Association for Heritage and Interpretation Conference 2018 - NovaDura

‘Provoking Conversations’ and ‘It’s good to talk’

These were the taglines linked to the 2018 Association for Heritage and Interpretation conference (AHI), held in Chester.

As the taglines suggest, the main aim was to get people talking; from interpreters and designers, to the visitors who read the wayfinding and interpretation projects.

The conference wanted heritage interpreters and their audience to talk to each other; about places, heritage, landscapes, the issues, their own memories – to generate conversations, engagement and interaction.

And talk we did!

This was our first AHI conference and boy was there a lot of talking involved.  There were no less than 18 speakers, spread over two days, from diverse areas such as; historians, design houses, National Parks, museums, zoos, film/audio houses and universities.  They also visited the historic town of Chester, before moving onto the award winning Chester Zoo, to assess existing interpretation projects.

Speakers and attendees addressed:

• Can interpretation be used to generate meaningful discussions within visitors to heritage sites?
• How can informal conversations be evaluated and how can it be used as an evaluation method.
• Critical examination of case studies that promote dialogue.
• Identification of best practice in engaging visitors through dialogue and conversation.
• How to manage controversial, contentious, or challenging conversations in heritage interpretation.

A very successful conference was had by all and the place was alive with discussion, so it definitely had the desired effect!

We were there as suppliers, show-casing our wayfinding and interpretation products; primaDURA & ecoDURA.  What a reception we received!  A very warm welcome indeed; friendliness and inclusion throughout the whole of the conference was brilliant.  Gaining quality information, meeting new contacts and putting faces to names of existing customers, meant it was a great experience for NovaDura and overall the event was extremely prosperous for us.

Not only are we looking forward to the Association for Heritage & Interpretation 2019 conference, we have signed up to be a main sponsor for the Awards Category, which is really exciting.

For more information go to https://ahi.org.uk/