Hello -
I am developing new content for our museum, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026. The content includes many stories about individual people. In almost all cases we have interviewed each person, explained the nature of the exhibit and where we anticipate their story will be featured, and taken and shared notes from those interviews for their review/awareness.
Our DEI team is reviewing all content and they have asked if each of these individuals will be able to review and approve each story where they are being featured. We will be featuring about 200 individual stories using a variety of exhibit techniques—text panel, readerrail, film, interactive, etc.—and while some stories will have more permanence in the exhibits, others may only be there for six months or so. We are in the draft script phase and have limited but reasonable word counts for each story.
My question - does anyone in this forum have experience/insights/suggestions related to establishing a "formal" review/approval from individuals who are part of an experience? I was thinking of a template/form email that we send out to each person, with a deadline to approve the content, but we have a limited staff to oversee this process for 200+ individuals and I think it would end up being a full-time task to manage, track, and potentially correspond back and forth, etc.
It has been suggested that this process be more ad hoc than formal, however, we are looking for something more solid—a "best practices" policy or procedure that ameliorates the concerns of DEI and the other stakeholder groups we are working with (who do not have museum experience), and gets the implicit or explicit approval we are seeking? I hope that makes sense.
I have 25+ years of museum experience and have not encountered this exact scenario before, but a lot of things have changed (for the better) when it comes to storytelling in museums and I am eager to see what this community has to say.
Thank you,
Lori Hamilton, Director of Content
National Geographic Museum of Exploration