Podcasts about cambridge science centre

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 11th December 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Our guests:https://www.wethecurious.org/ Chris Dunford, Sustainability and Science Director at We The Curious As Sustainability and Science Director, Chris Dunford has been responsible for Sustainable Futures at We The Curious since 2011. During that time, he has introduced a sector-leading programme of environmental best practice, innovative technologies, and organisational change. In 2019, We The Curious became the first science centre in the world to declare a climate emergency and pledged to meet ambitious decarbonisation targets in this decade, implemented alongside climate change adaptation.Beyond We The Curious, Chris has held positions as Head of Environmental Sustainability at UKRI, Elected Director of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership, Mentor of Arizona State University's ‘Sustainability in Science Museums' Global Fellowship, and Chair of the ASDC Decarbonisation Group. Chris' background is in science communication and stand-up comedy. https://w5online.co.uk/Victoria Denoon is the Head of Visitor Experience at W5 Science and Discovery Centre.Victoria joined W5 Science and Discovery Centre in March 2020 and has responsibility for all aspects of W5's operations. She is also currently an ASDC Trustee. Prior to joining the team at W5, she worked in Higher Education in the United States for 15 years with a particular interest in advancing the careers of women in STEM fields. http://www.aberdeensciencecentre.org/Bryan Snelling is the CEO of Aberdeen Science Centre. He's been in this position for five years having started in November 2019. Bryan has worked in the visitor attraction sector for 11 years having previously enjoyed 6 years as CEO at The Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen. Bryan has worked in many sectors during his career including education having worked across the UK in Portsmouth and London before moving to Aberdeen. Bryan is originally from South Wales and in his spare time he enjoys playing the guitar, playing cricket and reading. https://www.sciencecentres.org.uk/Shaaron Leverment is the Chief Executive at The Association for Science and Discovery Centres.Shaaron is the CEO of ASDC and has over 20 years' experience working in science engagement and education. She stands for the value of science centres and museums for social good, as community assets that are accessible and relevant for a more diverse public.Shaaron joined ASDC in 2016 as the Deputy CEO. She is also the co-founding director of 'Explorer Dome' that engages over 70,000 children and adults every year. She leads on a number of national and international programmes and collaborations that aim to improve the relevance and accessibility of STEM for a more diverse public. As a past president of the British Association of Planetaria, she is also currently the EDI co-chair of the International Planetarium Society. Shaaron is mum to two boys, and the owner of a large hairy Golden Retriever.She is part of varied networks, working with schools, universities, science centres, museums and volunteer groups, as well as nation-wide professional associations and Government agencies. She has created and directed national and international (EU) science engagement programmes, including leading the Horizon 2020 Hypatia programme in the UK to support greater gender inclusion in informal science education, and is the driving force behind Our Space Our Future, supporting participative practice in space science outreach.Through work with ASDC, Ecsite and other international partnerships, Shaaron is known for her work to support greater equity and inclusion within our STEM education and engagement organisations, with the ambition of embedding more equitable practice for transformative organisation-wide change. Transcription:  Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue. A podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. Now, today's episode is a special one. A few days ago I was at the Association for Science and Discovery Centre's annual conference recording in front of a live studio audience. Joined by a panel of the great and good from the Science and Discovery Centre community, Victoria Denoon, Head of Visitor Experience at W5 Science and Discovery Centre. Bryan Snelling, the CEO of Aberdeen Science Centre. Chris Dunford at ASDC Sustainability Group Chair and Sustainability Director at We the Curious. And Shaaron Leverment, the CEO of ASDC. Now, I have to say, this was a bit of a proof of concept for us and we had a few technical gremlins, but whilst the sound quality isn't brilliant, the conversations absolutely were. Paul Marden: So without further ado, let's go over to that recording I took a couple of days ago. Why don't we start with our icebreaker questions? So this is a tradition for the podcast and nobody has been prepared for this. So, Victoria, you'll like this one. It's a really easy one. Bauble or custard cream? Victoria Denoon: You said it was going to be easy. Paul Marden: Oh, no, I could give you my answer straight away. It's a firmly held belief for me. Of course, it's the only answer to that question. Bryan, you have to live in a sitcom for the rest of your life. Which one? And why? Bryan Snelling: Oh God, can I have the ball? But do you know what? The only one that sprung to mind was Only Fools and Horses. I think, you know, a bit of dodgy dealing here and there. Can't go wrong with that, I think. Yeah, Wheeler dealing, you know what I mean? Paul Marden: One day Wanda's There'll be millionaires. Chris, play 10 instruments or speak 10 languages. Chris Dunford: Oh, horrible. I'm going to go for 10 instruments because I feel as if Google can do the rest. But 10 instruments? I can finally record my own albums. Paul Marden: And Shaaron, last but not least, control time like Hermione or Fly Like Harry. Shaaron Leverment: Oh, God, fly Like Harry, Paul Marden: Really? Shaaron Leverment: Yeah, yeah, 100%. Paul Marden: You don't need a time turner to be in every session. That wasn't the latest question at all. Okay, let's get cracking then with the main interview. Shaaron, first question is for you. This year and next sees the 25th anniversary of the millennium funded science centers which saw a huge amount of investments into science communic engagement across the country. What did that do to shape science in the last quarter of the century? And where do you think it will take us next. Shaaron Leverment: Great question. Paul Marden: Thank you. Shaaron Leverment: Like 25 years ago, as I mentioned in my talk, even no one really knew what science communication was. You know, now obviously there's masters in it, there's people who are doing PhDs in it and I think it's actually becoming a very important part of policy and recognised as strategically important in terms of the way in which nation engages with science. And I do believe that's because we have these amazing places across the U.K. now. Let's be honest, like a lot of them existed beforehand. There was at least 6, including Satrasphere, which is now Aberdeen Science Centre, which existed before the Millennium centers. And then suddenly all of these centers were. But now we've got 60, nearly 70 across the entire places. The Lost Shore is just open, which is all about surf and science. Shaaron Leverment: I think science, referring to one of our keynotes, is really becoming part of culture. And then we're no longer looking at sort of museums and centres as like cathedrals of science. We're looking at them as real kind of cultural and community assets. So that's where I think. I think that's where the trajectory is going for the next 25 years. I'll just wrap that into the end of that. Paul Marden: This is a follow up for that and really anyone can join in on this one. Thinking more about where we go in the next 25 years, let's talk about funding streams because we had a big lump of money back just before the millennium projects get them kicked off and we're unlikely to see that level of lottery funding again. So how can centres, after all, they are visitor attractions and charities in many cases. How do they diversify their income streams? Victoria Denoon: I think there's two things about that and one's really important from the ASDC perspective because there's what we can do individually, but there's also what we can do collectively as a network. So you know, we are looking at that particularly from the Millennium Science Centre perspective. Victoria Denoon: And obviously that's a bigger voice if we do that together. So that's really important to have those conversations. At W5 we do that by increasing what we do for corporate hire. We do a W5 late program, which is an 18 plus evenings for adults to come down. And because we're going to be 25 years old next year, there's that nostalgia that really helps sell that. So we're looking at key events to drive revenue across the year to really get more people in our door who wouldn't come to us otherwise. Bryan Snelling: Yeah, I think it's obviously very important to diversify our income. But what we're talking about here, in terms of the money we got in 2019, you're only really going to get that sort of money again from very large institutions or government. And I think whether you're trying to persuade an individual to come and visit your science centre or local, national, devolved governments to give you money, it's all about the message that you're sending. It's about the science centres are really important part, and we were talking about it earlier on, the culture of what we're doing here. So whether you're just one individual or a multinational that has big bucks, you've really got to try and make them understand that. Chris Dunford: I think it's. Yeah, I think it's almost as well as diversifying to new funders, it's also diversifying what the existing funders will be happy to fund, because I think the funders understandably want the shiny new exhibition, the lovely new outreach in the brand advance, the school workshop photo opportunity. And those are all good things. And we couldn't do those things without the funders. But they'll need to. As these buildings getting older, they need to recognize at some point that those things can take place in the building where the roof leaks and it closes in the summer because the heat wave and the cooling system can't keep up. So I think if you're saying to the funders, yes, you can support this workshop, but we will need some contribution towards the rooms that the workshop take place in. Chris Dunford: So I think it'd be helpful to understand that. And to do that, we just need to make the case better to our value. So it's not just this extra news thing, but day to day supporting us to literally keep the lights on and keep the rain out of the roof. Bryan Snelling: Can I just add, I think there's also an important thing here about mission drift. We should be true to our own mission. We should know where we're going, our direction, and not have as much as possible. Because I understand it's a balance. Not have as much as possible. The funder direct what we do. It should be the other way around, or at least. And one of the big words of this conference that I've heard is collaboration. And we shouldn't just be doing it all the money, we should be actually understanding this is what we should be doing and this is how we're going. You should be coming on board with us. Paul Marden: You risk the tail wagging the dog, don't you? If all you do is chase the sources of funding. And you do that in a haphazard way. It's got to follow, as you say, it's got to follow the mission and the core values of the centre. Victoria Denoon: And it is a relationship, you know, it's like philanthropy and, you know, universities doing their work with donors. I mean, you really do have to have mutual respect and understanding and be looking for sponsors or funders or partners who have the same mission and values that you do. That conversation becomes a lot easier. Paul Marden: Absolutely. Shaaron, any thoughts? Shaaron Leverment: I think I agree with what they're saying. It's really well put. Paul Marden: This is an audience question and this is from Kate Allen from Purple Stars. And she asked me, is the A in steam in cooperate and why it's not a binary question. Chris Dunford: Right. Bryan Snelling: Look it up. Victoria Denoon: Yes. Bryan Snelling: Did you see the inflection in that? Paul Marden: Absolutely. Bryan Snelling: I think it's a two way process. I think that the A is very important. And again, I'm gonna repeat myself, but I think it's been a big part of what the conference has been about and it's been about collaboration. Yes, it's important, but it's a two way process because it's not all about us incorporating the arts. It's also about the arts incorporating the st, the E and the M and the science elements. So I think it's a two way process at the moment. I feel this is just my own opinion that it's a little bit more give than take. Shaaron Leverment: I think there's an interesting, you know, there's an interesting conversation of like, do you need an artist for it to be art? What is art and what is science? You know, and actually, you know, so much of, you know, the engagements that we see involve huge creativity, kids making planets and things like that in science. I do think that we need to use all the tools to get across these massive ideas. And I don't actually even know what science is anyway, so I'm on the back. Shaaron Leverment: And I also noticed in Tom Crick, when he was looking at the curriculum, they separate mathematics and numeracy from science and tech, you know, and so in science, tech engineering is often considered the invisible E in stem. Maths is often considered the invisible M in STEM in science and discovery centres, you know, and so the arts as well. I fully believe that we need to be trans and multidisciplinary 100%. But you know, I think it includes, you know, the music and everything. I think includes absolutely everything. So maybe these acronyms, which is not, they're not useful at all. Paul Marden: I don't think it helps. One of the things that we talked about when we first. We were spinning ideas around this episode, weren't we? And you talked about the idea that you shocked me, that science matters to me and I care about it. And it's something that I enjoy doing with my family. And to consider that isn't for the government to consider. That's not really part of culture because they're funded quite separately. It offends my roles, I think. Shaaron Leverment: But also, you know, it's just another beautiful way of looking at the world. You might look up at a night sky, you know, like Mara or Kilda, like we're hearing by Este. And you might look at it with eyes where you're just wondering at the jewelry of creation or making pictures in the stars. Or you might also be wondering about, well, maybe there's a planet out there. Shaaron Leverment: And I think you can look with all eyes and you can. It's all in wonder. And the fact that they are segregated, it comes back to school science, I think. I think actually in the normal world, as human beings, we don't have to separate them, but it's just very hard, especially when these are crazy funding lines. Like Tom mentioned the difference. I did not know that festivals are considered part of culture, but science festivals aren't. It's madness. Chris Dunford: It also depends in a way what you're doing. So if you're putting the A into STEAM  because you say that as a society, as a cultural attraction, we want to involve ourselves, then obviously, yes, we don't want to. You know, it's inclusive because as Shaaron said, they can. They bring different things to the table. But if you're putting an A in there because you're saying that art is the same as the others, then they're no different. But that's good. It's good that art and science kind of behave in different ways. So. So they both start with an idea or a question. They can both be kind of curious or stimulated by something. But then whether we do night sky or whatever, the way that art might scrutinise the night sky would be different to the way that science will scrutinise. And that's fine. Chris Dunford: They can complement each other. It's not. You need to recognize the differences in those kind of, I don't know, the intellectual disciplines, so they can support each other rather than say, well, artists, science, design. It's not as simple as that. They're different, but that's okay. Victoria Denoon: I do think they play a part together in making things more accessible to people. So if you look at major technology companies, they focus just as much on the design and the look of some of their products as they do on the actual technology that goes into them. So there's a lovely added experience there with putting that together. I think it's very important, but for different reasons. Paul Marden: Absolutely. There's been a lot of talk at the conference about diversity and inclusivity. To a certain extent, inclusion is about understanding who your audience is and understanding what it is that they need. Paul Marden: So let's dig into that about your three science centres. What are the customer demographics, what does the audience look like and what areas of diversity and inclusion are important to them? Victoria Denoon: Well, I think that assumes we've actually asked our audiences, you know, what is important to them. And I don't, you know, I'd like to sort of throw that over to other representatives for science centres because we have done some of that, but we probably haven't done it enough to be able to actually answer that question. That's something we are really looking at because we have a lot of different information about the demographics, but not really what they want to see us do. So we're looking at different focus groups and how to involve more people in that to get a better picture of that for our particular science centre. Bryan Snelling: I think we were very lucky to receive a lot of well enough ISF funding plus local funding to completely overhaul our science centre four years ago. What happened four years ago, it was wonderful. But as Shaaron said, we're actually not a millennium sites and we've been going for 36 years. I think tech request, slightly longer than us, Shaaron Leverment: 38.Bryan Snelling: There we go. But not many longer than us. But over that time we've asked and we found out a lot of information about what our visitors wanted. And similar to what Victoria said, we don't necessarily ask enough. We recognise that's a bad thing. We need and we are putting in place and now to evaluate to get feedback more. But back then were very aware of sort of things that we needed to do. We needed to be wheelchair user friendly. Bryan Snelling: So everything is now accessible throughout the science centre. We're one of the lucky places that have a changing places facility which is incredibly good and it's gone down very well. We also have a sensory space which was retrofitted admittedly. But if you look at our feedback on the online, that's gone down fantastically well and it allows some of our neurosensitive visitors just to calm down, go there and just take a moment and then come back and I think the very fact that we're a science centre, it's very hands on, it's very stimulating. Bryan Snelling: So having that has been a real wonderful addition to what we've got. And I think we've also got to remember financial inclusion. So a lot of the sort of sponsorship that we look for is to work with in Scotland. It's called simd, the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation. Chris Dunford: I'm sure there's a similar thing in England, but I want to know what it is. Paul Marden: We'll talk about that in a minute. Bryan Snelling: But we a lot of again, it's not mission drift when you are also doing it. A lot of our funders want to give us money so we can support those maybe who don't have as much money as the rest of us. So all of these things we've taken into account and parts of what we do at the science centre. Chris Dunford: Yeah. I suppose the question ultimately is when we ask our visitors what does inclusion, diversity mean to them, we won't get the answer we need. And that's because if you have a certain demographic who are visiting and you ask them diversity, inclusion, then obviously they will speak from their own life experience. But actually the people need to ask the people who aren't visiting. So in that respect, I mean the things we draw upon, we work closely with things like local council, so we have access to their data of who's living in the city and who's facing areas of deprivation and that kind of thing. Chris Dunford: So you can kind of fairly accurately figure out who's around you in your community and who's around you in your community isn't mirroring who's coming through the door and straight away you know where your focus areas are and the reason they might not be visiting, it might be economic, but it could also because there's things that you do unintentionally. It makes it look like you're not for them. Paul Marden: Yes. Chris Dunford: So only by engaging with them, seeing you through their eyes, will you understand maybe why you've been doing a thing which wasn't encouraged when they through the door. I suppose the last thing to say on that is often it's very tempting to think the inclusion thing is going to be groups that can't afford to visit and therefore Chapel saying it may be then detracting from the purely commercial