A basic development kit to help you get a community focus group up and running to help develop a new heritage attraction.

1. Community Consultation Focus Group Dev. Kit
Summary: Guiding questions for community focus
group to inform a new heritage attraction.
Target Group: adults.
Robin Patel, Heritage Freelancer

2. Part 1:
Perceptions of heritage.

3. What heritage attractions have you visited in the
last two years?
What did you enjoy
about your visit?
What did you not enjoy
about your visit?

4. Why did you visit these places?
(identify motivations)

5. What prevents you from visiting heritage
attractions more often?
Grouping / ranking exercise
(barriers to heritage)
Prompts: accessibility, time, interest,
energy, commitment, relevance

6. When you have guests visiting, do
you consider taking them to visitor
attractions?

7. Response Card Exercise:
What do you personally get out of
participating in heritage-based
activities?

8. Response Card Responses:
How well is (your location) doing in
providing these things?

9. What do you think could be done to
improve access to heritage in (your
location)?

10. Post-it NoteExercise:
If there was one thing that could
be done to make heritage in (your
location) more interesting, what
would it be?

11. Part 2: Exploring
Potential Displays,
Activities and Facilities.

12. What words and phrases
do you associate with (subject / type
of heritage) in your area?
[flipchart: brainstorm]

13. Revealing Untold Stories
(flip chart / post-it note)
What stories do you think should be
told about (your area’s) heritage /
(subject material)?

14. Who? (people and groups)
What? (objects and events)
Where? (tool: large scale map)
When? (tool: post it note timeline)
Why? (catalyst(s) for event)

15. What would be effective methods
to explore (subject material)?
Methods for Exploration

16. Brainstorm : How can we
connect with each other?

17. (and finally…)
If we were creating a new visitor attraction about
(your subject), what would our mission statement
be?