NZ conference post 2

What are my views about what NZ sector could be doing (and should not be doing) in a combined visitor research program?

DO:

• focus on what you need to know, not what's nice to know
  
• always ask – what will I actually do with this data, if the answer is nothing or I don't know then don't do it!
  
• a smaller amount of research well, not a large amount superficially
  
• develop a couple of really good statements about what people learn/do/attitudes and use them over a time period (ala the Creative NZ model)
  
• maybe try self-complete or online surveys to save on costs?
  
• a pilot study in year 1 – see where it's taking you
  
• think carefully about what you want to get from a non-visitor study – is it worth sampling them? (not really IMHO)
  
• embrace the tools of social media – go where the people are (Flickr, blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc) as this is where real opinions are expressed, plus it's free!
  
• use students (they are great) but think about how will the findings be integrated, accepted and used (this can also be the problem with using consultants – need an internal champion in the institution who will nag staff into using this stuff)
  
• ask – what do we want to focus on? Numbers and/or visitor experiences, learning and impact? (probably both)
  

DON'T:

• get bogged down in definitions
  
• just measure the measurable – find out what's important, then work out how t measure that, it can be done
  
• think about visitor research as a cost – think of it as an investment
  
• try and be all things to all people – a couple of key indicators in your regular surveys will do
  
• use SPSS...or any complex program thingo where you have to rely on someone else to provide the data (unless they're good and there's a genuine atmosphere of team work and sharing)
  
• forget the power of qualitative data – this is where you get the rich stuff you can talk to politicians/funders about
  
• expect that everyone supports museums – remember that us and our friends are not representative of the population, so what we like/do is not where everyone else is necessarily at (and usually are not!)
  
• be boring
  

Here's some resources for you:

• Measuring impact – some online resources
  
• What do visitors want when visiting a museum?
  
• What do visitors do when visiting a museum?
  
• Museums galleries NSW Audience Development Study and Australia Council reference
  
• Evaluation and Visitor Research Special Interest group Profiling Your Visitors project
  
• Australian Museum's All About Evil exhibition blog and Facebook – an example of innovative (and cheap!) audience research
  
• Museum 3.0 – a social network of museum professionals and a great resource for information and networking. Please join us...