enterprise we need to do to keep the buildings open and running. Chris Dunford: And for some areas who cannot afford to visit, then yes, that's an important part of what you do. But there could be areas, community who aren't visiting. And they can afford to visit because for some reason you're not currently for them, you can become for them. And you've also opened up a whole other market as well. So whether you're looking at it because you want more visitors financially, or you're looking at it because you want to be able to reach everyone, you need to ask who's in the city, who isn't here currently visiting and can we find out why they're not visiting? And then we just work through those challenge at a time until you hopefully are truly reflecting those around you. Paul Marden: I was at a Museum and Heritage Show earlier this year. There was a really interesting talk about inclusivity and making places accessible. And one of the key facts was that people that need an accessible place to visit, if they don't know something is accessible because you haven't communicated it properly, they will assume you are not accessible. And so having the changing places toilet and the sensory room is amazing. But you also have to communicate that to people in order for them to come and feel like it is a place for them. And that's. You're right, it's not about the charitable end of the organisation. It can be just a commercial thing. When you tell that story simply and easily for people, all of a sudden you are not going to market. Shaaron Leverment: We're sort of encouraging people. We've got an accessibility conference coming up in May which will be hosted by Winchester. And hopefully between now and then we can really support people with some of these amazing visual stories. Because I think you're absolutely right that you do need to know if it's accessible. You need to know what facilities you need to have those opportunities to know that there's a quiet space and what to expect. And then someone, honestly, if they know what's there and what's not there, then that's enough. Paul Marden: I've talked about this example before podcast, but Skipton Town Hall is an amazing example. They've got a museum whose name escapes me, but they won last year's Kids in Museum's Family Friendly award. But they have an amazing page that talks about their accessibilities with photos and videos where you can see the entrance, every entrance to the building and where that entrance will lead you to. It shows you the changing places toilet. You know, they are making it super easy for you to be able to understand that. And it's on your page, but it's a page that's hugely valuable on their website. Victoria Denoon: I think just beyond what you can do on your own. Site for that. There are organisations you can work with that tell people the story about what attractions in their area are accessible. So making sure you know who those groups are and working with them to get your story out and how you can support that's really important. Paul Marden: I've got Tudor in front of me from Eureka and I know that's something that Eureka has done a lot of is communicating the accessibility of what they deeds the outside world. I'm going to take your Scottish index of multiple deprivation and take that back to the uk. I'm going to talk a little bit about Cambridge Science Centre because they've passed two weeks ago, they've just opened their new building and one of the things that they talked about on the podcast with me was that part of the motivation for locating it on Cambridge Science park was because it is cheap by jail with one of the areas of multiple deprivation within the city. Paul Marden: They run youth groups in that area and what they found was that even though these kids are in a youth group associated with the Science centre and they are right next door to the Science park, those kids don't feel that a career in Science in the UK's hotspot for tech is a place where they could end up. Paul Marden: They just don't feel like it is of them. So how do we help those kids and families in those areas feel like science centres are for them and a career in the future and in science and tech is an opportunity for them? Bryan Snelling: I think when were redesigning the Aberdeen Science Centre, as I said, the only thing that's still there because It's a Category 2 listed building is the outer walls. But what we looked at that time was we said, well, how can we make it relevant to the northeast of Scotland? So we have three zones in the Science Centre which relates to either the up and coming or very much mature economies up there. We have an energy zone, of course we do, but space, you know, Shetland is on our patch, big patch, so is Sutherland and those of you who know Scotland, very big patch. That sort of space is a big part of what's happening up in northeast Scotland, but also life sciences. So we made it relevant so that people on an everyday sort of and kids can sort of relate to things. Bryan Snelling: I think we're the only city and people will help me out here and bring me down to size if that's the case. We have hydrogen buses in Aberdeen. I think we're one of the only, let's go like that. One of the only cities that currently do that and they see these things travelling through the city centre every day. But you know, they want to know more about that. So it's about making it relevant, making it day to day obvious that this, you can work in this because actually it's there or it's that or it's yes. The other thing is about showing the other careers that you can link it, you can focusing on space, but there's more than just that. You somebody said, yes, you also need to have a chef in the Antarctica. Bryan Snelling: So show them the other careers actually link in with this sort of and just make it relevant. Chris Dunford: Yeah, and I think obviously if you've got sections of society where there's young people who feel that science isn't for them, I think the first thing to recognise obviously is that they are in their lives. They're obviously getting messages that are telling them that's the case in the way in which children from other backgrounds are getting messages telling them what science is for them. And you can see that through the lens of the science capital. You can't control all of those, but you can control how you interact with them. Now, obviously what Cambridge did is they were able to physically relocate. Most of us aren't in that position in terms of the whole building, although that reached us the ability to do that on a complete short term basis. Chris Dunford: But I think again it's recognising that inclusion work is so much more than just kind of saying, “Hey, we are free. Why don't you come along today and you can visit for free or whatever.” It's the diversity of your staff and that's across the organisation. Because if they visit and they see someone that looks like them and that tells them that it is for them in a way in which it's going to be very difficult to do with the people actually working there don't look like people they would recognise as being in that kind of group in that way. It's about the activities themselves. So again, the ideas of kind of co development. So if you develop activities, rather than guess what you think they would like, just find out what they would like and involve them in those activities. Chris Dunford: So inclusion is difficult and it takes a lot of time because you can't just kind of put a sign on the door and say work for you now. You need to change the organisation. So it is enabling them to visit and then to keep that relationship going. That's the other thing that's very difficult. But I think if you did one funded visit and they came once and that was it, that might not be Enough to make them go, “Oh, so I can't be a scientist.” You get some kind of relationship with them going on over time. So yeah, it's a long, drawn out process, which means you need to look very hard at yourself and be prepared and brave to make changes in your own organisation. Because unintentionally you are probably putting some of the barriers there yourselves. Shaaron Leverment: I just want to echo that it really is about building those relationships. We ran a program called Explorer Universe across eight centres. And you know, we were all about extra partnerships and being brave and making new engagement to people who would never have thought to come through your doors. And you know, it ended up being like a year long of partnership building and then those relationships and almost all the programs were outreach. Some of them ended up, you know, as a celebratory event coming through the science centre. But it was very much going to where the kids were going to their space, you know, physically and emotionally and mentally, whatever, and working in partnership. So if you don't have the staff that reflect that community, then you can work in partnership and create those moments. Shaaron Leverment: And then when they do come to the centre, be there at the front door to welcome them. You know, I know you and it's very much, you know, like an experience floor In North Wales. Were working in a playground, you know, and talking all about them jumping off the playground with like parachutes, talking about friction and stuff like that. And one of the best quotes from that was like, I didn't realise this was science. You're like turning what they are doing and saying that you are a techie, techie person, you are a sciencey person, you are an engineer. That's what it is. Shaaron Leverment: You know, it's not saying this is what science is, you know, it's changing the capital that they have already into science capital to know that they are already inherent, as Osley said, inherent sort of scientists anyway. Paul Marden: Yes. Shaaron Leverment: So, yeah.Victoria Denoon: I think science centres are in a really wonderful space here to be able to do that because, you know, we do build relationships with community groups and schools all the time. And research has shown that these young people, why they see themselves in relation to their peers, that will attract them more than anything else into potential careers in science. So having a space where people can come and, you know, we don't tell them, don't touch that, don't do that. Victoria Denoon: You know, they can really fully get hands on and engage in things and having that opportunity. We just opened two years ago, our Learning Innovation for Everyone Space. We offer free school programs there, particularly in partnership with Microsoft and do coding workshops and things like that and lots of other activities and you can also do OCN accredited programs with us there. So it's really about getting them together as a group of their peers and showing them what's possible in that space. Paul Marden: That's amazing. So I'm a dev by background. Telling the story of Computer Science is not something that you see in every science centre that you go to. The whole kind of the history of computing, it exists in places, there are pockets of it. But it's not something that I want to coding club as well. But how many of my kids could go to a local science centre and feel that what they're doing when they're coding the robot and building some Lego is related to something that they see when they're at the science centre and that there's a mental leap to go from this fun thing that we're doing with this robot to the career that is amazing that I could have in the future. It's really hard. Paul Marden: Talking of kids, I'm a trustee at Kids in Museum and we talk a lot about getting the voice of young people who visit attractions and young people, they're worthy, they're in their career and incorporating that into the decision making, strategic direction of museums and science centres. I think it's definitely really important when we talk about climate emergency to get that younger voice in so that trustees don't all look like me. Let's talk a little bit about the youth platform and how you incorporate the youth voice into what you guys do. Who wants to take that one first? I can spot who cracks first. Bryan Snelling: Okay. I'm not very good at this, am I? You are very good. No, but I'm actually quite proud of what we do at Aberdeen. We about a year and a bit ago introduced a STEM youth ball and we're very pleased with that. We actually work with a local festival so it's ourselves and Aberdeen Tech Fest that jointly I say support, but actually they support us. The youth board, it's made up of secondary school kids, young people and last year was a pilot year and it went very well. We're now looking at developing it further. But what they do is they look at what they want to do, they work out what they want to do within a board situation. Bryan Snelling: They've got all the usual bits, chair and the secretary, but they work out that they want to deliver this program and then they'll go away, work together on the delivery of that program. They'll also work out the marketing side of things. They'll also do all of that. But I also, and my counterpart with TechFest also bring our ideas and say what do you think about this? And they give us a very. Paul Marden: Take some of them and rubbish a few I guess.Bryan Snelling: That's what it's for. Paul Marden: Exactly. Bryan Snelling: I mean, let's get out of the way in a safe space before we then go ahead and spend money on this thing. Paul Marden: The most brutal focus could possibly bring together. Bryan Snelling: But we're very pleased with that. The other thing that we're currently looking at doing is working with local university, Robert Goldman University, especially the architecture school, to redevelop our outer area, the garden. It was the only area that wasn't developed when we did inside. And we undertook a number of brainstorming sessions with the youngsters and I mean your 5 to 12 year olds to get their input. And we did that a number of ways, remember drawing or talking or writing, whatever. And that was really interesting. We'd obviously, as the adults had done a similar thing but what they brought was a completely different point of view and it's wonderful. Paul Marden: Excellent. Victoria, you can't not look at teacher. It's only going to encourage me to. Victoria Denoon: No, I think you know, to what Bryan was saying there. We haven't started yet but we're looking at this idea of creating a Y suite, you know, which is our youth suite, which would be young people that will come in and kind of meet once a quarter to help us with some of those decisions. Bryan was talking about Inspiring Science Fund. We also did a huge renovation at W5 as a result of that and that involved a lot of consultation with young people, with teachers, et cetera. And we do a lot of youth led programs but we're looking at really how do we engage that in this more strategic direction going forward. Paul Marden: I think it's hugely valuable, isn't it? When you take it from a consultation point to something that is actually helping to drive the strategy of the organisation. It's transformational. Sharoon, do you have any thoughts about that? Shaaron Leverment: Yeah, I mean I sort of see it from a bird's eye view really, you know. But you know we have our Youth Voice Award because last year our volunteers award was won by. Part of our volunteers award was won by Winchester young group of environmental activists that were really doing great things down at Winchester Science Centre and influencing one seekers charity. And anyone who was at dinner last night, you might have seen the video from Zed King who has done so much work supporting Centre for Life and making massive changes there and not just there, like actually across the network. We are. So we've got this Youth Voice award as one of the only awards that we give because it is so important. We are all about. Not all about, but we are a lot about young people. Shaaron Leverment: So they need to have voice but it's very difficult to be sure how to do that and to make sure that we're not putting too much pressure. I mean here at this conference you can. There we've got some young people coming in showing their bio robots. We've got. Obviously we had the Esports award last night and our next keynote we've got two younger panel members to do a discussion about eco anxiety and how that feels for them to influence the way in which we think about our climate engagement from the voices of people who are experiencing it and experiencing this massive grief and anxiety about their own futures. So yeah, there's a lot of work going on obviously over in Armagh as well, you know, especially with autistic families and you know, I think it's. Shaaron Leverment: Yeah, it's a growing area and we're putting a lot of effort into encouraging like hearing these stories and different things and you know, I know we the curated. Well, with your authority sharing, I might just throw that over to you. I mean I think that's a great piece of work. Chris Dunford: Yeah. On the climate side especially. One thing we've done in the past is work with Bristol City Council, Youth Council, I think I might say most councils will have something like this because they then feed into the UK lean Parliament. I think that's really useful for two reasons. Firstly, because it gives them a space when you talk about climate issues. But secondly, it's helping them to understand the process of democracy, which young people's possibly more important now than ever. I think that's really key because I think what often happens, especially at events like cop, is that inside the room you've got the politicians and decision makers who are struggling with this really difficult challenge of how do we decarbonise and knowing there isn't an easy thing to fix it. Chris Dunford: It's going to be a lot of trailblazers, compromise, a lot of hard work outside where you've got the young people kind of screaming desperately do something, finally find the solution and then have these two different worlds. So I think if you could bring those together to bring the youth Voice into those conversations. What are the trade offs? What are the decisions? Because the consequence of decisions they inherit not us. But also it's useful for young people because it helps them understand that there isn't an easy solution and yes, there's going on strike and it's making the message clear, but there's getting into discussion of what are the trade offs, what are the compromises, and that's how a democracy works. I think that's really useful. Chris Dunford: But the other thing I'd say is if you're going to engage with young people on this and also be prepared for the fact that they're clear, they know what they want and they want the allies to take action. So if you say to them, great, there's time to change that, you're creating a youth board so you can learn about climate change, they'll say, yes, but what are you doing to reduce your carbon emissions? So we're doing this group and we're going to get your views on that. Thank you, that's fine. What are you doing to reduce your carbon emissions? So if you're going to enter into this space, they know what they want from us. They want to take action to create deep, radical and rapid decarbonisation. Chris Dunford: So be prepared for that question because they will ask it and it's the right to ask it. We need to do stuff as well as having board. At the same time, you've got to be taking the action to show that you're copying the agency, what they want. Shaaron Leverment: Have you seen the recent DCMS call as well? I mean, it's obviously strategically important at government as well. So all funders and DCMS in particular are making an election in this. So, yeah, leading the way. Paul Marden: A beautiful segue to my next question, which is what, Chris, this one's for you really is what are ASDC members doing ahead of national targets to reach net zero? Chris Dunford: Yeah. So it's probably worth just causing phone. So, in terms of the national target, for anyone who isn't aware, net zero for the UK is 2050. And net zero essentially means that your carbon emissions are down to zero or they're not zero, then you're offsetting what emissions you are creating. So the balance of the atmosphere is 2 0. And it's really hard. And the reason it's really hard, whether you're a government or an organisation, is you're following the greenhouse gas protocol, which means it's across all three scopes, which essentially means it's the stuff you expect. Chris Dunford: So it's the energy from the grid, it's your fuel and vehicles, it's burning gas in your home or places where, but it's also emissions from all the stuff that you buy and the investments from your bank and your pensions and it's the emissions from your business who travel to visit you. It's huge. It's very complex. So it's difficult. That's essentially what it means, the claim in terms of what sciences are doing. So it's a mixed back. There's plenty of science centers who still don't have a specific claim decarbonisation target, whether that be net zero or 2050 or sooner. So that's one issue I think we need to. Those who have done that piece of work have to work those who haven't to support them, enable them and encourage them to create a space where they can do. Chris Dunford: Because your Internet provider probably has a Net Zero pledge on their website, your supermarket certainly does. Your local council will, your university. So with science centres, it might seem strange that we're actually behind those players rather than leaving it. And of those that do have targets, there's probably about seven science centres in the network. This is student, big museum. So in terms of. In terms of the main science centres and then Tampa Gardens and museums, if you include them, there's probably about 11 organisations who have a kind of a decarbonisation net zero net neutral aimed before 2015. They're mostly around 2030. And again, that's really hard. And those organisations are now figuring out what that means and just how difficult that is. Chris Dunford: There is also even project who have boldly gone for a net positive to say they'll actually be removing more carbon than releasing by 2030. But it's really hard. And the reason it's hard for science centres is we're not Marks and Spencers. We can't just hire a stable team overnight and throw money at this problem. So we're renting some organisations who are tight on time and money who now to take on this huge challenge. That doesn't excuse us from the challenge. So there's no easy solution on the fact that we have to put resource into this. And I think that's why there aren't more Net Zero aims on websites for the centres at the moment. But I think we can get there. We need to recognise it's hard. Chris Dunford: And finally, if you are doing lots of engagement, as I said with schools, then again you need to be backing this up with some kind of Net zero. So it's a mixed bag of the network. There's probably about 10 or so that have specific net zero aims and they're mostly around 2030, 2040. But my prediction is in the coming years, those organisations are going to make some really hard choices and actually say how they're going to do that, because we know from experience it's really difficult. