Fiona Carmichael discusses how The Tall Ship at Riverside, a 1896 sailing ship, uses onsite and offsite interpretation as well as social media like Facebook and Twitter to engage modern audiences. The Tall Ship's Facebook following has grown from 50 friends to over 970 in three years through posting scenic photos, animal images, and lighthearted jokes. While Twitter has fewer followers, it allows for promotions. Fiona recommends increasing social media posts, designating a learning team, highlighting social media benefits to management, and providing staff training to better utilize social media for interpretation.

1. Fiona Carmichael, Learning & Access Officer at The Tall Ship at Riverside
How do we bring an 1896 sailing ship into
the 21st Century?

2.  Onsite Interpretation- Text Panels, Printed
Material, Interactive Boards, Activity
Sheets, Audio Guide and reconstructed
spaces.
 Offsite Interpretation- Learning
Packs, Outreach talks, website and ... Social
Media!
 Interpretive Social Media – The Captain’s Blog

4. captainsblogtallship.blogspot.co.uk

5.  Positives
- Cost Effective
- Onsite control by staff
- Potential for ‘sharing’ and ‘retweets’
- Creates a sense of community
- Increased awareness of The Tall Ship and
our onsite activities
- Potential for widespread marketing to other
countries and between other organisations

6.  Negatives
- Time
- Staff responsibilities and skills
- Opportunities for training
- Management understanding the value and
potential of social media can be difficult

7. Find us on Facebook:
The Tall Ship at Riverside

8.  Started in 2010 as an experiment
 Began with around 50 followers (All family
and friends)
 Now in 2013- 971 followers or ‘likes’ and
growing
 Has been more successful for us than Twitter
 What works?
- Scenery, animals and light-hearted jokes...

9. Find us on Facebook:
The Tall Ship at Riverside

12. Tweet us: @The_Tall_Ship

13.  Started in 2012
 240 Followers but again growing
 Expected to increase over next few weeks
with new ‘Free Opening’ promotions
 #GlenleeGoesFree
 Twitter allows for competitions and
promotions
 Again... Quirky tweets get more attention...

15.  Increase posts on both Facebook and Twitter
 Develop a dedicated ‘Learning Team’
Facebook page and hashtag for interpretation
 Highlight potential of social media for
museums and heritage sites to management
 Invest in staff training and time to make
social media work for us
 Investigate potential of other social media –
Flickr, Instagram, YouTube

16. Fiona Carmichael
Learning & Access Officer
The Tall Ship at Riverside
Fiona.carmichael@thetallship.com
@The_Tall_Ship