It’s only been open a day and already the Visitor’s Book is full of lovely comments about Tom’s work. It’s very inspiring, breathtaking and relaxing.

We don’t have deck chairs but we do have sandy beaches, crystal clear seas, snow covered mountains, sheep, cacti, a couple of swans and a few windmills. We also have some chairs for you to sit on and let the stresses of the day wash away.

Look out for the Norwich Market bought red and white umbrella on a sun-kissed Caribbean beach, the moon over Norwich Castle and the image of a tree that’s selling rather well at IKEA!

Tom Mackie – Home and Away is in Fusion at The Forum until Saturday. Fusion is free and is opened Monday to Saturday 10.00 – 17.30.

Popes Head Yard

It’s all change in Fusion this week as all the laptops and experts have been carefully packed away in a dark cupboard. Wot’s FaceTube was an amazing success with some fantastic comments from visitors.

This week it’s something totally different as we help celebrate some of the historic buildings in and around Norwich.

The show is Fusion is in three parts – there’s some nice pictures looking at some of the building that are open later in the week as part of the Heritage Open Days. As part of this there’s a great competition for you to get involved in – but you’ll need to visit Fusion to get the details.

Then we have a special film looking at the history of the Norwich Yards including some oral history of what life was actually like living int he yards in the 1930s.

Finally there’s a look at what some Norfolk folk spent their leisure time and how it compared with people in Rouen – all told through some amazing archive film footage.

Fusion is open Monday to Saturday 10.00 to 17.30 and it free.

One visitor suggested that “all this nonsense destroys their social skills and conversation is dying,” so I pointed out that the feedback from visitors all week has been very much about how articulate the youngsters are and how well they know their subject. None were too shy to engage with anyone who sat down next to them.

I’ve said it already, but it’s worth saying again, the week has been fantastic. We do plan on doing this, or something similar again in the future.

Two final thoughts to wrap the week up – firstly, on the Fusion screen there have been a number of facts popping up about the social networking and the Internet in general. One such gem is that people over the age of fifty who use the Internet a lot are known as ‘Silver Surfers’ – which up until recently amused me. This week I suddenly realised that I am near one myself.

But the last word has to go to one of our ‘Silver Surfer’ visitors. They were heard saying, “I know what Face Book is and I know what You Tube is. But I don’t know what FaceTube is.”

I think this is just about where we came in….

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From next week this Blog will become the Fusion at The Forum Blog with news and information about the many shows and displays that can be seen on Europe’s largest permanent digital screen.

Yesterday was one of busiest in Wot’s FaceTube with people of all ages popping in to have a look what was going on. People come for all sorts of reasons, they’ve heard it on the radio, seen it on the web or read about it in the papers. Some are just passing through Norwich on holiday like the family from Nottingham who were curious as to what was going on and ended up staying for nearly an hour.

The adults have been blown away by the knowledge and communication skills our experts have and some have had their preconceptions about social networking being the slippery slope to the end of conversation well and truly thwarted.

There are still some who say that they just don’t get it and those who express fears about internet security, especially when it come to children. We’re not here to ‘convert’ them or suggest that the Internet is a safe place for young teens(and younger) to be left alone on. But if you do have doubts or worries, this is an opportunity to speak to the youngsters themselves and ask them about why they use Facebook and YouTube and how safe they feel.

One or visitors do go and talk to them and have gained a better insight into what the children use the Internet for, but others seem to be reluctant to have their own views challenged – especially by children, which is a shame really as that’s what part of Wot’s FaceTube is about.

Wot’s FaceTube in in Fusion at The Forum in Norwich until Saturday. You don’t need to book and it’s all free. We’re open Today and tomorrow 10.00 – 16.30.

Getting to grips with Facebook

Everyone is keen to learn

Can our experts be any happier in their work?

Every time I went it was a hive of activity with all the experts busy showing off their skills. A couple of staff have young children and they’ve been keen to ask about the sort of things they can expect their youngsters to be looking at in their bedrooms at night. One staff member, who will remain names but you know who you are Mark, was surprised to hear that some of the youngsters spend a couple of hours a night on Facebook alone. Well I guess it could be a lot worse, they could be on You Tube watching old Abba videos.

Yesterday the place was over run with journalists from the the BBC and the local papers, today Heart 102.4 popped along to see what was happening. You can hear the results on their breakfast programme tomorrow morning from silly o’clock.

Wot’s FaceTube is at Fusion in The Forum until Saturday. You don’t need to book and it’s all free. We’re open 10.00 to 16.30. Come along and say ‘oooga oooga oooga’ and get a free sticker.

PS – once Taylor gets round to it, we’ll have some pictures for you to look at, but he’s becoming the sweetheart of the team with all the grannies demanding his time.

It was interesting yesterday that the majority of adults who I spoke to came in to find out about Facebook. Our experts were busy signing people up and offering tips and advice on how best to use it. I though Twitter would have been the ‘must have’ social networking tool – but fortunately it wasn’t the case. I say fortunately because most of the experts have never used it, “because it’s for old people,” one of the experts kindly pointed out. Pass me my Zimmer frame…

Wot’s FaceTube is open today 10.00 to 16.30. All being well you can read about it in today’s EDP and Evening News, or better still come down and join us. You don’t need to book and it’s all free. You can even have a sticker.

Wot's Face Tube? We have the answer...

We couldn’t have asked for a better start to Wot’s FaceTube. The experts were amazing, the visitors were many and the press were falling over each other to get the best pictures and stories.

It started before it started with the Forum Trust’s John Smith appearing on Breakfast with Bumfrey, then the Eastern Daily Post and Norwich Evening News turned up just as one of Norfolk’s oldest surfers arrived (she’s a 100).

Then BBC Radio Norfolk were back again for an hour of their afternoon programme.

We were all ready for a lie down by the time the last of our experts left and the last visitor had been stickered.

Thanks to all who came today.

Guess what – we’re doing it all over again tomorrow between 10.00 and 16.30.

In fact we’re doing every day until Saturday so there’s no excuse for not popping in to say hello.

Fusion at The Forum is open every day this week until Saturday, 10.00 to 17.30. Pop in and say hello and see what all the fuss is about.

Anyway, we are now at fever pitch excitement level ahead of Tuesday’s opening of Wot’s FaceTube in Fusion at The Forum. Various bits of paper have been passed around the office with scribbles on trying to pass for some sort of layout design for the Fusion space.

We want to make sure everyone gets a chance to have a go at something new, Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, iPlayer, etc so getting the layout right is so important – well that’s what Kim says and you don’t argue with Kim. Ever.

She also eats bananas all day.

It’s kinda like Christmas Eve when all the shops have shut and you know that if you’ve forgotten anything there’s little you can do about it, apart from lose sleep or ring Kim at four o’clock in the morning in a blind panic and ask her if she remembered the name badges. (That reminds me…..)

So I think the best thing to do is to have a relaxing Bank Holiday weekend. Get in some retail therapy, a spot of football, perhaps a trip out to the coast or see a good film. Then join us all bright and bushy-tailed in Fusion from 10am on Tuesday.

Oh and if you can’t wait until then, Fusion will be open on Monday showing off some fantastic images of Norfolk and Norwich.

Have a great weekend.