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be doing it. It means you have to push even harder than you were before. Paul Marden: Thank you. Bryan Snelling: Can I add something? Paul Marden: Of course. Bryan Snelling: I think decarbonisation is an important message, full stop, especially in Aberdeen, for obvious reasons. I hope we feel that we have an important duty almost to the visitors to the northeast of Scotland and beyond. Because I think how can we talk the talk about decarbonisation if we don't walk the walk? So there's an internal thing, which notwithstanding how difficult it is, we're just starting down that route. We've had an energy audit done of ourselves. We're now in the process of working out what that roadmap is, or maybe it should be a cycle path road towards net zero, but we need to work that out. But on the other side, we're also tasked with telling people, this is what you should be doing. This is the energy transition. Bryan Snelling: This is how you renewable energy in the future. So how can you do both? How can you do one without the other one? I mean, and I think we just need to be aware of that. And I think as the future goes back to the very first question about what's happening in the future, that's all big part of what we need to be looking at.Paul Marden: Conference is all about shaping future science together. What's your take home message from the different talks that you've been to, or possibly because we've not finished the conference yet that you're looking forward to. What's the standout moment? I know. So I would say for me, the standout moment was last night's awards. I mean, if you weren't overtaken by Zed's video, if you weren't moved by Hamish talking about. And for me, what they both demonstrated is that volunteering and engagement is a conversation. It's a two way street, isn't it? Because they weren't just there as a resource doing things, they were getting something from the relationship and giving back to the sense, etc. At the same time. For me, that bit was the most powerful. Shaaron Leverment: Yeah. And I think actually, you know, there's a lot of emotion there, you know, and it's incredible to someone stand up and say science and you saved my life. Paul Marden: Yes. Shaaron Leverment: You know, I think it was just incredible and very brave. And I think that kind of bringing that emotion into science, it's really important and remembering the people, even people. I think there's been quite a few messages about, you know, the safe spaces that we provide and that interaction with people and that genuine understanding. I think I'm really excited about. We're no longer sort of let science speak for itself and we're not going. Shaaron Leverment: You know, I think people are socially connecting and using emotion a lot more because first we feel right, first we feel and that is what our inclusive outcomes are all about. That it's what makes a difference for someone who is disengaged and doesn't feel that science and technology could be for them to feeling that maybe there's a place they need to feel they belong. So I'm really excited about that aspect of it. I also agree with everything that the elders are about. Bryan Snelling: Really. Shaaron Leverment: Yeah. Chris Dunford: I think several things yesterday for me resonated with the thing which Stephen Breslin said at the very start, which is that we come to these conferences anxious and slightly overwhelmed by the challenges we're facing and leaves feeling energized and positive with at least some of the solutions. And I think that's. That's a similar pattern that I experienced with these conferences. And I think through that lens I've been listening to all the challenges yesterday. And it's just our job is hard and potentially getting harder and as it gets harder, it's more important to society than ever. And I think that's the main thing I'm taking away. Chris Dunford: And I don't just mean things like the inclusion work and the decarbonisation work which we've spoken about during this session, but even things like one of the sessions that really stuck me yesterday was where the Science museum were talking in the lightning talks about their new AI exhibition and the fact that when all the many centers open they could have exhibits that explained Google of motion by pendulums and spinning things. A physical thing. And now we're having to have conversations about AI where there is no physical thing you can hold in your hands. Chris Dunford: There's a historical artefact, it's a circuit board doesn't tell you anything about what circuit board really does in terms of how it impacts society and how are we going to do science communication, science engagement around these challenging issues like AI which are then mounted up with all these kind of social problems with them, which again, the laws of motion that we come with. So, so I suppose I'm going away with that is the fact that our creativity is going to be tested more than before and our ingenuity and our ability to collaborate beyond our initial partners. So, yeah, for me, weirdly, it's about the science communication side and things like AI are going to make that really challenging. And how are we going to do that? Any of the answers other than the fact that we know we're not doing it alone, we're doing it as a network. And that's obviously big talk. Victoria Denoon: Yeah, I think it's the same thing. That remark by Stephen really is something that stuck with me because I did come here as well, thinking about the challenges we're facing, not just as a Science and Discovery centre, but also politically at the moment and just how pessimistic you can be about things. And really being in this conference with all of these amazing people makes you feel more optimistic about things and I think that's just really powerful and it carries you through. So for me, that's. And I think some of the conversations that have been happening here, I feel like since last year we've made a huge jump in terms of where the impact of our network is going with other people. And, you know, Tom's talk this morning really brought that home a little bit as well. So I'm feeling very optimistic. Paul Marden: Thank you. We always end our interviews with a book recommendation, which can be personal or professional. So, Victoria, do you want to share yours with everyone? Victoria Denoon: Well, I think when were talking about this, it was like, what's your favourite book? And for me, my favourite book is actually Pride and Prejudice. It's a book I would read over and could read over and over again. Jane Austen's musings. Paul Marden: Excellent. Bryan. Bryan Snelling: You know, this is the most difficult question that you're going to be putting to us. I've read, you know, fiction most of my life. I mean, you can't. I've always got a book, always looking at a book. So I don't actually have favourites. Why is it favourites? What I can say is my most recent book that I've read was the Thursday we're at the Club by Rich Lawson, which is quite nice. The most profound one was actually 1984. I read that when I was about 18 and I thought, wow. And that was really quite interesting. Followed swiftly by Animal Farm, of course. Paul Marden: So that's three recommendations bankrupt me over. Chris. Chris Dunford: So I've gone for War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. I'm a big fan of, like, old sci fi books. It's different to modern sci fi. Sci fi books like Jules Byrne and H.G. Wells will just ramble on pages about scientific theories at the time. Things they read in nature. So it's genuinely kind of science fiction. But War of the Royals because it's just. It scares me every time I read it. Like it still scares me. Absolutely. And I quite enjoy that. And I don't know why. And there's something about the complete, you know, civilisation. Actually some shouldn't put on this thread too hard, but there's something fascinating about that. Kind of, as he describes it, the liquefaction of society is everything kind of falls apart and every time I pick it up, I'm terrified and I pick it up again, I'm still terrible. Paul Marden: Shaaron, lastly, yours. Shaaron Leverment: I had forgotten this is a question. Paul Marden: Chris had three books, so you can choose. Shaaron Leverment: I'll go for in my. In my head I go for I just off the cup. The Martian is great. When it's got a little bit tiresome with the whole potatoes, improve it. But it is a brilliant. Yeah, it's great. Paul Marden: We are done. If you enjoyed today's episode, please like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thank you to my guests Victoria, Bryan, Chris and Shaaron, and my amazing ASDC Live studio audience. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, SkiptheQueue.fm. The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 13th November 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://www.cambridgesciencecentre.org/Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube| LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-porter-8a0b85121/Becca is a seasoned development and business strategist with over five years in the leadership team at Cambridge Science Centre (CSC). She has played a pivotal role in driving CSC's strategic growth, securing transformative results, including a 50% increase in income and establishing key partnerships that help sustain CSC's mission.Her expertise in fundraising, stakeholder engagement, and business development has been integral to CSC's evolution. Representing CSC at external events, Becca engages with stakeholders across academia, industry, and government, fostering impactful relationships that strengthen the organisation's community presence and reach.Before joining CSC, Becca held the position of Licensing Manager at the RSPB, where she led efforts to negotiate intellectual property rights for product-based partnerships. Her strategies resulted in an increase in profit, underscoring her strong commercial acumen and collaborative approach.With a professional background enhanced by six years of international experience with Carnival Corporation in Miami, Florida, Becca brings a global perspective to her work. Her ability to connect and communicate across diverse sectors reflects her adaptability and understanding of complex business landscapes.Becca's approach is marked by her commitment to expanding CSC's impact and access to science engagement, helping inspire the next generation of learners. Her ongoing efforts to cultivate partnerships and innovate within her field underscore her dedication to making science accessible and engaging for all. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-g-farrer-ph-d-25a18976/Andrew Farrer is the Head of Programmes and Delivery at Cambridge Science Centre. A biological anthropologist by background, he started at the Centre as a Science Communicator travelling around communities and schools on the Roadshow programme. In his current position, he makes sure the team has what they need to deliver the very best in science communication. His PhD used ancient DNA to understand how the human microbiota (the bacterial community living on and in the human body – and keeping us alive!) changed in Britain over the last 1,000 years. Alongside this, he used his passion for science and interest in theatre to develop a science communication programme to bring together the interdisciplinary academics at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA – an effort that resulted in new international collaborations. He has just got back from a cycling tour in the country of Georgia, where he evaded angry guard dogs, navigated roads that were active building sites, and managed to avoid falling off until the last day! The trip was amazing though! https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandy-curtis-688a33111/Mandy Curtis is the Head of Exhibitions at Cambridge Science Centre. She has been with the Cambridge Science Centre since its opening in 2013, beginning as a Science Communicator, then progressing through the Education team and into Product Development. In her current role as Head of Exhibitions, Mandy oversees everything that is in and delivered at the Centre. She is also responsible for the Centre's overall look, building maintenance, and alarm systems, as well as keeping the shop stocked with STEM-related items.Previously, Mandy worked in the pharmaceutical industry and as a school lab technician, where she also ran a STEM club. She was actively involved in Scouting in her village for over 15 years, remaining on the Executive Committee after her own children left and leading sessions for science-related badges, along with serving as the camp cook.Mandy enjoys walks along the beach in Norfolk with her very large dog, visiting as often as she can. She also loves having her children and their partners back home, especially since they return to their own homes afterward!  Transcription: Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. In July this year, Cambridge Science Centre opened its new building, returning to the real world after having been a science centre without a building for several years. In today's episode, I'm joined by some of their team. Andrew Farrer, Head of Programmes and Delivery, Rebecca Porter, Head of Development, and Mandy Curtis, the Head of Exhibitions. And we'll talk about the trials and tribulations of opening a new building from scratch and the benefits now the site has opened. Paul Marden: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Skip the Queue. Becca, Andrew, Mandy, lovely to see you. Really good to talk to you about the experience that you've had recently at Cambridge Science Centre, returning to the real world and having your own physical building for the Science Centre. Paul Marden: For listeners, I've had a little part to play because Rubber Cheese worked with CSC on the journey building websites. So I know a little bit about what's going on, but there's a whole load of stuff. I'm sure there's loads of anecdotes and stories that you're going to be able to tell us all about the trials and tribulations of building a brand new science centre from scratch. Before we get to that, it would be really nice if we did our icebreaker question. So I'm going to do one for each of you. Okay. So it doesn't matter which order I go in because you're not going to get any benefit from knowing what the question was. All right, so I'm going to start with you, Becca, because you're first. First on my. On my list. Okay. Paul Marden: What one thing would you make a law that isn't one already? Rebecca Porter: Oh, that is very interesting. I'm not sure. the rest of those. Andrew Farrer: The rest of us are feeling a bit nervous at this stage. Yeah, Becca's law is Andrew is no longer allowed in any meeting. Rebecca Porter: Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. I'll go with that. Paul Marden: That's very specific. I think when I come to power, not if I come to power, I don't think I dive that spec. I might go more broad. It might be about abolishing foods that I cannot abide eating or something like that. Not particularly. Take one of my team out of a meeting. Seems a little bit wasteful. Andrew Farrer: You don't know what I'm like in meetings. Paul Marden: Andrew, what is the biggest mistake you've made in your life? Andrew Farrer: Working with Becca, obviously. No, no. I just digest. Biggest mistake I've made in my life. There's a lot of things in the moment are very stressful and you think, oh, my. What? Why am I here? Why did I do this? Why did I not think more or think less or whatever? But everything that was probably, this is a massive mistake in the moment just turned out to be a really good story in hindsight. Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. Andrew Farrer: No, I'm happy with all of them. Paul Marden: There's some things that you think, oh, gosh, I really wish I could have deleted that from my memory completely. I spent a year doing a PhD and then dropped out because I realised that I didn't like working in a box on my own. But I don't think I would actually go back and not spend that year doing what I was doing, because it took quite a lot to realise that I don't like sitting in a box on my own and I actually like having other people around me. Yeah. At the time, it didn't, sitting on the bench at Egham Station, deciding, what am I doing with my life? It didn't feel like that was such a great decision that I'd made. Andrew Farrer: No, but they're all part of the sort of fabric that makes up the next decision, aren't they? Paul Marden: So, yeah, the rich tapestry. Andrew Farrer: That's it. That's the rich tapestry of life. Paul Marden: And, Mandy, I'm going to go for one last one, actually. It's not too dissimilar to what were just talking about. What was your dream job when you were growing up? Mandy Curtis: Before I answer that, I just have to give you my answer to Becca's question, because it's something I discussed at a previous job. If I could make one law, it would be that there was only one type of black sock. Rebecca Porter: That's actually a brilliant answer. Paul Marden: Again, hyper specific. Mandy Curtis: No. Trying to pair up all those black socks and none of them are quite the same. That is so annoying. So, yeah, that would be my law. Paul Marden: I don't think I need. I think I could broaden it and just say, there is only one type of sock, because my daughter's sock drawer is not black. There's not a single black sock in there. Mandy Curtis: I couldn't do that to Andrew. Andrew Farrer: You leave my socks out of it. Mandy Curtis: My actual question, when I was small, I had, in my mind, I wanted to be a scientist. Throughout all the jobs I've ever had, that's pretty much what I've been. And the job I had before this, I worked as a school lab technician and my boss came to me one day and said, “I've just got an email from Cambridge Science Centre. Looking for science communicators. I think you'd be really good at it. Why don't you apply? And I did.” And that was when it was, yeah, this is what I should always have done. Paul Marden: So interesting, isn't it? That's not a natural leap, is it, from a lab technician in a school to being a science communicator. But there's so much about teaching which is just telling the story and engaging people and making them want to do stuff, isn't it? Mandy Curtis: Yeah. It's surprising that there are a lot of parallels. Yeah. The thinking on your feet being one of the biggest ones. Rebecca Porter: I actually used to want to be a marine biologist when I was younger, and then I realised growing up that I'm nowhere near the sea where I am now, so that was slightly problematic. And also I saw the movie Jaws for the first time as a child and it terrified me and I quickly changed my mind about that. Paul Marden: Okay, let's segue from Mandy in your science communicator role, because I think it's a good segue. Let's talk a little bit about the journey that you've been on at Cambridge Science Centre over the last few years. Andrew, I'm going to start talking to you, mate, because I remember vividly last year I was at the association of Science and Discovery Centres conference and you were on stage with the guys from We The Curious, and you were talking about what it was to be a science centre without a building. Yeah. And the work that you guys were doing in the community for the listeners that weren't at the conference. Let's just take a step back and talk about the background of Cambridge Science Centre. You had a physical building, didn't you? Paul Marden: And you moved out of there and you spent a period of time being remote, virtual. I don't know what the quite the right term is, but you spent a while on the road. What prompted that to leave the previous centre? Andrew Farrer: Yeah. So that question that was being asked in the conference that what is a science centre without the building? It's really something that's very much in the fabric, the DNA of Cambridge Science Centre. The