Oral History NSW Treasurer Andrew Host reflects on a recent training workshop he co-presented in regional NSW . If you are interested in receiving oral history training for a group and can provide a suitable venue, please get in touch with Oral History NSW.
Earlier in September Pauline Curby and I had the pleasure of presenting Oral History NSW’s Capturing Memories workshop at Gilgandra, hosted by the local Country Women’s Association.
Thirteen enthusiastic participants attended this practical workshop to learn all about the practicalities of recording the experiences of family, friends, local communities, history of museum items or any other project incorporating memories of the past.
The morning was spent with Pauline leading them through all the ins and outs of good oral history, including valuable time performing and reviewing practice interviews. My job in the afternoon was to teach them as much as possible in the short time available to us about the technical aspects of recording oral history.
There was a great impetus for participants wanting to start their oral history projects sooner rather than later. Especially realising how important it is to record the history of the region before all the people who know the history are gone.
The CWA were more than generous hosts, and we had the good fortune after the workshop of being guests at the CWA International night, the theme of which was Ecuador, and so we were treated to delicious Ecuadorian cuisine.
We greatly enjoyed presenting the workshop and everyone’s positive responses, not to mention being out in the clean clear country air with such kind and generous country folk.
Andrew Host has been a member of Oral History NSW since 2012, and has been on the executive committee since 2013 where he now serves as Treasurer.
He regularly presents training courses for Oral History NSW where he shares his knowledge and expertise from over 40 years working in audio preservation and recording.