Saturday 5 March
‘Great news’ my caller announced, ‘We’ve secured a much better venue for the Great Days Out Show. Unfortunately we have had to change the date though – you’ll still be OK to exhibit, won’t you, if we move from mid February to 5 March?’ Not really, I thought – so today I should have been promoting Methodist Heritage in Manchester and supporting our Sites’ Network in London. One of the challenges of this job is its national reach! Thankfully I can enlist the support of our site managers and volunteer stewards to help out in Manchester. Thank you Ali, Caroll and Margaret.
Last March, we launched the Methodist Heritage Handbook at the Best of Britain & Ireland (BoBI) travel trade exhibition at London Olympia. I have represented my employers on their stands at many trade shows over the years, but it’s a bit different when booking the space and approaching stand-share partners, organising staff rotas, health & safety, special guests, associated talks and commissioning graphics for the stand are all my responsibility. Apparently ‘BoBI’ was the first 'secular' exhibition the Methodist Church had attended to exhibit in 10 years. We gave away hundreds of Handbooks and met lots of group tour buyers especially from America, but also from Europe and Asia.
Our exhibition programme kicks off this year today at the Great Days Out Show at the Museum of Museums at that ‘temple of shopping’ the Trafford Centre, Manchester. I went up to set up the stand yesterday (see below right). 
From 10am today, Ali Bodley, Acting Development Manager from The Old Rectory, Epworth (dressed as Susannah Wesley!), her colleague Caroll, and Margaret Veal, Education Officer from Englesea Brook Chapel & Museum, will be meeting and greeting a couple of thousand group visit organisers, from groups such as U3A, social clubs and schools.
We’ll be back at ‘BoBI’ on 16 & 17 March, then at the Group Leisure Travel Trade Show in late September; this year both at the NEC, Birmingham. BoBI attracts more group tour companies from overseas due to active encouragement to attend from event sponsors, VisitBritain.
Meanwhile, down in London, c30 heritage enthusiasts and staff from our historic sites and chapels, from Newcastle to Cornwall, Wales to Winchelsea, gathered at Wesley’s Chapel, City Road, London, to explore how ‘It’s all a matter of interpretation’.
‘Great news’ my caller announced, ‘We’ve secured a much better venue for the Great Days Out Show. Unfortunately we have had to change the date though – you’ll still be OK to exhibit, won’t you, if we move from mid February to 5 March?’ Not really, I thought – so today I should have been promoting Methodist Heritage in Manchester and supporting our Sites’ Network in London. One of the challenges of this job is its national reach! Thankfully I can enlist the support of our site managers and volunteer stewards to help out in Manchester. Thank you Ali, Caroll and Margaret.Last March, we launched the Methodist Heritage Handbook at the Best of Britain & Ireland (BoBI) travel trade exhibition at London Olympia. I have represented my employers on their stands at many trade shows over the years, but it’s a bit different when booking the space and approaching stand-share partners, organising staff rotas, health & safety, special guests, associated talks and commissioning graphics for the stand are all my responsibility. Apparently ‘BoBI’ was the first 'secular' exhibition the Methodist Church had attended to exhibit in 10 years. We gave away hundreds of Handbooks and met lots of group tour buyers especially from America, but also from Europe and Asia.
Our exhibition programme kicks off this year today at the Great Days Out Show at the Museum of Museums at that ‘temple of shopping’ the Trafford Centre, Manchester. I went up to set up the stand yesterday (see below right). 
From 10am today, Ali Bodley, Acting Development Manager from The Old Rectory, Epworth (dressed as Susannah Wesley!), her colleague Caroll, and Margaret Veal, Education Officer from Englesea Brook Chapel & Museum, will be meeting and greeting a couple of thousand group visit organisers, from groups such as U3A, social clubs and schools.
We’ll be back at ‘BoBI’ on 16 & 17 March, then at the Group Leisure Travel Trade Show in late September; this year both at the NEC, Birmingham. BoBI attracts more group tour companies from overseas due to active encouragement to attend from event sponsors, VisitBritain.
Meanwhile, down in London, c30 heritage enthusiasts and staff from our historic sites and chapels, from Newcastle to Cornwall, Wales to Winchelsea, gathered at Wesley’s Chapel, City Road, London, to explore how ‘It’s all a matter of interpretation’. Revd Lord Leslie Griffiths opened and closed the proceedings - you can see him here making his closing remarks. The Sites’ Network is chaired by Revd Dr Stephen Hatcher (standing at the far right), and our speakers were Revd Jennifer Potter and Thea, Heritage Steward, from Wesley’s Chapel; Museum & Heritage Consultant, Emma Chaplin; and Dudley Coates and Lloyd Thomas from Tolpuddle Chapel Development Group. Emma explored what interpretation is and ways of doing it, and encouraged animated discussion about which interpretation has engaged our team, and what has been a turn off. Rubbishing the heritage site up the road is not recommended!
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