Saving History Digitising access to our heritage No. 2, August 2016 A project supported by the New Zealand History Federaon, Te Kotahitanga o nga Hitori o Aotearoa Edited by Neil Curgen en Saving History goes to Parliament Following on from comments made over the phone when receiving a turn down on a funding applicaon to Tourism Growth Partnership, read on….. Saving History went to Parliament in the form of a two page introductory leer with a four page report on where we had come from, but more im portantly, where we were going and how we wanted to get there. Se"ng out the eight various areas of acon, Discover N%, Stqry, Mytours, (eritage Trails, Replicas, Funding *gures, Acvies, ,ocal (istory -see below.. These went out in an A4 envelope 0 12.30 postage5 therefore we included a copy of NZ Legacy Backing the Truck up…. 6ou are aware of how Saving History came about7 The 2014 AGM :ITEM” from President Neil Algar which eventuated with QR Coding – taAing what you have on your hard drive and pu"ng it on a plaBorm for the world to access. Cell aDer cosng issues with the STQR6 ouBit -they got too big when they received 13.3m funding and headed to America and wanted to raise our fee from a 1230 charge to 1E,000. Saving (istory needed to Aeep the concept -QR coding. but move on, so we realigned to "raising the pro#le of rural communies with small museums through historical tourism.' Cith QR we found out about a funding opportunity in Ministry of Fusiness, Innovaon and Enterprise. "Ah, here(s some- one on our wa e length*' – yeh right. Ce proceeded through T(E PROCESS, email enquiry……, posive response….., visit to Cellington…., meeng with the appropriate person, two hours later a hand shaAe approval to go forward, pre pare a draD business plan…., discussion on further detail…., submit a comprehensive applicaon, email acAnowledge ment of receipt and good worA done, follow up…., Decision Day, hit the bricA wall: "the Panel declined your applicaon on the grounds the ,R coding is becoming a standardised business model across a multude of tourism a.racons. As a result the e/pense was considered to be of a type and alue that should naturally happen in an applicant0s business. The Panel also considered the wider bene#t of unloc1ing the informaon resources with smaller regional museums and con- sidered that this may be a be.er #t for alterna e funding sources such as the 2inistry of Culture and Heritage.' No priIe for guessing the response from MC(: "Than1 you for your email to the 2inistry of Culture and Heritage see1ing #nancial assistance with your ,R coding for history places project. The 2inistry has no source of rele ant funding to assist with this project.' REA,,6J FacA to Tourism Growth Partnership at MFIE. On the phone, when telling me the result of the Panel meeng, the Kfaceless bureaucratL told me "museums in small towns are insigni#cant, usually run as incorporated sociees, with well meaning, aged, untrained olunteers in buildings that are usually past their use-by date in great need of repair, li ing on a hand to mouth e/istence with no substanal budget, lac1ing in #nancial and general planning.' (ow to get my dander up in one easy lesson. 2 (aving been involved in the sector for over 23 years, and lived in small towns -OhaAune, Coodville and Taumarunui., many museums are the hub for social interacon for a great number of people, establishing Incorporated Sociees for the protecon of individuals and members. Feing aged myself, I had several partnership proMects with Naonal Services to bring training to worthwhile enthusiasc adults, used my draughng quali*ca ons and trade training, up and down ladders, splashing paint here, there and everywhere to help Aeep historical buildings in worAing order, running sausage siIIles, hosng heritage *lm evenings and the whole gambit of fund raisers to get hard earned money and prepared this applicaon and many more to plan and fund the future for history in New %ealand. I was hurt for myself and the rest of you. Now I am connuing to do something about it, with your help. Ge$ng on the Highway to Parliament PicAing up on the content of this comment the following were iden*ed: Ministry for Tourism, Nohn Oey Associate Minister for Tourism, Paula Fenne Tourism New %ealand Minister for Culture and (eritage, Maggie Farry Associate Minister of C P (, (eritage New %ealand, Museums Aotearoa, Naonal Services Te Papa Minister for Fusiness, Innovaon and Enterprise, Stephen Noyce Associate Minister of FIE, Te Ururoa Flavell, Department for FIE, Internal ARairs Minister for the Aged, Maggie Farry Minister from Small Fusiness, Craig Foss Minister for Archives, Peter Dunne Archives New %ealand Minister for Community and Solunteer Sector, Noy Goodhew An array of responses, not from everyone either (yet') 20 May: OTce of (on. Maggie Farry ON%M, Minister for Arts, Culture and (eritage. Minister for Conservaon. Minister for Seniors. "Than1 you*3our correspondence, along with ,egacy , is with the 2inister for her consideraon.' 