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Rachel Mackay

@rachmackay.bsky.social
537 followers 93 following 146 posts

Head of Hampton Court Palace. Author of Delivering the Visitor Experience. Dundonian, dog owner, dancer. (That last isn’t true but I needed a D word) therecoveryroomblog.com

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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 1h
VEXblog is back!! This week, we’re talking luxury experiences, and what the museum and heritage sector can take from them. Research was tough on this one… vexblog.substack.com/p/lessons-in...
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Rating Ben Stiller’s security skills and ruminating on the true magic of a Night at the Museum over on Substack open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
VEX at the Movies 2
A Frank Assessment of the Visitor Experience in Night at the Museum
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Today’s VEXblog is a little bit different, and hopefully a big bit fun 🦕 🦖 open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
VEX at the Movies
A Frank Assessment of the Visitor Experience in Jurassic World
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
We have so many amazing partnerships in place to help us put together our visitor offer - and in the VEX world, it’s our job to make them fly. Some top tips on ensuring the visitor experiences that seamless delivery we are all aiming for in today’s VEXblog 🖊️ open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
All In It Together
How progressive partnerships are the key to success
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
This is a rant close to my heart and common to all cultural charities, I think. But what is Third Man Syndrome? open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
Third Man Syndrome
My biggest pet peeve in cultural charities...
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
In today’s VEXblog I fall out with visitors, then make up open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
Whoops, I Fell Out With Visitors
Or, how to get the good vibes back when they're not vibing
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Today’s VEXblog is a love letter to teamwork - with some surprising accolades. Read and subscribe here open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Here’s a picture of my dog in her new Palace Host uniform, in case anyone particularly needs this in their Bank Holiday Monday
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Today’s VEXblog is about the joys of being Duty Manager - the skills, the challenges and the WTFs Read and subscribe here: open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
Being Duty Manager
What it takes and why it can be the best job in the world
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Are other people hell? I explore the most variable part of any visitor experience in today’s VEXblog Find and subscribe at vexblog.substack.com
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Debate rages on about reintroducing charging in national museums. In the meantime, I can’t help but think through the ops… open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
Five Impacts of Introducing Charging to the Nationals
Beyond the question of whether the Government should introduce charging, what could the practicalities be on the ground?
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Heritage toilet fanatics assemble! 📣 So excited to talk all things functional in today’s VEXblog and share some upcoming bathroom projects at Hampton Court 🚽 open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
It's the Toilets, Stupid
Why we should celebrate our great “houses of easement”
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
“Even though so many people come to this sector because they love talking to people, the temptation to talk at people so often seems to triumph… We all have examples of museum interactions (mono-actions?) that have gone beyond the human to the inhumane” open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
The Art of Dialogue
An appreciation of genuine human connection is long overdue
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
How our year of scaffolding is going, in today’s Substack open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
Staying Open, Staying Profitable
Navigating Major Works Without Losing Visitors
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
What’s the best Vis Ex interview question you can ask - and how can you answer it? open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
My Favourite Question
The best interview question in the world, and how to answer it
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
The Blame Game
Have you ever fled the scene of a museum mishap?
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
My first VEXblog post is live, and it’s basically a list of all my failures. Come for the schadenfreude, stay for the helpful Visitor Experience content! Subscribe for two-weekly posts sent straight to your inbox open.substack.com/pub/vexblog/...
open.substack.com
On Trying to Fail
What are the ‘broken bones’ of your visitor experience career that taught you valuable lessons?
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
I’m keen to back to writing about visitor experience in 2026. So I’m starting a Substack! VEXblog will be a regular dose of all things vis ex straight to your inbox. Subscribe below and expect new content soon! open.substack.com/pub/vexblog
open.substack.com
VEXblog | Rachel Mackay | Substack
VEXblog is a Substack for people obsessed with delivering amazing visitor experiences in museums, heritage and cultural attractions. Click to read VEXblog, by Rachel Mackay, a Substack publication. La...
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
High-fiving the New Year like…. Long may yer lum reek from Hampton Court Palace
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Thoroughly enjoyed the amazing #MarieAntoinette exhibition @vamuseum.bsky.social
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
A brilliant time to visit the Wilderness at Hampton Court Palace - the autumn colour is stunning 🤩
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
A Welsh escape this weekend enjoying beaches, hills, BBQs and lush landscapes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
#GotchaDay Can’t believe it’s a year since I brought this fluff ball home 🧡 Yes I deliberately wore the same top
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Flora and I had fun hanging out with London Fire Brigade and the RNLI as part of #WorldDrowningPreventionDay at Hampton Court Palace As a riverside palace, so important for us to help engage our local community in water safety 💧
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
What are the new frontiers of VEX I would talk about if I was writing Delivering the Visitor Experience today? Find out in my new piece for @blooloop.bsky.social blooloop.com/museum/opini...
blooloop.com
Three new challenges in visitor experience
Rachel Mackay identifies three fresh challenges in visitor experience since she published her book Delivering the Visitor Experience in 2023.
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
We’re well into the 2025 run of the Hampton Court Palace Music Festival - always one of my favourite times of year! James, Rag n Bone Man and Tom Jones have already knocked it out of the park (palace) - tonight it’s the turn of Bananarama!
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
It’s dahlia time in the Gardens!
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Spent a wonderful day at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and @maryrosemuseum.bsky.social as part of our HRP Ops Leads away day
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Looking forward to being in Theatre 2 at 13:00 @museumsandheritage.com Show today - come and hear us talk about our new philosophy of visitor engagement!
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Going all out for Flora’s birthday today - meeting up with her siblings this afternoon! 🥳 🎂
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Reposted by Rachel Mackay
Richard Fitch @tudorcook.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
You can't put a better bit of butter on your knife! #ShowingMyAge Weekends of cookery are back at Hampton Court Palace all year from today. Tudor preservation methods are the topic for the year, and the first few weekends are butter making.
A man dressed in Tudor clothes kneading fresh made butter to remove the buttermilk before storing. Behind him is a large sixteenth century fireplace and in the front of the image is a replica sixteenth century butter making dash churn
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
There have been many power struggles over the centuries at Hampton Court Palace, but none more tense than that between Flora and her pigeony nemesis.
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Peak blossom time at Hampton Court
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
I’m horribly fickle when it comes to Hampton Court tulips: Here are today’s faves 🌷
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
It’s the first weekend of the award-winning #TulipFestival at Hampton Court!
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Hampton Court is really starting to bloom now 🌺
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
An MA student asked me a question last week and afterwards, I felt like I’d answered it in a really unhelpful way! I’ve tried again on LinkedIn, so posting it here too, with alt text.
A MA student on a placement this week asked me about my career path and I realised afterwards that I’d made it sound all very simple. 

