Interpretive Planning: Session One

When I was asked to be a part of an interpretive planning committee I was excited to learn that it would focus heavily on Visitor Services. Some weeks prior to the first session, the museum staff was asked to fill out guest-specific surveys that would help us relate to the way visitors enter the museum and travel the rotunda. After our preliminary work surveying guests and their directions, we met with our IP Manager and discussed the outcomes.

[caption id="attachment_3859" align="aligncenter" width="168" caption="The groups listening to the Soul of a City brainstorming ideas."]

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What we learned initially was very interesting. I thought that I would know exactly what our visitors do being that I work mainly at the admissions desk. However from that data, we decided we needed to focus more on what exactly the museum represents for our guests. We split into two groups designated to brainstorm two major upcoming exhibitions, "The Soul of a City: Memphis Collects African American Art" and "The Brilliance of Tiffany: Lamps from the Neustadt Collection", and how to implement our new outreach.

[caption id="attachment_3858" align="aligncenter" width="1024" caption="The groups listening to the Tiffany lamps brainstorming ideas."]

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The two groups were from various departments, and we were all asked to switch hats and think outside our comfort zones. For instance I work in marketing, but needed to think about education events and exhibition titles, two subjects I generally don't create from. It was a fantastic exercise from which we all benefited. Please enjoy our chalk art, and stay tuned for more artistic innovations.