1 Nune: -email. Ilagi Talitonu, 0 parliament.govt.nI: "On behalf of Hon Peter 5unne, than1 you for your le.er*I ha e pro ided your le.er to him and he will respond in due me.' I respond next day poinng out Peter had spoAen to me about archives and his thoughts on having access to informaon on what collecons small museums around the country had in them at our Conference in OATE Onslow in April 2013 and he was looAing forward to worAing with me on something liAe this. ,ater that day, further email: "I will pass this on to the 2inister.' 2 Nune: -email. Deborah Gray 0tnI.govt.nI: "3our recent informaon to our CE Ke in 7owler that was addressed to the 2inister and Associate 2inister for Tourism. They ha e as1ed that I loo1 o er it and reply on their behalf. It loo1s li1e you ha e a ery comprehensi e and detailed programme of wor1 underway and a number of support partners, which is a fantasc way to start a project.' However, I have recently been involved in meengs -no minutes or notes available when I requested. with the Ministry -I as sume tourism. that appear to be targeng similar obMecves to what you are targeng. Museums Aotearoa and 2 ,ocal Government N% recently convened a meeng of Aey pares in the cultural sector -canLt have been all as we werenLt there. to discuss ways in which they can raise the pro*le of museums, galleries and culture centres of vari ous Ainds VIn August 2013 MA and Te Papa held a series of worAshops to share experience, views and ambions for our sectorW. In addion the Min CP( have also had recent conversaons with us around how to marAet both physical and envi ronmental places of signi*cance in New %ealand, so they have a programme of worA underway that matches your obMecves Vanyone heard from this lot7W 2 Nune: a response from Deborah to the best of my Anowledge XI thinA she pinched this line from Neil Algar when he write forewords for booAsY :the 2inistry is loo1ing to shape a pilot programme around be.er mar1eng of NZ(s historical sites but, as e er, there is a funding issue.' Finally at a regional level, it is the Regional Tourism Organisaon who have responsibility to promote tourism prod uct in their region for economic regional bene*t – they focus on growing both domesc and internaonal tourism. There are around 20 RTOLs across New %ealand -only 12 regions though.. 8 Nune: OTce of the Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism: "on behalf of the Prime 2inister, Rt Hon 8ohn Key, than1 you for your le.er* for 2r. Key(s informaon.' Corre spondence Manager. 9 Nune: OTce of (on Peter Dunne, Minister for Internal ARairs. Neil Cur engen – -yes, couldnLt even spell my name correctly.. "3our le.er presents a range of ideas on raising the pro#le of rural communies with small museums through historical tourism. Primarily your ideas relate to culture and heritage sector rather than the responsibilies of Archi es New Zealand, for which I am the 2inister responsi- ble. I ha e forwarded it to 2in C9H.' 28 Nune: OTce of Craig Foss, Minister for Small Fusiness "Than1 you*.. your le.er pro ides an interesng summary of how the use of technology will enable isitors to this country(s regions to e/perience more in ol ing ac ies when ising local museums. The :o ernment is suppor e of any ac ies that encourage and support tourism ac ies in our country' VMust donLt asA us for anythingW. I am awaing further responses but not holding my breath Back on the open highway The development of QR coding has opened several doors, -A,, related yeh right., but things we see as bene*ng you and your community, correct us if we are wrong. Discover N* A geotech locator app which will tell you where you are -at the museum. and what you can *nd in your immediate area. This is being presented at the Auckland Regional gathering 2. th August in Helensville St/ry The QR Coding app that will open the door of the museum when the museum is closed. This will provide informaon on what the museum has to oRer, what is in their inventory, what archives they have and what informaon they can maAe available on the local area and its people.