web site at Graphic Rewilding, where their home page acts as a dynamic visual portfolio.

Could an approach like this work on fencing or sidewalks to build anticipation for your park’s inhabitants while also helping to re-wild the minds of those who walk past?

Asphalt Art Colour Boosting

Another upbeat piece from “Positive News” featured the Asphalt Art Initiative as part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ response to the growing number of cities around the world embracing art as an effective and relatively low-cost strategy to activate their streets. This initiative had three foci:

· visual interventions on roadways (intersections and crosswalks)

· pedestrian spaces (plazas and sidewalks), and

· vertical infrastructure (examples of utility boxes, and traffic barriers have been shown in previous posts).

image courtesy Bloomberg Philanthropies website

The colourful roadway interventions have also created a safety factor as cars slowed down reducing crashes at 22 surveyed sites by 50%. The percentage of pedestrians who reported feeling “very safe” at the intersection jumped from 23 per cent to 63 per cent. An Asphalt Art Guide, produced by the pro bono consulting arm, Bloomberg Associates features over two dozen case studies highlighting the how to’s for successful plaza and roadway art activations.

Could a crosswalk near you use some “arrested development” and reinforce your heritage message at the same time?

I wonder what percentage of visitors would feel safer, activated, and more welcome to our facilities if entrances and parking areas greeted them with a feel-good boost of vibrant colour that reinforces the heritage message at the same time?

Does your facility have an outside “canvas,” or even an inside one, that needs revitalization through colour and community engagement – could be a nice double bonus?

Note: Above I mentioned Bloomberg Philanthropies being at the heart of this kind of art by providing financial assistance. Previous grant rounds supported 65 projects in the U.S. and Europe between 2020-2023. Newly awarded projects in 25 cities were announced in November 2023 and included Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.. Are you up for applying in 2024?

Patch Macadam-No More Wisecracks

On a much smaller scale, Lyon-based street artist, Ememem, is fixing up Europe’s pavements by filling hazardous potholes with colourful mosaics. Describing himself as a “bitumen mender, sidewalk poet and macadam surgeon,” he was inspired to act by the dreary sight of a pothole in front of his workshop.

Before & after asphalt art sidewalk repair Courtesy Positive News and Ememem

Would there be any possible “pothole partnerships” or dreary views needing artistic repair existing on your site?

Focus on Facial Facade Functionality

Just as a contrast to the friendly use of colour I submit an Austrian example of a non-inviting street entrance for the Landesgalerie - talk about cold in colour and materials. Only after I took the photo and framed it the way I did, that I noticed the inscribed “Welcome” flat on the ground. Reading the ground is already overshadowed by the large lettering over the entrance that catches your gaze, so then why make the typeface of English word “Welcome” more difficult to make out?

Nothing about the museum doorway reinforced “Welcome” for me. Take a moment to gaze at this image and imagine you were walking by on the street in front of this doorway. What does it say to you?

For me, the mail slot “windows” in the doors recall the days of the speakeasy where you needed a password to gain entrance and it was a privilege if they allowed you in. It also says “Mask” to me, with eye slots and there is a mystery hiding behind the facial façade if you dare to enter. Even worse it conjures up “Prison Incarceration” and an all-around barrier setting vibe. . BTW, there were several museums to choose from that morning and we gave this one a pass.

Take a picture of your entrance and share it with non-staff, asking for feedback. A critical analysis with fresh eyes may provide new insights for you and improve its visitor appeal.

Did You Smell That Colour?

Use of colour is sooo important but let’s not forget sense of smell. Scent marketing is a new trend as McDonald’s is demonstrating with their mobile street level mini-billboards in the Dutch cities of Utrecht and Leiden, each about 650 feet from a restaurant location.

mini- mobile billboard image courtesy McDonald’s

The plain red and yellow billboards pump out the aroma of warm french fries to passersbys. “Smell has been proven to be more effective at sparking clear and emotional memories than images,” says McDonald’s Netherlands CMO Stijn Mentrop-Huliselan. You can see its effectiveness in action at “Smell’s like McDonald’s” on YouTube.

At least two ideas here to be treated separately or together: employ the use of smell (forest, meadow, ocean, polished staircase, baking bread, etc.) as an iconic memory synonymous with your heritage site to attract visitors, and experiment with the use of mobile mini billboards as interpretive signage.

Looking at the World Through Other’s Eyes

Interpreting involves changing sensory perspectives and colouring your world differently. How about a series of participatory art projects dedicated to helping us look at the world through other people’s eyes with a focus on storytelling and dialogue? I just ran across a must share item about the novel travelling empathy museum- what could be more needed these days

One approach they employ is the Human Library. Instead of borrowing a book, visitors can borrow a person for conversation – a Living Book. The concept of the Human Library was developed in Copenhagen in 2000, and has since been adopted by people all over the world, including the Empathy Museum. They’ve been across the UK and to Belgium, Ireland, the USA, Australia, Brazil and Siberia. Explore their empathic link to see where we’ve been and where we’re going. Maybe you could host them.

