From this week we are starting a series of Meet the Team Blog posts. We thought we would introduce you to the people behind Epping Forest District and Lowewood Museums.

We thought we would start with the person responsible for the blog writing, social media and online activity!

Name
Francesca Pellegrino

Job title
Audience Development Officer

Describe a typical working day at Epping Forest District and Lowewood Museums.
Like a lot of people in the museum team every day is different. The work I do on a regular basis involves researching objects and photographs for our social media platforms, writing the museum’s blogs and working on the museum’s marketing more generally. Along with this I also work on a number of other projects and coming up with events to work with lots of different audiences. This includes going out to fairs, planning heritage events across the district and within the museums and developing projects like Community Cabinet, Takeover Day and many more.

What is your favourite thing about working at the Museum?
I really enjoy seeing all the fascinating photographs and objects in the museum’s collection. It is really exciting being able to find out about them and then share them with people both locally and more widely. Sharing collections online is a great way to interact with people and we get such a great response which is really rewarding. I also love that my job is so varied, I am really proud to work for such a fantastic museum and the fact that my job involves trying to get more people interacting with the museum is excellent.

Share one piece of advice for those interested in working in the Museum field.
I would say getting hands on experience is really important. Personally I did a lot of volunteering, work experience and internships during my degree and I think that was really useful. It helped me think about what I would like to do in the museum field but also the practical experience is a great thing for future employers to see.

Which historical figure would you like to meet and why. What would you ask them?
I would like to meet Queen Elizabeth I. Having studied the Tudor period and particular Elizabeth I, I think she was such an outstanding figure in history, her story will always stand out to me. If I could ask her anything I would ask her if she realised at the time she would become such an important historical figure.

Where would you choose to go/visit if you could go anywhere in the world for a day?
I would really like to go and visit the Terracotta Army in Xian, China. Said to be one of the most important discoveries of the 20th Century I think it would be amazing to see the figures in real life. Hearing about the history of their production it would be an amazing experience to actually see them.

What was the first music track or album you bought?
I think my first album was STEPS!