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20th April 2011, 08:35 PM
A far better way of engaging with the public would be basic press relations so that people had some sodding idea what we do. Yet again I see a BBC report, also on Past Horizons, citing United Utilities engineers discovering a Roman settlement. People must be very confused about what all these professional archaeologists do because so many discoveries are reported like this, why would they ever think there was a potential problem? I would hope the lead could come from a body like the IfA in terms of increasing press, and therefore public, awareness. Or perhaps PPS5 could make it the case the curators can insist on a decent press release being issued for significant remains.
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20th April 2011, 09:22 PM
Not to divert this too much (it may require an new thread) But I do agree.. and BAJR/Past Horizons and a BArerite - Doug) are working on this....
To be fair to Past Horizons... after all I just finished the report the final quote is this
United Utilities (pipeline company) project manager Connell O’Donnell said engineers worked hand in hand with archaeologists. “
Being quite close to the fort we asked archaeologists to dig evaluation trenches before we started work. I don’t think anyone expected to find quite so much archaeology. It was absolutely fascinating and we still managed to get the pipeline finished on time.”
as it was a quote it was impossible to edit. however, it is a fair point.. HOWEVER... United Utilities are pleased at positive PR from archaeology and so it becomes important to show that commercial archaeology can do the business in terms of doing good archaeology and not holding up any project when they are in from the start. Explaining the planning process does not make a good news story... trust me...
However, training in good press releases will be coming. You may notice Past Horizons is putting up more Commercial news... we are actively seeking, phoning up and getting the stories and images. This is deliberate.
How would you in one sentence explain the process.. if it works, then we can add it.
now...
:face-topic:
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20th April 2011, 10:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 20th April 2011, 10:34 PM by Unitof1.)
[INDENT]
Quote:
There are a few that talk, a few that act and many who lurk
and theres one that is censored/banned/blocked most of the time
[/INDENT]
Reason: your past is my past
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21st April 2011, 08:59 AM
remember that there is still a round of consultation before a definitive report is produced and a lot of people have already highlighted the .... 'that makes public participation the norm not the exception'......statement as misleading and that it should be changed to something that is far less prescriptive
get yourself heard by submitting your views
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21st April 2011, 01:01 PM
I get really annoyed at all the comments denigrating the reliability of volunteers.
Will they turn up and work from 0730 to 1700 in the pouring rain - yes, of course. If they don't, you don't have them back on site. They are volunteers choosing to be there, their greatest punishment is not being involved. You will soon learn who can be relied on, and what level of supervision (if any) that they need.
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21st April 2011, 01:48 PM
Vorobyey Wrote:I get really annoyed at all the comments denigrating the reliability of volunteers.
Will they turn up and work from 0730 to 1700 in the pouring rain - yes, of course. If they don't, you don't have them back on site. They are volunteers choosing to be there, their greatest punishment is not being involved. You will soon learn who can be relied on, and what level of supervision (if any) that they need.
at last - a volunteers view
0730 - 1700 in the pouring rain!! glad i'm about to retire
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21st April 2011, 03:43 PM
I'm a volunteer too, and I agree with Vorobyey 100%! I know other volunteers who don't bother with this site expressly because of the way volunteers are often denigrated and/or dismissed.
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21st April 2011, 03:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 21st April 2011, 03:54 PM by Sith.)
pdurdin Wrote:I'm a volunteer too, and I agree with Vorobyey 100%! I know other volunteers who don't bother with this site expressly because of the way volunteers are often denigrated and/or dismissed.
Really, I can't say I've seen much evidence of that.
Vorobyey Wrote:I get really annoyed at all the comments denigrating the reliability of volunteers.
Will they turn up and work from 0730 to 1700 in the pouring rain - yes, of course. If they don't, you don't have them back on site. They are volunteers choosing to be there, their greatest punishment is not being involved. You will soon learn who can be relied on, and what level of supervision (if any) that they need.
I think by reliability we are talking in terms of project management. With the best will in the world, volunteers are under no obligation to turn up for the same hours as paid staff (although I know many do, indeed I was one of them). As a result, it would be impossible to accurately forecast the end date of any fieldwork that relied heavily on volunteers.
D. Vader
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Vader Maull & Palpatine
Archaeological Consultants
A tremor in the Force. The last time I felt it was in the presence of Tony Robinson.
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21st April 2011, 03:58 PM
Sith Wrote:Really, I can't say I've seen much evidence of that.
I think by reliability we are talking in terms of project management. With the best will in the world, volunteers are under no obligation to turn up for the same hours as paid staff (although I know many do, indeed I was one of them). As a result, it would be impossible to accurately forecast the end date of any fieldwork that relied heavily on volunteers.
but if you had a sufficiently large pool of volunteers that wouldn't necessarily matter - some ROs already do it
my question to the volunteers is 'do you want to work for nothing alongside people who are being paid to do it and if so why'?
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21st April 2011, 04:20 PM
P Prentice Wrote:my question to the volunteers is 'do you want to work for nothing alongside people who are being paid to do it and if so why'?
Sure, because at the end of the day I don't care if the guy next to me is paid or not, what I care about is the archaeology, and I'll take any chance I can get...I did move 10,000 miles for that purpose!
@Sith: I heard the same thing from a few people in Scotland, and from my local group down here in the south. I've even posted about it at least once before, although I think I used the term "amateur" rather than "volunteer".