Viewing in Abstraction

McDonald’s, a leader in marketing know-how, has experimented with striped abstract art in public spaces to represent iconic menu items like Big Mac and Egg McMuffin. Remembering that our potential audiences do not all use their left and right brain the same way to perceive their world means we have to vary our approach in order to communicate to different audiences.

The ad agency hired by McD’s stated that going abstract means that some people just might not get it—but there’s something to be said about an ad that stops you in your tracks, even if it is to puzzle out its meaning and make a connection. (Do you see the layers of a Big Mac hamburger in the image above- what no tomato?)

“The best work doesn’t tell you what you need to know, it gives you a little moment to go ‘ah,’ and that’s what makes it more memorable.”

Could this apply to interpretive signage? Can you SEE/PERCEIVE the use of abstraction or unexpected puzzle imaging to generate an ah moment for your visitor?

Ciao till next time.

Read Our Words, See Our Faces, and Something New…

March 28, 2024 EID Coaching

Hear Our Voices on the Talaterra Podcast

Many thanks to you folks who have been reading our EID blog posts for a few months or a even a few years. Some of you may have seen us on a webinar or taken at look at our pictures on the Who We Are page of the website. But just in case you have forgotten our lovely faces…

Well, now you have the opportunity to hear us and see if our voices match our written words and pictures. Late in 2023 Tania Marien, host of the Taraterra Podcasts, interviewed Bill, Lars and Mike. Lars and Bill went into detail about the EID approach to visitor experiences and interpretive planning during podcast #124: Part 1, while Mike focused on environmental learning and earth education in podcast #124: Part 2.

Or if you have a favorite way of listening to podcasts here are a plethora of links to the Talaterra podcasts:

· Apple Podcast - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talaterra/id1449871506

· Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/talaterra/PC:1000363963

· Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5558162c-a505-4e99-8f6b-d8c79c6b8b9c/talaterra

· iHeart Radio - https://iheart.com/podcast/83874053/

· Overcast - https://overcast.fm/itunes1449871506/talaterra

· Spotify - https://podcasters.spotify.com/podcast/0K5HMaFygKmALlAzn5IROz

· YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@talaterra

· Audacy - https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/talaterra-62193

· Google Podcast - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9SckE3VmJVVg%3D%3D

BTW – as always your comments about the podcasts are welcome and do let us know if you think the voices matched the faces…it would be fun to hear what you think.

Special Note: Tania Marien is an independent environmental education professional and creator of the Talaterra Podcasts with 20 years of experience connecting educators and bringing attention to the work of freelance professionals. Tania began showcasing the work of independent educators while serving as the full-time editor, educator, and bookseller at ArtPlantae. Today she amplifies this effort through Talaterra and its initiatives.

Surfaces, Staging & Senses

March 14, 2024 EID Coaching

Here’s a toast to the third post stimulated by my 2023 trip to Austria. It is a bit of a rag tag assortment of photos that illustrate several specific neat & nifty ideas that caught my eye and ear as they shouted/whispered to me interesting implications for interpretive design.

Missed Opportunities

There are so many missed opportunities to add an interpretive flair to a site, that we need to insert our interpretive influence more often. Surfaces need to be considered more as interpretive spaces. Exterior infrastructure components are often underutilized and usually boring due to a one-dimensional aspect. Because they are seen by many visitors they could be adding to the visitor experience.

Gateswing barrier Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Take the lowly parking or pedestrian access barrier – the image I snapped shows how a blank surface could have an interpretive application-in this case historic drawings of the garden you are about to enter. It is all about what you want reinforced in the visitor’s mind at that site juncture (see a previous blogpost titled Double duty design dream — EID Coaching illustrating the interior use of walls, doors, benches, etc.) Think about how you could use nearby boring infrastructure to add value to your site message and be integrated into your visitors’ experience

Passerby Enticement

This exterior infrastructure tactic could also act as an allure piece to get you to come inside by showing you a sample of what you might find there. This is exactly what the Caricature Museum did in the town of Krems an der Danau. They went beyond their own infrastructure and I am assuming used a partnering approach to get permission to use a fence on the opposite side of the street from the building entrance.

This is where they posted a facsimile of a selection of their pieces in art gallery format, to entice the passerby to glance and linger. You immediately knew that this would be a satirical place with social commentary that might be worth checking out if you were so inclined (just across the steeet). It was difficult for you to walk by on the street & not be aware of what the museum stood for. It would be intriguing to survey how effective this street “intervention” would be for bringing people to check out the facility, during opening & non-opening hours.

When was the last time you did any visitor survey to evaluate effectiveness of a new way of engaging your visitor?

