ASVA Event

In conjunction with VisitScotland, on Thursday 18th May we will be running one of our popular Be a QA for a Day workshops. This event gives those participating the opportunity to visit and grade another attraction as if they were a VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor. Delegates will get a thorough understanding of how the QA scheme operates, what the advisors are looking for, and inspiration for positive changes that can be made to enhance the visitor experience at their own attraction.

The ability to conduct a ‘mystery visit’ is crucial to the course, so we don’t reveal the venue in advance. However, this course will take place at a venue in the central Scottish Borders.

Course Info
The day is led by an experienced VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor, who will begin by giving an explanation of the grading process, including a thorough overview of the grading visit and the scoring structure.  This is a practical course which includes a mock grading visit to an actual visitor attraction. The aim is to ensure that delegates attending will gain a greater understanding of the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme and be able to identify how they can improve the visitor experience at their own attraction. The course teaches attention to detail, the art of benchmarking, and gives insight into the inner workings of the QA scheme.

The course also provides excellent networking opportunities with industry colleagues.

For further details on the course content please click here.

Delegate Info

To ensure the optimum experience for those taking part, numbers on these courses are limited to 12 delegates, with members being able to book 2 places per organisation. The cost is £120 per delegate (inclusive of vat).

Should you have any questions, please contact Helen Henderson, ASVA Membership Manager on helen@asva.co.uk

 

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

Join us on Monday 20th February at 10.30am for our webinar exploring how technology can help address some of the challenges faced by those operating visitor attractions in 2023. We will be joined by two well known and highly respected friends of ASVA, Lesley Judge of Traveltech for Scotland and Carly Straughan of QLine Consulting, for this interactive webinar session, designed to give you ideas and inspiration as to how you can use tech to streamline your processes and boost your revenue, and to introduce you to some nifty, free assets to support you.

The Traveltech for Scotland Tech Collective for Visitor Attractions project, funded by the Scottish Tourism Leadership Recovery Fund, has enabled a small group of visitor attractions to address shared challenges through trialling new technologies, working together with industry experts to identify and improve business strategies for engaging with visitors; and to apply technology more effectively to the customer journey.

The collective approach has led to the creation of a set of free, downloadable playbook and video resources covering membership management, contactless donations, digital marketing and NFT’s & the Metaverse.

Lesley and Carly will focus on some of the key areas of project focus, prompting attractions to really consider what they sell and who their customers are. They will offer examples of the tech solutions matched to these focus areas in the project, how participating attractions have benefited, and what ideas and tips can be found in the playbook and video resources. There will also be the opportunity for a Q&A session so plenty of time to get advice and support from the experts and your industry peers.

The one-day Train The Trainer course is designed to equip delegates to deliver our popular Exceeding Visitor Expectations course to staff within their own organisations. It offers a great way of enabling larger organisations to train their staff in-house, making it more cost effective and convenient. The course is aimed at people who already have experience of delivering training. Therefore, in  order to ensure that the training is effective for both those taking part and member organisations, we would anticipate those wishing to train as Exceeding Visitor Expectations trainers to:

• have attended the EVE course as a delegate first
• have experience of delivering training programmes to groups, in particular on customer service topics
• engage with learners at all levels
• possess excellent written and verbal communication skills
• use a variety of techniques to deliver course content eg. Group discussions, one-to-ones, participation, games/activities as well as audio visual equipment
• have a working knowledge of tourism and service sector businesses
• have a professional approach to training delivery

For any delegates booked to attend, we normally ask for a copy of your CV or an indication of your training/ mentoring experience for our records.

At your training you will receive information on how to access the course materials you will need when ready to deliver in house EVE workshops. However, please note that the per person cost for EVE workshop materials for each person attending your in house courses will be £30.

More information on the content of the standard EVE courses can be seen here.

Please note that this course will only run if we achieve required minimum numbers.

