Delegates to the Federation's new Open Door meetings in November welcomed the format of four themed events spread over the region as opposed to the one traditional Autumn meeting as held in the past. 

They cited shorter travelling distances, the informal atmosphere, the opportunity to contribute and the interesting presentations given by the afternoon's speakers as key reasons for their success. The only downside to the days was the poor turnout, with an average of only 12 delegates per venue.

Nevertheless the delegates provided the organisers with lots of ideas for future events, for what they see as the role of the Federation in these hard times and for topics they would like included in the next round of the SW Museums Skills programme.

The speakers gave us all lots of pointers to good practice and we have summarised these below.  Click on the link to go to the page you are interested in.

Friday 20th November at SS Great Britain, Bristol - Theme: Community Engagement.   

Tuesday 24th November at Burton Museum & Art Gallery, Bideford - Theme: Sustainability. 

Thursday 26th November at the Bishops Palace, Wells - Theme: Volunteers and Visitor Services. 

Friday 27th November at Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum, Salisbury - Theme: Income Generation.