Which probably wasn’t very useful advice! 

When you have a job you love it’s easy to forget all the wasted applications and unsuccessful interviews. But for anyone who is struggling in the sector, I think it’s important to acknowledge the hard bits and the rejection too. Cracking in can be tough! 

So here’s a list of all the organisations who said no to me 😂 

There are probably many more I have forgotten, but actually, I don’t consider any of them wasted. Spending time getting to know another organisation in the sector is always useful, and you can get surprising benefits from doing so (for example, I’d never listened to Jimi Hendrix before; now, I love his music 🎵)

And yes, my current employer is on there, because I had to knock on the door a good few times before they eventually gave up and let me in 😂

So if your rejection list is longer than your acceptance list, please don’t despair. Only the right one has to say yes.National Museum of Scotland 
National Galleries of Scotland 
Postal Museum 
V&A (South Ken and East) 
Freud Museum 
Handel & Hendrix 
National Trust 
English Heritage 
National Trust for Scotland 
Tower Bridge 
Gunnersbury Park Museum 
York Museums Trust 
Science Museum 
Southbank Centre 
Historic Environment Scotland 
Arundel Castle 
Garioch Heritage Centre 
Museum of London 
Royal Collection Trust 
Strawberry Hill House 
Historic Royal Palaces
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Nice to see the first signs of life appearing on the Great Wisteria
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The Palace is looking amazing tonight for the dress rehearsal of our new after dark audio tour, #StillTheHours 🎧 This is something very special ⏰ Find out more ⤵️ www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-cour...
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
A bit of spring colour in the Gardens at Hampton Court
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Just finishing a fab couple of days in Liverpool, learning at the Association for Cultural Enterprises conference. So much great content and a wonderful city to explore!
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Delighted to see HRP’s amazing Schools Access Fund shortlisted for Best Learning Programme and equally delighted to see the wonderful Dundee Contemporary Arts shop is a finalist too - I rarely visit without parting with some cash!
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
🥞
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Loving the crocuses.. crocii??… on the joust lawn at the moment 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
The Wilderness is looking beautifully Springy right now
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
This morning I could barely see my own hand, so a throwback to yesterday morning when sunrise in the Great Fountain Garden was a beautiful thing
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Spring is springing at the Palace…
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Nothing like your puppy judging you for spending Saturday morning on the sofa
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Rachel Mackay @rachmackay.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Finally got to the wonderful #MedievalWomen @britishlibrary.bsky.social today - such amazing, wonderful stories. Go, go, go before it ends!
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