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

Given the current financial challenges being faced by both our industry and our visitors, there has never been a more prescient time for you to understand how to unlock the full potential of your stories to benefit your business. Complete Storytelling provides an exciting, hugely relevant, training and development opportunity to allow you to do this.

The impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis has hit our industry hard and this training is specifically designed to help you stimulate business recovery by giving you the tools you need for a vital element: great storytelling. Successful consumer experiences are the product of creating and delivering engaging and memorable stories. Designed to help tourism businesses rebuild income streams, the complete Storytelling workshops will enable delegates to learn new communications and sales skills to help enhance customer service delivery and generate secondary income.

In the highly motivational workshops, attendees learn how the power of your story can motivate staff, create exceptional consumer experiences and generate income, and delegates are taught how to use storytelling to engage, sell and create brand loyalty. The course breaks down the fears and boundaries that prohibit truly effective communication; this is achieved through teaching and practicing practical methods in a safe, supported and inspiring environment. Using performance techniques, the experienced professional trainers hone participants’ skills in Body Language and Voice by teaching tried and tested tips and tricks used by actors and presenters. Pre-workshop, a little apprehension is normal; post-workshop, increased confidence, positivity and new tricks up your sleeve is standard.

Stories effortlessly transform consumers into ambassadors; generating repeat visits, recommendations and increased secondary spend.

Content includes:

• Why do we tell stories?
• The impact of stories
• The 6 essential stories
• The 3 vital uses for stories in business
• Your business stories
• Story structure
• Communication styles
• The importance of stories
• Using body language
• Vocal techniques
• Stagecraft
• Working with text
• Storytelling hacks

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to learn how to unlock the power of your stories to enhance your service delivery and boost your bottom line.

This course compliments ‘Complete Sales’ and ‘Complete Experience’. It is recommended that delegates attending Complete Storytelling, will also undertake Complete Sales and Complete Experience. However, it is not a pre-requisite, as all courses are standalone.

You can find out more about Complete Sales here, and Complete Experience here.

The training will be delivered by the experts from Complete Works. Using techniques that are trained through these courses, the team at Complete Works has made a significant difference helping attractions across the country exceed challenging income targets. Projects they have led at attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the National Gallery have seen increases in visitor spend by multiple hundreds of percent. Through this training, you and your team members can learn to implement the techniques that will similarly wow your visitors and impact positively on your bottom line.

ASVA Accreditation

All delegates that complete this suit of three training courses will become certified by ASVA as a ‘Complete Customer Care’ specialist. ASVA‘s vision is to support and inspire Scottish visitor attractions to deliver outstanding experiences for each and every visitor and the ASVA brand is recognised across the tourism industry in Scotland and the UK. These courses will support the professional development of staff of their career journeys.

BOOKING DETAILS

The special ASVA member rate to attend is £109.00 plus vat, whilst the non-member rate is £195.00 plus vat (please note that the fee you will pay via our online system is inclusive of vat).

Recognising the economic challenges being faced by the industry, we have endeavoured to keep the member fee as low as we possibly can. We would like to acknowledge the willingness to help us do this from the trainers at Complete Works and the venue operators at VisitScotland, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, all of whom have taken steps to reduce the costs of putting on these elite training events.

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

Given the current financial challenges being faced by both our industry and our visitors, there has never been a more prescient time for you to understand how to unlock the full potential of your stories to benefit your business. Complete Storytelling provides an exciting, hugely relevant, training and development opportunity to allow you to do this.

The impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis has hit our industry hard and this training is specifically designed to help you stimulate business recovery by giving you the tools you need for a vital element: great storytelling. Successful consumer experiences are the product of creating and delivering engaging and memorable stories. Designed to help tourism businesses rebuild income streams, the complete Storytelling workshops will enable delegates to learn new communications and sales skills to help enhance customer service delivery and generate secondary income.

