What should people expect at the event tomorrow?
Well they should expect to get a chance to meet some great people and really get a chance to contribute – to a certain extent its going to be a user-generated event. By coming along they will be able to hear the story of eighteenth century astronomer Caroline Herschel from one of our drama characters and delve into the secrets of the Cosmos & Culture gallery from Ali Boyle, our curator of Astronomy. Dr Chris Welsh from Kingston University will be on hand as well to give people a real insight into how we’re studying the stars today. More importantly though this is a bit of an experiment for the Science Museum, because although we have some great sessions from these experts, we also want the people coming along to add to it as well, sharing their own experience, ideas and talents.
Is there anything you’re particularly looking forward to?
We’re going to be running a special wall activity whereby people can create their own narratives and links between museum objects in much the same way as the curators do when they start to plan an exhibition. We’re really interested to see what the attendees do and how they choose to link their own stories and objects together.
What kind of people will be there?
We’re hoping for a real mix of people, from people with a background in web development, in astronomy or just a general interest in science and technology. Once we get all these people together we’re planning to mix them up and get them working in teams, so it will be a mash-up of people as well as ideas.
Do you think it will give competition entrants an advantage?
By coming along tomorrow people will get a real chance to find other people to work with and but more importantly to get the inside scoop behind our amazing collection of objects. Plus it should be fun!
If you have any questions for Gaetan please leave them as comments below. You can also check out interviews with Mia Ridge, our Web Developer and Ali Boyle, our Curator of Astronomy.