organisation is 11 years old now and through that time being an organisation that has a science centre and also being an organisation that does the outreach, which is what we would call like going out into the community and into schools and being in the spaces of the people that you're most wanting to engage, both of those things have existed in parallel and that there are strengths to both having a physical centre and being able to do that kind of Outreach and Cambridge Science Centre from the very beginning that brought those two things together and maximised the benefits of both in service of the other, really. Andrew Farrer: So what if you had all of the assets of a full science centre, but you could take them out on the road? What if you have the flexibility of kits that could be taken out the road, that you could do them in a space that you control? So that has always been part of things. We've had, you know. The new Science Centre that has just opened is the third permanent location that the organisation has had in its lifetime. And the decision to leave the previous one was something that was taken by the whole team. We got everyone around the table. This was post COVID. We were still coming out of having been truly remote. We're all about being hands on with science, which is very difficult in the world where you're not allowed touch anything or stand close to anyone, you know. Andrew Farrer: So we had to do a lot of stuff to respond to that. And then we came out of that situation, world came out of that situation and were sort of reconsidering what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. And the Science Centre we had up until that point, until 2022, you know, had been a fabulous space. We've done some amazing stuff in it. We were very closed of what we've done there. But were just finding with the goals we had, with what we wanted to move on to, it was no longer a space that could fit that set of targets. So the question, what was Science Centre without a building? Wasn't that question stepping up because we decided to lose the building? Andrew Farrer: It was kind of, it became a bit more of a focus, but really about the fixed space. Taking a step back for a moment while we really thought about what we wanted. And then we got the amazing opportunity that I'm sure we'll be talking about in a sec with the Science park and Trinity College, which brought that having a fixed space back up on par with the Science Centre without a building. And those two are still. They've always been, they were and they are continuing to be in parallel. And we're just about ready to open up one of our new pop up sign centres. That would be a space out in New England which is going to run there for the future as well, which will run in parallel to this fixed space. Andrew Farrer: So it's not a new question for us, it will never be an old question for us. It is what Cambridge Science Homeset is brilliant. Paul Marden: And during that period where you were without a fixed home, what really worked well for you, what was effective about that outreach programme and that was a became the sole focus for a period of time?Andrew Farrer: I mean were building on what was what we've been learning and what had been working well for that point I guess the last nine years. Yeah. So we knew that our exhibits, our hands on exhibits where you can, you don't just see a phenomenon, you can experience that moment, you've been affected, they're all possible. And so we could take them out. And we'd done that before with setting up sort of science engagement zones in banks and leisure centres. The corner of ASDA one time I think and we evolved that during just after Covid into these pop up science into these fully fledged kind of spaces that were on sort of par with the fixed space. Andrew Farrer: And we really lent into that, created these full, effectively full science centres with those exhibits, with the shows, with the activities, with the science communicators who could have the conversations with people and engage with the kids and answer questions and have a bit of fun and have a laugh, all that kind of stuff. In spaces that were underused in the community. We could take over empty shop units. We were in balance of rural museums. We've been all over the place and we are in those communities. We become part of the communities in the spaces. They already know it. Yeah. And that sort of eases that sort of barrier. Oh, I've got to go to the science place. Because suddenly the place part of that is their place. Yeah. And we're all about making the science. Andrew Farrer: It's as open and fun as possible and building up with whatever level anyone walks in with. So that was, it really was really kind of having the opportunity to hone that ability to create the proper full science centre spaces. And in getting that honed that raised our level on well, what is the fixed science centre? If you can have a fixed thing, what can you do bigger and better there? Which in Eintrum Nadia will want to speak to later. Because some of the new exhibits are phenomenal and they come out of the learning we've had from being on the road and being able to engage people in their spaces and give them a reason now to come to this space. Paul Marden: I'm guessing that when you go out into their space rather than making them come to you get to meet and see very different people. You know, the barrier that exists in somebody having to come to your building means there's a lot of people, there's a lot of young people, there's A lot of families for whom a great day out is not automatically thought of, you know, when they're thinking about what they're going to do at the weekend, they might not necessarily think of a science centre because it's just not what they consider to be fun. But if you go out to them, into their spaces where they are familiar, in the corner of Asda, in the Rural Museum or whatever, you're. You're getting closer to the people that don't normally walk into a science centre. Andrew Farrer: Absolutely, yeah. It's all about. Every single person has some form of barrier that they have to deal with. And, you know, many people have many more barriers than others. No matter what we do, there are still barriers to overcome, but it's about dropping those as low as you can and thinking about getting people across them and supporting them and getting them across them. So, I mean, absolutely, if you say if you're in their space, you remove the whole suite of barriers that exist into travelling to a fixed science centre, which is something we're thinking about and trying to then reduce those. For the fixed science centre. There are other barriers that apply. Andrew Farrer: Even though you're in their space and you've still got to do a lot of thinking and a lot of work to make sure it's an inviting space that they feel they're able to come into, that they can then get comfortable in, and then they can start asking questions and playing with things and break that kind of, oh, it's not for me bubble. Because it definitely is for everyone. You want each other play. Paul Marden: Yeah. Even so, making it an inviting space and making them want to take that step over the threshold into wherever the space is that you are. I've watched kids I'm thinking of a year ago, I was at the London Transport Museum and they had a big exhibition all around sustainability in their exhibition space, which is, I don't know, ⅓ or 3/4 of the way around the museum. And you could just see these kids just stood at the edge watching because they didn't feel confident that they could step into the space and immerse themselves into what was happening in that space. And you've just got to. You've got to make it easy for them to take that step over the threshold, haven't you? Andrew Farrer: Absolutely, yeah. And it's the reason that we have so many different ways of engaging, that the exhibits are there with the activities are there, that the shows are there, that the communicators are there, because people will do that in different ways. What they're comfortable starting to approach, you know, is different from the depth you can give them later. And people will do it in very different ways. But one of the early pop up science centres we had a day where we had, we partnered with a group from the University of Cambridge called Chaos with a student science engagement team. Paul Marden: Right. Andrew Farrer: And their name is apt, but they're brilliant. They're brilliant. And they were all around the earth and all of these different activities and it was really interesting because we noted that, you know, almost to a Percy, everyone walked in, every kid, every adult and they went straight to our exhibits. Not because Chaos wasn't inviting, not because they didn't have cool things, not because they were pushing people away in any way. But it was exactly as you say it was that moment to be like, I don't know, this space, here's a thing that's non threatening, it's not going to ask me a question. But the Chaos were asking kind of questions that were going to, you know, they were going to get at someone for. But you don't know that when you're first walking. Andrew Farrer: No, you play with the exhibit, you start to, you know, that's the safe thing, you start to see what it's doing and then you receive. People build up the confidence, exactly as you say, and then they kind of wander over and suddenly they were just doing laps of the space were in. Just like repeat visiting every one of these activities. Brilliant. You know, and that's a mini version of the journey we want to take people on across their lives. Paul Marden: Yeah. Okay, so question for all three of you then. What was the motivation then really behind returning to a fixed building? Was it an aspiration that you always had, that you wanted to return to a fixed centre or what was the driver for that? Rebecca Porter: We've absolutely always had an aspiration to have a fixed venue in Cambridge. Obviously the clue is in the name Cambridge Science Centre. And we knew that we needed that nucleus, that hub that we could operate all of our other engagements from. And certainly from a supporting organisation perspective, it's very useful for us when we're having those conversations with external stakeholders about the opportunities to get involved with a physical space as well as our outreach programme. So certainly from that point of view, we had an objective to find one. Interestingly, we'd done a piece of work with a group, there's a network in the city called Cambridge Ahead and as part of Cambridge Ahead they have a young advisory committee and we'd done a scoping exercise with the young advisory committee Thinking about that positioning, where we wanted to be. Rebecca Porter: And the key takeaway from their research was that we needed a sort of peripheral location, so an edge of city location that was accessible, that could work for, work well for schools, but would also still allow us to have that public engagement. And for us as an organisation, we really wanted to deepen our relationship with some of the communities that were existing a bit on the margins of the city, particularly those in the north that do suffer from varying levels of deprivation. And Cambridge is a very interesting place because despite the fact that it's got this really illustrious heritage and it's seen as being very affluent, actually it's the most unequal city in the uk, or certainly in England. Paul Marden: Oh, is it really? Rebecca Porter: Yeah. And so we wanted to be able to have our physical space closer to those communities that need more access, need more support, more guidance, so that we could bridge a gap between them and between the Cambridge Science park, which is our new home, but not just the science park, the wider ecosystem and the other research and innovation parks. So, yes, absolutely. We always had an objective to get another physical space operating. Paul Marden: Lovely. So, Becca, I'm guessing this doesn't all come for free and that somebody's got to fund the work to get the centre together. And that's your job really, isn't it, to find people to help you do that, say, how'd you go about doing that? Rebecca Porter: So absolutely everything that we do is completely reliant on the support of like minded organisations and individuals. So we go about in lots of different ways. We have a wonderful board of trustees who are very engaged with the work that we do and they help to make introductions to us in their networks. But it really is a case of going out and doing a lot of footwork, understanding what organisations are operating in our space and what their objectives are in terms of community engagement and how do we align with that. So there's a lot of research that goes on in the background to figure out who we should be talking to. Rebecca Porter: It's wonderful being in a city like Cambridge because 9 times out of 10, most of the companies we talk to do have some objective to do something around STEM engagement in particular. And they're also very supportive of our own objective, which is to widen participation and increase diversity. So they understand that the work that we're doing with those children from the most underserved communities is absolutely vital. So that makes it quite an easy story, quite a compelling story to tell. But we are, we're hugely lucky to have the supporters that we do. And I think key supporters for us are obviously the Cambridge Science park team who enabled the transition into our new venue. Because it was, it all seemed to just line up perfectly really that our own internal discussions around where we wanted to position ourselves. Rebecca Porter: We knew we wanted to deepen our own relationships with these various communities. We knew we needed some kind of peripheral centre space. Unbeknownst to us at the time, but happening in parallel, the Science park team were also considering their relationship with their neighbouring communities and how they can enhance that and do more. Because the Science park is actually, it's a very porous space. So not all of the research and innovation parks are quite the same. But Cambridge Science park absolutely wants to be open to its local communities. It wants them to come in, spend time in the green spaces there and understanding a bit about the different companies that are working within the park. And the Science park as well as the main land owner, which is Trinity College University of Cambridge, again are very keen to support STEM engagement where they can. Rebecca Porter: So it felt like they, our objectives at the time as well as the Science Park's objectives just meshed together beautifully and that resulted in us having this transformational opportunity to be inside the heart of the Science park and alongside that in wider discussions with some of the stakeholders of the park. Specifically were introduced to some of the property development companies that are operating in there who again were very supportive of what we're trying to achieve, but also had the vision to understand that not only are we supporting the local communities, but we're offering a conduit for supporting their tenants. So how can we help them to realise their tenants ambitions? And so they've been very supportive as well. Rebecca Porter: And we're also incredibly lucky to have a suite of organisations that we refer to as our Executive Council, who are our corporate partners that are the lifeblood of our organisation. Their funding and their support underpins everything that we do. So I want to just recognise our Executive Council members in particular, but also the key stakeholders for us with the new centre are the Science Park, Trinity College, Brockton Everlast, an organisation called LifeArc and ARM the microprocessing chip company. So yes, they're all major stakeholders and we're very lucky to have them. Paul Marden: That's amazing. So the Executive Council, that's quite interesting. What do they have some influence over the work that you do and the direction that you take? It's more than just them handing over sponsorship money, it's actually an engagement in what you do. Rebecca Porter: Absolutely. Nothing that we do is transactional, so we don't ever take anyone's money and run. We always try to offer reciprocal programme opportunities, staff engagement opportunities, and with our executive council members, they really do help shape and influence the trajectory of the organisation. So we have regular meetings with them, we talk to them about what our plans are, where they think there may be opportunities that we aren't perhaps looking at, that we could be exploring or should be exploring. And they certainly do have that. That level of influence over the direction of the organisation in general. Paul Marden: And then I suppose the choice of the location is partly driven by those relationships that you built with Trinity College and the Science park. And I guess it was collaborative, the choice of the location itself. Yeah, you didn't go looking for a building with some shortlist. There was. You built a partnership with these people and together you found the space that worked for all of you. Rebecca Porter: Yeah, absolutely. In fact, the space that we're currently occupying is a pre existing building, so it's called the Trinity Centre and it actually was a conferencing space with a catering facility on site as well as the park barbers, interestingly. And so through the relationship with Trinity College and through the discussions with the team in the park, we recognise that actually the space could be working a bit harder, not just for the science park, but for the wider community. And so we essentially repurposed one half of the ground floor of that existing building and Mandy's done a fabulous job turning that space into what is now our new Science Centre. So, yes, I mean, personally, I think having been in that space a lot, if you didn't know it was a conference centre before we took it over, I don't think you'd ever guess that. Rebecca Porter: So, yeah, it's been really wonderful. Paul Marden: You just cued me up perfectly to turn to Mandy. How do you go about filling a space with all the amazing exhibits to make it from a conference venue into this exciting and inviting science centre? How did you even go about doing that? Did somebody give you a blank sheet of paper and tell you off you go, just do whatever you like? Mandy Curtis: Well, pretty much it was a blank slate to work with. But then of course, we've got all our experience from the years leading up to this. So we've got a suite of exhibits that we know work and we know which ones we wanted to take forward, which ones we wanted to build on and expand on. So although in some ways it was a blank slate, it was very much a guided blank slate. So it's still a. For a Science centre. It's still a relatively small space, so we made the decision early on that we wouldn't have themed areas. So we're not big enough to have a space corner and a biology corner. So we've gone for an experiential centre. So you come in for the experience, you come in for one of the most. The thing for me is intergenerational play and learning. Mandy Curtis: So families coming in together, there's something for everyone. So that led the thinking and the decision making with exhibits and I reached out to lots of different people, existing standing exhibit makers, and some people have never made anything like this before. So we've got a real mix here. But what was important was that it's not somewhere where you walk, where the kids walk in, press a button and walk away. It was about prolonged active engagement. So each exhibit has layers of interaction. So you can come in, do one thing, come back another time and do something different or within the same visit, you can build on what you're doing. So, yeah, it's very much about the experience. Paul Marden: So is there an aspiration for the kids and the families to revisit to you? Do you want to create this space where they want to return several times over the space of a year or even as they grow up? You're supporting them through different things that interest them? Mandy Curtis: Absolutely. That's. That's very much what it's about. We have a membership where you want to create the feeling of belonging, of being. This is a place to come with annual membership, you can come as many times as you like. Lots of the exhibits will be the same, but because of the way we've made them and we've prepared them, there's always something different to do with them. And also we have a programme of shows and lab activities that constantly change, so there's always something different and new to do in the space. Paul Marden: Have you got particular audiences in mind that you want to appeal, make the space appealing to? Mandy Curtis: Yeah, we have a very specific audience and I call that everybody. That everything here can be reached by anybody. That's. Yeah, I don't exclude or include anybody. That's why. That's part of the layering. So younger kids, less able kids, older people, there's something here for everyone. I mean, obviously we have an age range for children that is most suitable, but there are also things for younger kids. There's. I mean, quite often we get families coming in and the adults are saying, well, this is way too good for just kids. And that's exactly how I feel about it as well. It's. It's a family place, it's for pretty much any age group, any. Any abilities. Yeah. Paul Marden: So how do you make that. If you're appealing to everyone, how do you make it more inclusive to kids with challenges? Kids