Top It Off - Facial Power

When I find a good example of interpretive signage I want to do a dance of joy and I did one in the town of Durnstein. The look of the sign would have been unappealing if it had not been topped with a life-size two-dimensional cut-out portrait that commanded attention on the streetside. Many used vibrant colours -my chosen example used a more subtle palette of hues yet still effective. Each of the famous people being portrayed were positioned so they either stared directly at you so you were compelled to engage with them or they gave you a sideways glance like they were going to whisper something to you.

The text was written first-person style and captured your reading interest with a modern twist of phrase. There was a sense of immediacy employed - like this historical figure knew this could only be a brief encounter and that they wanted to pass on something of importance to you. With a little imagination, due to the clever combination of portrait and conversational tone, you got a sense that these people of the past were with you, for a moment.

Staged Set Impact

I discovered in short order that two- dimensional cut outs as a set can be very effective, especially when judiciously staged, in order to add a sense of life to a scene. This has a greater impact especially when you first encounter one and you are not expecting one.

We had been touring an abbey for a good 45 minutes listening attentively to our guide and viewing artifacts & exhibits, when we entered the stunning library – a grand display on its own bibliophilic expansiveness and architectural majesty. When what should appear but two time period dressed “characters,” seemingly having a conversation and a meal of sorts between friends??

This “set” gave the appearance that we had interrupted something and I thought provided the guide a glorious opportunity to have a little fun and feign surprise upon the unexpected encounter. Based on the guide’s non-reaction and attempt to ignore the “set” by walking past it and providing no explanation, it was apparent that this was not part of her tour. Maybe it should not have been in the room and had been left over from a previous event?

In any case, this successful ability to liven up a gorgeous yet sterile room could have been a wonderful way to illustrate a happening in the library in the past. This staging would have really broken up the consistently didactic explanations that we had been exposed to up to this point. The positioning of this “set” was a little random and would have been better to be seen right as we all entered - this would have worked well with the feigning of surprise I suggested earlier.

It was apparent that many visitors were definitely wondering what this staged set was all about and were distracted. As an interpreter conducting a guided tour she broke the classic rule of not ignoring what obviously has captured the attention of the audience. Use distraction to your advantage and try to connect it back to your underlying message.

Plan for Visitor Participation & Look for the Story

Was this a reconstruction of a painting? Who were these two men? One is wearing an interesting head covering and neckpiece- what did that signify? Attention to detail for the food layout posed many inquiring questions. Allowing the audience to contribute possible captions for this moment caught in time would have meant some participation and most likely some laughs. Do you see the little dog? S/He really is little -is there a story there? This vignette is full of stories and had the potential to add so much spice and interpretive variety to a standard walk and talk tour. Unrealized ! Don’t let that happen.

Consider using the expertise of a stage set individual to create a vignette or moment in time for your facility, to add some participatory zest to your guided tour or self-guided experience. If you need assistance adding participatory elements to your visitor experience just get in touch - we would love to explore opportunities with you.

Standing Out

I have saved a particularly fun element to wrap-up with, that shows an imaginative treatment for a building known as the Bread Museum in the town of Asten. I make my own pizza dough and so when I saw the building for the first time I was ecstatic. I found the architect had wonderfully captured the essence of dough when it is rising and when you are kneading it, in the swirling aspect. It is a draw from a distance due to its different shape.

Bread Museum Image Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Most people inherit a building or trail setting and you aren’t able to mold what you want from scratch. However, what can you do to add a piece of curiosity to your existing building or interpretive trail starting point that adds flair or is attention worthy, on-theme, to draw prospective visitors in?

The design allowed for an interior spiral staircase that was beautiful . The pretzel shape was in keeping with the theme and Austrian baker guild symbol. Another example of form follows function.

Knead to Incorporate the Senses

The museum had a great selection of artifacts demonstrating the cultural importance of bread and its widespread global influence. What was missing were the sensory aspects - there was no smell of bread anywhere, there was no demo area or place to interact with dough, there was no place to grasp the process of breadmaking, and there was nowhere to purchase baked goods.

Time to review your interpretive offering and assess whether you have incorporated smell, touch, taste and sound. Without them your presentation falls flat, and won’t rise to the visitors’ delight. Without tasty revenue generators tied to your message you miss out on capturing the visitors’ dough (puns intended or should I say buns intended). Remember I started the blogpost with a toast… I hope you have enjoyed this continuing slice of Austriana (sorry, for those, just a reflection of the kind of spring sunshine mood I am in today).

Staging Suspense Part 2

February 7, 2024 EID Coaching

In part 1 we looked at how to:

· add an action orientation

· have a continuous storyline

· ensure exhibits/trails are exciting, and

· keep the suspense maintained.

These tips were generated by the research and analysis by exhibit curator Ariane Karbe who has academic training in screenwriting. Her novel perspective teased out many potential benefits for the interpretive profession. Part 2 of this blog post will embellish this idea of screenwriting suspense, of holding attention and staging immersion, along with understanding visitor motivation.

Are you establishing interest through emotions?

