Summer travel, summer learning

I’m on my way to the Visitor Studies Association Conference in St. Paul, MN. It’s my first time attending this conference and my first museum-focused conference, since I’m more of a performing arts person.

I’m eager to learn about visitor experience from colleagues in the museum world, a sector that has a much longer history of deep consideration of the visitor experience than the performing arts. The museum sector takes the visitor experience seriously on its on terms, not just in terms of how the audience/visitor experience can be turned around into a repeat sale. Caring only about the audience experience in marketing/sales terms often happens in the performing arts. I attribute that tendency to performing arts often being thought of primarily as entertainment.

That said, there is a great deal of criticism of the museum sector and its relationship to its visitors, mostly around perceptions that museums “tell visitors what to think”. So I’m curious to see what the museum professionals and educators that I’m about to meet at this conference think.

More to come!

Photo by Sasha Verheij from Unsplash