Museum Resources

We rethink the traditional museum experience and work with museums to create new content, strengthen existing programs, and increase relevance and engagement. Here we share stories of our work with museums and examine best practices from around the museum world.

Ideas
Michael Alexis

People Don’t Want Virtual Museum Tours; Do This Instead

For a few days in March, 2020, the world focused its attention on virtual museum tours. This attention was driven by museum closures, major media coverage, and a mighty social media effort by museums to offer an online experience to audiences. And then, just as quickly, the attention disappeared and museums were left in what […]

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Ideas
Michael Alexis

Why Your Airport Needs a Museum

Last year, I was invited to speak at a museum conference in Cairns, Australia. After 20+ hours in the air, from NYC to Los Angeles to Brisbane, our CEO Tasia and I eventually landed in picturesque Cairns. The airport was small, modern and clean; a nice change from LAX. A few steps out of the […]

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Museum Resources
Museum Hack

Museum Quotes: “Wormholes to Other Worlds”

Below, you’ll find our favorite quotes about museums. Museums, it turns out, are very quotable, with everyone from artists to billionaires to celebrities and of course art critics weighing in. We’ve organized these museum quotes into a few categories, including Art Museum Quotes Inspiring Quotes About Museums Funny Museum Quotes Famous Museum Quotes More Quotes […]

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Museum Resources
Museum Hack

12 Awesome Things About the National Archaeological Museum in Athens

Last month, we visited the National Archaeological Museum in Athens — and we love what they’ve got going on! From their incredible attention to detail regarding logistics (think layout, pathways, use of space, and more) to their interactive displays and exhibit enhancements, here are the best things to see at the National Archaeological Museum — […]

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Museum Resources
Kylie Holloway

This Is Your Brain On Art

At first glance, it may seem like museology and neuroscience have little overlap. But we took a closer look at the potential connection between the two disciplines.

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Museum Resources
Ashleigh Hibbins

What Exactly is an Artist-in-Residence (and Should Your Museum Have One)?

Artist residencies are a growing trend in museums around the world, but what is an artist in residence? An artist-in-residence is when a museum recruits a person (or group of people) with a specific skill or attribute to produce work, provide advice, and/or promote the museum for a defined period of time, from just a […]

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Museum Resources
Ashleigh Hibbins

5 Pretty Simple Ways to Increase Your Museum’s Revenue

Museums are awesome, but they are often strapped for cash. With limited funding and big operating costs, money can be the biggest barrier museums face when trying to bring cool ideas to life. That’s why we think getting creative with revenue streams is a great idea. There’s more to generating income for your museum than […]

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Museum Resources
Museum Hack

The 5 Creepiest Museums Around the World

Do you think museums are full of just 1800s paintings and artfully censored classical sculptures? Well, think again. These five creepy museums are chock full of positively spine-tingling exhibits, from pants made of human skin (yes, you read that right) to hundreds of dead-eyed, demonic dolls.

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Museum Resources
Ashleigh Hibbins

Why Museums Produce Great Employees

Searching for your next great hire? Look no further than your local museum. Most museums are fast-paced, customer-facing, community-focused institutions that cultivate valuable skills for almost any industry. So whether you’re an employer looking for new staff, or a museum worker in the market for a new job, it’s time to recognize all awesome transferable […]

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Museum Resources
Julia Kennedy

11 Museums Making the Most of Membership Programs

Museums know the best visitor is one who becomes a member. The expense of museum membership can often be off-putting, so member benefits are used to sweeten the deal — but, discounts on gift shops or member lunches can feel outdated and stale. So how are museums competing for visitor attention? By making membership programs […]

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Museum Resources
Julia Kennedy

Infographic: 10 Museum Mascots To Follow On Twitter

More and more museums are creating online personas for their onsite mascots. It’s a smart move in a variety of ways. Besides being fun, it’s an easy way to drop knowledge online in a unique way, and respond to some admiring fans. It also shows off that your museum is social media savvy, and knows […]

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Ideas
Julia Kennedy

Nine Museums to Visit in the UK: An Infographic

Whether you’re there for a proper cup of tea, a real football match, or Her Majesty, The Queen herself, when in the UK make sure to check out the marvelous museums. Here are nine you don’t want to miss!

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Museum Resources
Julia Kennedy

An Escape Room to Escape the Mundane: Case Study at ASU

Museums housed within a university campus have big pros and big cons. When it comes to having a diverse audience, it can be both. This was the case for the Art Museum on Arizona State University’s (ASU) campus. First and foremost, ASU wanted to attract students and young post-grads from the Tempe area to come to […]

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Museum Resources
Museum Hack

Analysis of a Donor Appeal Letter from the Tenement Museum in New York City

Last year, the Tenement Museum in New York City sent a letter that reached back into their history to deliver a compelling story that was timely and highly relevant to their members and supporters. It’s a great look at how to: Communicate with more purpose, focus, and intention, and, Craft an engaging story that makes […]

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Museum Resources
Ashleigh Hibbins

In the Land of Hungry Tourists, the Museum Cafe is King

Let’s turn museums into mmmuseums. When it comes to making visitors happy, museums sometimes overthink it. We focus on big, complex projects: thought-provoking exhibitions, unique objects and artworks, exciting events, and eye-catching designs. But for many visitors, it’s amenities like cafes that really make or break their museum experience. After all, if we can’t look […]

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Museum Resources
Ashleigh Hibbins

Mini but Mighty: Why Small Museums are Superheroes

The most intriguing thing about superheroes isn’t that they leap tall buildings in a single bound or change into capes and spandex tights inside phone boxes. It’s the fact that they help save the world every day – without most people ever realizing it. That’s why we think small museums are real-life superheroes. As much […]

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Museum Resources
Julia Kennedy

The Positive Impact of the NEH and NEA

Think the arts and humanities don’t have a big impact in the US? We found some fantastic facts showing how beneficial the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts really are.

