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  • Useful information – Traffic Management Bulletins

    Under the ‘Documents’ tab above you’ll find a new section entitled ‘Useful Information’ in which we’ll be placing documents that you may find helpful about the Museum and the local area.

    This week, we’ve added the most recent traffic management bulletin from Highways England detailing the effects of the Oldbury viaduct major renewal scheme on local road networks and other planned road closures in the area. These will continue to be added as and when received from Highways England.

    We will continue to add pieces of useful information into this folder but if there is anything else you would like to see added to the Useful Information section, please do feedback to your line manager.

  • 1940s Weekend – thanks to all

    Dear Colleagues

    The 1940s weekend was one of the busiest weekends the Museum has ever had, and I’m not surprised the feedback from visitors was so positive – if you haven’t seen it, do check out our Facebook page,  Twitter feed and Tripadvisor reviews.  I think the range, quality and energy of what the Museum offered our visitors was exceptional. You’ll appreciate by now, that increasing the scale and ambition of our events programme is an important part of our continued and future success.  However, I do realise that many staff – in hot and humid weather – worked incredibly hard to make the weekend a success, and I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and admiration for the commitment shown.

    We now have another six very busy weeks ahead of us, when we can expect to welcome over seventy-thousand visitors to the Museum, to keep an already good year for us on track.  July has got off to a very good start, and although it represents hard work, I have every confidence that we will see that level of attendance over the weeks of the summer holiday.  This day-to-day success of providing great visitor experiences is as equally important as the physical development of the site; the planning for which goes on apace, with c90% of the necessary funding now in place.

    My thanks again.

    Andrew

  • Notice anything new?

    There is a new Museum-wide Calendar now in operation. It can be accessed via the Museum Calendar tab above.

    The idea of this electronic calendar is to create a common point of reference for all teams/staff to:

    • Improve the Museum’s customer service and communication allowing staff across the Museum to answer simple questions, give directions and pass on useful, relevant information
    • Increase efficiency in the planning of events, filming, maintenance etc
    • Significantly reduce the risk of double booking and the associated disruption

    You’ll find the following sorts if information included within the calendar:

    • All events including invite only, members only and food & drink (along with standard event notes)
    • Major maintenance works
    • Corporate events that are either very large or take over public areas of the museum (standard corporate events sit in individual room calendars)
    • Filming and media events
    • Major changes to the standard visitor offer e.g. mine closure, tram not running
    • VIP visits

    The calendar has already been populated with some information for the rest of 2017. If there is anything that falls into the above categories that you think is missing or that you would like to add, please raise it with your line manager.

    Hopefully we will all find this a useful tool but we will continue to review its use via the weekly operational meetings, including developing a consistent approach to entering content.

    (Image courtesy of DafneCholet, Flickr)

  • Forge Ahead drop in

    Forge Ahead drop in

    Lisa Cowley (Deputy Chief Executive – Visitor Engagement & Operations) will be available for any staff that want to drop in to ask questions about BCLM: Forging Ahead the last Wednesday of each month from 5pm – 6.30pm in Hartills Offices.

    The sessions are for any staff or volunteers who are interested to find out more about the project.

  • Funding Success – Arts Council England, National Portfolio Organisation

    Funding Success – Arts Council England, National Portfolio Organisation

    I’m pleased to let you know that we have this morning received confirmation from Arts Council England (ACE) that our application for £2.2million of National Portfolio Organisation investment 2018/19 – 2021/22 has been successful.

    We will receive £550,000 for each of the four years of investment, a significant amount of which will support our major development project BCLM: Forging Ahead including the growth and development of our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths) Learning Programme and Community Engagement Programme with communities across the Black Country.

    Our four years as a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) will immediately follow our successful three years as an ACE funded Major Partner Museum (MPM). NPOs and MPMs now merge into one National Portfolio made up of 831 organisations including museums, libraries and arts organisations.

    In order to finalise the funding agreement, we must produce a number of action plans, including an Audience Engagement Plan and Digital Policy and Plan for submission in January 2018 in anticipation of investment beginning in April 2018.

    You can find out more about the new National Portfolio, including how else ACE is investing in our area, by visiting the Arts Council England website – www.artscouncil.org.uk/NPO

    In the meantime, if you have any questions about the portfolio or what this means for you or the Museum, please direct them to your line manager in the first instance.

    Andrew Lovett

    Director and Chief Executive

  • Calling all VE Demonstrators – we need you for an ‘ideas’ trip!

    We are looking for two Visitor Engagement Team Demonstrators to join an ideas gathering trip to Kentwell Hall’s Tudor Recreation on Thursday 24th August 2017. Kentwell Hall is a stately home in Long Melford, Suffolk. Most of the current building facade dates from the mid-16th century, but the origins of Kentwell are much earlier, with references in the Domesday Book of 1086!

