Hard to tell, hard to sellSpring workshop in ChristchurchSeptember 2012

2 Home and away - museum conferences - Ashley E Remer

3 NAI Conference impressions - inspiration, inquiry, and immersion - Michelle Edge

5 Getting to know the locals - Jamie Bell, Auckland Zoo and Oli du Bern, Wellington Zoo

6 Shooting straight from the heart- the do’s and don’ts of working with iwi - Mandy Home

7 Mobile devices as interpretive mediums - Scott Elliffe

8 The Denniston Rose Trail iapp - Penny McIntosh

9 The story of the stories of our national parks - Sarah Mankelow and Siobhan File

10 Hard to tell, hard to sell - INNZ spring workshop and AGM

A word from our presidentSpirit of cooperation - International Memorandum of Understanding

This year has seen the development of an International Memorandum of Understanding for Heritage Interpretation.

The document was developed by a group of European interpreters, spearheaded by Michael Glen, Chairperson of Interpret Europe.  It has also received input and support from National Association for Interpretation (US), Interpretation Canada, INNZ, IAA, IAP Spain, and Portugal’s interpretation association.

The idea is to formalise our mutual support for one another and hopefully encourage us all to develop stronger networking links.

INNZ has become a signatory to this MOU, and we have embraced the idea of increased international networking by sending Michelle Edge to the NAI International conference in Hawai’i, and Ashley Remer to the Museums and the Web conference in California.

Today’s technology allows us to discuss issues, ask questions, and share stories with interpreters all over the world through social media tools like Facebook and blogging. There has been increased international networking happening as a result, and we encourage all our members to engage with these networks.

Robinne Weiss

Connect with us on Facebook

Contribute to our blog www.interpretationnetwork.wordpress.com

Visit us online www.innz.net.nz

Contact us

President: Robinne Weiss robinne@interptech.com

Secretary: Oli du Bern secretary@innz.net.nz

Editor: Sarah Mankelow smankelow@gmail.com

INNZ Insights is published bi-annually, in Winter and Spring.

The theme of this edition is ‘Latest trends and conferences’

Layout: Jan Ramp - Snapper Graphics Ltd

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Ashley E Remer

April is the conferencing month, and 2012 was my second year of piggy-backed conferences. This year I went to Museums and the Web (MW2012) in San Diego, with only two days recovery time before Museums Aotearoa conference in Wellington. Exhausting yet exciting.

The MW2012 was all things museum geek; there were QR codes, twitter dresses (well just the one, but it was pretty cool), augmented realities, 3 and 4D experiences, CMS, SEO and other acronyms.

San Diego put on her prettiest face for our tour of several museums in Balboa Park, which is an extraordinary achievement from a collaboration and management perspective. Terrific lunch with a park ranger in the Air and Space Museum, who admitted when pressed, that they do find a dead body in the park’s 1200 acres (486 hectares) about once a month. With over 13 million visitors per year to an area that holds 15 museums, performing arts venues, gardens and the San Diego Zoo, it makes sense that you would lose a few.

So what’s hot and trendy at the moment? Whatever you can afford. The balancing act continues between low and high tech for interp both inside and outside. Social

media seems to be presenting the biggest learning curve. The best advice I got was to use each outlet only for what it does best- don’t try to make Facebook a platform for social change, use twitter to have a conversation, pin it if you own it, etc.

In Wellington, the MA theme was collaboration and no one had a bad word to say about it. Yes they did admit it can be a difficult task to negotiate and compromise,

Home and awayMuseums and the Web 2012 conference (San Diego, CA USA) and Museums Aotearoa conference (Wellington, NZ)

Lunch at the Air and Space Museum beneath satellites, rockets and helicopters. Photo A. Remer.

Great low-tech crowd-sourced interpretation - a chalkboard. Photo A. Remer.

but most agreed that the outcomes can be extremely rewarding. Several terrific examples of collaborative projects from Kaitaia to Christchurch were highlighted and quite inspirational.

Major props to Coralie Winn of Gap Filler in Christchurch for her stand on reinterpreting a post-quake city and the wonderful work that comes from embracing what is, and not what was, and cannot be reclaimed.

Umberto Crenca, keynote for the last day of the conference, gave a fun presentation on his organization, AS220, in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. For going on four decades, they have done and do amazing things for their community—saving buildings, saving street kids, saving artists, and giving them a wonderful space to be creative without judgment. But it was Crenca’s throwaway line that gave everyone the most pause for thought - that everyone at AS220 is on the same salary. This was both fascinating and horrifying; a real finger in the eye of the class system and ivory tower elitism of many museum folk. I loved it. A beautiful reminder that having a truly positive and inspiration mission that everyone believes in transcends economic crises, and the director should always be willing to clean the toilets if it needs to be done.

