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:
- Collect
visitor opinions and data in 2009 so you have plenty of
time to make adjustments before the commemoration crowds arrive.
- 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.
- Learn your strengths
from the visitor’s point of view and identify new ways to communicate
those strengths in fundraising and marketing efforts.
- Benchmark your results
against similar museums or sites. Performance Management
is the only program of its kind to offer this benefit.
- 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).