In the highly motivational workshops, attendees learn how the power of your story can motivate staff, create exceptional consumer experiences and generate income, and delegates are taught how to use storytelling to engage, sell and create brand loyalty. The course breaks down the fears and boundaries that prohibit truly effective communication; this is achieved through teaching and practicing practical methods in a safe, supported and inspiring environment. Using performance techniques, the experienced professional trainers hone participants’ skills in Body Language and Voice by teaching tried and tested tips and tricks used by actors and presenters. Pre-workshop, a little apprehension is normal; post-workshop, increased confidence, positivity and new tricks up your sleeve is standard.

Stories effortlessly transform consumers into ambassadors; generating repeat visits, recommendations and increased secondary spend.

Content includes:

• Why do we tell stories?
• The impact of stories
• The 6 essential stories
• The 3 vital uses for stories in business
• Your business stories
• Story structure
• Communication styles
• The importance of stories
• Using body language
• Vocal techniques
• Stagecraft
• Working with text
• Storytelling hacks

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to learn how to unlock the power of your stories to enhance your service delivery and boost your bottom line.

This course compliments ‘Complete Sales’ and ‘Complete Experience’. It is recommended that delegates attending Complete Storytelling, will also undertake Complete Sales and Complete Experience. However, it is not a pre-requisite, as all courses are standalone.

You can find out more about Complete Sales here, and Complete Experience here.

The training will be delivered by experts from Complete Works. Using techniques that are trained through these courses, the team at Complete Works has made a significant difference helping attractions across the country exceed challenging income targets. Projects they have led at attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the National Gallery have seen increases in visitor spend by multiple hundreds of percent. Through this training, you and your team members can learn to implement the techniques that will similarly wow your visitors and impact positively on your bottom line.

ASVA Accreditation

All delegates that complete this suit of three training courses will become certified by ASVA as a ‘Complete Customer Care’ specialist. ASVA‘s vision is to support and inspire Scottish visitor attractions to deliver outstanding experiences for each and every visitor and the ASVA brand is recognised across the tourism industry in Scotland and the UK. These courses will support the professional development of staff of their career journeys.

BOOKING DETAILS

The special ASVA member rate to attend is £109.00 plus vat, whilst the non-member rate is £195.00 plus vat (please note that the amount you will pay via our online system is the cost inclusive of vat).

Recognising the economic challenges being faced by the industry, we have endeavoured to keep the member fee as low as we possibly can. We would like to acknowledge the willingness to help us do this from the trainers at Complete Works and the venue operators at VisitScotland, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, all of whom have taken steps to reduce the costs of putting on these elite training events.

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

Our first Be a QA for a Day course of 2023 will be taking place on Thursday 2nd March. This event is a one-day workshop, giving those participating the opportunity to visit and grade another attraction as if they were a VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor. Delegates will get a thorough understanding of how the QA scheme operates, what the advisors are looking for, and inspiration for positive changes that can be made to enhance the visitor experience at their own attraction.

The ability to conduct a ‘mystery visit’ is crucial to the course, so we don’t reveal the venue in advance. However, this course will take place at a venue in the North East of Scotland.

Course Info
The day is led by an experienced VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor, who will begin by giving an explanation of the grading process, including a thorough overview of the grading visit and the scoring structure.  This is a practical course which includes a mock grading visit to an actual visitor attraction. The aim is to ensure that delegates attending will gain a greater understanding of the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme and be able to identify how they can improve the visitor experience at their own attraction. The course teaches attention to detail, the art of benchmarking, and gives insight into the inner workings of the QA scheme.

The course also provides excellent networking opportunities with industry colleagues.

For further details on the course content please click here.

Delegate Info

To ensure the optimum experience for those taking part, numbers on these courses are limited to 12 delegates, with members being able to book 2 places per organisation. The cost is £120 per delegate (inclusive of vat).

Should you have any questions, please contact Helen Henderson, ASVA Membership Manager on helen@asva.co.uk

 

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

Given the current financial challenges being faced by both our industry and our visitors, there has never been a more prescient time for you to understand how to unlock the full potential of your stories to benefit your business. Complete Storytelling provides an exciting, hugely relevant, training and development opportunity to allow you to do this.

The impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis has hit our industry hard and this training is specifically designed to help you stimulate business recovery by giving you the tools you need for a vital element: great storytelling. Successful consumer experiences are the product of creating and delivering engaging and memorable stories. Designed to help tourism businesses rebuild income streams, the complete Storytelling workshops will enable delegates to learn new communications and sales skills to help enhance customer service delivery and generate secondary income.

In the highly motivational workshops, attendees learn how the power of your story can motivate staff, create exceptional consumer experiences and generate income, and delegates are taught how to use storytelling to engage, sell and create brand loyalty. The course breaks down the fears and boundaries that prohibit truly effective communication; this is achieved through teaching and practicing practical methods in a safe, supported and inspiring environment. Using performance techniques, the experienced professional trainers hone participants’ skills in Body Language and Voice by teaching tried and tested tips and tricks used by actors and presenters. Pre-workshop, a little apprehension is normal; post-workshop, increased confidence, positivity and new tricks up your sleeve is standard.

Stories effortlessly transform consumers into ambassadors; generating repeat visits, recommendations and increased secondary spend.

Content includes:

• Why do we tell stories?
• The impact of stories
• The 6 essential stories
• The 3 vital uses for stories in business
• Your business stories
• Story structure
• Communication styles
• The importance of stories
• Using body language
• Vocal techniques
• Stagecraft
• Working with text
• Storytelling hacks

Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to learn how to unlock the power of your stories to enhance your service delivery and boost your bottom line.

This course compliments ‘Complete Sales’ and ‘Complete Experience’. It is recommended that delegates attending Complete Storytelling, will also undertake Complete Sales and Complete Experience. However, it is not a pre-requisite, as all courses are standalone.

You can find out more about Complete Sales here, and Complete Experience here.

The training will be delivered by the experts from Complete Works. Using techniques that are trained through these courses, the team at Complete Works has made a significant difference helping attractions across the country exceed challenging income targets. Projects they have led at attractions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the National Gallery have seen increases in visitor spend by multiple hundreds of percent. Through this training, you and your team members can learn to implement the techniques that will similarly wow your visitors and impact positively on your bottom line.

ASVA Accreditation

All delegates that complete this suit of three training courses will become certified by ASVA as a ‘Complete Customer Care’ specialist. ASVA‘s vision is to support and inspire Scottish visitor attractions to deliver outstanding experiences for each and every visitor and the ASVA brand is recognised across the tourism industry in Scotland and the UK. These courses will support the professional development of staff of their career journeys.

BOOKING DETAILS

The special ASVA member rate to attend is £109.00 plus vat, whilst the non-member rate is £195.00 plus vat (please note that the amount you will pay via our online system is the cost inclusive of vat).

Recognising the economic challenges being faced by the industry, we have endeavoured to keep the member fee as low as we possibly can. We would like to acknowledge the willingness to help us do this from the trainers at Complete Works and the venue operators at VisitScotland, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, all of whom have taken steps to reduce the costs of putting on these elite training events.

Please note, cancellation of a booking (by emailing info@asva.co.uk ) must be received at least 7 days prior to the event to be eligible for a refund. Bookings cancelled less than 7 days before the event, and non-attendance, will be non-refundable.

Join us for a lively and eye-opening webinar on Tuesday 17^th January at 10.30am looking at the opportunities for increasing visitors by train, bus, bike and foot. The webinar will be led by Founder/Director of Good Journey, Nat Taplin.

One in four UK households don’t own a car. Find how you can make them welcome – increasing visitors and cutting carbon. Hear how Blenheim Place gained 25,000 car-free visitors in just two years. And how Historic Environment Scotland will be opening its doors to car-free visitors in 2023.

The webinar will include:

• Visitor travel quiz
• Reasons to take action
• An epic Danish bus advert!
• Steps you can take
• Case studies from attractions of all sizes

Discover quick easy steps you can take right now to attract more car-free visitors. Hear about inspiring improvements, like cycle paths and shuttlebuses, being made by Good Journey member attractions. Learn how Good Journey can help you – including a bespoke journey planning page for your attraction.

