please share with colleagues: AASLH Helping Sites Prepare for Civil War Sesquicentennial The American Association for State and Local History is helping Civil War-related museums and sites learn more about managing the visitor experience in preparation for the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial. AASLH is coordinating special Civil War visitor survey groups that allow participating sites to benchmark their results against other Civil War sites in addition to benchmarking against the museum field as a whole in categories like annual budget, geographic location, and governance. All Civil War-related institutions along with general history museums planning to devote significant exhibition space and programming to the Civil War are invited to participate. "The Sesquicentennial will undoubtedly bring more media attention and more visitors to Civil War museums, battlefields and other historic sites. We want to help these institutions better understand what people want and need for a meaningful visitor experience," says Bob Beatty, AASLH program director. More than 130 institutions have already taken part in AASLH's visitor survey program called Performance Management. How can the Performance Management visitor survey program help institutions prepare for the Sesquicentennial? By taking part in a special Civil War visitor survey group, museums and sites can: a.. Collect visitor opinions and data in 2009 so you have plenty of time to make adjustments before the commemoration crowds arrive. b.. Prioritize plans for improvement in all areas of operation and avoid allocation of valuable resources to projects that won't make a difference with visitors. c.. Learn your strengths from the visitor's point of view and identify new ways to communicate those strengths in fundraising and marketing efforts. d.. Benchmark your results against similar museums or sites. Performance Management is the only program of its kind to offer this benefit. e.. Identify Key Drivers -- attributes unique to your site that are most critical in predicting the overall experience for a high percentage of visitors. Visitor survey groups will begin in mid-May 2009. The program is about ten months from start to finish. The fee is $3,500 for AASLH institutional members ($4,200 for non-members). The fee is payable over two fiscal years for many institutions. Museums and sites that are interested in taking part in the program should contact Cherie Cook, AASLH Project Director, at 573.893.5164 or at [log in to unmask] to reserve a spot in a Civil War survey group. For more information about the Civil War visitor survey groups, including special group benefits, visit www.aaslh.org/civil_war.htm -end- Cherie Cook, Project Director American Association for State and Local History Tel 573.893.5164 [log in to unmask] ========================== NEW ONLINE WORKSHOP! Going Green Webinar January 8,15, and 22, 2009 Don't miss this three-part series to introduce the green revolution to your history museum or site. Visit www.aaslh.org/GoingGreen.org to learn more! ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).