About Howard

I’ve been working in heritage for over 25 years. I’ve always worked “front of house” with people. I love telling stories, interacting with visitors and understanding why people engage with heritage. My projects have been wide-ranging and include:

• Interpretation planning – I use a simple Venn diagram (see below).
• Exhibitions – project managing and curation
• Programming (see Blackout further on below)
• Digital – virtual and onsite.
• Live interpretation – planning, training and actually doing it
• Reconstruction – where I started at Bustser Ancient Farm
• I blog an podcast as the Historier. It’s really quite good…

Public engagement combines three simply factors:

• The Collections – this can also be the stories you want to tell, the meta-narrative, key messages…

• The Audiences – are they an older generation, who use established social meia platforms, younger people who create i-movies at the drop of a hat, or parents who have no time in the day to even think about social media

• The Techniques of reaching them – text, audio, video, interaction, and so on. If you audience likes to spend time reading and getting under the skin of a subject, don’t use TikTok.

The same goes for any form of engagement – fundraising, publicity, interpertation. This is the simple Venn Diagram to plot this

I work with a range of people including designers and technical specialists, trustees, curators, librarians, archivists, students, educators and insurance professionals. For example, Blackout – I curated a digital projection event that told the stories of two police officers who photgraphed the Blitz in the CIty of London. It was a collaboration between the City of London Police, Tower Bridge and Guidlhall School of Music and Drama.

My very quick CV:

• Insurance Museum – Interim Director. Present
• UEA/Sainsbury’s Institue – Impact evlauator. Present
• Old Talbot House Foundation – Trustee. Present
• City of London Corporation. 2012 – 2021
  • Billingsgate Roman Hosue and Baths – Manager
  • Guidlhall Art Gallery and London’s Roman Amphitheatre – Public Programmes Manager
  • City of London Police Museum – Founder and Manager
  • Guidlhall Library – Public Programmes Manager
  • London Metropolitan Archives – Learning Officer
• Commuinity Brain – Project Manager for Seething Wells Hidden Heritage 2011
• National Trust – Visitor Experience and Intrerpretation Advisor. 2008 – 2011
• Churchill Cabinet War Rooms – Head of Learning. 2007 – 2008
• Kingston Museum and Archives – Learning Officer. 2002 – 2007
• Hampton Court Palace & Kensington Palace – Live Interpreter. 1998 – 2002
• Butser Anceint Farm – This is where it all started for me, being inspired by how the public became hooked with history and archaeology. 1995.

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