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Carlton Gajadhar and Carly Straughan host The Brown Sign Podcast, focusing on the bits of the tourism industry that don't normally get much coverage. From careers in tourist attractions to visitor service excellence, we love to share stories from tourism professionals and hear about their experience of the wonderful, and sometimes weird, world of visitor attractions.
Episodes
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Monday Nov 21, 2022
Hannah is the Top Banana (aka Park Manager) of the BeWILDerwood Cheshire site. A 70 acre WILD woodland home to the literary characters from owner and creator Tom Blofeld’s books, the park centres its offering on nostalgic, technology free play. With slides, treehouses, zip wires and rope bridges, alongside daily interactive storytelling and craft sessions it is a full family day out for families with children between the ages of 2-12. Leading the management team and ensuring that visitors have the best day, along with the commercial success and strategic development of the business are Hannah’s key focuses.
You can find more out about Hannah here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-monteverde-456475aa/
You can find out more about your hosts here...
Carlton - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgajadhar/ and https://www.carlton-gajadhar.com/
Carly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlystraughan/ and http://qlineconsulting.com/
With huge thanks to our sponsors, StaffSavvy and Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Nov 07, 2022
For over 10 years Alistair has been trusted by major venues and visitor attractions to deliver world class experiences. Having worked at a major UK National Museum Group and across a large number of national and international sporting events, at iconic venues, I am a proven leader who can be trusted to deliver against ambition.
You can find more out about Alistair here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistair-otto-6b8a4914/
You can find out more about your hosts here...
Carlton - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgajadhar/ and https://www.carlton-gajadhar.com/
Carly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlystraughan/ and http://qlineconsulting.com/
With huge thanks to our sponsors, StaffSavvy and Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
Lucy Handel is an aquarium specialist and H&S professional with extensive experience in aquarium and visitor attraction operations, visitor experience management, safety, security, and risk management. I work on leading asset protection strategies alongside managing high investment capital expenditure to drive cost saving and safety.
You can find more out about Lucy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyhandel/
You can find out more about your hosts here...
Carlton - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgajadhar/ and https://www.carlton-gajadhar.com/
Carly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlystraughan/ and http://qlineconsulting.com/
With huge thanks to our sponsors, StaffSavvy and Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Anthony has worked in the Leisure and tourism industry for around 30 years. Starting in Newcastle upon Tyne at World Headquarters Limited and then moving to London to work in the Olympic Stadium for the 2012 games, at the O2 and latterly at Royal Albert Hall. Welcoming around 1.5 million visitors per year and hosting some of the most well known events of any year from the BAFTAs to the Festival of Remembrance and artists from Kano to Kacey Musgraves, the Royal Albert Hall has the richest performance history of any venue in the world. Anthony is currently the Head of Visitor Services and Security.
You can find more out about Anthony here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-lynch-13701b55/
You can find out more about your hosts here...
Carlton - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgajadhar/ and https://www.carlton-gajadhar.com/
Carly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlystraughan/ and http://qlineconsulting.com/
With huge thanks to our sponsors, StaffSavvy and Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
Thursday Sep 22, 2022
Ash co-owns and has been directing Harbour Park amusement park for 22 years! He comes from an accounting and finance background. On the board of Directors at IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and holds executive status there. Studied International Security at King’s College, London.
You can find more out about Ash here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ash-s-b9279143/
You can find out more about your hosts here...
Carlton - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgajadhar/ and https://www.carlton-gajadhar.com/
Carly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlystraughan/ and http://qlineconsulting.com/
With huge thanks to our sponsors, StaffSavvy and Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Sunday Sep 11, 2022
Sunday Sep 11, 2022
Hatti Simpson is the Ticketing & Digital Manager for Woolwich Works, a brand new venue in South East London that opened in 2021. Having been in ticketing for nearly ten years, Hatti has worked across music venues, theatres and arts centres. Her current role covers all things ticketing, digital marketing and data analysis for Woolwich Works, including audience engagement, social media and website content creation, and being really enthusiastic about seating plans. She loves a conference, and is usually easy to spot with her brightly coloured hair!
You can find more out about Hatti here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hatti-simpson/
https://twitter.com/HattiSimpson
You can find out more about your hosts here...
Carlton - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgajadhar/ and https://www.carlton-gajadhar.com/
Carly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlystraughan/ and http://qlineconsulting.com/
With huge thanks to our sponsors, StaffSavvy and Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Customer Journey Mapping Episode 6 - How do we create and maintain strong relationships with your visitors? with Joshua Liebman and Mark Locker
We've had a bit of a break but are back with a new series and this time we're looking at customer journey mapping. What is it? Why is it useful? When should I be working on it? All the important stuff gets discussed as we follow our customers through their journey to having a great experience in an attraction.
From buying tickets online and joining the queue to signing up for your newsletter and leaving a review, we look at all stages of the customer journey and what they meant to the wider business.
In this episode we are joined by Joshua Liebman and Mark Locker as we discuss the overarching ideas of Customer Journey Mapping as we attempt to answer the question - How do we create and maintain strong relationships with your visitors?
Joshua Liebman
Josh Liebman specializes in guest experience, including hospitality standards, complaint resolution, and guest feedback. Josh’s experience in the industry includes attractions operations, guest service communications, retail management, quality assurance, consumer analytics, and guest experience training. Josh is co-host of the AttractionPros Podcast and host of ROLLER Software's The Guest Experience Show.
