Posts
Visitor Experience
Inside The Smithsonian National Air And Space Museum’s Virtual Docent Program
“[A]s we go forward, we’re thinking we’re going to keep the a lot of virtual volunteer stations, [though] not necessarily as many as we had at our peak. But that means we might start …
Crafting the Museum Experience: How Mingei International Museum Centered Mission and Visitor Experience in a Major Renovation
In September 2021, Mingei International Museum will reopen after a three-year, fifty-five-million-dollar renovation. This ambitious and unique capital project, completed in partnership with …
Inviting Engagement: Front-of-House Workers Become Online Content Creators
After announcing our free admission initiative in January 2020, MOCA’s lobby was a bustling hive of activity. Visitor engagement staff welcomed attendees by scanning their tickets and …
Empathy Interventions: Mia Experiments with Cultivating Empathy in Museum Visitors
Can the visual arts foster empathy and understanding? From our experiences as art museum educators, we believe they can, but there is little empirical research to support this theory. So, …
Using Local Data to More Fully Understand the Visitor Experience During COVID
At Thanksgiving Point Institute—a farm, garden, and museum complex in Lehi, Utah—we’ve been wondering how visitor agendas are changing during the current health crisis. Understanding …
How the National Air and Space Museum Took Volunteering Virtual
A mother and her spaceship-loving children, ages five and seven, arrive at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center using their timed tickets. As they enter the museum, unsure where to turn first, a …
“Access for All” Begins with Community Listening at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
Cassandra Clement was always on the lookout. A self-described “stalker” of quiet places to sit at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (CZBG), she always took note of benches tucked …
Museums Have a Docent Problem: Inside the struggle to train a mostly white, unpaid tour guide corps to talk about race.
The volunteer interpretive corps at museums skews largely white, older, and female. How can museums better train these volunteers to talk about race? Should museums rely on volunteers as …
“Pay As You Stay” – an alternative pricing model for museums?
This year’s TrendsWatch cites buy-ahead pricing as one tool for enhancing revenue and managing attendance. In today’s guest post, Managing Director Tom Schoessler tells us how the Weserburg …
6 Data-Tested Approaches to Building New Audiences
It’s safe to say that most museums would like new visitors. Visitors actualize museums’ missions, give them vibrancy as places of insight and connection, and contribute to their financial …
Leveraging Smartphone Technology to Protect Museum Visitors
Everyone is eager for a return to normal, which includes access to museums and other cultural venues. While countless people likely have been inspired and sustained by virtual museum tours …
Towards Frictionless Augmented Reality
Author’s Note: Several months ago, putting on an Augmented Reality (AR) headset was an uncomfortable nuisance for museum visitors. Now, it’s a potential health risk. The COVID-19 pandemic …