Two weeks ago, we at TeamWorks Media had the pleasure of hosting a dinner and discussion about how museums can move beyond the physical space of their buildings to engage their audience.
Our case study was presented by Eli Kuslansky and Marla Supnick from Unified Field, and David Robinson from the World War II Museum in New Orleans. They presented on the incredible impact that their digital narrative has made on engaging their museum audience. When they explained the engagement results, there was an audible gasp from the crowd. (If you don’t know about the amazing exhibits at the WWII Museum, you can read about them here.)
They are proof that good digital content improves audience engagement, both within your institution and beyond the walls of your institution.
It’s not easy to figure out how to use the power of digital media. Each museum faces different audiences and different challenges. But there are similarities as well. Museums compete with the wider world for audience attention. And that wider world is noisier and more filled with information than it ever has been.
Case studies are invaluable, in that they demonstrate options for how each museum can identify and direct its narrative to further its mission and engage a wider audience. We started this dinner discussion because we wanted to help people make connections — both with each other and with potential solutions.
We had more than 15 institutions represented, with a mix of executive directors, curators, and development and marketing officers. The conversation was spirited. It is clear we tapped a nerve with this subject. People were eager to voice their thoughts and hear others. And everyone there has personally felt the challenge of how to harness digital cost-effectively, while maintaining the quality and voice of their institution.
We at TeamWorks firmly believe there are solutions that help make museums more relevant, more connected and more integral to people’s lives. Our goal over the next year is to find those examples and shine a light on them, discuss them and share new ways to harness the incredible power of storytelling in the social media world to bring new audiences to the doorsteps of museums across the country.
If you want to find out about our future dinner discussions, please let us know by contacting me at [email protected].
Also, you can download a free TeamWorks whitepaper titled “Museums, content, and the age of Google,” which goes deeper into this topic.