The author asks, “What motivates the reader/viewer to follow a story, eagerly?” She summarized the answer in two words: Emotional Engagement. How often do we design our exhibits and trail signage to generate feelings in our visitors, so they stay engaged with the storyline?

As Philipp Schorch states in his long-term study of global visitors to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, ‘It becomes clear that to “feel” invites us to be “interested” and enables us to “understand.”’ (Note the order!) Too often we jump to understand with only a touch of pre-interest attempted. AND we ignore the criticality of feelings to kickstart any level of receptivity in the visitor.

Emotions of hope, fear, and undeserved misfortune are central to developing suspense and the state of uncertainty. Human stories lend themselves to this storyline. From the animal kingdom perspective, the predator-prey relationship commonly generates feelings of fear and hope for the prey to escape its underserved misfortune. We just need to look for other situations and apply the emotional connections.

The big challenge is how to express and connect emotions to the current visitor when utilizing artifacts built and used by people no longer with us. Even inanimate objects, to ramp up their interest value, could be presented within an emotional context linked to a crucial function in the dynamics of a human relationship.

Faces are often used when wanting to connect with feelings. A common engagement technique in film is the use of zooming in especially on faces. Reading this brought me back to an arresting large wall display of faces in a visitor centre in Ecuador’s Galapagos National Park. The exhibit text captured their voices, and expressed a diverse range of feelings that residents had for the special islands where they live. It was very effective in holding many visitors’ gazes.

Faces of Galapagos Image Courtesy of Bill Reynolds

Zooming in is employed also to change viewing patterns, especially to train the visitor’s eyes on something particular that might arouse emotion. Exhibits and signs can use sighting tubes or peep holes as a visual aid to accomplish this.

Is it possible to avoid storyline fragmentation?

The author mentions Marshall McLuhan as the first to point out that popular films are born storytellers because they demand participation or completion by the audience- to link the story bits. Ariane reminds us that the fundamental fragmentary nature of exhibit halls necessitates the movement of visitors and they can easily pull apart a storyline. Reshuffling the narrative is a common visitor situation if the overall series of “scenes” are scattered, unconnected and not well executed.

Spatial images within displays and between exhibition “scenes” often compete for our attention because they are not presented sequentially as in a film. It is paramount that the viewer find the “reassembling story process” as an entertaining and not a confusing experience. On the other hand… the author then posits that maybe we should be giving visitors less choice of directional movement as they so often break up the narrative sequence - something they don’t do while enjoying entertainment media like films, theme rides, and theatre shows.

Based on extensive analysis, a fixed linear order seems to be essential for creating suspense. When a sequence of events is re-told it accomplishes a story that is “followable, intelligible, memorable” - you might actually call it chrono-logical. The author advocates that this approach can maintain interest and continuity, and should not be rejected outright, due to the common complaint of implied power and authority, of the visitor being controlled or having fewer choices within linear narratives. I concur with the author that an organized, staged series of “scenes” can be created using choices and minimizing aspects of expressed authority.

What would you do?

The using of a question is a common technique to garner attention and a personally directed question like, “What would you do?” is particularly effective. This was employed in an exhibit about disease epidemic choices and the unravelling is so much more magnetic in its holding power. This time an interactive element has been incorporated and an element of suspense has been created AND maintained (refer to part one of the same blogpost for a contrast). This comes about due to a participatory choice option, using an element of gaming technique.

Two distinct story pathways have been controlled to maintain continuity, but hands off control is also used to achieve visitor involvement and visitor decision making. The angled positioning of the exhibit in a corner ensures the visitor does not get side tracked from other competing exhibits or pulled away from the desired exhibit outcomes.

Interactive doing, a question and built in suspense Image courtesy Bill Reynolds

Can a sand grain be a protagonist?

In the book the author instructs us that film viewers need to identify with a protagonist to engender suspense. Visitors will be attracted to the interpretive medium if they can identify with a form of protagonist. Films appeal directly to the viewer’s emotions through a link to the universal needs of the key “characters.” These characters in an interpretive sense could be human or non-human. The film industry looks for a conflict or a struggle as well as a resolution with a pathway connecting the two. If this process of identification takes place, the visitor will more likely grasp the essence or story of your place – human/non-human, tangible/intangible, cultural or natural process.

I will never forget in the 1990’s, a certain self-guided trail at a Canadian coastal national park, where I was attracted by its appealing imaging that used an odd protagonist character – a sand grain.

Thanks to a cartoon-like graphic image of a sand grain, a natural process came alive. By recounting its state of uncertainty due to dune migration and a wild journey caused by erosion/deposition forces, this character had me hooked. This travel adventure technique was an extremely effective form of inanimate anthropomorphism, that resulted in a resolution to a challenge/conflict.

On several successive panels I was then immersed in the storyworld, where I could relate to a sand grain’s existence and accompany the central character on its journey. I suggest it is time to review some of your texts and images to assess the opportunity for integrating an emotional protagonist, as the film profession does.

