On 4 Dec 2017, at 16:38, Neil Rathbone <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Given that footfall is a vital basis for museum justification and
sustainability, I have been thinking that the ability to put a
mini-museum into a nearby area of high traffic such as a railway
station or shopping centre could be valuable, both in its own right as
a form of educational outreach, but also as an advertising ‘teaser’
for a full visit. I wondered if members have any experience or
examples?

I would include permanent mini-museums, temporary pop-up museums, or
even outreach events that have the primary objectives of education
and/or bringing in more visitors. I suspect that many traditional
museums have locals that would visit more if they were prompted as to
what they could experience, and that some towns (including my own -
the home of the Melton Pork Pie and Stilton Cheese) have incoming
visitors that miss out on the museum when they could be tempted by a
the sort of punchy ‘trailer’ that is now part of every cinema visit
and TV credit.

I’ll declare that I’m professionally interested as our Info-Point
units ( www.info-point.eu ) could be used as a digital element in
unattended mini-museums, giving visitors easy access to rich media
content and interactives via the web browser on their smartphones, and
the ability to take away virtual leaflets as downloads - at the same
time of course counting the visitors. Many local people sit bored at
our railway station, and leisure visitors crowd the honey-pots and
watering holes in the town square. Although we have a good local
authority museum listed in the guides, my feeling is that there is
nothing actually tempting potential visitors to sample its wares.

I have no experience of mini-museums, and have never yet seen any
examples. I wonder if this is because there are practical problems
with the idea, or because museum managements tend to be
building-centred and intellectual, and consequently too shy to tout
their wares so brazenly on the streets. I’d be interested to know of
any examples, and keen to work with anyone who wants to give the idea
a try. Thoughts on a postcard please….

Apologies for MCG/GEM cross-posting, but I feel this might be of
interest to both.

Regards

Neil Rathbone

--

Director
Webnebulus

01664 897957
www.info-point.eu

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