1. Name and job title?
My Name is Paul Dragsnes and I am the Front of House Manager at The Hunterian #TeamUofG !
2. When did you join
I have been working at the University of Glasgow since leaving school in 1997. I have performed various roles, progressing through to management. I have been the Front of House Manager at The Hunterian for 2 years now.
3. Tell us about what your day at work involves?
I’m usually in the office for 0730hrs. I then sit down and plan the day. I check my voice mails and emails and then my calendar and try to make plans such as organising meetings and such. This way I can increase my pace for doing work and can be more productive for the day ahead. The day can be very fast paced with lots of coffee required, yet extremely enjoyable. We start the morning off across the attractions by ensuring the safety of the attractions ahead of our fantastic visitors coming in. We usually have a team brief shortly before opening. Once we are opened we ensure that the team are deployed accordingly to assist our visitors in sharing the knowledge of our Collections alongside sharing knowledge about Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the Mackintosh house, or speaking about the Glasgow Boys or Whistler in The Hunterian Art Gallery. We also deal with a high volume of students on a daily basis from all over the world. This is what we all enjoy about our roles that we see visitors from all over the world, I find this really encouraging, and always like to speak to them about everything that Glasgow has to offer – but I’ll biased here and always promote The Hunterian !
4. Any unusual stories you can share with us?
We have recently installed Viewpoint devices to gather visitor feedback across the attractions. These have proved pivotal in gauging what we have to offer from a visitors perspective, and how we may improve, however some of our visitors may not be taking the feedback seriously as they have recently informed us that we ‘smell like chicken nuggets’ and one visitor asked if they could ‘marry lady gaga’ !! I’m not sure if both go hand in hand …….
! I always like to see the light hearted side of these things and not take things too seriously – there’s some other comments that we just possibly couldn’t share !! I also think I should mention the GLA night we recently had at the Clydeside Distillery – I thought it was extremely ‘unusual’ that all of my team managed to make it to work the day after as Clydeside Distillery were very generous with their refreshments!!
5. What’s the best part of your job?
My team ! I am extremely lucky to have such a dedicated front of house team who are professional and knowledgeable in their outlook. I also enjoy the pace of the role, and furthermore I absolutely love to promote The University of Glasgow, The Hunterian, and also Glasgow in general. People really do make Glasgow.
6. Is there anything you don’t like about your job?
Working in a museum and gallery environment can present its challenges when we are undergoing refurbishments for new exhibitions etc. Unfortunately this can affect the overall visitor experience but is a necessary part of the exhibition process.
7. If you weren’t working at The Hunterian what would your dream job be?
I would love to be an airline pilot. I’ve always enjoyed flying, and jets intrigue me.
8. What’s your favourite thing about your attraction?
without doubt it has to be my front of team. Without them The Hunterian would not be what it is.
9. What’s your favourite thing to do in Glasgow in your spare time?
I’m a football guy, and I regularly watch two of the three teams in Glasgow. I played football up until 4 years ago. I help out part time with Partick Thistle FC in their club shop. This helps me shut off from my professional life whilst engaging with the club staff and supporters, and again meeting football fans from all over the world. I also enjoy getting out on my bike when I can, and just cycling around the city – there’s so much to see in Glasgow.