Film excitement is based on a three-dimensional immersion, whereas my signage example was of a conceptual immersion achieved two dimensionally. It still works, but we need to aim higher. In a park setting additional physical immersion by a visitor could be accomplished, yet it is so often underutilized. Visitors wander alot in a disengaged manner without being set up to achieve a close and personal contact with a sense of place. We have our work cut out for us to add the physical dimension.

Have you thought about smooth transitions?

When you apply the concept of scenography and staging to this type of immersion technique, you can achieve an arc of suspenseful anticipation. The author touches on the importance of ensuring a smooth transition between scenes (trail stops or signs or exhibits) as a suspense maintaining technique. For smooth transitions, she spotlights the use of physical and verbal repetition, the setting up of concrete expectations and the use of recurring motif to maintain the narrative flow and keep the participant engaged.

Props used for Earthwalks *Song of the Season* experience Image Courtesy Mike Mayer

I have experienced this feeling when participating in an Earthwalk as described in the book, Earthwalks: an alternative nature experience. Staging and smooth transitions are elements stressed in the leadership guidelines detailed in that book, produced by The Institute for Earth Education. The Institute practitioners have succeeded in stitching together a guided walk focused on building a relationship with the earth that utilizes smooth transitioning suspenseful anticipation.

Museum Exhibitions and Suspense - The Use of Screenwriting Techniques in Curatorial Practice illustrates various dramatic screenwriting techniques that enable a visitor to move through a space, stay focused and tell themselves a good story. At EID we are always looking for ways to do a bit of cross pollination between experiential interpretation and other fields. There is plenty of food for thought in this book for the design of trails and exhibits where you desire to attract and hold your visitors’ attention and interest.

Epilogue: Two more thoughts to ponder and if you have any examples that demonstrate these situations, please pass them along to us:

Have you ever used the technique of prologue and/or epilogue to better frame the central interpretive story you are developing?

Have you ever helped the visitor enter into a dialogue with an object on display?

Staging Suspense

January 23, 2024 EID Coaching

Every so often I run across a book title that intrigues me and I just have to investigate its inner workings, hoping to find something worth sharing with our EID readership. What conjures up in your mind when you read: Museum Exhibitions and Suspense - The Use of Screenwriting Techniques in Curatorial Practice?

For me the word screenwriting set alarm bells off -YES!- a new angle from the best practices of the film industry. I can’t wait to uncover its applicability for interpretation. (Even though the word museum and curator are used please stay open-minded and transcend these limits to include parks, visitor centres and heritage sites as they can all use these same tips). In my mind interpreters ARE curators because we curate an experience.

Having dabbled in improvisational drama and stage acting in my younger years I was immediately curious. I am always on the lookout for different fields of study that approach effective communication techniques. The publisher summary indicated that this book would provide an important resource for those who want to create stories with a wide audience appeal. Well, bingo!

The author, Ariane Karbe, is both a curator with exhibition development expertise and is trained in the storytelling form of scriptwriting. Now I was really getting hooked.

The author examines suspense minutely from a screenwriter perspective and that is what sets this book apart. Ariane takes the reader through a somewhat academic treatise breaking down various dramatic suspense techniques. This post will highlight some key concrete areas of advice relevant to the interpretive profession.

The author makes the assumption that “creating suspenseful exhibition narratives holds the potential to support museum visitors’ hunger for (exciting) learning.” Ariane also says, “ Given the important role that suspense plays in the choice and evaluation of entertaining media offerings by a broad audience, it is remarkable how little suspense has been examined in relation to exhibition making.”

Not just for exhibition making, I contend, but also with self-guided trail signage, guided walks/site tours and most interpretive media for that matter. All basic interpretive presentation recommendations tell you to employ suspense but never really detail how. The film industry can help. If you agree, then best read on. The juicy stuff is still to come (are you in a state of suspense?)

On the first page she digs right in and says that in order for museums to be popular with more diverse population groups, the form of communication to be employed must be exciting.

Not too earth shattering a premise. The film industry certainly can show us a thing or two when it comes to developing excitement. Read on, so you can review your last interpretive text and determine if it passes the exciting test?

To certain audiences this fact is exciting Image courtesy Bill Reynolds

Posing questions and supplying answers are central to the unravelling of a film’s plot as they are to an exhibit purpose. Filmmakers play a game of providing and withholding information to cause tension and excitement.

Human interest is based on three main forces: suspense, curiosity, and surprise. Suspense is under the microscope here as the basis for exciting occurrences. Suspense is aroused in the viewer through purposeful information gaps. These gaps or omissions can create a mysterious atmosphere.

Ah! but let’s dig deeper. How does one employ this technique?