with send difficulties, for example? How do you provide something that can enrich everybody's understanding of science? Mandy Curtis: It's really about having some familiar things here in two different ways. So there's familiarity in that. We've got some of our classic exhibits on site, so if people have ever been to one of our previous sites, there'll be things that they recognise from there, but also bringing in things from the outside world, from their world at home. So one of the exhibits is a paper plane launcher. I mean, who hasn't made a paper plane? So it's stuff that they're familiar with, but come here and do it and it just brings out a whole new level. So we talk about ways you can build a better paper plane, ways you can adjust your paper plane, and then, of course, just putting it through the launcher is just incredible fun. So it's taking stuff that people know about and can relate to and that's really important. Mandy Curtis: So some of the, some concepts that we want to get across are potentially outside of people's experiences completely. But if we can present it in a way that starts at level that they're familiar with, they can relate to and engage with, then there's a progression through and we're able to get concepts across that you might, if you went straight in at the top level, you just, it just wouldn't engage them in the same way. Rebecca Porter: To add to that, I just wanted to say that our magic pixie dust, if you will, that brings everything to life, really are our team of science communicators. So that also, you know, that's what, you know, brings every experience in the Science Centre to life is our wonderful team. Paul Marden: Yeah, I mean, that's this, that. That's like every good attraction, isn't it? It's never about the physical space, it's about the feelings that you get and it's the people that are there that help you build that feeling, isn't it? That's why it's a magical place that makes people want to come back, isn't it? How do you also serve that very local community? Have you found that by locating yourselves on the science park, where you are close to those areas of multiple deprivation within the city? Have you found that just mere locality is enough to encourage people in or are you actively doing things to bring that local audience to you? Rebecca Porter: Absolutely both. So we're already doing a lot with one particular community. There's a part of the city called King's Hedges and we see a group of children there once a week for an after school club and have just started transitioning that club from their own space. We've been operating it in their community centre but now they are coming to us, which is fabulous. And one thing that I've really loved since we've opened the new venue is our proximity to those particular communities. An example of how much more accessible we are is that we did a soft launch before we did our major public opening in the summer with some local schools, one of which was King's Hedges Primary School, and the teachers were able to just walk the children to us and that's never been possible before. Rebecca Porter: And we've got much bigger plans to expand the community focused piece to other parts of the city because we would really love to have at least four days a week where we're running an after school club of some description for groups around the city that face additional barriers. So, yeah, we are all over that. Paul Marden: That's amazing. It sounds so exciting. I run a coding club for kids at my daughter's school. A lot of it is about the engagement that the kids have. They don't get that enrichment outside in those STEM technology. So for you guys to be reaching out to that local community and offering that after school provision for them to be engaged in science, then there's a group of kids that just must lap that up. They must love it. Rebecca Porter: Absolutely. And I think Andrew's always said that for us, we obviously there's lots of extracurricular clubs. You've got drama clubs and dance clubs and acting clubs, but very rarely do you come across anything science focused. And what we would love to see moving forward is that's normalised that actually you can go to an after school club, that it's all about science and it's just part of the everyday offering that's available to children, particularly those local to us. Paul Marden: And have you found, I mean, it's probably too early to tell, but have you found that it's beginning to blur the lines of the science park into the community? Because there's something about Cambridge, isn't there? And the whole he's a world leading hub of science and driving science forward and making science commercially valuable happens at that point where the university meets the rest of the community around it. Are you seeing that you bringing the kids into the space is beginning to open their eyes to what is possible for them on their own doorstep. In terms of science. Andrew Farrer: Yeah, I think we are seeing the first steps of that, you know, in your previous questions and what Mandy and Becca have said, I think they've, you know, referenced and alluded to the layers. We're talking about the new centre as if, you know, it's open and therefore it's done. It's not done, we're not done, you know, and yes, getting those exhibits in there and all of the work that Mandy put into making them so generalist enough in the sense that, you know, these age ranges, these ability ranges, these, you know, whatever range you want to talk about can access them. But then it is, what's the programming? We only really launched, the soft launch was end of June. The big launch was, you know, end of July. Really. Andrew Farrer: That only covers 2 of the audiences that we're on, which is the schools and the sort of public inverted commas. There's the everyone this half term we've started that work with the North Cambridge Community Partnership Club that has been moved in that Becca was talking about. But that is very much step one next year is all about filling those four afternoon slots with such a variety that work in such a different way. It's about bringing in the schools throughout the days, throughout the week. It's about flexing those weekends. As Mandy said, it's about finding what all of these different organises, local and more further afield want, need, what their questions are, things like that. Andrew Farrer: We're here to respond so we can create sessions that the generalist concept of the centre might support those in the send community, but we can create a session where it's okay. This will be the quieter session. This will be where we'll have timings on the exhibits that allow will change the lighting. And we're still sort of exploring and thinking about how we do that. Right. So that the experiences is just as good, just as strong, just as inspiring and isn't affected by the fact that something might have been slightly altered. And there's a flip side to that. There are people who are much better at engaging when there's a lot going on. It's almost like there's a hyper sensitivity. There's things to think about on that side as well. Andrew Farrer: So this is a project that 2025 will see a lot of work on, but really is a never ending process. As long as there are people and as long as there are individuals which can help deliverance, then we are there to make sure. That everyone gets the access and that means using all of the physical kit, we've got all of these physical spaces and our team to respond as, you know, as much as we can. So. Paul Marden: So is there much for you? Did your team of science communicators have to do much to get themselves ready to return to the physical space? Or did they walk in the door and it just felt like home straight away? And they were delivering what they've been delivering for 11 good years? Andrew Farrer: Yeah, there was an element of coming home and there's an element of this is what we do. Because as I said, the outreach and the permeable space are singing in harmony, as it were. But this new space does have. It's new and it's bigger and better and more accessible than anything we've been able to do for. And that has brought things that we haven't experienced before. So we, you know, we made ourselves as kind of theoretically ready as we could. There have been challenges both from a practical running an event venue to how do we. How do we do silent science communication when we are constantly learning? We've changed things already, you know, we're flexing and responding and they affect the things that we wanted to bring in the future that I was referencing before they change each plan. Andrew Farrer: And we have a lovely timeline, it's very exciting, very big map, lots of post its that shows where we want things to start happening, but each of those responds to that. So there's no one single ready. And again, even when you are as close to ready as might exist, just like the programmes that we offer, that readiness evolves as well. You keep learning. Paul Marden: Of course. So what were those challenges then? What can we share with listeners? What were some of the things that if you had another swing at it, you'd do differently through this process that you've gone through this transition? Andrew Farrer: That links back to your, what was your biggest mistake? We only knew we learned because we tried something that didn't in theory worked, you know. Yeah, I mean, there's just some sort of like general practical thinking. You implement a system and then only when it's actually put through its paces you realise, oh, hang on, there's this like scenario tangent that we haven't thought about. There's, you know, there's a few things on that front about practically running the. Running the space. As Becca said, that the science park is porous, but we are one of the big things that is now bringing the public in. So there's, you know, murmuring is in that as well because that porosity has been used in the way it hasn't been previously. And we've been thinking about when are people coming during the day, when are they. Andrew Farrer: Their repeat visits happening? Which means when do we cycle the lab activities in the show? Talking about, you know, we can do a different show every day but you know, that's probably overkill because people aren't going to come quite every day. But actually what cycle are they coming on so that we can make sure that we, you know, we're providing sort of an awe inspiring moment and a set of curiosity experiences on a wide variety of different topics so that we can find that thing that sparks everyone. Mandy Curtis: Just to add to what Andrew said, I think it would be hard to label anything we've done as a mistake because we wouldn't be where we are now if we hadn't gone through the process we did. So even stuff, very few things that didn't quite work out well, we've learned from and we've moved on and we've built on. So everything has, I feel everything we've done and has been a positive experience. It's all been, you know, it's all been good. Paul Marden: It's a very philosophical approach to it, isn't it? The idea that it's never done, the project isn't over, it just continually, you know, it needs continual tweaking and continual improvement. Andrew Farrer: It's a scientific approach, if anything.Mandy Curtis: Much as I promised I would be laying down in a dark room by now, I'm not and I won't be. And we're still, you know, there's, we're planning, we're moving forward and looking to next year at the programmes and what we can offer. So yeah, there's always something more to do. Paul Marden: Once again, you're queuing me up for my next question, which was really what do the goals look like for the future? You've done this massive project, returning to a physical space and getting it ready and opening it up and welcoming people in. Where do you go now? What are the aspirations for the next couple of years? Mandy Curtis: It's more of the same, better, more different, looking at different approaches at different audiences. We're going to be. I'm already planning and writing the STEM Tots programme for next year. So that's the younger kids, the preschoolers, so there's new audiences all the time to move into. There's school holidays, you know, kids have been over here over the summer for the next school holiday, they're going to want something different. So we're thinking about that, how we can encourage people to come back, what we can offer, what different things, different collaborations. However many companies on the science park. I don't know, Becca probably does. There's people we haven't even spoken to yet. So there's just opportunities everywhere still. Rebecca Porter: For us, I would say that we are, it's definitely a programmes expansion piece next year. So we need to really solidify what we've got now with our new venue and start building out those different audiences and what the different programmes for each audience will look like. And then it's also making sure that our Popup science centre in Wisbeach continues to go from strength to strength. And so certainly, although we've got this fabulous new venue, we don't lose focus on the outreach work that we're doing as well as building up, building momentum around our support. And Andrew's doing a really wonderful job putting some work into our logic model and our theory of change. And so again it's mapping that out and then how we can link that to, to our, to the work that we're doing. Rebecca Porter: The supporting organisations, what role can they play in pushing forward our logic model? In particular, we talk a lot about emotions, skills and actions as being what underpins our logic model and it's how can our different partners lean into those things? Are there organisations that want to support the emotions piece? Can we do a skills focused programme with another organisation? So there's still lots of mapping to be done, but hugely exciting stuff. Andrew Farrer: Opening the doors to the centre was really only the beginning. Now it's making the absolute amount, squeezing every bit of juice out of this amazing fruit that we've been lucky enough to be supported to build for ourselves. Paul Marden: Stretching your analogy just a little bit there, but it's a very good point. Andrew Farrer: What analogy if you can't stretch it to its unfathomable limits? Paul Marden: Andrew, one last question because I think a couple of you have mentioned the Popup Science Centre. Tell me a little bit about what is that and what's the plan for the future? Andrew Farrer: Yeah, so our Popup science centres are fully fledged science centres. They appear in community spaces. So the ones that I mentioned earlier and they feature our hands on exhibits, they feature our shows, they feature our activities and we are in November moving into a empty well, it's currently empty, but we're about to fill it chalk unit right in the heart of Wisbeach in the Fenland area. So the Fenland region which is on the north of Cambridge, one of these areas that if transport around the area is difficult, sort of deprivation in that area. But there are some great pieces of science, technology, engineering and maths, you know, organisations working in those areas as well. Andrew Farrer: But it's one of those places where for all of the efforts we put into breaking down the barriers to come into the fixed space, that's one of the areas that we're really struggling. So we're going to that there'll be a fully fledged science centre which will be open to schools and the public on those points through the year to go in, to explore, to have these workshops, to have these shows, to engage, to chat. We are kind of, this is coming off the back of, one of these 18 months long project where we've had these pop up science centres sort of around Fenland. This is kind of where we're settling in and really sort of digging our heels in a little bit. So sort of phase two will start to become much more co development with the community. Andrew Farrer: We've been able to spend 18 months getting to know the people of this area and then importantly getting to know us. It's now exactly back to what I was talking about earlier. It's been sort of equivalent of the kids walking in and seeing the exhibits and having a play. Now we're ready, both of us and them to have this conversation about well what should a time centre be for you specifically? And honestly we don't know what that will be. But next summer Cambridge Centre and Wis beach will become this whole new thing where there might be forensic escape rooms happening. There could be some giant chain reactions going on with balls and bean bags flying everywhere. People could be building cardboard cities. Andrew Farrer: I've got no idea because it's actually not down to us, it's down to the people who want to answer the questions that are part of their lives. Paul Marden: Wowzers. It's just amazing. I'm so excited for you. I'm so pleased because it's been a project that I've been watching from the sidelines growing. I'm so pleased that the project's not over and that there's an aspiration to really push this thing and squeeze it for all it's worth. Andrew Farrer: Just like my analogies. Paul Marden: Absolutely. Lastly, we always ask for a book recommendation and you're going to bankrupt me because I've invited three of you on here. So I'm going to get three book recommendations. So what are your recommendations, Becca? Rebecca Porter:  First, first for you, I would say I'm actually a huge fan of an author called Philippa Gregory. And so my favourite book would be The White Queen by Philippa, which is all about Elizabeth Woodville. And Shima was married to I believe Edward IV during the Plantagenet era. So I love a bit of historical fiction. So that's my one. Paul Marden: Aha. Okay. So my colleague and co host Oz, big into historical reenactment. I'm sure that would be a book that would appeal to him. Andrew, what about you mate? What's your recommendation? Andrew Farrer: I have a book this is about I've had for years. I mean it's a kid's book really. It's a book called Aquila by someone called Andrew Norris and it's one of these books that it's about a short book. I keep revisiting it every now and again. It's just a story I've always engaged with. But it's funny, looking at it now, it almost seems very relevant. So it's about two young high school lads who on a school field trip get passed away from the rest of their class and end up falling into a cave and discovering a Roman centurion skeleton and by him what turns out to be an alien spaceship. So the navy spaceship have been on earth for some 2,000 years. Andrew Farrer: And the rest of the book is they don't want to just tell everyone else that the spaceship is here and it's them figuring out okay, well we can't take it home now because we're on a feeder trip so we've got to figure out a way to come back and get it home without anyone seeing it. And then they've got to learn how it works. And it turns out that it's kind of got AI function I guess and it can talk but because it was previously used by Roman, it taught in Latin. So they have to learn Latin. It turns out it's run by water. They figure out how much water. And it's a really brilliant story about these kids solving all of these problems around having quite that fun Canadian spaceship. Andrew Farrer: But at the same time their teachers are aware that these two kids who've classically not engaged at school at all are suddenly asking all of these really weird non class related questions. And yeah, they figure out the whole spaceship thing but think it's story they've made up for themselves. And so I give them the actual support and engagement they need in school to learn better than they were. But everyone misses that the spaceship is totally real, that these kids are flying off like Mount Everest on the weekend. So I love that. Paul Marden: Excellent. That sounds really good. That sounds like one I need to read to my daughter. Mandy, last but not least, what's your recommendation? Mandy Curtis: Just to say Andrew's book was made into a kids' TV series that I remember watching. Yeah, I've just. The most recent book I've read was one from way back. Not fiction. It was Life on Earth, David Attenborough and I reread read it often. It was the series that really sent me on my way to where I am now when I. I was doing unusually a zoology A level and my teacher played us the videos of Life on Earth and yeah, I've never got, never moved away from it. So yeah, that's the book I've read most recently and would recommend. Paul Marden: What, what a recommendation as well. That's a lovely one. So, dear listeners, as you know, if you go over to X and retweet the show, tweet and say I want Becca or Andrew or Mandy's book and the first person that does that will get that book sent to them. And I think as we got through recommendations, three of you could choose any one of those and we'll make an exception and bankrupt the marketing budget. Guys, it has been absolutely lovely talking to you and finding out a little bit more about the story of the journey that you've been on recently. And I think we should get back together again soon and find out how the pop up is going and what's actually filling that vacant shop because I think that's a really exciting proposition. But thank you for joining me today. Paul Marden: It's been absolutely marvellous. Mandy Curtis: Thank you. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, SkiptheQueue.fm. The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Help the entire sector:Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsFill in your data now (opens in new tab)