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For me, Hawai’i (The Big Island) was a mix of the familiar and strange. The vast volcanic landscapes and the rich marine life were wonderfully surreal. The environmental and cultural issues were in many cases painfully similar to ours in Aotearoa.

Keynote speaker Masanora Shintani showed some international examples of how conservation could replace commerce. He claimed tourists can learn different values and he lauded the “don’t sell the butterfly, show the butterfly” approach to ecotourism.

Presentations on media and social media were heavily patronised. There was proof that you can, if you’re very clever, interpret by twitter. Allison Price from Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, encouraged us to “seek to tell your visitors something Wikipedia can’t.” A Smithsonian staff member spoke of their moves to introduce ipads for their teen docents to use as interpretation tools, though they first required them to identify effective ways to use them.

Two inspiring presentations for me both involved outreach projects. One was a small trial programme to get teen parents and their young children into, and comfortable with visiting, local cultural institutions. Life changing stuff! Another impressive project used ambassadors, “movers and shakers” to raise awareness and interpret a new national park (Papahanaumokua kea Ahahui Alaka’i), a place almost unpronounceable and inaccessible to most. A workshop on inquiry-based interpretation was also influential: it used the ‘interpreter as facilitator’ approach.

The full day ‘mobile labs’ were immersive experiences at cultural heritage sites. These were more than just field trips, as we debriefed and evaluated the experience afterwards.

Impressions: inspiration, inquiry, and immersionThe National Association for Interpretation Conference, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, May 8-12, 2012 Michelle Edge, Auckland Regional Council

Interpreter Charles Hua dressed in ceremonial costume (at Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park)

Wooden images watch over a rebuilt temple and mausoleum, Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park

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Out of conference interp experiences

Guiding appears to be a valued and an endorsed visitor service in Hawaiian national parks; rangers were visible and engaging with visitors.

Coming from Auckland I was especially interested in how the volcanic landscape would be interpreted. The signs and displays at The Jagger Museum and Kilueau Visitor Centre were a little underwhelming, very ‘text book’ and heavily ‘scienced’. There was limited human history amongst the displays and many exhibits looked out of date.

Two of my most memorable experiences were interactions with wildlife. I loved snorkelling amongst bright and beautiful fish in Kealakeua Bay. This is the bay where Captain Cook was murdered; now it’s protected as a marine reserve. I think this experience would’ve converted almost anyone to the value of marine reserves.

There was unease that our Hawaiian guides on several occasions were acting as interpreters (officially called Cultural Advisors) but were employees of the large resort hotels. Clearly many sites have been lost or damaged as resorts and golf courses swallow up coastal land.

I admired the passion of the few younger delegates and they were certainly tuned into using new technology and contemporary methods. I found those working in zoos and aquariums to be most critical or questioning of their own practice, and most willing to try new programmes and approaches. Monterey Aquarium, for example, trains their security staff as interpreters.

There were no eureka moments for me at this conference, but there were nuggets of wisdom and reminders to stay true and keep going. For me the real benefits were seeing and hearing what others are doing, comparing notes and networking with those with common interests.

The highlights of my trip were:

• speakingthesamelanguage(ofinterpretation)despite the diverse accents

• havingamantaraysomersaultingbelowme…brushing past within millimetres of my body!

• wearingaleialmosteveryday–thescentofplumeria wafting around you as you go about your day was wonderful.

•watchingakahuna(inthis case a middle aged male of stature) doing the most graceful breath-taking hula ever!

Mahalo !

Signs built to resist volcanic steam and fumes overlook Kilauea Crater, Volcanoes National Park.

Rob Pacheco introduces delegates to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

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the ‘tried and true’ and the ‘new and experimental’, all with the Wellington Zoo flavour.

Likewise, Auckland Zoo recently opened Te Wao Nui. The largest development in Auckland Zoo’s history, Te Wao Nui was developed to focus on New Zealand’s flora, fauna and culture. We have long been involved in conservation work with native species in situ, but the Zoo’s collection has tended to focus more on exotic animals. Te Wao Nui has given us an opportunity to celebrate our natives and bring their plight to the fore of visitor consciousness.

In order to do this, we embraced international trends and gave them a uniquely ‘kiwi’ flavour. Amongst

a focus on technology, theming, art and story, the interpretation placed a strong emphasis on the Māori cultural narrative. Collaboration with artists, iwi representatives and researchers enabled us to approach culture in a way that embraced zoo goals, and celebrated Māori stories, diversity and connection to the natural world.

