It’s fantastic fun to go behind the scenes at any museum, and delegates at the latest Trails TextWorkshop had plenty of chances to do so at the Natural History Museum last week. We were hosted for the day in the inner sanctum of the Board Room with its beautiful stained glass windows, and also had a personal tour of the new Treasures gallery from project manager Meg Macdonald, who revealed some of the secrets of the display’s success.
We wrote trails relating to two of the museum’s object-packed galleries and generally enjoyed ourselves – here is some of the feedback:
‘The whole day was spot-on from start to finish! It exceeded my expectations. Thank you so much. This has been so inspiring – one of the best workshops I’ve attended.’
‘My main learning outcome is that I can go ahead and write my first trail!’
‘I enjoyed all of it, a brilliant atmosphere. An excellent learning day.’
‘The action I will take is to write less, but make every word count.’
‘I really enjoyed working with others on our own trail. I will remember to be more focused on and not waffle on when doing trail text.’
‘My main learning outcome is that it’s really important to get the message right first – and to pilot trails.’
‘I enjoyed not having to brainstorm on a flipchart at the beginning, like I have at every other course I’ve ever been to!’
‘The day met my expectations. So many tips, and the challenge at the end made me think in a very different way. It was really helpful and also great fun.’