> Dear Geoff,
> You are right absolutely right about "the other's" being hard work (telling
> the story), and I can't agree at all with your opinion that people "just
> aren't too impressed" by the rusty latrine stuff.
>

i think we're going cross-purposes here - it's almost like you're turning your
stuff into treasures by putting it all in context and telling the story of how
the stuff was found, what it means, etc. - i'm talking about just putting a
dirty old pot up on a pedestal (or in a display case), shining a spotlight on it
and then wondering why it doesn't draw the same audiences as king tut... these
things can be "treasured" if someone does the hard work of telling it properly -
but just calling it a "treasure" ain't necessarily going to make people believe
(something about the emperor's new clothes, eh?)

> In my experience - which is very different from yours - a beautiful, exciting
> treasures event, and an educational and thought provoking historical exhibit
> can be one and the same, without ever misleading anyone. Humans, finding all
> aspects of the human experience absolutely fascinating, want to explore
> everything from the gutter to the glamorous.
>
> As I said, like you my opinions are relative to my experiences. I work as a
> private sector historic shipwreck professional. My first career was in
> special events promotions. For a few years two partners and I produced a
> popular exhibit/event that toured the United States. Titled "Lost Galleon
> Treasures" it featured treasures and artifacts from six famous shipwrecks
> dating from the 1600's to the 1900's. Some of the treasures and artifacts
> were on loan to us for display only and some were for sale.
>
> Our exhibit cases were filled not only with silver and gold treasures, but
> with broken glass treasures, slave artifact treasures, navigational
> treasures, twisted lead treasures, and musket shot treasures of varying
> calibers. We invested a lot of time and money researching artifacts and
> producing graphics with interesting and factual explanations.
>
> Going back to the presentation point: Our advertising was romantic - and
> people came. TV news crews covered the event because they could shoot "sexy"
> footage. That footage brought more people. Our exhibit presentation was
> romantic and educational. Viewers complimented us regularly on the fact that
> we had so many interesting and unusual artifacts, and on the informative
> presentation. Guests did read the signs, and talked about history, and
> archaeology, and numismatics, and many other interesting things. Not only did
> they learn a lot from us, we learned a lot from them. It was typical to be
> told that a viewer's favorite aspect of the show was the fascinating display
> of every-day living type artifacts. From advertising to presentation, it was
> the mix of ordinary, unique, and extraordinary that made it a success with
> the public.
>
> During the tours we gave slide/lecture presentations for thousands of
> students at hundreds of schools, for free. It was great PR for the show, and
> it was a great experience for the students and for us. We spoke at affluent
> schools, middle income schools, and needy low income schools (now these are
> places where those volunteer hours being discussed could really make an
> impact. Imagine giving a workshop for kids who can't go outside to play after
> school because it is too dangerous). The presentations touched on survey
> electronics, diving technology, Colonial Spain and Colonial Spain's
> economics, environmental responsibility, archival research, discovering
> history, budgeting, artifact data recording, baselines, triangulation,
> conservation and curation, self control, self confidence, and team work. Oh
> yes, there were also some pictures of silver coins and gold bars and chains,
> some true life drama and suspense, and some funny stories. Perhaps in the end
> I can best make make my over-all point by copying one sentence of one letter
> from one child:
> “I learned so much today I could explode...” (Lindsey)
>
> Carol


geoff carver
http://home.t-online.de/home/gcarver/
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