BM: When I first heard about Techniquest I heard it described as "edutainment"
and I was wondering if that is a word that you associate with Techniquest
or one that you stay a long way from.
CJ I'm, I don't object to it, it's not a word I could, I
would consciously use. You have to be a bit careful of it because - Disney
were talking about edutainment - and - the essence of Disney is that they
provide you with experiences which are entirely artificial and contrived.
Our - the essence of what we have is that everything you see is a real phenomenon.
I mean you're actually dealing with the real thing rather than an - I mean,
yes there are analogues and models in some of the things we do. But fundamentally
you touch the thing directly, whereas if you go to somewhere like the Eppcot
Centre or something, then there's an awful lot of GRP - models and modelling
and so on. Yes there are, I mean they actually grow cloned plants there and
so forth. So, it's interesting that the theme park world has taken some lessons
from the science museum science centre world in bringing in - reality. And
equally the science museums and science centres have learned from the edu-
entertainment sector, and in, particularly in North America feel very threatened
by the entertainment sector. Because the entertainment sector is ever more
strongly marketing itself as educational. And indeed, I mean theme parks in
Britain, if you go to Alton Towers you can buy the physics, a physics, a physics
set of worksheets from the, from Alton Towers on, you know, the physics of,
of the rides. And I mean they're as interested in getting school parties for
educational reasons as the rest of us because the number of school parties
that go out for fun reasons, are fewer and fewer these days.
Edutainment, I mean, I have, I wouldn't use it particularly comfortably
but it's, it's not a word I would - I wouldn't refuse to be described as being
involved in edutainment, at least certainly not in the, in the holidays were
certainly are.