Nat Taplin has over 20 years’ experience in sustainable transport and tourism – increasing income and support for organisations like Campaign for Better Transport and New Forest National Park – before founding Good Journey in 2018.

Good Journey are the UK experts on car-free leisure travel. Their website offers travel directions and discounts for visitor attractions across the UK, plus car-free adventure guides from Fort William to Falmouth. They work with a wide range of partner organisations like ASVA, RHS, Historic Houses, Eco Attractions Group, English Heritage, National Trust and bus and train operators.  We would also remind our members that ASVA has negotiated a very special offer, where you can enjoy two years subscription to Good Journey for the price of one.

 

As members will be aware, in 2022 web design specialists and supporters of ASVA – Rubber Cheese – surveyed and undertook research with attraction operators from across the breadth of both ASVA and ALVA memberships, to explore the online customer journey currently being offered to our visitors and establish some benchmarks for quality in visitor attraction websites.

Using the results of this research, for the first time ever, benchmarks related specifically to websites in the visitor attraction sector have been established. This means industry professionals now have a more accurate picture of what good looks like across similar branded websites, allowing for better decision making with genuine insight.

Join Kelly Molson, founder of Rubber Cheese as she reveals national metrics for:

• Add to basket rate
• Basket abandonment rate
• Bounce rate
• Conversion rate
• Load times

Plus key insights into user experience, booking journeys, mobile experience and so much more.

Do you want to:

• Benchmark your visitor attraction website against national averages?
• Know what great looks like and where you sit currently?
• Build arguments for future investment in your website and digital channels?
• Plan for the future and ongoing recovery of the sector?

Then this is the webinar for you!

Kelly Molson is Founder of Rubber Cheese, and host of the popular Skip the Queue Podcast, for people working in or working with visitor attractions.
She regularly delivers presentations on the sector at various national conferences and attraction organisations including The Visitor Attractions Conference, ASVA and ALVA.

Rubber Cheese builds remarkable websites that help sell more tickets and showcase outstanding visitor attraction experiences. Taking a user centric approach, they focus on making continual improvements that build and build, to deliver better conversions and increased revenue. They support leading attraction and destination brands like Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, National Parks UK, Holkham, Visit Cambridge and The National Marine Aquarium.

After a 2-year pause we are delighted to bring back our popular Be a QA for a Day workshop. This course consists of a one-day workshop and is hosted by the VisitScotland Quality Assurance team, supported by ASVA and partnering visitor attractions.

We have 2 courses scheduled, taking place on Wednesday 30th November and Thursday 1st December. In order to further enhance the experience the Be a QA for a Day course offers, we have taken to the opportunity to trial some changes, more details about this can be found below.

As members may remember, the ability to conduct a ‘mystery visit’ is crucial to the process, so we don’t reveal the venue in advance. However, it is located centrally within the Central Belt of Scotland. (Our intention is to run additional Be a QA for a Day courses in 2023, and we would aim to increase the geographical spread of these).

Course aim
This event will give you the opportunity to visit and grade another attraction as if you were a VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor. You will get a thorough understanding of how the QA scheme operates, what the advisors are looking for, and how you can make positive changes at your attraction to enhance the visitor experience.

The day is led by an experienced VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor, who will begin by giving an explanation of the grading process, including a thorough overview of the grading visit and the scoring structure.  We aim to ensure that delegates attending will gain a greater understanding of the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme and be able to identify what areas of their role, department, and overall offered visitor experience can be improved.  The course teaches attention to detail, the art of benchmarking, and gives insight into the inner workings of the QA scheme.

Target audience
For the first time ever we are offering two versions of Be a QA for a Day, targeted at different roles within the visitor attraction sector.

Both versions of the course will bring the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme to life through theory and a group site visit to a visitor attraction, however a special focus will be brought to the fore within each:

Middle-manager/front-line team level
The importance of hospitality and service, and the difference an individual can make towards enhancing the guest experience for all.  Come on this course to better understand the vital role you play in in the bigger picture.