The last line hooks the reader into asking how ? Image courtesy; Bill Reynolds

You create, not necessarily ask outright, a question in your visitors’ minds that they want an answer to, then suspend the answer. This is exactly what the exhibit text in Unlocking Hidden Secrets has done in the image above. You add to this by building what screenwriters call an arc of suspense. You reveal bits along the way, raising possibilities. The technique is referred to as a roller coaster storyline.

You set up knowledge about a key character (think in a broad sense as this does not have to be human but could be a species or habitat or community or bone in the example provided…). Then farther on (in the exhibit, gallery, trail…) you show how certain elements/adaptations allowed these characteristics to come about.

The author points out that in films, questions and answers relate to actions, however most commonly in exhibits, they pertain to descriptions. Ariane strictly looked at cultural exhibitions when she stated their typical questions are thematic in nature versus typical questions for films are dramatic in nature, as in - will the character fail or succeed? I wager this can be said for nature-based exhibitions versus nature films as well. What follows is the kicker!

The Greek word for drama means to do and the Greek word for theme is something laid down. “The film viewer is caught up in a course of doing action events whereas the museum visitor sees the events laid down statically in a space.” The result is a lack of “getting caught up.”

This perspective reinforces what EID has always found exciting about the book Interpretive Design the Dance of Experience by Steve Van Matre. This was the first time we encountered a role emphasis for interpreters to set the stage for visitor doing interactive experiences, rather than just the visitor static form of reading or being presented to, primarily creating a listening experience.

As in the following image, we see the typical use of an actual posed question. It has effectively embedded a somewhat incongruous state of affairs to engender curiosity: How CAN a bog be thirsty?

This well written (for many reasons) text could have boosted itself a notch if it had capitalized on suspense leading you on to the next scene. Similarly, it could have involved a doing action on behalf of the visitor. How - a chance to get down and feel the water level among the roots could be accomplished by a cutaway allowing observation below the surface like a mini-cross -section soil profile. The visitor could get to explore “under the covers,” so to speak. People love being given the chance to be detectives.

This book is about making a strong case for exhibits to be treated more like drama with a structure and a soul. Part 2 of Staging Suspense will explore emotional engagement more, as well as delving into immersion techniques, scenography and smooth transitioning that keep the exciting interpretive medium interactively engaging.

Dancing: Better Than A Time Machine

January 11, 2024 EID Coaching

A very happy 2024 to everyone and thanks for staying connected to EID. Jeanette Watts never stops dancing and has kindly provided us with the first post of 2024 focusing on utilizing dance in the interpretive space. Jeanette teaches dance and conducts balls covering the Renaissance to the 1960s. She has worked as an adjunct professor at Sinclair College in Ohio, as a guest lecturer at Wright State University, and leads workshops at museums and historic recognition sites throughout the United States. We hope you enjoy her perspective and now, put on your dancing shoes and take it away Jeanette.

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(Catch the first 30 seconds of the dancers entering the historic Kelton House in Columbus, Ohio. Video Courtesty of Jeanette Watts.)

Why do people come to museums, parks, gardens, and historical sites? I think they come to be connected, not to be educated. They are looking for clarity, inspiration or some other instinctive self-care, curiosity, and even mental health maintenance. We, as interpreters, are muses, sages, and care-givers. It is a lot of responsibility, but a task we relish, because providing inspiration and expressing joy, beauty, and understanding of a place is part of our job.

There are many tools in our tool chest to provoke greater understandings and deeper feelings of a site to visitors. But with all the different ways we can use the written and spoken word to connect to the lives of visitors, rarely do we offer the kinesthetic mode to engage with the site to create a more immersive and interactive experience. In short, we do not provoke them into dancing.

***The author teaching fourth grade classes at Historic Latta, Huntersville, North Carolina. Photo Courtesy of Jeanette Watts.***

First of all, let’s define the term “dance.” The vast majority of the people I talk to say “Oh, I can’t dance.” This is nothing short of tragic. Dancing is not complicated. It is simply moving rhythmically, usually to music. When you hold a baby, humming and swaying back and forth, you are, in effect, dancing. Small children jumping up and down while watching television or listening to Spotify are dancing. Wriggling in time to the music playing over the sound system while you are waiting in line at the grocery store is dancing.

The author at her local library. Photo Courtesy of Jeanette Watts.

Introducing dance at our sites is a powerful way to channel the visitors’ innate human responses. Visitors arrive already dancing inside their bodies with anticipation. Unleashing this energy of excitement by turning an unchanneled visceral response into movements intimately connected to this particular place bonds the visitors of the present to the experiences and people of the past.

Dance at Plantation, Trinidad, 1836 – Clourtesy of Slavery Images, slaveryimages.org

At a time before sports, dancing was America’s original favorite pastime and played a hugely important role in our history. While our founding fathers and mothers plowed and churned butter, they were thinking about what they would wear to the next dance and spent evenings practicing their dance moves. When enslaved peoples on American plantations were forbidden from making drums, they beat out the percussion on their own bodies and continued to dance.

Dance at the Plantation – Clourtesy of Slavery Images, slaveryimages.org

Every immigrant to reach the North American shores brought their dance forms with them. Every Native American already living on the continent practiced a dance form. In fact, the first Virginia colonists documented the similarities between the European hornpipes and Morris dances and the dances of the Indigenous Peoples. Connecting with each other while connecting with the people who forged who we are as a country creates an emotional bond with our past that can transcend the understanding we get from seeing and handling artifacts. (Check out the first 90 seconds of this lively event in Williamsburg, Virginia.)

Dancing means experiencing the past together. Engaging in this visceral, immersive experience allows visitors to truly feel the inner passions of the people who fought in the battle, lived in the home, or worked in the building. When we blend our bodies and lives together with the heritage site, we become part of it. Offering dances from the 16th & 17th century at a colonial site, 19th Century dances at an American Civil War site, popular dances from the year a state entered the Union or when a country gained its freedom connect the visitor and forebearer – perhaps a way to form a more perfect union.

An evening soiree after a day of classes turned the dancers into the honored guests of Kelton Housein Columbus, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Kelton House: Photographer James Novotny

Not all sites require dancing, and all sites where dancing is appropriate will have a different dance that is appropriate. Out west, Fort Laramie threw fort hops in the 1890s; in neighboring Little Big Horn it would be far more appropriate to have visitors dancing Lakota and Cheyenne dances - provided local Lakota and Cheyenne tribes deem it appropriate to share their dances with visitors.

What about museums? Art museums are filled with galleries from our past, present, and future. In a portrait gallery, we look into the faces of people with funny clothes and hairdos. What did a person think and feel? Participating in the dances of their time gives us a clue. No doubt they too liked to dress up and bust a move just as much as any teenager today exchanging dance moves on TikTok. Galleries filled with modern art can just as easily be illuminated with modern music that echoes the emotions given form on the walls, and dances that flow with the music complete the understanding. After all, dance is music given form.

The author (in the bright blue dress) calling at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Photo Courtesyof Jeanette Watts.

When I visited Kilauea on the Big Island in Hawai’i, the most amazing part of the trip was going at night to the observation deck. After about an hour of watching the molten lava, a Native Hawai’ian joined us and began singing. I don’t know if it was a prayer to Pele or to another of the Hawai’ian pantheons, but that evening the spiritual enrichment of that moment transcended any language barrier. I had learned hulas in the past that were prayers to Pele and Hi’iaka, but until that moment under a starry sky, looking at the volcano in front of me, I never understood the close connection between dancing the hula and that prayer. Now, wherever I go, I take the volcano with me in my heart and in my body – we are connected.

Kilauea Volcano, Hawai’i Courtesy of USGS.

People need and seek out emotional connections. I strongly believe dancing helps create emotional connections with other people and with places. Strangers and family members create connections through the joy and beauty in movement and dance that connects to the site. When visitors feel connected to a site they become invested in it. When a site enters your heart, it changes you for the better…Forever.

Dancers in Nahant, Massachusetts find out what it’s like to enter the past. Photo Couresty of Jeanette Watts.

And that, in essence, is what every interpreter hopes to do – to change people’s lives for the better. Our heritage sites could excel at enriching a visitor’s experience through dancing. Interpretive heritage sites have the space, they have the means, and all that is left is to create the right dances for the site. When visitors dance there is connection with land, place, history, heritage, and with others. Most important, there’s a deeper connection with self. Is your site ready to point visitors to the dance floor? I, for one, can’t wait for the music to begin.

(Take a closer look at the amazing dress that Jeanette is wearing with a “behind the scenes” video of how it is constructed.)

If you would like to find out more about what Jeanette is doing with dance please visit her website and her YouTube Channel History is My Playground. You can also contact Jeanette at Jeanette@Wattses.com. As always, please send us any comments you might want to share about this blog post or any others…and thanks Jeanette for this inspiring post on dance.

Considering the Visitors' Needs

December 24, 2023 EID Coaching

Novelties always bring me joy and sometimes include a twist of the head to confirm what I thought I saw I actually did see. This is how I felt when I encountered a self-serve café in the middle of a series of exhibit galleries - and I don’t mean off to the side in an adjunct space. One exited a gallery space ready to enter another gallery space ( what one had already done several times before) when one suddenly was faced with an area of tables and chairs along with a barista -café like long counter table. This was set up so one could fix oneself hot beverages before choosing a seat. Around the space, this city museum of Salzburg had a smattering of wall displays about the Taste of Salzburg to reinforce the universal human hunger connection with the sense of place.

Salzburg City Museum self-serve cafe Courtesy Bill Reynolds

Even better one could have it set up as a place to reflect on what had come before in the exhibits that the visitors had just travelled through. Question cards on the tables could stimulate conversation as in “What did you think about…” or could pose as stimulants for what one may have missed as in “Did you see the… (it was hiding in the corner hanging from the ceiling)”.

If I recollect correctly, there was an option to go outside into a small courtyard. Using indoor/outdoor space juxtaposition can be effective to break up the instructional atmosphere and literally provide a breath of fresh air. Can you see a way of doing that at your site?

Why do we often only have a cafeteria of a large scale sequestered away down a hallway or in a back corner? Why not offer in addition, a smaller space interspersed with the learning or experiential environment as this example demonstrates? Provide simply a place to gather over a beverage and maybe enjoy a self-dispensing snack from a vending machine, but make sure it is an attractive place and not in a corridor. You can use the existing traffic flow but you need to create a SPACE to linger as in stools at a counter. Check out new health clinics and recently built academic campus buildings and you should see this in action. I certainly have. Investigating places involved in the field of well being like we are, in the interpretive profession, are worth observing to see how they handle the visitor experience.

Lo and behold I experienced this rest stop concept in the midst of wandering through galleries again- this time at the Museum of Glass in Passau, Germany. It felt like a mini-exhibit all on its own in keeping with the era of time being represented. What a gorgeous space. It was devoid of any interpretation - pity. It did not include any glass replicas. Opportunities lost.

Period rest area, Passau Museum of Glass Courtesy : Bill Reynolds

Now a word from our self-serving sponsor -ourselves, as a matter of fact. When we at EID review the visitor experience, we consider not only the mindset of the visitors but also their “bodyset” so that they are in an enjoyable state to fully absorb where they are at. Intellectual, physical, and social comfort is what we strive to capture. We want the visitor to maintain their entrance energy and enhance their dance when they visit heritage spaces.

This is why we emphasize the point that interpretive designers need to be involved upfront when interpretive spaces are being set up. It is not as easy when you have a space already, however we can coach you to reassess the existing situation and come up with ways to reconfigure for maximum impact. Contact us.

Although primarily acting as a marketing tool for a hidden away café, a “window’” technique can play multiple roles, firstly for example to provide an outlet for visitors to satisfy their physiological need of hunger and thirst. Have a viewing window right in the middle of the exhibit gallery wall (or as in the example shown, use a door in the middle of the wall) affording the visitor a sneak peek into the restaurant. Even better tantalize the visitors with a close-up of an array of delectable wares to stimulate the salivary glands.

Cafe pastry culture Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

This porthole preview concept can be applied In interpretive ways to stimulate visitor curiosity with a focused exhibit lookahead. Or in the case of a nature centre, portholes at different levels could provide views outside enticing exploration of specific concepts like interrelationships being spotlighted. Or in the case of an historic site visitor centre a glimpse of the start of a self-guiding trailhead could be the directed point of view. Or a multilayer building could make use of a periscope or subscope. Literally, as interpreters, we offer “windows on the world,“ and we need to grab many more opportunities to “frame” the experiential invitations we are setting up for our visitors.

Children’s gallery floor level entrance Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

One more example of using portholes to discovery was a floor-level passageway in a gallery in order to access a children’s exhibit corner. Brilliant concept.

Food and beverage breaks are one avenue to counteract “museum fatigue.” We all know we could do better. Various after thought attempts at providing benches (often hard and uncomfortable with no back) or the odd chair are not proper solutions. A previous blog post, Antidotes for Visitor Fatigue Syndrome Part 1 and 2 Part 1: Antidotes for Visitor Fatigue Syndrome — EID Coaching showed some solutions.

Staying on the rest concept, I was struck this trip by the lobby in Vienna’s Museum of Applied Art & Design, upon seeing the large overstuffed sofas ringing the outer walls of the atrium.

MAK Museum of Applied Art and Design lobby Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

They were funky and well-utilized by patrons, appealing to all ages I had to wait awhile to capture the sofa image with only one individual-usually family or school group hangout). Let’s get over the fallback position to use “standard institutional issue” furniture. Unless we are trying to impart an interpretive message of austere incarceration or some such.

This museum was a treasure trove- one example that happens to blend well with sitting, exhibitry and applied design was their decision to display the evolution of chair design through silhouetting. My photos I hope illustrate what they achieved through white sheeting, lighting and the creation of three long parallel corridors. Subtleties of design were definitely enhanced by focusing on the shadow world !

Clever silhouetting, MAK Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

MAK front /back shadow catching technique Courtesy: Bill Reynolds

Transferring this idea into a natural heritage encounter, I was reminded of a wonderful sensory activity called Share a Shadow from the Earthwalks: an alternative nature experience book produced through the Institute for Earth Education. Participants all have shadow catchers to capture immediate impressions that are delightful dimensions of a sunny day. Then they all create a gallery of sorts in the woods, prairie, desert -you name the habitat. It is a great way to reinforce how the earth is turning.

Do you see any applications for this technique at your site? Please let us know. If you desire a creative idea-bouncing zoom session on enhancing the visitor experience at your site, get in touch with us.

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