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your hosts are Paul Marden and Oz Austwick.Fill in the Rubber Cheese 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey - the annual benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 31st July 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://rubbercheese.com/survey/https://carbonsix.digital/https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmarden/Paul Marden is the Founder and Managing Director of Carbon Six Digital and the CEO of Rubber Cheese. He is an Umbraco Certified Master who likes to think outside the box, often coming up with creative technical solutions that clients didn't know were possible. Paul oversees business development and technical delivery, specialising in Microsoft technologies including Umbraco CMS, ASP.NET, C#, WebApi, and SQL Server. He's worked in the industry since 1999 and has vast experience of managing and delivering the technical architecture for both agencies and client side projects of all shapes and sizes. Paul is an advocate for solid project delivery and has a BCS Foundation Certificate in Agile. https://rubbercheese.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/thatmarketingbloke/ Oz Austwick is the Head of Commercial at Rubber Cheese, he has a somewhat varied job history having worked as a Blacksmith, a Nurse, a Videographer, and Henry VIII's personal man at arms. Outside of work he's a YouTuber, a martial artist, and a musician, and is usually found wandering round a ruined castle with his kids. Transcription:  Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with Mister attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. In today's episode, Oz Austwick and I talk about the Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey. After six weeks of data collection, we've seen some really interesting insights that we'll share and we'll also announce a new digital sustainability initiative that we're really excited about. Paul Marden: Hello, Oz. How you doing, mate? Oz Austwick: Hi, I'm good, mate, I'm good. How are you? Paul Marden: I am very good. On a slightly gray summer's day, hopefully, you know, all the private schools have broken up, so it should start to get busy in the attractions over the next couple of weeks and then we've got all the state schools breaking up in the next few weeks as well. So exciting times, hopefully. Hopefully busy times as well. Oz Austwick: Yes. So what are we going to talk about today? Paul Marden: Well, we are going to talk a little bit about the survey, but I thought it might be quite nice as well to talk a little bit about what's happening in the news because there's quite a lot at the moment. Oz Austwick: There is been a bit of a change of boss, haven't there has been. Paul Marden: A change of boss recently. But before we do that, shall we talk about where have we been recently? Tell me, tell me, which attraction have you been to recently? Oz Austwick: So this is why you're here, to keep me on track. The most recent attraction I've been to is Hazelmere Museum in Surrey. It's a bit of an eye opener, to be honest. I've always had a bit of a love for these tiny little provincial, formerly council run museums that you find in little towns around the country because you come across some amazing gems hidden in them. But Hazelmere Museum is a little bit different. I mean, it's astonishing. It's got a vast catalogue of natural history stuff. I mean, hundreds of thousands of pieces in the catalogue there. They've got an Egyptian section as well, with a sarcophagus and a mummy. Yeah, it's a great place. It's hidden away in this tiny little market town and if you get the opportunity, go, because it's great. Oz Austwick: But there is no parking, so you have to park in the town centre and walk along, which is the only downside I can come up with. How about you? Where have you been? Paul Marden: Sounds awesome. I have been to a few tiny little museums, actually. Recently I went to Winchester with my daughter and we did some of the military museums in Winchester because there's quite a few regimental museums in Winchester. They are all of them, you know, hyper focused on a particular regiment doing very specific things. So, you know, there's a cavalry museum and infantry museums. And it's just really interesting. My brother was in the army. It's quite nice to be able to take Millie and walk her around some of these military museums and for her to connect with what he did when he was in the army. So we're able to see, there's a little piece in one of the museums showing the war in Kosovo and how peacekeepers went over. And my brother had a medal from going to Bosnia. Paul Marden: He went to in peacekeeping back in the '90s. That was very interesting for her to be in a museum and connect with something that's of relevance to the family. He was slightly offended when I told him. Also, we saw model of Pegasus Bridge. And she was like, “Was he at Pegasus Bridge?” And I was like, “No, no. Uncle Barry's not quite that old. No, that's about 40 years too old for Uncle Barry.”Oz Austwick: Yeah. Do you know, I remember I went to Pegasus Bridge completely by accident once. Literally. We were just driving back and went, “Hang on a minute. This looks familiar. “Yeah. We stopped off at the cafe and had a wander around the bridge. And you can still see the bullet holes in the walls of the cafe building. And there are still tanks. Amazing place. Anyway, sorry, I digress. Paul Marden: No, absolutely. So let's talk a little bit about what's happening in the news at the moment. Anything that springs to mind for you? Oz Austwick: Well, I mean, obviously, the change of government, I don't think it came as a big surprise to anyone. Maybe the actual numbers were a little surprising, but the fact that we've now got a Labour Prime Minister with a fairly clear majority I don't think was a massive surprise. How that's going to play out in terms of the sector, I don't know. Paul Marden: Yeah, we've got a different culture sector in place, haven't we, than were perhaps anticipating. So there's few changes of personnel than we perhaps anticipated. Oz Austwick: Yeah, I mean, I guess we'll wait and see. It's probably just a result of the change, but I guess I'm feeling fairly optimistic that things might improve. Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. I feel an air of optimism that we haven't had for quite some time. Oz Austwick: Yeah. Paul Marden: Interesting times, other things in the sector. Interesting, exciting news. The Young V and a were awarded the Art Fund Museum of the Year. That's a, you know, a new museum that's doing lots of amazing work. We're real focused on kids and families. Lots of. Lots of co creation with young people involved in it. So that's quite exciting stuff. And it comes with a really hefty prize fund as well. So. So they got quite a nice pat on the back, a gong and some money as well to be able to fund their good work. So that's exciting. Oz Austwick: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Good for them. Anything else? Yeah, Bloomberg. I think we should probably talk a little bit about Bloomberg earlier in the year. We talked a lot about to a lot of people about the fact that Bloomberg philanthropies were awarding grants as part of their accelerator program for attractions, culturally significant attractions, to improve their digital presence. And that's kind of happened. A lot of awards have been made, attractions have got money to spend, and that's beginning to work its way out into the community now. So I'm really looking forward to seeing if that actually makes a significant difference to the overall level of websites. And I guess we'll probably have to wait until next year with the survey to find out if there's been a change in the sector. Oz Austwick: But I think for those attractions that have received the money, it can't be anything but a positive thing. Paul Marden: I was quite impressed because it's not just money that they're getting. They're getting help and support from Bloomberg as well to guide them in the use of that money. Because I think sometimes you see charities getting awarded large chunks of money and sometimes it can be a challenge for them to spend that money effectively, whereas by being provided guidance from Bloomberg, you know, you can see that money is going to be well spent and well used. So that's. I'm pleased about that. It'll be really exciting to see some of those projects come to fruition. I was pretty excited about a couple of science centre related news items. So we the curious in Bristol has reopened after two years of being closed in fire. So that was, I think that was monumental for them to be able to turn that around. It was really. Paul Marden: I was really pleased to see them reopen. That's definitely on my list of things I need to do this summer, is go and visit them and see what amazing things they've done. Absolutely. And then we've also got Cambridge Science Centre as well, will be due to open in a couple of weeks time. So they've opened their ticketing up. So people can now buy tickets to go to Cambridge Science Centre who have been a little bit like we the curious. They've been without a physical home for a period of time and are reopening a physical offering again. So that's exciting to be able to go and buy your tickets and head on over to Cambridge Science Centre.Oz Austwick: And Kids in Museums as well. I'm not going to talk about it because I know you know a lot more about it than me. But they're looking for volunteers, right? Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. So I think we talked in a number of episodes about the Family Friendly Museum Awards and short lists of those have been announced. That includes young v and a again. And we're looking for volunteer families to go undercover and do the judging. And I love it. The idea that families will get. They will have a contribution to the cost of money, pay expenses for them to go undercover and do this judging. And the feedback we get from those families is amazing. At the awards last year, each time an award was announced, we get a little snippet of what the undercover judges actually said and it's surprising what kids find important to them. The benches were comfy or the cafe was nice, you know, little things that perhaps adults might notice, you know, comes out in that undercover judging. Paul Marden: So, yeah, Kids in Museums need volunteers. Head on over to the website to go and find out a little bit more about that undercover judging. If you'd like to get involved in it. That's the news. But what do we really want to talk about? Oz Austwick: We really want to talk about our survey. Paul Marden: We really do. It's exciting. Oz Austwick: In fairness, we're kind of always talking about the survey at the moment. So now we're just going to talk to you about the survey rather than each other and anyone that will listen. Paul Marden: Yes, absolutely. Oz Austwick: We've been open for submissions for, what, six weeks now? Paul Marden: About that, I think. Yeah.Oz Austwick: A few weeks to go. It's proving really interesting. Paul Marden: Yes. Oz Austwick: Is that enough of the hook? Have we got you now? One of the things that I think is probably worth saying is that somehow, and whilst we wanted this to happen, I don't think we specifically planned for it, we've kind of lost a lot of the kind of fake submissions that we've had in previous years where people were clearly just having a look at the survey or not bothering to fill it in, or maybe it was bots doing it and we don't seem to have those. So the overall quality of the responses is just fantastic. And some of the venues that have submitted their data to the survey, I mean, they're astonishing. I'm not going to name any names because I don't know if I'm allowed to. Paul Marden: No, you're definitely not allowed to. Oz Austwick: Some of the biggest and most famous attractions in the country. Or even the world because we are worldwide this year. Paul Marden: But more importantly, also the smallest museums you could possibly imagine are in that data set as well. So what have we seen? We got all of these amazing responses. We've still got a couple of weeks left to go. We don't want anyone to feel left out. We definitely want more people to respond over the next couple of weeks. But let's give some teasers. What have we seen that we thought was interesting? Oz Austwick: Before we do, can I just make a couple of points that I think everybody needs to be aware of? The first is that any data you put in is absolutely confidential in every way. We're never going to release your data to the wider world. All the data that gets released is aggregated together and is done in a way that is completely anonymous. But what that does is it allows us to give sector wide data and we can give your data in comparison to that, so you can and see where you are. So there's no risk of anything getting out in the wide world that you don't want out there. It's completely non commercial. You know, we're not making money from this, we're not doing this, we're not asking for your data in order that we can make money. Oz Austwick: This is to give back to the community. We want people to have the information so that they can make the right decisions. And also, you don't have to fill in everything. If you look at it and think, you know, I ought to fill this in, I want to fill it in, but I haven't got time to do the whole thing, do half of it, that's okay. Even if you only fill in one question, that will improve the value of that answer to the entire sector. I'll shush now. Sorry. Let's look at some action figures. Paul Marden: Let's talk about some of the interesting findings. We've definitely found some things where we've gone. “Oh, really? Oh, how interesting.” So for me, one of them, I'm a tech geek. Everybody knows I'm a tech geek. Okay. Ticketing systems, content management systems, that's my bag. I was quite interested this year that we're seeing much more parity in terms of the ticketing system data that we're getting. So there is a number of ticketing systems where in previous years there's been a substantial number of people selecting Digitickets. In previous years we're seeing more. We're seeing more responses from other respondents this year with different ticketing systems. And I think we've said this before, it's nothing. These aren't necessarily indicating changes in the behaviour of the sector. Paul Marden: It more speaks to the different people that are responding in different years and we're seeing more responses from different people this year. And so we are seeing different ticketing systems appearing alongside Digitickets as key. You spotted something that surprised you, didn't you, in that respect? Oz Austwick: Yeah, absolutely. When we designed the survey went through all of the ticketing systems that were familiar with and all of the names that we knew but hadn't had specific experience of working with. And we created what we thought was a really comprehensive listing of ticketing systems. But we allowed people to tick other and then write in what they were using and we clearly missed one big player from that list and they're probably the highest ranked so far. I haven't actually looked for the last week or so. They're certainly up there. They may not be the most popular but they're one of the most popular and it came as a complete surprise to us. So, you know, do make sure that you get your report because there is stuff in it that surprises even if it's just me, I mean. Oz Austwick: But you may well be surprised by some of the results of that. Paul Marden: Yeah, we saw interesting shifts. So we've done a little bit of year on year analysis as well. Already we've seen that there are more people selecting WordPress as their CMS. So that's now around half of all respondents have selected WordPress as their content management system. Oz Austwick: I'm going to take issue with your phrasing there because I'm not sure that's an accurate description. Paul Marden: Why? Oz Austwick: Because I don't necessarily think we've seen more people selecting WordPress, but we've certainly had more people stating they use WordPress. They may have been using WordPress years, much like the ticketing system. What we've got is a snapshot of the people who have submitted. Paul Marden: Yeah, so I meant selected the tick box as opposed to selected the technology platform. But you're absolutely right. It is indicative of the responses that we're getting this year. And it's not. They're not eating away market share from the other CMS's. I think we're seeing more people being able to tell us what the CMS that they're using is. So fewer people are saying I don't know or I can't track this, and actually giving us answer. Oz Austwick: Yeah, we made a real conscious effort to try and reduce the number of people just saying other. And I think that's probably made a big difference to these. Paul Marden: Yeah, up around is around 11% now, up from 4% in 2023. So that's quite interesting. We're definitely going to do some analysis this year to try and see. Can we slice and dice some of the other data by technology platforms to see if any of these platforms give those people that select them an edge in terms of their performance or their sustainability scores or things like that? Oz Austwick: I know one of the things that we noticed last year was that the bigger, more successful venues were more likely to use Umbraco or perhaps the other way around. The venues that used Umbraco were more likely to be the bigger, more successful venues, but there was no way of telling which was cause and which was effect or whether they were just completely disconnected at all. And hopefully now, because we've got a slightly bigger sample size, we might be able to be a bit more accurate with that. Rather than stating this is a correlation, maybe there's something we can actually action from this. Paul Marden: Yeah. You had some interesting stuff that you saw around how easy people find it to find stuff, didn't you? Oz Austwick: Yes. There's been a long debate that's been going on for longer than I've been with Rubber Cheese about the value of self reporting. And I know that there were some conversations with the Advisory Board that we put together to help design the survey this year about whether that was a valuable thing to do. And I think that, because that's how we've done it for the last few years, we've stuck with it. But also, I think as long as you're open about the fact that this is self reporting, the figure is still accurate. So when we ask people how easy it is for visitors to their website to find what they're looking for, over half of them ranked 8, 9 or 10 out of 10, so that it was very easy. Oz Austwick: And nobody ranked zero, one or two, so nobody thought that it was really difficult to find stuff on their website. But 50% of sites have never actually tested the site or collected feedback from users. So how valuable that figure is a different question. Yeah, we'll come to that later, because there's an important point that I think we're going to make later on about how we can make that figure more valuable. Paul Marden: You also saw some stuff around personalisation, didn't you? Oz Austwick: Yeah. The personalisation things are really important because as a marketer, you go along to agency groups and conferences and workshops and webinars, and for years, if not decades, people have been talking about how important personalisation is. If you've got anybody in your organisation that works with email newsletters, personalisation is absolutely key. And it's really clear that the more you personalise, the better you do. And 90% of the people who filled in the survey agree that personalisation is more important than not. However, only 9% of websites are offering personalised content. Paul Marden: It's a bit heartbreaking, isn't it? Oz Austwick: Yeah. Obviously we don't know why and we can say that even at this point, without the survey having finished, that's already up from last year. It was 6% last year and now it's at 9%, which doesn't feel like a big improvement, but it's a 50% increase. Paul Marden: It'd be interesting to slice that again and see is that the 9% that have personalisation, are they the attractions with larger footfall and larger budgets and that's why they can afford to do this and that's the big barrier to entry? Or is there a something else that actually know that smaller sites with less traffic and less footfall at the attraction can still offer personalisation? It's not just about budgets and some people can use this stuff and get really good outcomes from it, or spending all that time and effort mean that you get no real outcome of it anyway, and that all of those people that think it's really important are kidding themselves. And that's the great thing about the survey, isn't it, that we've got all of this data and we can start to draw those conclusions from it? Oz Austwick: Yeah, absolutely. And I think this is going to be a really interesting one to follow over the next year or two to see if. Is this year's number an actual increase or is it just a more accurate number? Yes, and I guess we can only see that as a trend over time. Paul Marden: Yeah. Oz Austwick: Now, you were very keen that we included some questions about AI and the use of AI. Paul Marden: Yeah. Oz Austwick: Have there been any interesting findings there? Paul Marden: Yes. So the majority of people have used some sort of AI content generation tool, so they've used ChatGPT or the like to be able to do generative AI, writing, copy and that kind of thing. We've not gone into depth about how much they've used it. Do they use it extensively? Is it part of their day to day work? It was simply a question of have you used any of these tools? So, you know, over half have used a tool like that. There is also hidden in that data set there's a few attractions that are doing some pretty innovative things with AI as well. So there's a couple that are using things like AI powered CRM or AI powered scheduling or workforce management. So earlier on you said everybody's submissions is completely anonymous. That is completely true. Paul Marden: But I am definitely going to be tapping up those people that gave us the interesting answers to say, “Would you like to come and tell the story in more detail?” So, yes, you're right, we're never going to share anybody's data, and we're never going to share anybody's stories without their permission. We will definitely, over the next few weeks and months, as we're planning the report, we're definitely going to go to the people that have given us interesting data that has made us go, that's very interesting, and talking to them. So we'll find out a little bit more about what those people are doing. But you had an interesting observation, didn't you? If half of the people have used something like ChatGPT, that leaves about half the people that haven't used it. Oz Austwick: Yeah, it's really difficult to know from where we sit as a digital agency that is constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve and understand new technologies and how they might be relevant and how we can use them to help our clients. You know, we may be, are we more familiar with this than most people, or is the way we see it representative? It's really hard to know. And I find it really hard to believe that the approaching half of visitor attractions simply haven't even looked at it. They've not even gone to ChatGPT and said, you know, find me a title for this blog post or something like that. It just seems that maybe they're missing a trick. Oz Austwick: And I'm not suggesting that you should go out and get vast amounts of content written by AI and plaster it all over your site. We know that Google is specifically and deliberately penalising sites it knows are doing that, but you can certainly use it to maybe improve your language. Or if you can't come up with a catchy title, you can ask for twelve different suggestions for titles and pick and choose. I find it really hard to believe that half the people haven't even done that, but that could just be my context. Paul Marden: I think you might be sat in a little bubble of your own making. I sat with people recently and walked them through. How do you prompt ChatGPT? What does prompting even mean? And talking about how is it doing it? And talking about the idea that it's all just probabilities. It's not intelligent, it's just using probabilities to figure out what the next word is. Yeah. And what does that actually mean to people? I definitely think that we sit in a bubble where we are. We are not experts. Neither of us, I think, would consider ourselves experts at best, gentlemen amateurs. But I think we sit in a bubble of people that are using this a lot and are experimenting with it. I don't know. Paul Marden: I think there's a place for Skip the Queue to look at this next year, to look at what are the innovative things that people are doing. But also starting at the 101 class, what does it all mean? What are these things? How could they be useful to you? How could you make use of ChatGPT to accelerate your content creation, to come up with new ideas that you haven't potentially thought of? So definitely, I think there's space in Season 6 for us to delve into this in more detail. There's one more area that I think we added this year that we're really excited about, isn't there, around sustainability. Paul Marden: Not because we think we are thought leaders on this, not because we think we're on the cutting edge, but because we're learning so much around this at the moment and really changing the way that we work, aren't we? Oz Austwick: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's a really important point. It's something that. Oh, which conference was it? I think were both there. One of the agencynomics conferences, Joss from Enviral, made the point that this is actually our problem. If websites are out there and they aren't sustainable and they are causing damage, it's the fault of the companies that have built them. And really, that's us. So we kind of feel that we have to be at least trying to take the lead in helping fix that. And you can't do anything to fix the issue unless you've got the knowledge and the understanding of where you are. And I guess that's where we are at the moment. We've asked a few really basic questions, but they've given some quite interesting statistics. Paul Marden: Yeah. So most attractions have got good intentions, so most have got a sustainability plan in place. We've not asked what that plan looks like or how comprehensive it is. It was simply, does your attraction have a sustainability plan? And most people have said yes to that. Oz Austwick: When you say it's a majority, I think it's quite important to note that this isn't like 56%, this is a huge majority. The vast majority of sites have sustainability plan to the point where you could say almost everybody does. Not quite everybody, but almost everybody. But that does make the fact that very few have actually specifically measured the carbon footprint of their website a little bit more shocking. Paul Marden: So that's the big, “Oh, really moment” for us was the idea that most people have got a sustainability plan. Some have even actually taken action to improve the sustainability posture of their website, but very few have actually ever measured the CO2 emissions of their website. So they don't, they're not benchmarking. This is not a coherent plan where you measure, take action, measure again and then replan. Very few of the attractions have actually done that measurement process. We know, we know from recent episodes where we talked about sustainability, the importance of measuring in terms of helping you construct a plan and working in a methodical way to improve the CO2 emissions and improve that sustainability posture. And I think we've recognised as a result of doing the survey that there is some impediment that is stopping people from measuring. Paul Marden: We're not entirely sure we understand what the impediment is, but there is definitely something getting in the way of people being able to measure. And I think that's our. There's the big thing that I wanted to be able to share today that we have decided as a result of doing the survey and then started to run through, we could see that most people haven't tested the CO2 emissions. So what we have done is we've enriched the database of all of the respondents that we've had this year and gone and done the CO2 emissions tests of their websites for them. Now, obviously, we're going to keep that private to us. We're not singling anybody out, but we are going to be able to aggregate together what the whole industry looks like as a result of the testing that we have done. Paul Marden: The testing, to be fair, is not just restricted to the people that have responded to the survey. We are also going and testing more widely across the entire sector to be able to get an understanding of what the CO2 emissions of the websites of the wider sector look like. So that's been, that's something that we've been really pleased that we've been able to do and it's something that we want to be able to offer out to everybody that has taken part in the survey. So one of the things that I guess we're announcing today that is a key thing that we've not talked about throughout the whole survey process, is we're going to give everybody that has taken part in the survey the opportunity to download the CO2 emissions report that we have gathered for them on their website. Paul Marden: So they will be able to see a grading of A to F as to what their CO2 emissions look like. They'll also see that broken down in a little bit more granular detail around the page size, the amount of CO2 that is emitted by the page, one page of their site, and a rough estimate of what that turns into in terms of CO2 emissions for their entire site. And that's something that we will share with everybody at the end of the survey. So this year, it's not just going to be one large survey that aggregates everybody's data together. We will also give individualised reports to everybody for them to be able to see where their CO2 emissions are in terms of their website.Paul Marden: With ideas we're hopefully going to work with friends of Skip the Queue and supporters of the survey to be able to come up with ideas around how you can actually improve that CO2 posture, which could, that could be an amazing thing for us to run the survey again next year, gather that data again and see today, as we're recording, BBC is running the Michael Mosely just one thing in memory of Michael Moseley. I think we can take inspiration from that. What if every attraction that got access to their report did just one thing to improve the CO2 posture of their website? What difference is that going to make to us as a sector as a whole in that one year process? Paul Marden: Because there will bound to be a few little things that you can do, knobs to twiddle and features to add on your website that will just improve that CO2 emissions posture just a little bit and make everybody better as a result of it. Oz Austwick: Yeah. And I think it's really interesting that even though we haven't got the full data yet, and we've not put it together in any meaningful way, it's already changed the way we work as an agency. But not only that, there are other changes going on in the wider community as well, because the website briefs we're getting through from attractions are talking about this more. So I guess from a personal perspective, if you're putting together a brief for a new website or an app or some kind of new digital service, put this in there, ask that somebody pays some attention to the footprint and the impact of your new site and make it part of the decision making process. Paul Marden: Procurement managers have the control. I absolutely believe that the person that holds the purse strings gets to set the direction of the project. And just like accessibility is always on, every tender, sustainability should be there. This is a easily, trivially measurable thing. And when procurement managers hold us to account, the industry will improve as a result of being held to account like that. Oz Austwick: Yes. Now, the sustainability reporting isn't the only new thing that we're going to do. There's one more big thing that we're going to do as part of the survey to try and make. Make the data far more valid and applicable. Do you want to say what it is? Paul Marden: Yeah, I'll take this one. Because this was an idea I had. It was an idea I had a few months ago. I would love to get real end consumer input into the survey. We asked attractions, how important is personalisation? Have you done user testing? How easy was it for people to traverse your website? We're actually going to go out and survey people who have visited a large attraction in the last year and ask them, how easy was it to buy your tickets? We could be asking them about personalisation. We could be asking them about, is sustainability a key deciding buying factor for you? There's lots of things that we could ask people as part of this consumer research piece that we're about to embark on. Paul Marden: I think it's really exciting to be able to join up the voice of the consumer with the voice of the attractions in the Rubber Cheese Survey as a whole. Oz Austwick: Yeah, absolutely. Not only will it give us that knowledge from the other side of the transaction, but it'll let us know really very quickly whether the self reporting that people are doing as part of the survey is actually accurate. Is your view of how easy your website is to use, is that accurate? Is that the same view that people coming to your website for the first time have? Because we're all familiar with our own website and if you've designed the user experience, you probably think it's great and it may well be, but unless you actually test it and ask people, you can't know either way. So I think this is a really exciting thing to do and it allows us to kind of draw in more important information that can help us all as a sector improve.Paul Marden: Completely. And we've got a little ask in terms of that, haven't we? We would love to hear from you if you have got input into that consumer research, if you've got ideas of things, we could be asking real people that go to real attractions about how they use the website. You know, let us know. We'd love to hear feedback either. You know, send us a message on Twitter, reach out by email. There's links all in the show notes that will help you to make contact with us. But please just make contact and let us know. We've got amazing feedback from the advisory board and we will be talking about this piece of research with the advisory board before the survey goes out to the real people. But you've got a chance at the moment to be able to input to that. Paul Marden: So please do let us know what you think would be interesting. Oz Austwick: And whilst we're asking things of you, I've got a few more things that we want to ask. Paul Marden: Go on then. What do you want? What do you want? Oz Austwick: Well, all sorts of things. But for today, if you haven't filled in the survey, please do go along to rubbercheese.com. There's a link on the homepage through to the survey. There are different surveys for different parts of the world. Just click on the link, fill it in. You don't have to do the whole thing. Even if it's a partial response, it's still helpful. So please go along, give it a try. I'm led to believe, and I haven't tested this so I'm not going to state for effect, but if you half fill in the survey and then go away and come back on the same computer using the same browser, you'll go back in at the point that you'd got to so you can finish it. It depends on your cookie settings, but that's what is claimed. Oz Austwick: But even if it doesn't happen, you know, a half survey response is better than none. Paul Marden: We'd also like you to nag your mates as well. You know, I've been messaging people that have been responding and so many of the marketers that are filling in the survey are part of communities of other marketers. They're parts of communities, regional communities, Wales communities, or they're parts of sector specific. There's so many different groups and organisations that are working together. If you can, please raise the profile of the survey, stick a link in your WhatsApp group with all the people that you work with around you. We would really appreciate that. Obviously, the more people that submit, the better the data set. The more money we'll donate to Kids in Museums as a result of what we do. Paul Marden: And of course now everybody that submits will get their personalised sustainability report at the end as well, which is another great incentive to get involved. Oz Austwick: I guess the other thing is that if you filled in the survey before and you don't think you've got time to do the whole thing again from scratch, do let us know because we can quite happily provide you with all of the previous answers that you've given that are relevant to this year's survey and then you can just update or fill in the gaps. We're very happy to do that if it would be helpful. And still for those multi site organisations, if that's an easier way for you, for us to provide you with a spreadsheet that you can just put data into, we're very happy to do that too. Paul Marden: Absolutely. And the spreadsheet approach again lends itself very well. You don't have to answer everything. If you don't want to share information about the technology platforms you're using, that's fine. If you don't want to share information about your Google Analytics, that's fine. The more data that we get, even if it is partial data, it enriches what we've got and we get a better picture of the entire sector as a result of that. So, yeah, really keen to get input from more people. So that's our call to action. You've got one more thing you want touch on, don't you? You've got your book recommendation that you want to share with us. So tell us what your book is. Oz Austwick: Well, before I do, there are a couple of things I have to say. The first is that I realise that this is tangentially connected to the visitor attraction sector. That'll become clear, I'm sure, as soon as I reveal the book. The other is that I am an absolute massive history geek. So the book I would like to recommend that if you haven't read this is The Mary Rose by Margaret Rule, which is the story of the excavation and recovery of the Mary Rose itself. I don't know how old you are, dear listener, but I remember sitting in the hall of my school, my primary school up in Yorkshire, with a big TV in a box on a stand with this on the BBC Live and watching it be raised from the depths. And that's kind of stuck with me. Oz Austwick: So it's lovely to read the story of it from the person who kind of made it happen. And then when you've read the book, go down to Portsmouth and have a look because it is a visitor attraction. Paul Marden: Now, I guess it helps you with diving the 4D because you get the fuller picture of the whole story and then you go and do dive the 4D experience and you get to experience a little bit of what that excavation was actually like. And I bet you like any good book to a movie. The book tells the story in much more detail than the movie ever can. Oz Austwick: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Without a doubt. In fairness, it's going to be tricky to get a copy of this book to somebody because I don't think it's in print anymore. So it will be a secondhand copy. I've checked. You can get them. Abe books has a few. Paul Marden: Are you going to bankrupt me? Oz Austwick: No, no. It's not one of those secondhand books. Don't worry, it's probably cheaper than a new one. Now all the booksellers that are listening are going to put their prices up. But, yeah, comment on Twitter. Sorry, Twitter x. If you want the book and the first person will send it out to. Paul Marden: Yeah, so go find the show announcement, retweet it and say, I want Oz's book. And yep, we will find that and we will send a copy of the book. That will be a challenge for the team behind us that do all of the behind the scenes production to actually try and figure out how you order a secondhand book and get it delivered to somebody different. It's easy on Amazon. Not so easy on a secondhand book site, so that'll be interesting. Oz Austwick: Well, I mean, eBay Books is owned by Amazon, so, you know, there'll be a way. Paul Marden: I'm sure that's a wonderful book, is a wonderful location. If you haven't been before. It's an amazing attraction to go and visit. They've got a pretty good website as well. I think we've said it before. Oz Austwick: It's true. I've heard good things about their website. Paul Marden: Yeah, they seem happy. Great to talk to you again. As always, our little fireside chats are very enjoyable. We do tend to ramble on. We've got one more episode left of Season 5, but planning is underway for season six in the autumn, so nearly we're in the home straight now. Oz Austwick: Definitely do make sure you follow and you won't miss season six. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, SkiptheQueue.fm.  The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Help the entire sector:Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsFill in your data now (opens in new tab)