    This is a paid development opportunity – you will be paid for your hours, overnight accommodation and dinner will be provided. We see this as an opportunity to having some ‘thinking space’ and reflect upon how the Museum could approach the challenge of really engaging our visitors. As such, you would be expected to complete a write up about your experience.

    Two funded places will be provided. Deadline for expression of interest: 12 noon, Friday 30th June 2017
    For more information and if you would like to be considered download an application form or pick one up from Carmel or Michaela in HR. Deadline 30th June.

    Application form: Kentwell application 2017

     

     

     

     

     

  • Update: British Museum applicants selected

    Update 26 Jun: applicants have now been selected.

    Sara Orlandi, Gifts & Donor Support Manager at the British Museum will be joining the Development Team in September to find out more about our membership recruitment and looking at what processes are in place around this. She’ll also be sharing what the British Museum do and her experiences there with us.

    Abby Bird will be joining the Digital & Communications Team at the British Museum to explore how we can better make use of our CRM as well as take part in general knowledge exchange around social media and other digital trends. In return she will share how we use our CRM, and provide insight into the overall marketing strategy.

    If you’ve ever fancied going behind the scenes at the UK’s most popular attraction (6.42m in 2017), now is your chance!

    We’re delighted to announce that the Museum has been selected as on of the partners in the British Museum’s Knowledge Exchange Programme for 2017. Knowledge Exchange offers the opportunity of a fully funded and co-ordinated five day professional exchange between paid staff, in any role, at selected partner museums and the British Museum. The British Museum will take on one employee from each of its partner museums, and as part of the scheme pays for all travel, accommodation and subsistence costs associated with the exchanges.

    The programme is part of the wide-ranging National Programmes at the British Museum, which partners with around 250 UK organisations a year through single-object spotlight tours, touring exhibitions, partnership galleries, loans and skills development initiatives. The exchanges are organised by the UK Partnerships Co-ordinator at the British Museum and are made possible by the generous support of the Vivmar Foundation.

    “My experience during my exchange at the British Museum exceeded my expectations and hopes. I returned to my museum not only with new ideas and insights but also with increased confidence in what we already offer at our museum and a fresh inspiration to adapt and develop our activity” – Knowledge Exchange participant, 2016

    Each exchange is unique and it is created based on the selected participants’ application form. Please not that unfortunately, this exchange is not available for volunteers.

    How do I apply?

    In order to apply, please review the structure of the British Museum and complete the below application form by 5pm on 12 May 2017 and return to [email protected]. Applications will then be sent to the British Museum who will select a candidate for whom they can best meet the requirements and expectations of the placement. Please discuss any applications with your line manager beforehand, ensuring that you have approval before submission.

    Apply now: Knowledge Exchange Application form 2017

  • For Information – Deaccession Item: REO Speedwagon Charabanc, 1926

    In line with the Museum’s Collections Development Policy 2017-2021, the REO Speedwagon Charabanc is being deaccessioned for the following reason:

    • it is outside the Collections Development Policy (Section 4.3), which requires collections to have a reputable and clear Black Country provenance

    Manufactured in the USA and then imported to Britain, the REO Speedwagon Charabanc was purchased by the Museum in 1996 for use on site as additional transport for visitors but no connection to the Black Country has ever been established.

    In line with the Museums Association Code of Ethics and Disposal Toolkit, the charabanc has been be offered to other museums for purchase for the past two months.  There has been no interest, so the charabanc will be sold by public auction.  The proceeds from the sale will be ring-fenced for maintenance of the vehicle collection and/or the purchase of appropriate vehicles to add to the vehicle collection.

    The Collections Team

  • Antiques Roadshow – thanks to all!

    Antiques Roadshow – thanks to all!

    Thanks to all of you who were involved in making yesterday’s Antiques Roadshow event a success.  We welcomed 2,200 visitors through the doors, most of whom brought with them an antique to be valued.

    You may have also seen in the news that the Roadshow team valued one of its most expensive finds ever yesterday, with the story appearing in the Sun and the Daily Mail today.

    Fiona Bruce and a small crew are at the Museum again today filming the introductions for the two episodes in which the Museum will  be the host venue. They are due to air in the Autumn.

    Laura

  • Antiques Roadshow – Volunteering Opportunity

    We’ve nearly recruited all of the volunteers we need to help make next week’s  Antiques Roadshow at BCLM a success but we need your help to find a few more!

    Do you have friends/family that would be interested in this unique opportunity or would you like to take up the challenge yourself? We are looking for volunteer event stewards to support the Antiques Roadshow team on the day (Wed 21 Jun), enjoy a fantastic team-building experience and learn what it takes to co-ordinate a large scale filming event.

    If you or your friends and family are interested, please email or speak to our Volunteer Coordinator, Ricki Boden as soon as possible for full details and to sign up – [email protected]