Attendant's View Blog and Cartoons

Museum Selfie Day - fantastic (funny) advice

20/1/2016

As today is Museum Selfie Day, it’s a good time to share once again the excellent Royal Ontario Museum’s guide to selfie taking.

Couple of highlights below to show what’s in store, and the full article is in the link to the right!

Make sure you also check out #museumselfie tag on social media.

ROM Selfie Guide

Tweets by @MuseumSelfieDay

New vs. Old

14/11/2015

I doubt that when using her own clothing to illustrate a part of the session, the education lady expected to get 'zinged' by a child of about 6.

When working with children, always think for a second "How could they respond to this in a way which is rude, silly, bewildering or insulting?" Then accept that there are many things they will say which you will never be able to mentally prepare for, and learn how to maintain a pleasant but firm demeanor no matter what happens.

Few things can shake your soul like a child of six staring you straight in the face, with the clear conviction that they purposefully and maliciously intend to derail your entire education or creative session. And the whimpering knowledge that one way or another, they will succeed.

It's that time of year - a Halloween Throwback Thursday

29/10/2015

Originally seen here.

Most Haunted turned up and filmed at the venue. And although it did generate a lot of extra income from visitors, it also bought us some rather... special visitors.

Dead butlers rarely perform on cue.

Originally seen here.

Two of the staff used to play a game while working the galleries, amusing themselves by making up ghost stories.

One of them was overheard, and the woman thought they were placating her when they explained it was made up.

Later, it ended up in print as a real legend, in a book for sale in the gift shop.

Originally seen here

And old building will creak, crack, and have drafts in it.

One of the leaded window panes was busted, and caused quite a few people to report a cold spot in the bedroom.

It was genuinely a spot that was cold - no ghostly activity related. Really. We weren't "trying to deter ghost hunters". It was just a broken window!

Urgent Security Notice to all Museums & Archives

19/10/2015

Theft risk high, so Arts Council offer no-nonsense blunt advice.

Follow link, or, in brief:

The National Crime Agency are aware of an imminent threat of theft of collections across the UK. They are aware of a group who have made reconnaissance visits to a number of museums and other venues across the UK. It is thought that smaller, more portable items will be targeted rather than items like large paintings.

William Brown, National Security Adviser for the Arts Council then offered this advice via email:

All venues are asked to ensure that collections are held in facilities offering the best available defence against any attack.
Intruder and case alarms should be used correctly and any alarm trigger treated with professionalism and suspicion ensuring all causes are identified.
CCTV systems used should be purged to ensure they are at their optimum performance and good quality images recorded.
Staff are advised to be extra vigilant to visitors paying undue attention to collections and ensure all cases are maintained and frequently cleaned to ensure forensic evidence is possible.
The practice of checks on the displays of all collections at opening, lunch and closing should be carried out for the foreseeable future.
As dark evenings and nights approach rapidly it is a good time to ensure outside lighting is operating and the external aspects of museum buildings checked regularly.
In the event of any cause for alarm or an immediate suspicion of people around your venue please do not hesitate to ring 999 and advise the Police of your immediate concerns.
Please ensure any information/intelligence is shared with secure circulating and collating networks.

The advice may seem obvious, but we can get complacent in our habits and checks.

And it can happen anywhere, as a friend at the end of the working day recently spotted a carefully unbolted and propped patio window inside the venue they work at, presumably by someone planning to return later to try and carefully open it from the outside.

For many, especially smaller, local museums, theft and damage from it can be an expensive issue to put right when funds are already tight, so vigilance from the start is the biggest step.

Positive Museum Thoughts!

6/8/2015

Your venue is busy busy right now with kids and tourists (at least, I hope so, and I hope they spend some pennies there too) so make sure you keep the good times with you whenever you start to grit your teeth and marvel at the depth of human ignorance!

Sometimes small things happen which remind you why you love working in the museum and heritage sector, sometimes a situation comes out better than you expect, and sometimes... well, sometimes you're given a reason to hide a smile. On the days when a football is being kicked about in the art gallery, or you think all of the signage has turned invisible, take a second to hark back, and put your game face on with a glow in your heart.

Find more real life cartoon and observations about museums, galleries and heritage work here: www.attendantsview.com

Find more real life cartoon and observations about museums, galleries and heritage work here: www.attendantsview.com

Find more real life cartoon and observations about museums, galleries and heritage work here: www.attendantsview.com

Copy and paste email replies - be human, get it right.

31/7/2015

If your venue uses standard replies to written queries, how much have you thought about their use?

Museums, galleries and heritage sites get a lot of the same queries again and again; to check basic details, asking for favours and complaints from people you’ll never be able to make happy.

A set of copy and paste responses save a lot of time and effort, especially if your emails are answered (as is increasingly the case) by staff performing multiple functions. However, their use should be carefully thought about, with the tone, and how and when they are used.

Period Meat

19/6/2015

No one ever tells you that period costume, especially if you get knee high fitted boots and a codpiece, is a terrifying magnet for being mauled by female tourists. (These are the same two gleeful ladies, and the dashing Charles, from the Tudors on Tour.)

Spoilers!

23/5/2015

In case you missed it, this was the cartoon hidden in my review of Hampton Court Tudors on Tour.

Handy Gallery Attendant Tip: Blu Tack

13/5/2015

"My ring just rolled under that large cabinet"
"This label fell off the wall"
"There's a display stand which keeps falling over"
"My walkie talkie knob won't stay on one frequency"
"Can you pop these posters up?"
"People keep looking through the keyhole to the new art gallery we're setting up."

Handy Gallery Attendant Tip #31

Always have a lump of Blu Tack (or whatever brand of sticky, tacky putty you prefer or your budget allows) handy about your person.

Also useful for shaping small comedy animals and leaving them for co-workers to find and then sculpt into new shapes.

Eager Keen!

13/1/2015

A toddler who has grasped the idea that Christmas means ripping wrapping paper off of boxes, came into his own private heaven when faced with a Christmas tree piled high with gifts. The presents were all empty boxes wrapped for display, but when your priority is just ripping paper, that's no matter!