Cambridge Science Centre CEO John Bull tells Julian Clover about the organisation’s new base on the Cambridge Science Park.

Did you know that false barriers about studying science and technology can put children off pursuing #STEM from earlier than age 11?Cambridge Science Centre connects everyone with science - from tots, through school years with teachers and parents, to expert communicators and supporters - in an enjoyable and inspiring way.Originating out of a conversation between entrepreneurs ten years ago, who wondered why Cambridge didn't have a science centre, the Cambridge Science Centre was born, and the interconnectedness of Cambridge has kept going within it for the last 10 years. This week Cambridge Science Centre announced a new home on the iconic Cambridge Science Park, and we can't think of a better place for it to be based.With 6,000 square feet of 20 new exhibits showcasing #STEM, and portable exhibits taking STEM on the road, join the excitement and passion as you hear CEO John Bull and Trustee Amy Weatherup talk about their goals and aspirations.Opening in July 2024, it's time to galvanise the community to become part of the Cambridge Science Centre's journey – as a volunteer, an expert, a supporter, a school leader, or as a family with a membership season ticket. Find out more at https://www.cambridgesciencecentre.org/Produced by Cambridge TV. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we bring to you the ‘Would I Sci to You?' event - the relevant but irreverent science panel show from Cambridge Science Centre!QI's Head Researcher, James Harkin; scientist entrepreneur and CEO of Start Codon, Jason Mellad; Youtube sensation, Holly Gabrielle; Sliced Bread host and science journalist, Greg Foot; Director of Science and Entrepreneurship at the Babraham Research Campus, Kathryn Chapman; and renowned physicist, Isaac Newton face off against an array of science, research and other items that host Andrew Farrer directs at them.After an intro from #CamTechPod hosts Faye and James, we go straight into the event. There's upset about the buzzers then we're straight into primary school science – did you guess the answers?‘Would I Iie to you?' puts Kathryn and Holly under pressure; the Missing Words round included suggestions from Biden to babies, and so much more. So, sit back and enjoy a selection of clips from the event and see Cambridge #SciTech in a very different way!Produced by Cambridge TV Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How might we tell new stories open up our imagination to what is possible?In this episode, I speak with Cindy Forde. Cindy's career has been dedicated to transforming how we understand and act as human beings towards Earth. She works globally with leaders across sectors in education, communication and sustainability including University of Cambridge and the UN, and believes the biggest impact we can have in making change is how we, as a global community, shape the mind-set of our children. In 2022, her children's book “Bright New World” came out. Cindy is the founder of Planetari, an organization that sets out a new vision for education, to enable all children to understand our planet as a living system and to have the capacity for creativity and innovation to be able to live successfully here. Prior to Planetari, Cindy led the Cambridge Science Centre as CEO and the Blue Marine Foundation as Managing Director. We discuss:

