Slides from the 'Interpreter as Advocate' workshop which was run as part of the Interpretation Australia National Symposium, Launceston, TAS, Nov 2010

1. Interpretation Australia Symposium
November 2010
Presenter: Regan Forrest

2. Why are we here?
Some theoretical background
Barriers to visitor engagement
Taking a step out – learning from others
Stepping back in – using what we know already
Action Plan, discussion, follow-up reading

3. EVERYTHING you do is saying something to
your visitors . . .
Welcome
aWareness
Walking your talk

4. PERSONAL
SOCIO-
CULTURAL
PHYSICAL
Contextual model
of learning:
(Falk & Dierking 2000)

5. A word association exercise . . .
1. Not Maslow again!!!!! Where’s the door????
2. OK, yeah . . . let’s have another look
3. Maslow’s Pyramid? That’s not in Egypt is it?

7. Desperate for the loo 3yo twins acting upI’m lost
Sore feetDo I belong here? I’m hungry
I don’t ‘get’ it
Information
overload
INTERPRETIVE
“ENLIGHTENMENT”
This coffee’s bad I’m not buying
that cheap tat
Well I
never
knew that!
We’ve had
a nice day
Sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t
supposed to do that
What a rip-off!
Where is your
‘acceptability
threshold?’

8. Physical
Conceptual
Virtual
Do your services reflect visitor usage and
needs, or internal management structures?

9. Retail and catering
Experience matching marketing material
Security vs Welcoming
Does your institution walk its mission ‘talk’?

11. Right idea (maybe); wrong audience
Diverting energy from what audience values
(not always about doing MORE)
Are there well-meaning but misdirected efforts
in your organisation?

12. Consider what barriers to
audience engagement might
exist in your organisation:
1. Barriers
2. Inconsistencies
3. Blind spots
4. Misalignment
5. Superfluous
services

13. Retailers are experts at communicating – both
consciously and subconsciously – messages which
support the buying experience. Some shoppers are
novelty seekers, others like the reassurance of the
familiar. Retailers need to accommodate both of
these groups, or decide specifically to focus on a
market niche. Retailers are increasingly drawing
upon psychological and ethnographic research to
enable them to design retail spaces in a way that
maximises buying. Anything that makes the buying
experience more difficult than it should be is
removed or changed. Effort is expended in ways
that maximise sales.

14. Interpreters are experts at communicating – both
consciously and subconsciously – messages which
support the learning experience. Some visitors are
novelty seekers, others like the reassurance of the
familiar. Interpreters need to accommodate both of
these groups, or decide specifically to focus on an
audience niche. Interpreters are increasingly
drawing upon psychological and ethnographic
research to enable them to design interpretive
spaces in a way that maximises learning. Anything
that makes the learning experience more difficult
than it should be is removed or changed. Effort is
expended in ways that maximise engagement.

15. Customer focus at all levels
Staff empowerment at all levels
Leadership by example
Ongoing monitoring and improvement
Remembering and rewarding loyalty
Respectful, communicative and responsive
Customer is not necessarily always right, but
make sure they’re wrong with dignity
It’s not my fault, but it is my problem

16. Adaptation to new
media and social
networks
Capturing
imagination
(but beware the
deflation of
‘oversell’)
Balance between
listening and
LEADERSHIP

17. What would need
to change to
address your
institutional
barriers?
WHO IS YOUR
INTERNAL TARGET
AUDIENCE?

18. http://www.theinvisiblegorilla.com/videos.html

19. In praise of the
humble Post-it
note…
Patterns emerge
Voting, sorting
Depersonalises
ideas
More voices heard

20. An unfamiliar leisure activity with vaguely
negative assumptions
Assess the experience mindfully:
How do you start?
Do you know what you need to know when you need it?
Do you have ‘fitting in’ issues?
Are your preconceptions unwarranted
Take-home messages for your own institution?
Alternative – “accompany a fan”

21. Change permission structures
Bridge silos
Signal to noise: (Disney toilets example)
Walk a mile in my shoes

22. 1. Challenge (Message)
2. Audience
3. Communication Plan
How could you apply interpretive techniques to
create change in your organisation?

23. Influence beyond a
position on an
organisational chart
Challenge
permission
structures
The power to be
brave; to fail; to
succeed

24. How ideas gain
momentum
Mavens,
Connectors,
Salesmen
“Choice
architecture”

25. Developing
experience-based
business models
New relationships
with audiences
Beyond
demographics to
visitor motivation

26. Full of practical tips
Case studies and
examples of visitor
participation (easily
adapted to other
scenarios)

27. Inspiring case study
Journey from vision
to reality
Good example of
walking the talk

28. Creative business
models
Assessing your
product / experience
mix – does it match
audience
expectations
Speaks the
language of
business

29. email: regan@reganforrest.com
blog: http://reganforrest.com
twitter: @interactivate