Why the focus on native animal experiences at the moment? With the New Zealand population now 80% urbanised, zoos have an opportunity to reconnect people with nature, and nothing is more relevant to our visitors than engaging with the nature in their own backyard. Zoos are places where issues about nature and the environment are raised and discussed. Interpretation plays a crucial role in setting context, guiding the development of visitor experiences and most importantly engaging our audiences in ‘the story’.

Getting to know the localsZoo trends here and overseas Jamie Bell, Auckland Zoo and Oli du Bern, Wellington ZooTrends in zoo interpretation at home tend to parallel what is happening globally. In a 2010 report from Oregon Coast Aquarium, titled ‘Trends in Zoo and Aquarium Exhibit Interpretation’, it states that current trends;

“include a focus on multiple audiences, cultural interpretation, the use of storytelling as a technique, and having exhibits staffed with interpreters. Aquarium and zoo exhibits are becoming much more interactive, using hands-on experiences and animal encounters. We are shifting to a more issues-based approach to content and are discussing conservation at the ecosystem level. “

Where we differ from international zoos is not how we are interpreting, but rather in what we are interpreting. If you look at New Zealand zoos, it is clear that each has their own focus and strength in particular areas; however we all want to get to know the locals better.

In the not too distant future Wellington Zoo will start development of the ‘Meet the Locals’ precinct. This purpose-built experience for visitors and our animals that showcases New Zealand (wildlife, culture and industry), not how we used to be, but how we are now and where we hope to be in the future.

Interpretive planning was integrated from the very start of the project. That in itself is a relatively new concept if we use the zoo’s more than 100-year history as a reference. The aim is to get our visitors involved through a multi-layered experience. It will be a combination of

Wellington Zoo staff getting up close with zoo visitors . Photo supplied by Wellington Zoo.

Kaka and Tane Mahuta – nature and culture blend within the Te Wao Nui exhibit. Photo supplied by Auckland Zoo.

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Do work with us, you have expectations and so do we. But at the end of the day they are our stories.

Do get in touch early. Give yourself plenty of time as we have to go grovel to our kaumatua. Te Ana Rock Art Centre is a great example - it was eight years in the making but we did it right.

Don’t say dumb things like “I didn’t know you had a marae here?” We’ve only moved 4 km from the beach!

Don’t take Māori place names literally. You can’t take each word and translate it separately and expect to know the meaning. It’s a descriptive sentence as a whole.

Do be prepared to pay us for our time and our knowledge. Keep your baubles and blankets, we’ve had enough. If you get paid to do the work, we expect the same.

“Do think you are going to enjoy the

experience”

Do remember that some of the marae might not have enough confidence to do the work, so much has been lost. A lot of our young ones have not walked the trails.

Be prepared for questions. Some of the knowledge is held with the kaumatua and there will be questions. “What does this pakeha want to know that for? Why should I tell them?

Do understand, we are vague because of our loss. One of our tipuna, his bones were found in 1884, lastseenonthebackofadray–“finder’skeepers”.

This one’s for museums! if I come to look at taonga, DO take it out of the case. To touch it, to feel it, to know it because it’s a part of me.

Be prepared for the tantrums. My dad is the best dummy-spitter.

Do think you are going to enjoy the experience, because you will be amazed at what you will learn.

Be prepared for the giving. We have a rich and vibrant history and we love to share it if we are approached in the right way.

So work on the right way.

Kaikaranga at Te Ana Rock Art Centre – it was important to choose the right woman to perform the karanga to welcome all visitors to the centre. Photo supplied by Te Ana Rock Art Centre.

Shooting straight from the heartDo’s and Don’ts of working with iwiMandy Home; Te Arowhenua Rūnanga

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Against all these compelling features what are the negatives?

• Therealityisthedeviceisnotall-inclusivei.e.noteveryone has one.

• ThereisagreateravailabilityofAppsoniPhonesthan Android device Smartphones and within Android devices there are varying levels of reliability in supporting Apps.

• Wirelessconnectivityandreliabilitycanvarymarkedly from site to site.

• GPStechnologyfavoursoutdooroverindoorattractions at present.

• Thereisagreaterrelianceonmarketingi.e.prospective users need to be both aware of your App and able to find and download it on the iTunes (iPhone) and Google (Android) markets.

The development of Apps in interpretation is in its infancy. There is little research to substantiate their effectiveness in visitor attractions. In one user study, interpretation professionals evaluated a range of wireless digital devices in live ‘field’ research. Despite some reservations at trial start, all participants were either positive or very positive about the devices at trial end, particularly the Smartphone (Norwich Boards Authority 2010).

