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!

Ruru gets festive!

It was the last Ruru meeting of the year today and the team was looking festive!  I'm sure you'll agree that Duncan looks dapper in his Ruru-themed Santa hat and Rebecca looks very merry in her head band decorated with Ruru badges.  You want a closer look?  I thought you'd say that ...

I think she might have been smiling more about the chocolate fish I gave her than wearing her faux antlers!

Anyway, to the proper news.  We talked a lot today about what will happen once we've launched the label trail - how we'll promote it to the public, when we'll get round two of labels underway, and how/when we might invite the public to write some labels too.  We all agreed that having the staff excited and enthused about the project is going to be integral to its success. 

Therefore, we're looking forward to thrilling you with our new scavenger hunt on 20 January.  It will be your chance to explore the reminiscences of fellow staff members, marvel at their wordsmithing and perhaps even get inspiration for your own label.  We hope you'll love the labels so much that you'll bring all your family and friends in to explore them as well!

So until January 2011, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Ruru team!!!

The big guns

We brought out the big guns today, trailing Simon and Andrew around the galleries to check our plans for label placement and to consider other logistical concerns.  By our powers combined we'll figure it all out ... so full steam ahead for the launch in January!

On that note, I gather there has been a little concern about the start time for the label trail scavenger hunt.  Fear not!  The scavenger hunt will not kick off until 6pm on Thursday 20 January 2011 to ensure anybody who's working can still be a part of the fun!

I also took Ruru on a road trip to Auckland this week, spreading the revolutionary word:

Ruru made an appearance at the Auckland War Memorial Museum (as evidenced by this picture) and also snuck out at drinks with Camilla Baskcomb, Conservator of Works on Paper at the Auckland Art Gallery.  He wanted to jump off the Sky Tower as well but I wouldn't let him!  Our colleagues from the Big Smoke are very interested in what we're up to down here so hopefully we can entice some of them down for a label trail scavenger hunt one day!

Placement is everything!

After receiving a few sneaky last minute labels (thanks Linley, Sarah, Glen Skipper, Andrew and Janie!), Kate and I set out on a mission to find the perfect spot for each one.  To help us visualise how colourful, exciting and REVOLUTIONARY our label trail will look, we took some photos of ourselves roaming the galleries with our little (but not too little ... 18pt font all the way!) mock up.  I discovered that the lighting in Takapou Whariki may well make the objects look great, but makes me look demented!  The things we do to make a blog amusing for our readers ...

 

I've done some preliminary editing of the (now 34!) labels that were submitted and, though horribly soppy for a Thursday, I have to say I was pretty overwhelmed by everyone's efforts.  What, misty eyes??  Who me??  Never! (well, maybe just a bit)  I was so impressed by how generous everyone was with their time and recollections.  There are some fabulous labels for both staff and visitors alike to enjoy once the trail goes up.  So thank you label writers!

People have been asking if and when they will get to read other people's labels.  The answer is: not until the scavenger hunt on Thursday 20 January 2011 at 5.30pm!  We want to keep the labels as a surprise so that the scavenger hunt is fresh, full of discovery and as scintillating as possible.  Plus, there will be a prize for the team that wins the scavenger hunt, so we have to make sure nobody has an unfair advantage!!!  Those who only come for the free beer will have to contend with the disadvantage of being slightly addled in the brain. 

The countdown is on!

The final flurry ...

A flurry of emails with labels have been keeping me busy delivering badges all over the building in the last couple of days.  Paul, pictured here wearing his badge of honour proudly, even submitted two labels!  This week we've had musings from Paul, Diana, Gary, Bill (of the Macnaught variety), Kelvin and North Wing Volunteer Pam Murdoch.  All of them are under the strict 100 word mark EXCEPT for Kelvin's, which is a whole TWO words over the limit.  I decided to be lenient in his case given he let me away with blowing the 5,000 word limit for my Contested Ground essay by more than 2,000 words!!!

I've also fixed the settings on the blog so anyone can leave a comment without registering first.  So feel free to start commenting.  Jocelyn, I know you want to!!!

So today is the last day for label submissions.  After that the Ruru group will be meeting on Thursday 2 December to review them and start considering issues like placement.  We'll start tormenting the Exhibitions team a bit after that to sort out printing, mounting, placement and lighting of the labels.  Then we'll create a whole new scavenger hunt for the launch of the trail - don't forget to mark Thursday 20 January 2011 in your diary.  This kind of fun awaits ...