As a consumer and museum professional, I definitely look up an
institution's website before visiting...and if the website is scanty on
information or images and appears somewhat "half-baked" I'm actually *less*
likely to go. If I see a lot of virtual content it tells me that a flesh
and blood person cares enough to sit down and put content on the site. I'm
in favor of virtual tours. Just my totally unsolicited 2 cents. Have a good
day everybody!
-Mary "Kate" McCarthy

On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 10:41 PM, Lee Wright <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> This is one of the most disappointing, counterproductive myths: If we put
> things online, people won’t visit.
>
> (1) How many photos are available online about, say, Disney World?  Do
> fewer people visit because of that?
>
> (2) On average, 350 million photos are uploaded daily to Facebook.  These
> days, nearly everyone who walks into your site has a camera with them.  You
> should do everything you can to encourage them to take photos and post to
> social media (aka advertising your site to their friends at no cost to you).
>
> (3) The only sites who should be concerned are those that believe they can
> fool people for an extended period.  “Hey, we have this great site, but we
> don’t have much online.  Trust us.  Come and visit and see for yourself!”
>  If people do take the chance, visit, and are disappointed, do think
> they’ll not tell their friends—on social media, where the impact is
> amplified?
>
> (4) A virtual tour, especially one that is incorporated into Google Maps,
> will increase discovery and should increase, not decrease, attendance.
>
> —  Lee Wright  |  The History List  |  History Camp
>
>
> On Jan 27, 2016, at 5:18 PM, Robin <[log in to unmask]
> <[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>
> We are in the process of working on a virtual tour of our site and the
> argument has been made by some staff members that this will discourage
> visitors from actually coming to our site.  I seem to remember reading
> somewhere years ago that the exact opposite was found to be true.
>
> Have any studies been done that show if having a virtual tour of your
> museum increases, or decreases, your on-site visitor head counts?
>
> I’d also be interested in antidotal stories of this.
>
> --------------------
> Robin H. Gabriel
> Executive Director
> Kaminski House Museum
> Georgetown, SC 29440
>
> All e-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to
> public disclosure under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act
> (FOIA).
> This correspondence is intended exclusively for the individual or entity
> to which it is addressed and may contain information that is proprietary,
> privileged, confidential or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure.
>
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