Owner/senior manager level
Creating a visitor experience that is consistent in quality across all aspects of the visitor experience.  Discussion will focus on making informed decisions about investment and the operations of a visitor attraction to the benefit of each visitor that crosses your digital and physical threshold.

To ensure the optimum experience for those taking part, numbers on these courses are limited to 12 delegates, with members being able to book 2 places per organisation. The cost is £120 per delegate (inclusive of vat).

THIS IS THE COURSE DESIGNED FOR OWNER/ SENIOR MANAGER LEVEL. 

Should you have any questions, please contact Helen Henderson, ASVA Membership Manager on helen@asva.co.uk

After a 2-year pause we are delighted to bring back our popular Be a QA for a Day workshop. This course consists of a one-day workshop and is hosted by the VisitScotland Quality Assurance team, supported by ASVA and partnering visitor attractions.

We have 2 courses scheduled, taking place on Wednesday 30th November and Thursday 1st December. In order to further enhance the experience the Be a QA for a Day course offers, we have taken to the opportunity to trial some changes, more details about this can be found below.

As members may remember, the ability to conduct a ‘mystery visit’ is crucial to the process, so we don’t reveal the venue in advance. However, it is located centrally within the Central Belt of Scotland. (Our intention is to run additional Be a QA for a Day courses in 2023, and we would aim to increase the geographical spread of these).

Course aim
This event will give you the opportunity to visit and grade another attraction as if you were a VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor. You will get a thorough understanding of how the QA scheme operates, what the advisors are looking for, and how you can make positive changes at your attraction to enhance the visitor experience.

The day is led by an experienced VisitScotland Quality and Tourism Advisor, who will begin by giving an explanation of the grading process, including a thorough overview of the grading visit and the scoring structure.  We aim to ensure that delegates attending will gain a greater understanding of the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme and be able to identify what areas of their role, department, and overall offered visitor experience can be improved.  The course teaches attention to detail, the art of benchmarking, and gives insight into the inner workings of the QA scheme.

Target audience
For the first time ever we are offering two versions of Be a QA for a Day, targeted at different roles within the visitor attraction sector.

Both versions of the course will bring the VisitScotland Quality Assurance scheme to life through theory and a group site visit to a visitor attraction, however a special focus will be brought to the fore within each:

Middle-manager/front-line team level
The importance of hospitality and service, and the difference an individual can make towards enhancing the guest experience for all.  Come on this course to better understand the vital role you play in in the bigger picture.

Owner/senior manager level
Creating a visitor experience that is consistent in quality across all aspects of the visitor experience.  Discussion will focus on making informed decisions about investment and the operations of a visitor attraction to the benefit of each visitor that crosses your digital and physical threshold.

To ensure the optimum experience for those taking part, numbers on these courses are limited to 12 delegates, with members being able to book 2 places per organisation. The cost is £120 per delegate (inclusive of vat).

THIS IS THE COURSE DESIGNED FOR MIDDLE-MANAGER/FRONT-LINE TEAM LEVEL. 

Should you have any questions, please contact Helen Henderson, ASVA Membership Manager on helen@asva.co.uk

BVA BDRC will present the key findings from the first full year of the ASVA Mystery Visits programme.  The presentation will illustrate where Scottish attractions are excelling and how they can improve in terms of website navigation, booking, arrival, interpretation, retail, catering, toilets and sustainability.  Each section will be filled with examples of best practice and we’ll also be announcing the highest scoring attractions overall and by sector, with a clear rationale as to why they did so well.

The webinar will be delivered by Jon, Diana and Sarmad at BVA BDRC who have run the programme since its inception last year.  BVA BDRC are specialists in the attractions sector, also running the ALVA Benchmarking Survey and numerous bespoke pieces of visitor research including National Galleries Scotland.  The findings will aim to integrate all of their research experience and knowledge, as well as feedback from participating venues.