There is also great debate over the devices’ efficacy as a social medium (an essential element of successful interpretation). This subject is worthy of separate investigation.

There are a number of positives with Smartphones as interpretive mediums:

• Theyarealreadyinthehandsofvisitors(Smartphone penetration in NZ is currently at 44% (Google May 2012) and growing fast (55% year-on-year growth).

• ThroughGPSfunctionality,theyprovidetriggeredpoints of interest (POIs) and allow for multiple themed tours aimed at different market segments.

• Theyofferimmediatecontentupdatestoreflectsite changes (e.g. new safety messages) and new events and programmes.

• Theycanprovideinteractivecontent(e.g.games,treasure hunts) offering greater visitor engagement.

• Throughanalytics,theyoffertheopportunitytotrackvisitor movements on site.

• Throughthirdpartyadvertisingthereisopportunityto generate revenue e.g. as you walk past a café on a town walking tour you are offered (via triggered activation) a special cake and coffee deal.

Smartphones (essentially compact mobile computing devices) have fundamentally changed the way we live our daily lives. Whether it’s locating a business, making a purchase or letting a client know we’ll be late for a meeting, the device has become almost indispensable.

Smartphones also look set to change the face of interpretation through Apps (downloadable programmes) that provide a way for sites to deliver customised content direct to visitors.

Mobile devices as interpretive mediumsScott Elliffe; Living History NZ

STQRY @ Wellington Zoo

STQRY uses QR codes to provide a call-to-action and a virtual gateway to stories behind the scene.

Through smartphones, visitors can save it to look at later, instantly share it with their friends through social media, or even make an online donation.

It also reaches audiences that are usually hard to engage: foreign visitors receive content translated into their native language; younger audiences are drawn to

use trendy and familiar technology.

Find out about Wellington Zoo’s experience with STQRY on the INNZ blog interpretationnetwork.wordpress.com or at www.STQRY.com

Wellington Zoo promotes the use of STQRY through a front-of-house sign that encourages visitors to engage with QR codes.

Denniston Rose Trail app (see next page). Supplied by DOC.

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A few months have passed since our Denniston Rose iApp went live and I can safely say I am glad it’s finished! It was a very intense process but hey our first iTunes review earned us five stars!

The app is based on the Denniston Rose Trail booklet and working with author Jenny Pattrick was fantastic. Each of the 17 stops along this interactive trail guide

start with Jenny reading an extract from her book. Using fictional characters to tell real history was a new approach that some people were not that happy about, but now they’ve seen the booklet and iApp they love it! While the characters telling the story at each stop are fictional, we used real historic photos and video footage to keep it authentic.

1 Before you start, have a look at existing apps in the market place; get a feel for what works and what doesn’t.

2 Plan each trail stop well with the different themes and get a good picture of what source material you have; oral histories, photos and where the gaps are. I was lucky to have Jackie Breen, DOC TSO historic on board and her knowledge and research skills were invaluable.

3 Keep it simple and intuitive! We brainstormed lots of ideas with Grant Baxter the developer. It was easy to come up with lots of ‘gimmicks’ but if it didn’t add to the experience, it got ditched.

4 Use a great graphic designer; we were lucky that we had in-house talent with Hannah Soult. Again we looked around at other Apps for designs ideas.

5 Test, test and test again. We tested it on a wide rangeofpeople–old,young,computersavvy,computer illiterates, people who knew the area, people who didn’t. We learnt the most from people who hadn’t used iPads before - that’s when we learned what was intuitive, what was easy to pick up, when buttons were in the wrong place etc.

6 Finally, the App was developed in partnership with University of Otago. It was their first time developing a commercial app too, and it was a great creative process to learn alongside each other. But for others considering venturing into this area for the first time I would recommend to go with a professional company with a proven track record.

I love what the iApp adds to interpretation at Denniston. People can download the app before they visit, use it, and then take it back home with them and share it with their friends. Visitors can pick and choose what they want to see and the video clips bring the place to life. Ithasmuchlowerenvironmentalimpactsthanasign–there are no structures going into the ground.

Will it replace the traditional on site interpretation panel? No it wouldn’t, but it certainly adds to it.

Screen shots from the Denniston Rose Trail app. Supplied by DOC.

Visitors explore the mag Q wagons at the top of the Denniston incline; photo by Peter Robertson.

The Denniston Rose Trail iAppPenny McIntosh; Department of Conservation

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10The stories of ‘the story of national parks’Siobhan File and Sarah Mankelow This year is the 125th anniversary of Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku, Pataatai) gifting Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe mountain peaks to the people of New Zealand. It’s the 60th anniversary of the National Parks Act, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year. During Conservation Week 2012 the Department of Conservation will celebrate these anniversaries. This prompted us to pull out a few old national park handbooks from the bookshelf and reflect on how the “story-telling” side of park management has changed.

