Yesterday, designers Harriet, Nick and Nichola attended a conference organised by Museum iD at The Science Museum entitled Museum Ideas 2016. This full day conference was jam packed with inspirational speakers from all over the world, talking about how they make a difference in their institution. Jennifer Scott from the Jane Adams Hull House in Chicago talked about how their temporary exhibition programme changed the lives of the ethnic minorities within their community. These contemporary exhibitions included participation elements, whereby visitors learnt a new skill at the same time as revising for their citizenship test. Barbara Wolf from Deutsches Historiches Museum in Berlin, enthused about Multaka, a training programme which allows refugees from Syria and Afghanistan to become museum tour guides so that the rest of the refugee community can be included in the culture of Berlin, through their mother tongue. 

JiaJia Fei from the Jewish Museum in New York, taught us that less is always more especially when it comes to digital. Dan Hicks from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford reminded us that objects are there to inspire visitors and to get them to believe in the context. Finally, Don Undeen from Washington delivered his entire presentation in emojis to convey that 'we are all unicorns' and that we can all create a space (physical or otherwise) for innovation within a museum. 

Overall it was a highly stimulating and thought provoking day, that has got everyone energised for the projects ahead.