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Museum Resources
Carly Hill

The Museum of Subliminal Objects: a Lesson in Pop-up Museums

The frigid air was biting at my cheeks, and I could feel the warm blood running to my ears. Not that I minded too much; this was just another one of my nightly walks, and extreme negative temperatures are part of growing up in small-town Canada. In most ways this icy stroll was much like […]

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Museum Resources
Carly Hill

Eleven Must-Listen Museum Podcasts

Podcasts: perfect for a long commute, road trip, or keeping you company while at work. They’re also one of our favorite ways to discover new museum content and ideas. Here are 11 podcasts (or podcast episodes) that we think are must-listens for any museum lover.

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Ideas
Museum Hack

Poké It Up: How to Catch Millennials with Pokémon GO at Your Museum

For $1.19 an hour, you could have more visitors than your busiest holiday weekend. Pokémon GO has taken the Internet by storm.  The app was released a week ago, and already museums and cultural institutions are seeing a marked increase in visitors.  Best of all? Most of these visitors are the coveted millennial audience! So […]

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Museum Resources
Museum Hack

Increase Engagement by Revitalizing and Empowering Staff (Case Study: PAMA)

Have your museum’s programs become stagnant?  Are you struggling to find new ways to engage audiences and get your staff on board? Peel Art Gallery, Museum, and Archives (“PAMA”) explores the rich history of the Region of Peel in Canada.  Having recently completed a large expansion, PAMA was looking to revitalize their current programming in […]

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Ideas
Museum Hack

Pokémon GO in Museums: Gotta visit ’em all

A special guest post by Blaire Moskowitz. Have you seen more people than usual staring at their phones in your museum? That is because “Pokémon GO” was released this weekend. It quickly claimed the number one place in the app store and will soon surpass Twitter in daily active users by capturing the attention of […]

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Museum Resources
Museum Hack

Creating Enduring Experiences through Storytelling: Interview with Local Projects

Local Projects is a media design firm that focuses on creating enduring projects through storytelling.  They utilize collaborative storytelling, technology, and a visitor-first strategy to transform museums and public spaces. We asked Nathan Adkisson, Director of Strategy at Local Projects, to talk with us about their work.  His insights shed light into how museums can […]

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Ideas
Carly Hill

The Art of the Pin: A Look at 3 Museums’ Pinterest Accounts

Social media is one of the most powerful tools museums can use to connect with and inspire their audiences outside of the institution’s walls. While Twitter and Facebook are often the go-to for many cultural institutions, the visual aspects and nature of Pinterest perfectly align with the curation of museum collections. We know what you’re thinking […]

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Consulting Case Studies
Museum Hack

Hacking the Audio Experience: Museum Hack is part of SFMOMA’s New Tours!

Audio tours are a key aspect of museum’s visitor experience.  Done right, audio tours are a unique way to connect with visitors that may not like docent-led tours or prefer the freedom to learn about objects and spaces on their own.  Such tours also provide a cost-effective way for museums to foster deep engagement with […]

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Museum Resources
Carly Hill

Case Study: Boosting Audience Engagement in Non-Museum Settings

Most people don’t go to a zoo or botanical garden expecting to be entertained by wild and  unexpected stories filled with little-known facts their tour guide has dug up. We don’t often expect high-level engagement, like games, activities or great stories. Instead, we simply go, assume we’ll walk around and look at beautiful flowers and […]

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Ideas
Ashleigh Hibbins

5 Tips for Combating Museum Anxiety

Potential visitors avoid museums for several reasons, but it all boils down to one: they don’t think museums are for them.  Ashleigh Hibbins’ blog post, “The Scary Museum: Who’s Afraid to Visit You?”, shared some insights into the driving factor behind this thought: Despite my reassurances to the contrary, they were worried they didn’t have […]

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Ideas
Museum Hack

4 Tips For Effective Facebook Advertising for Museums

Facebook advertising represents an amazing marketing opportunity for museums and cultural institutions.  The methods by which Facebook can target audiences allows for very focused advertising, which can produce incredible results online and in the museum space. Museum Hack has utilized Facebook advertising to help us reach our goals of expanding and increasing relevance.  We’ve been […]

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Ideas
Museum Hack

Museums: Educational or Entertaining? Results from Our First Twitter Poll

We asked our followers… The results are interesting.  As renegade tour guides, many people view our tours as purely entertainment.  But they’re not.  Our tours take an entertainment-first approach — with a focus on passionate storytelling as a doorway into successfully engaging museum audiences and providing unforgettable educational experiences. We know that many museum visitors […]

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Consulting Case Studies
Museum Hack

3 New Activities You Can Use at Your Museum (Case Study: National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library)

Many museums possess outstanding collections and programs that engage audiences.  But sometimes, their offerings need a refresher — with new perspectives and ideas to re-energize existing audiences and get new ones in the door. The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library (NCSML) was confronted by this problem.  They had lots of great collections, but […]

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Ideas
Museum Hack

Night at the Museum, Part 3: Dreaming at the Rubin Museum of Art

Ever since we saw Night at the Museum, we’ve dreamt of being able to spend a night in our favorite museums.  And now, we can!  Many museums are experimenting with holding fun sleepovers in their spaces. We’re taking an in-depth look at these innovative museum experiences.  Our Night at the Museum series features interviews with […]

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