LAUNCH TIME!

Finally, launch day is (was, last Thursday!) here!!!  The staff launch of the label trail was a spectacular success and the star(s) of the show were, of course, the labels themselves.  As you can see from Karen's efforts, they feature good yarns and they're certainly eye catching!

In response to the dentist's chair and drill in the 'Taranaki Life' gallery

Of course, the staff were also subjected to Kate and my cryptic clue writing efforts and turns out those clues were extra specially cryptic!  However, with a bit of help from some friends (ie. me running all over the building) everyone managed to finish their scavenger hunts in the end.  I'm not sure if the beer helped people in their quest to decipher the clues ...

Me running (so fast I'm blurry!) to assist the scavenger hunters

The kids seemed to have a grand old time ...

There were some great collaborative efforts and good cross-team brainstorming ...

Kate and I got some fantastic feedback from Thursday night's scavenger hunters ... and Friday was spent frantically simplifying the hunts for the public launch on Saturday!

However, all the hard work paid off ... over the weekend the Hosts, North Wing Volunteers, Jocelyn and I sent out HUNDREDS of scavenger hunters to explore the fabulous labels our talented staff had written.  A bit of awful weather helped us too!  The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive - parents are loving having something structured to do with their kids, people are exploring the galleries and library nooks as never before, they're enjoying the stories in the labels and, of course, everyone loves a good Ruru badge! 

We had one champion scavenger hunter on Saturday.  Phaeora Sims, a 9 year old from Hamilton, spent about three hours roaming around Puke Ariki on a quest to finish ALL FOUR scavenger hunts.  She was desperate to collect all those badges!  Here she is, proudly modelling her Ruru bounty:

So, another  M A S S I V E  thank you to the wonderful staff who wrote labels ... you've made this project a success!

Installation day

Never mind me being brought to my knees on Friday ... today we had Geoff on his knees in the name of the Ruru project as well!  Today was installation day and our label format was put to the test, both in terms of looks and how easy they would be to put up.  There were a few kinks (or should I say air bubbles) to be smoothed out and a few tight spots to get around:

However, all in all, they look FANTASTIC (if we do say so ourselves)!  The Ruru team are very excited to be able to finally share the labels with the staff and public.  Of course, the best way to explore the labels is through the I Digress ... scavenger hunts.  The staff hunts have just been completed and are ready and waiting for tomorrow night's fun and frivolity.

We just have to tweak our cryptic clues for the public launch on Saturday and we should be all set to start dishing out coloured Ruru badges to enthusiastic scavenger hunters!

SEE YOU THERE!

Launch day is nearly upon us!

Happy New Year everyone!

The launch of the personalised label trail is only days away and the Ruru folks are hard at work getting everything ready for Thursday 20 January.  

At this stage it's all about creating scavenger hunts!  Kate and I have been roaming the building, taking inspiration where we can and bending our brains as we attempt to create cryptic clues to keep you all entertained on the night.  By Friday the effort had me on my knees!!!

 
Don't forget that the public launch of the label trail will be on Saturday 22 January 2011 from 1-3pm (starting in the foyer of the museum building).  If you've got - or you know of - any kids who are bored with all this glorious summer weather (yeah right!) and want the chance to collect their very own Ruru badge, send them our way.  We'll have the scavenger hunts waiting!  That said, you don't have to be a kid to take up the challenge ...

We hope to see you on Thursday to help celebrate the efforts of the label writers, the scavenger hunt creaters and the Ruru revolutionaries.  Come along and show your support!