Dan is right on target, as usual. We need to understand “What makes it
relevant to them [the visitors], and what sparks conversation in them.”  I
would say that we need to help them make a personal connection in some way
to the past, to the site, to the experience.  

This past year, I began to explore these personal connections with several
questions in mind:

1) Are there multiple types of connections?; 
2) How do they relate to meaning and relevancy?; 
3) Do connections lead to satisfied visitors who return?; and 
4) Are there strategies for enhancing connections?

I interviewed fourteen leaders and thinkers in the history field to get
their take on those questions.  The result is an article I wrote: titled
“Personal Connections and the Great Cosmic Soup.”

You can see the article in this Spring’s History News, or visit my website
www.makinghistoryconnections.com and go the “Resources” page for a pdf version.

Best,

Dale Jones
Making History Connections 


www.makinghistoryconnections.com
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14011 Ardara Ct.
Glenwood MD 21738
443-472-2670 or 410-489-7968

Affiliated with Qm2: Quality Management to a Higher Power 
Visit www.qm2.org for briefings on nonprofit leadership, management, and
organizational change

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