With 20 years of global leadership in education and sustainability and a Former CEO of Cambridge Science Centre and MD Blue Marine Foundation, Cindy Forde is committed to education for a world with a future. 00:34- About Cindy Forde and her journey. Cindy Forde is the founder of Planetary, the organization dedicated to worldwide environmental education.  She has worked with leaders across sectors including the UN, government, NGOs, finance, business, technology, and education.  She was CEO of the Cambridge Science Centre and Managing Director of the Blue Marine Foundation, where she headed a global team dedicated to protecting and regenerating the world's oceans. Cindy has an MSc in Sustainability and Business Practice and was formerly MD of the Blue Marine Foundation and CEO of Cambridge Science Centre. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tbcy/support

This week, Phil Sansom has been thinking deeply - or rather, sinking deeply - about this question from listener Richard. "Will a can of soda dropped in the ocean sink until it implodes, or float once it reaches equilibrium?" Here's the answer, with help from the Cambridge Science Centre's Mia Foulkes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Jonathan Drori CBE is a Trustee of the Eden Project and Cambridge Science Centre, an ambassador for WWF, and was for nine years a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In a previous life at the BBC, he was executive producer of more than 50 prime-time science documentaries and popular series, and he is now the author of Around the World in 80 Plants.On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about the diverse diet he had as a child of Eastern European Jewish refugees, how he got into botany through eating plants and the time he accidentally ordered a raw chicken milkshake.

Jonathan Drori CBE is a Trustee of the Eden Project and Cambridge Science Centre, an ambassador for WWF, and was for nine years a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In a previous life at the BBC, he was executive producer of more than 50 prime-time science documentaries and popular series, and he is now the author of Around the World in 80 Plants.On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about the diverse diet he had as a child of Eastern European Jewish refugees, how he got into botany through eating plants and the time he accidentally ordered a raw chicken milkshake.

Julian & Lucy hear from Mandy Curtis, who tells them about the reopening of the Cambridge Science Centre, and the Bloodhound car that’s looking to take the land speed record.

David Cleevely continues his vibrant story in part two of his Invested Investor podcast.  David begins by discussing his reasons for setting up Cambridge Angels in 2001 and why his main focus now lies with his impressive investment portfolio. David co-founded Cambridge Wireless in 2001 and 3Way Networks acquired by Airvana in 2007, in the same year he co-founded and became Chairman of CRFS. David has a wealth of experience and insight to share including his links with the Centre for Science and Policy, the Cambridge Science Centre and the Raspberry Pi foundation before entertaining us with his take on the restaurant business and his successes, Bocca di Lupo and Gelupo. David has recently been recognised as “Icon of the Year” a Barclays award which celebrates the positive ways that entrepreneurs can change an industry, the economy and society. Picture from Road.cc (https://road.cc/content/news/100293-top-entrepreneur-says-cambridge-should-spend-more-cycling)

SECOND BONUS POD! The Cambridge Science Festival 2019 is in full swing! Roxy & Emma talk to Hugh Matthews from the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience about his upcoming talk on how to trick the visual system, and his views on the importance of public engagement with younger audiences. Emma also catches up with Emily Fisk from the Cambridge Science Centre to hear about special activities the Centre is putting on during the Festival! For more festival details, visit https://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/

Emma and new pod host Eva talk to Berta Verd, a postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Genetics and Emily Fisk, who joined the Cambridge Science Centre as a science communicator after a PhD in microbiology. They also chat about a new artificial intelligence technology and its applications for cancer diagnosis.

The Cambridge Science Centre is a really useful educational attraction in the city centre. Founder Dr Chris Lennard tells Roger Frost what the centre aims to do for science education. The Cambridge Science Centre opened in 2013 at 18 Jesus Lane,... The post scientist 31: the science outreacher at Cambridge science centre (2012) appeared first on Roger Frost: science, sensors and automation.

This week is a Cambridge Science Festival special with the Naked Scientists coming straight from the Cambridge Science Centre alongside a very lively audience!But that's not all, it's battle of brains as six of Cambridge's finest researchers strut their stuff in a competition of mind, matter and ultimate cool. From freeze-dried blood to turbo charged wheat who will come out on top?

This week is a Cambridge Science Festival special with the Naked Scientists coming straight from the Cambridge Science Centre alongside a very lively audience!But that's not all, it's battle of brains as six of Cambridge's finest researchers strut their stuff in a competition of mind, matter and ultimate cool. From freeze-dried blood to turbo charged wheat who will come out on top? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week is a Cambridge Science Festival special with the Naked Scientists coming straight from the Cambridge Science Centre alongside a very lively audience!But that's not all, it's battle of brains as six of Cambridge's finest researchers strut their stuff in a competition of mind, matter and ultimate cool. From freeze-dried blood to turbo charged wheat who will come out on top? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Chris Smith and Chris Berrow pit two teams of boffins against each other as they demonstrate their scientific discoveries. Recorded at the Cambridge Science Festival in the Cambridge Science Centre.

Punting is one of the most typically 'Cambridge' of activities, with hundreds of tourists being punted lazily along the river Cam at any one point during summer. Now, though, the Cambridge Science Centre has decided to liven things up a little with a rocket-powered punt, running on Chelsea buns from local cafe Fitzbillies. Yes you read that correctly! James Farr spoke to John London, the world's first 'punt-onaut' Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Punting is one of the most typically 'Cambridge' of activities, with hundreds of tourists being punted lazily along the river Cam at any one point during summer. Now, though, the Cambridge Science Centre has decided to liven things up a little with a rocket-powered punt, running on Chelsea buns from local cafe Fitzbillies. Yes you read that correctly! James Farr spoke to John London, the world's first 'punt-onaut' Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Join Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team for a special programme about the Bubonic Plague, and the Great Fire of London back in 1666. Recorded at the Cambridge Science Centre.

Which is the most amazing animal? Ginny Smith and the panel decide between a colour-changing fish, moles, caterpillars, brainy birds, geckos, snakes and bats. Recorded at the Cambridge Science Centre.

For years we have relied on fossil fuels to produce the light, heat and energy we need to live and work. But these supplies are diminishing, and polluting our environment. So can renewable resources step into the breach annd produce enough energy to power the world? In this special Naked Scientists show, live from the Cambridge Science Centre, we talk to some of the researchers trying to do just that, as well as conducting some energy-related experiments of our own...

For years we have relied on fossil fuels to produce the light, heat and energy we need to live and work. But these supplies are diminishing, and polluting our environment. So can renewable resources step into the breach annd produce enough energy to power the world? In this special Naked Scientists show, live from the Cambridge Science Centre, we talk to some of the researchers trying to do just that, as well as conducting some energy-related experiments of our own... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

For years we have relied on fossil fuels to produce the light, heat and energy we need to live and work. But these supplies are diminishing, and polluting our environment. So can renewable resources step into the breach annd produce enough energy to power the world? In this special Naked Scientists show, live from the Cambridge Science Centre, we talk to some of the researchers trying to do just that, as well as conducting some energy-related experiments of our own... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Naked Scientist Chris Smith with the hottest science news stories, analysis and breakthroughs - this episode is a special edition recorded at the Cambridge Science Centre and looks at topics including how animals survive in the cold and what's being done to save coral reefs.

In front of a live audience at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by three paleontologists to discuss fascinating fossils! Alex Liu explains where the first animals evolved from, Stephanie Pierce describes how animals first crawled out of the oceans and Jon Tennant digs into how the dinosaurs died out. The team also answer questions like how big are fossilied spiders? Plus, Dave Ansell and Kate Lamble break down bones and discover how we know how fast dinosaurs ran...

In front of a live audience at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by three paleontologists to discuss fascinating fossils! Alex Liu explains where the first animals evolved from, Stephanie Pierce describes how animals first crawled out of the oceans and Jon Tennant digs into how the dinosaurs died out. The team also answer questions like how big are fossilied spiders? Plus, Dave Ansell and Kate Lamble break down bones and discover how we know how fast dinosaurs ran... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In front of a live audience at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by three paleontologists to discuss fascinating fossils! Alex Liu explains where the first animals evolved from, Stephanie Pierce describes how animals first crawled out of the oceans and Jon Tennant digs into how the dinosaurs died out. The team also answer questions like how big are fossilied spiders? Plus, Dave Ansell and Kate Lamble break down bones and discover how we know how fast dinosaurs ran... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by exercise scientist Dan Gordon, who also holds the world record in tandem cycling, epidemiologist Nita Forouhi, who studies diet, and David Ogilvie, who investigates how our environment can shape our activity. Together they pit their wits against the assembled public as they answer questions like, is watching the Exorcist a replacement for exercise? Plus Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith find the iron on breakfast cereals, measure the vitamin C in carrots, and see how much exercise it takes to work off a Mars bar...

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by exercise scientist Dan Gordon, who also holds the world record in tandem cycling, epidemiologist Nita Forouhi, who studies diet, and David Ogilvie, who investigates how our environment can shape our activity. Together they pit their wits against the assembled public as they answer questions like, is watching the Exorcist a replacement for exercise? Plus Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith find the iron on breakfast cereals, measure the vitamin C in carrots, and see how much exercise it takes to work off a Mars bar... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by exercise scientist Dan Gordon, who also holds the world record in tandem cycling, epidemiologist Nita Forouhi, who studies diet, and David Ogilvie, who investigates how our environment can shape our activity. Together they pit their wits against the assembled public as they answer questions like, is watching the Exorcist a replacement for exercise? Plus Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith find the iron on breakfast cereals, measure the vitamin C in carrots, and see how much exercise it takes to work off a Mars bar... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by guests Didier Queloz, who discovered the first exoplanet, Alan Tunnacliffe who investigates organisms which might be able to survive in space, and Gerry Gilmore, who is aiming to map the Milky Way. Together they pit their wits against the assembled public as they go on the hunt for alien worlds and life in space. Plus Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith reanimate yeast, spin an alarm clock to demonstrate how planets make stars wobble, and launch their own hydrogen rocket...

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by guests Didier Queloz, who discovered the first exoplanet, Alan Tunnacliffe who investigates organisms which might be able to survive in space, and Gerry Gilmore, who is aiming to map the Milky Way. Together they pit their wits against the assembled public as they go on the hunt for alien worlds and life in space. Plus Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith reanimate yeast, spin an alarm clock to demonstrate how planets make stars wobble, and launch their own hydrogen rocket... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith is joined by guests Didier Queloz, who discovered the first exoplanet, Alan Tunnacliffe who investigates organisms which might be able to survive in space, and Gerry Gilmore, who is aiming to map the Milky Way. Together they pit their wits against the assembled public as they go on the hunt for alien worlds and life in space. Plus Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith reanimate yeast, spin an alarm clock to demonstrate how planets make stars wobble, and launch their own hydrogen rocket... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests James Jackson, an Earth Scientist, Tehnuka Ilanko, a volcanologist, and Arwen Deuss, a seismologist, pit their wits against the assembled public as they tackle the extreme Earth. Plus Dave and Ginny make a flame tornado, a volcanic crater and explain why acid rain can be so damaging...

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests James Jackson, an Earth Scientist, Tehnuka Ilanko, a volcanologist, and Arwen Deuss, a seismologist, pit their wits against the assembled public as they tackle the extreme Earth. Plus Dave and Ginny make a flame tornado, a volcanic crater and explain why acid rain can be so damaging... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests James Jackson, an Earth Scientist, Tehnuka Ilanko, a volcanologist, and Arwen Deuss, a seismologist, pit their wits against the assembled public as they tackle the extreme Earth. Plus Dave and Ginny make a flame tornado, a volcanic crater and explain why acid rain can be so damaging... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests Rod Jones, an atmospheric chemist, Margaret Stanley, an HPV cancer researcher, and Caroline Goddard, jet engine metallurgist, pit their wits against the assembled public. Plus Dave and Ginny make crisp packet fireworks, prove you can't be heard screaming in space and make an elastic-band-powered fridge...

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests Rod Jones, an atmospheric chemist, Margaret Stanley, an HPV cancer researcher, and Caroline Goddard, jet engine metallurgist, pit their wits against the assembled public. Plus Dave and Ginny make crisp packet fireworks, prove you can't be heard screaming in space and make an elastic-band-powered fridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests Rod Jones, an atmospheric chemist, Margaret Stanley, an HPV cancer researcher, and Caroline Goddard, jet engine metallurgist, pit their wits against the assembled public. Plus Dave and Ginny make crisp packet fireworks, prove you can't be heard screaming in space and make an elastic-band-powered fridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists