It’s May, and that means Museums Month. In what was almost a spiteful act of timing, the Museums and Heritage Show in London and the American Alliance of Museums Conference (this year in New Orleans) ran almost consecutively, placing a logistical and energy strain on those doughty UK companies attending – and sometimes exhibiting – at both. At the DIT, we took the pragmatic option of having a stand at MHS, to host our overseas delegates and colleagues but restricting our AAM engagement to organising a ” Meet The Brits” reception.
The MHS was a two day blur of arranged meetings, encounters with old chums and endless shooing away of people using our stand for breakfast/lunch/power nap. Hats off to Anna Preedy and her team for another excellent show…only another 51 weeks until the next one.
On the day before MHS, Experience UK organised a conference called Connecting Culture, which featured an array of speakers from the museum and attractions worlds, worlds which are increasingly becoming intertwined. I had the pleasure of chairing the event, and seeing the launch of the research we commissioned from MuseumInsider on European museum projects coming up over the next decade. The DIT’s crack team of Experience Economy experts (hi, Rozmin) will shortly be joined by Emily Smith, who has been tasked with doing a deep dive into the research and identifying the most likely opportunities for UK museum supply companies. Welcome aboard, Emily.
No sooner did MHS end than AAM began. I had never been to New Orleans and two days was not enough to do it justice. But it did seem to be a bizarre mix of the elegant and the crass. A streetcar ride through the Garden District to the leafy environs of Tulane University was in sharp contrast to a wander along Bourbon Street and the assortment of tourist-trapped inebriates. The US has, in general, a somewhat Puritanical attitude towards drinking and it’s something of a culture shock to see so many Americans indulging – and at all hours of the day and night. Always keen to fit in, we organised a reception on the night before the Conference to get British delegates to meet potential US clients and partners. Thanks to the redoubtable Dean Phelus, the American side turned out in force, and it was great that AAM President Laura Lott made time to be there. Just like at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 the Brits were hopelessly outnumbered but fought valiantly. And in true DIT style, I received an email from the venue (Napoleon House) the following morning to say that the credit card they had on file for me had expired and could I please come and pay the bill. Embarrassed, I went back and said to the lady who greeted me “I’m here to see a gentleman called Alex Bannerman”. She replied “I’m Alex”.
The reception appeared to be a great success, with a real buzz in evidence. A straw poll of the Brits attending suggested that this kind of networking before the show starts is the ideal way of making some introductions and creating some impetus for the coming days. I’m taking bookings for San Francisco now. And to remind me that the experience economy comes in many shapes and forms, On my way back to the hotel after the reception, I encountered a wily entrepreneur seductively muttering “Cemetery Tours – fun for all the family”
