Profiles                                                       Allen


Three key figures who have played major roles in bringing The Big Idea to fruition are Dennis Gage, who leads the sponsorship drive, Caroline Glenn, in charge of marketing, and Margaret Peddie, the education
development  manager.

For Dennis, meeting the challenge of bringing in a constant flow of sponsors' money to renew the centre's technology, has meant devising one of the most enterprising and innovative campaigns of recent years. Central to the funding drive has been the invitation to companies to sponsor the 'Thousand Icons of Invention' - associating their company with the key events of the past millennium which have changed our lives, both in small and large ways. At one end of the spectrum, the first Scottish Cup tie in October 1873 is sponsored by Kilmarnock FC, while the more universally life-enhancing invention of the first filtered water supply in Scotland - in Paisley in 1804 - is celebrated by Aquasense. Coming more up to date, Jack Kilby's invention of the first integrated circuit in 1958 is sponsored by Texas Instruments, while the first flavoured potato crisp has been dated at 1962 by its inventors and sponsors Golden Wonder.

Sponsorship has been offered to companies by Dennis and his team under a variety of headings - did they have a Nobel connection? Were they associated with one of the great inventions of the past millennium? Were they part of the developments of the new millennium? Were they associated with the world of Scottish invention and discovery? For those who have accepted the offer, it has proved an unbeatable form of advertising, with their names prominently on display as screen-savers on the interactive consoles at the exhibition and on The  Big Idea's website, with links to their own sites.

"It's been really exciting to be involved in this project," says Dennis. "We started two years ago with an empty room and like Topsy, 'it just growed'!" The intense research by Dennis and his colleagues has produced an interesting side-product: "I think we have the potential to be the best pub quiz team in the country!"

For Caroline Glenn, the job of marketing The Big Idea has meant looking beyond the traditional clientele you might expect for a visitor attraction. Of course tourists from home and overseas will be key visitors, with families especially welcome at a cost of £7 for adults and £5 for children. Schools also will be high on the agenda, with special educational packages for teachers and pupils.

Most innovative though will be the offer of the venue as a corporate venue, where companies can bring their employees, not for a fashionable paint-balling day or outward-bound weekend, but for challenging, inventive team-building sessions, which will encourage enterprise activity and inter-relational skills. 

"A typical day will involve people from the company, broken into teams, building inventions to solve problems in a specially equipped workshop. This could be likened to Heinz Wolff's TV 'Great Egg Race'. The morning would be spent competing against each other to build the best invention, followed by a trip round The Big Idea, and the afternoon use of the 150-seat auditorium for their own briefings or conference. Already companies have been responding well to the prospect of these corporate events, or ones tailored to their requirements, and to our invitations to 'Adopt an Inventor.'

Whatever the type or age of group involved, Caroline is sure that a visit to The Big Idea will make learning more interesting and exciting. "Creation, invention, innovation is what it's all about," says Caroline. "With children especially there's nothing they won't be able to handle or to learn from."

Margaret Peddie confirms that education is one of the main aims of The Big Idea. Margaret can draw on her six years experience as a police officer, delivering education to thousands of school children, for her role as education development manager.

All school parties will have a specially tailored trip with their teacher introducing them to specific aspects of The Big Idea in the Dorling Kindersley Education Suite. The teacher will be able to draw down from the educational database particular items of interest which relate to class work and the curriculum. "All school parties will of course receive a free kit for each pupil and the opportunity to construct these and test them in the special test area. At a later date, and for more advanced school parties such as electronics clubs, we will provide access to the special workshop where more ambitious projects can be created."