Of course, storytelling started in our parks long before the idea of a park existed. The first stories were told around campfires, as tangata whenua moved through thelandscape.Koreropurakau–tellingtraditionalstories; matauranga - handing down knowledge and ahikaroa: keeping cooking fires burningontheland–thesewere traditions that kept the stories alive in the places that we now call national parks.

Our first park rangers played an important role as story-tellers. Appointed to Arthur’s Pass National Park in 1950 as one of the first full-time professional rangers in the country, Ray Cleland shared his passion for nature with park visitors by giving evening talks.

This was the field of interpretation in its infancy. Tongariro National Park hosted its first summer programme in 1962. By the early 1970s nearly all of our national parks were running programmes.

The rise of park handbooks quickly followed. ‘The Story of .....’ handbooks were created in the 1970s and updated into the 80s.

At around 175 pages each, they were full of photos, historical quotes, poems, plant names, geographical data, myths, and everything about everything to do with the park. On the inside of the cover, they say, ‘To find out more, we hope you will visit the Park frequently to exploreforyourself….TheParkisYours’.

Over the years, these books became booklets, and these booklets became brochures.

Today many of the parks’ stories are told on the web, and not just by the Department of Conservation. Businesses involved with parks share their stories online, and so do park visitors. Now we have personal blogs, photo galleries, and Facebook pages about national parks.

STORYTELLING started by the campfire, shared amongst family. Pictographs on cave walls, and later, written language allowed us to share stories with

people we had never met. The radio enabled storytelling to bridge

great distances in real time. TV brought us moving pictures. The

internet, mobile devices and social networking

enabled all of us to share our stories with a global

audience.

But while we chase the latest trends, it’s easy to forget that the

first storytelling methods are still as relevant and as powerful today as

they were yesterday.

Print is not dead. Pens and paper flourish. Not everyone has access to the web or owns a Smartphone. Personal, one-on-one storytelling is still the most powerful tool there is.

And that’s the nub. Each of these methods is only the tool. The use of each must be assessed by its reach, its audience and its effectiveness. But with each of them, the story is still the core. Reflect on the story of our national parks this Conservation Week by being part of it. Whether you grab a brochure, attend an event, readablogorpickupanoldhandbook–thepointofthestoryisbepartofit–theseparksareyours!

Park rangers leading guided walks are a summer holiday programme tradition. Photo DOC.

The ‘The story of .... ‘ handbooks

were popular during the 1980s Photo S File, DOC.

“... the first storytelling methods are still

as relevant and as powerful as they

were yesterday.”

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Hard to tell, hard to sellBring your happy face to our annual workshop!

There are some stories that are hard to write or talk about. This could be because they are about tragedy, so close to home that emotions are raw. As interpreters we may worry about the impact of sharing them. Some stories are not our stories to tell, even if we have permission. We are anxious; what if I tell it wrong? What if I don’t do it justice? Or they could be stories that somedon’twanttold–storiesofshame.

Otherstoriesmaybehardtosell–the‘benefitsof1080’ is one that immediately springs to mind! Or climatechange–isitreallyreal?Safetyisanother‘hardto sell’ that continues to challenge us all.

INNZ is excited to introduce, discuss and explore some great examples of how to tell these kinds of stories at our next annual workshop in Christchurch this coming September. Our venue is the Horticultural Society building in beautiful Hagley Park. Saturday morning will be a line-up of guest speakers sharing their case studies of “hard to tell, hard to sell” stories. Saturday afternoon we’ll get a behind-the-scenes account of the earthquake exhibition and a tour of “greening the rubble” sites. Sunday will include our AGM and a practical workshop on using video to tell difficult stories.

We top off the workshop with a rapid-fire pecha kucha session. This is your chance to present your latest fun idea or project, or raise interpretive questions for us to think about.

Register online at www.innz.net.nz or email secretary@innz.net.nz for more information.

Writing for the web workshops

INNZ and National Services are offering a ‘writing for the web’ workshop, especially for interpreters! Four locations around the country in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Dates and venues to be confirmed shortly; check www.innz.net.nz for details.

Cross cultural interpretation workshop

A joint NAI / INNZ offering harnessing the expertise of master trainer Gail Richards of Hawaii, and story-teller Joe Harawira.

Two venues - Auckland and Christchurch - in late November and early December. Exact dates and venues to be confirmed shortly; check www.innz.net.nz for details.

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