Museums’ biggest, brightest and best announced

Museums’ biggest, brightest and best announced

The winners of the 2015 ServiceIQ New Zealand Museum Awards have been announced, with an exciting range of exhibitions and projects recognised in a year full of commemorations and celebrations.

Winner of the ServiceIQ Best Museum Visitor Experience was Waihi Gold Discovery Centre, which the judges called: “A community-driven project with a tourism attraction outcome in mind, successfully completed to a high standard and offering a variety of experiences.”

Other winners were:

• Air New Zealand 75 Years: Our Nation. The World. Connected (Air New Zealand, Workshop e & Te Papa)

• Dr Felkin and the Forerunners: Visions of Utopia, 1900-1930 (MTG Hawke’s Bay)

• Reinventing the Mataura Museum (Mataura Museum) and Journey of the Otagos (Toitū Otago Settlers Museum)

• World War 1 Regimental Dinner (Expressions Art & Entertainment Centre)

• Welcome to the Machine - Nau mai ki te Mīhini (MOTAT)

ServiceIQ Chief Executive Dean Minchington, addressing the 170 award dinner guests, said, “I’m delighted to present these awards, and celebrate the professionalism in this very exciting sector.

“ServiceIQ is proud to support museums and galleries in a world where there is so much competition for people’s time and attention: from movies, the internet, shopping and all kinds of sports and outdoor pursuits. Qualified people with great service skills can make the difference to any organisation that needs to attract and satisfy customers, keep them coming back, and recommend the experience to others. Many museums and galleries take this to heart and have invested in our on-job upskilling programmes.”

Comedian and television presenter Te Radar was this year’s guest judge and MC of the celebration. “I am inspired to visit more of Aotearoa’s diverse museums and galleries after seeing the fantastic work they do presented in these awards.”

Museums Aotearoa Executive Director Phillipa Tocker says that this year’s awards are better than ever. “The number of entries and their standard just keeps going up. With the bar getting higher every year, the Awards are becoming even more inspirational. And the best thing is that we can celebrate not only the winners, but all the fantastic work being presented nationally”.

ends

© Scoop Media