2020: an unforgettable year
Frits Polman • dec 2, 2020
Dear museum staff,
What an eventful and unforgettable year we’ve all had. After an unassuming start, the year took a drastic turn in March as COVID-19 turned our world upside down. While the pandemic has affected us all, it’s also made us more creative and flexible. And that flexibility has always been of paramount importance at Guide-ID. The first three months of the pandemic were a rollercoaster of emotions, with many difficult decisions and changes, but I’m happy and proud to have been able to lead Guide-ID through this! Our whole team worked on creating solutions that got us through this rough patch, together with you. After all, we are united by one mission: to tell inspiring stories to young and old!
I realize these have been, and still are, very tough times for you all. I’ve spoken to many museums around the world and heard stories that have pulled at my heartstrings. All of those conversations were digital, which will never be the same as meeting in person over a good cup of coffee.
I witnessed first-hand how each country chose its own strategy to contain the virus. However, I believe there’s one thing that unites us: the willpower and dedication to quickly ensure our museums were completely COVID-safe. Just as soon as you had everything sorted, museums were devastated to hear they had to close again! This situation requires a huge amount of resilience, but I’m sure you’re going to get through this too!
Museums in the Netherlands have recently reopened and I hope other countries will follow soon. One thing is for sure: your museums and heritage sites will continue to be inspiring places that nourish the imagination. And there has never been a more crucial time to imagine and dream. We will do everything we can to ensure we continue to help you tell your wonderful stories to as many people as possible.
To support this, I’ve decided I want to do something in return for our customers. That’s why Guide-ID will from now on support an annual project, as a way of giving back to society. For 2021, we have chosen for ‘Oren en Ogen tekort’, a foundation committed to helping people with a sensory impairment. Their mission is to make art and culture accessible to people with a visual or hearing impairment. As such, it’s the perfect fit for our own mission: to tell stories to everyone worldwide. We can now offer this group of visitors an equally unforgettable experience. This year saw us launch an entirely new mobile website (with audio scripts) and an app (soon with sign language), so that all visitors can listen to audio tours on their smartphone. And, as you’d expect from us, we’ll keep this as simple as possible.
So while there’ll be no Dutch delicacies as a present this year, there will be a fantastic contribution for the ‘Oren en Ogen tekort’ foundation instead. Please take care and stay creative in the days and weeks ahead. I hope 2021 will be a year full of health and happiness, one in which we can look forward to meeting each other in person again – over a lovely cup of coffee.
What an eventful and unforgettable year we’ve all had. After an unassuming start, the year took a drastic turn in March as COVID-19 turned our world upside down. While the pandemic has affected us all, it’s also made us more creative and flexible. And that flexibility has always been of paramount importance at Guide-ID. The first three months of the pandemic were a rollercoaster of emotions, with many difficult decisions and changes, but I’m happy and proud to have been able to lead Guide-ID through this! Our whole team worked on creating solutions that got us through this rough patch, together with you. After all, we are united by one mission: to tell inspiring stories to young and old!
I realize these have been, and still are, very tough times for you all. I’ve spoken to many museums around the world and heard stories that have pulled at my heartstrings. All of those conversations were digital, which will never be the same as meeting in person over a good cup of coffee.
I witnessed first-hand how each country chose its own strategy to contain the virus. However, I believe there’s one thing that unites us: the willpower and dedication to quickly ensure our museums were completely COVID-safe. Just as soon as you had everything sorted, museums were devastated to hear they had to close again! This situation requires a huge amount of resilience, but I’m sure you’re going to get through this too!
Museums in the Netherlands have recently reopened and I hope other countries will follow soon. One thing is for sure: your museums and heritage sites will continue to be inspiring places that nourish the imagination. And there has never been a more crucial time to imagine and dream. We will do everything we can to ensure we continue to help you tell your wonderful stories to as many people as possible.
To support this, I’ve decided I want to do something in return for our customers. That’s why Guide-ID will from now on support an annual project, as a way of giving back to society. For 2021, we have chosen for ‘Oren en Ogen tekort’, a foundation committed to helping people with a sensory impairment. Their mission is to make art and culture accessible to people with a visual or hearing impairment. As such, it’s the perfect fit for our own mission: to tell stories to everyone worldwide. We can now offer this group of visitors an equally unforgettable experience. This year saw us launch an entirely new mobile website (with audio scripts) and an app (soon with sign language), so that all visitors can listen to audio tours on their smartphone. And, as you’d expect from us, we’ll keep this as simple as possible.
So while there’ll be no Dutch delicacies as a present this year, there will be a fantastic contribution for the ‘Oren en Ogen tekort’ foundation instead. Please take care and stay creative in the days and weeks ahead. I hope 2021 will be a year full of health and happiness, one in which we can look forward to meeting each other in person again – over a lovely cup of coffee.
Do you want to know more about using the insights our audio guide has to offer? Or do you want to start to use the Podcatcher yourself in your museum or attraction? Get in touch with us directly, we’re happy to help!
List of Services
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Reopening the world of stories. How are we going to do this in a safe way? On 12 March, we were sitting in a meeting with our marketing agency Strangelove to discuss the development of our new corporate identity and website. One of our business managers, suddenly burst into the room to tell us that all attractions, museums, and exhibitions where large numbers of people gathered were being closed immediately. It feels like it all happened yesterday – but it also feels like it was a lifetime ago.Reopening the world of stories. How are we going to do this in a safe way?
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Relying on our core values in Coronavirus times I’ve been an entrepreneur for quite some time now, more than twenty years in fact. Every day, I work towards my dream of building a global company, and at the same time I bring something beautiful to the world by sharing stories.Relying on our core values in Coronavirus times
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How to use an audio tour for crowd control in your museum or attraction. In the current day and age it is important to guide your visitors through your museum, making sure they can keep their social distance. Thankfully, an audio tour can help you to create the safest experience for your visitors. Why it’s good to use an audio tour, you ask? Because you can use the visitor data it collects to optimize the routing in your museum or attraction. We’ll share three ways you can use your audio tour (data) for this!How to use an audio tour for crowd control in your museum or attraction.
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How to ensure that as many visitors as possible listen to fantastic storytelling? I’d say the answer to the question in the title is obvious. I apply this answer to everything I do, whether creating audio tours and the products that go with it, or the way I design my business and organize it. In this article, I will explain my vision on the use (and abuse) of attention, focusing on how you can ensure that the experience you offer visitors is one they’ll actually listen to.How to ensure that as many visitors as possible listen to fantastic storytelling?
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Why audio still has the biggest impact in the 'digital age' I’ve been working in the cultural sector for about 15 years, more specifically in the field of audio guides, and have spent the last seven years working at Guide-ID. When I first entered this industry, it was about the time when multimedia tours came on the scene. This type of tour quickly gained popularity, especially at the major museums. Many institutions started to focus on these multimedia tours. After all, you want to keep up with what the public wants. Now, a while later, we’re seeing that more and more museums are switching back to audio-only tours. Why is that? Well, because audio is often the best way to tell your story.Why audio still has the biggest impact in the 'digital age'
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2020: an unforgettable year2020: an unforgettable year