You can find out more about Joshua here...
www.linkedin.com/in/joshualiebman/
Mark Locker
Mark Locker is the founder and CEO of Attractions.io, the leading mobile app provider to the attractions industry. Mark is passionate about leveraging technology to enrich guest experiences and currently supports the likes of Merlin Entertainments, San Diego Zoo and Butlin’s with their guest-facing apps.
You can find Mark here...
www.linkedin.com/in/mark-locker/
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With huge thanks to our sponsor for this series Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Customer Journey Mapping Episode 5 - Why do we exit through the gift shop? with Jonathan Ping and John Barford
We've had a bit of a break but are back with a new series and this time we're looking at customer journey mapping. What is it? Why is it useful? When should I be working on it? All the important stuff gets discussed as we follow our customers through their journey to having a great experience in an attraction.
From buying tickets online and joining the queue to signing up for your newsletter and leaving a review, we look at all stages of the customer journey and what they meant to the wider business.
In this episode we are joined by Jonathan Ping and John Barford as we discuss the overarching ideas of Customer Journey Mapping as we attempt to answer the question - How do I leave the attraction satisfied in the money I have spent?
Jonathan Ping
Jonathan Ping is a senior Commercial Operations professional with over 20 years experience in the Retail, Museums & Institutions and Attractions industries, and is currently in the role of Director Commercial & Visitor Experience at Courtauld Institute of Art.
You can find more about Jonathan here...
www.linkedin.com/in/jonathannyp/
John Barford
John’s business journey started with Harrods and progressed through the Royal Academy of Arts, where he quadrupled the retail business, and the Science Museum Group where he delivered an integrated commercial strategy across five museums and doubled the net contribution from hospitality in one year.
As founder of John Barford Consultancy, John has over 20 years’ experience in Business Strategy and Commercial Development across culture, heritage and charities. The company works in the belief that commercial propositions should act as drivers to visitation of cultural and heritage sites through the creation of great experiences for visitors and commercial partners that lead to repeat visitation and long-term relationships.
John has led projects to transform food concepts targeting different customer segments ranging from a tuck shop to fine dining in a railway carriage. Retail projects extend from a strategic retail review of The Queen’s palaces to the development of merchandising and buying plans for a shop on the Antarctic Peninsula.
You can find John here...
Email: john@johnbarford.com
Website: johnbarford.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/john-barford-954803
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With huge thanks to our sponsor for this series Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
Friday Oct 08, 2021
Friday Oct 08, 2021
Customer Journey Mapping Episode 4 - How important is the attraction content itself? with Rachel Mackay and Joe Lavery
We've had a bit of a break but are back with a new series and this time we're looking at customer journey mapping. What is it? Why is it useful? When should I be working on it? All the important stuff gets discussed as we follow our customers through their journey to having a great experience in an attraction.
From buying tickets online and joining the queue to signing up for your newsletter and leaving a review, we look at all stages of the customer journey and what they meant to the wider business.
In this episode we are joined by Rachel Mackay and Joe Lavery as we discuss the overarching ideas of Customer Journey Mapping as we attempt to answer the question - How important is the content to the overall customer journey?
Rachel Mackay
Rachel Mackay manages Historic Royal Palaces at Kew, looking after four historic sites including Kew Palace. In 2020, she created The Recovery Room (therecoveryroomblog.com) to share research and resources as the museum sector recovers from the impact of the pandemic. She was recently named one of Blooloop’s top 50 museum influencers.
You can find Rachel on Twitter @RachMackay and at The Recovery Room Blog
Joe Lavery
Joe is a marine biologist with a passion for science & engineering. Previously with Merlin Entertainments, Joe lead new developments to improve aquariums whilst working as Global Curator of research & development for 57 SEA LIFE aquariums worldwide.
Joe is co-host of the Aquariums Explained podcast and also co-founder of The International Zoo & Aquarium Review
You can also find Joe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/laveryj/
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With huge thanks to our sponsor for this series Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0
We discuss a number of books in this episode which we found useful and pertinent to the discussion.
Available in all good books shops but trying not to point you to purchasing from a global supervillain unless absolutely neccesary so here goes...
The Anarchists Guide to Historic House Museums
Sunday Sep 19, 2021
Sunday Sep 19, 2021
Customer Journey Mapping Episode 3 - They've bought their tickets, they are on the way, are you ready? with Lois Honeywill and Karen Richardson
We've had a bit of a break but are back with a new series and this time we're looking at customer journey mapping. What is it? Why is it useful? When should I be working on it? All the important stuff gets discussed as we follow our customers through their journey to having a great experience in an attraction.
From buying tickets online and joining the queue to signing up for your newsletter and leaving a review, we look at all stages of the customer journey and what they meant to the wider business.
In this episode we are joined by Lois Honeywell and Karen Richardson as we discuss the overarching ideas of Customer Journey Mapping as we attempt to answer the question - The visitors are on the way, are you ready?
Lois Honeywill
Lois is Head of Visitor Operations at the V&A Museum, South Kensington welcoming over 4 million visitors each year.
Lois has held several senior positions in large scale operational roles combining her love for fashion design and history, with a professional interest in visitor attractions. Lois is passionate about developing and delivering exceptional experiences to a large and diverse audience (and shoes).
You can find Lois on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lois-honeywill-55859532/ and on Twitter @LoisHoneywill
Karen Richardson
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With huge thanks to our sponsor for this series Stephen Spencer + Associates without whom this would not have been possible.
Absolute huge respect and thanks to our great editor over at Joe Shmo Productions who you can find over on Twitter at... https://twitter.com/joeshm0