Timing and extent of disclosure

Organizers specify the information available before, during, after an occasion. They distinguish knowledge of recording, object custody, participant interpretation, future encounter proposals, a particular planned intervention. Different combinations produce different visitor experiences.

A guest can understand the recording arrangement while initially interpreting the evening through a Housewarming story. An unknown custodian can remain unidentified. A visible demonstration can direct attention to a particular research activity. A departure letter can explain another curatorial purpose or introduce an encounter based on earlier activity.

Staff retain the supplied invitation, explanations, delayed information, intended reveal, actual guest assumptions. They record accidental recognition and information shared among guests. Researchers can then compare early interpretation, later explanation, participant response. Information design, instrumentation, different knowledge explain the mechanisms.

Alternatives include prior explanation, delayed explanation, continuing anonymity, case-specific disclosure. Comparisons develop their consequences for performance, trust, independent interpretation, later participation. The eventual account preserves the actual sequence and the responses to it.