Ford Bell, president of AAM. Photo: Judith Rubin |
AAM's
big tent
We
visited Orlando for the IAAPA Attractions Expo and attended Museum &
Science Center Day on Nov 13. IAAPA (International Association of
Amusement Parks & Attractions) has long hosted the largest trade
event for the attractions industry, and in the past 10 years has
expanded its reach beyond the realm of parks into educational
attractions and museums. A Zoo & Aquarium Day is also part of the
program. This year's Museum & Science Center Day had a completely
full house. Among the attendees were designers, architects, media
producers, economic analysts, event producers, exhibit fabricators,
museum operators and theme park operators.
The
opening address was from Ford Bell, president of the American
Alliance of Museums (AAM). The organization recently changed its
name, swapping out Association for Alliance. Why? Bell explained that
the terminology change signaled a change in the structure of the
organization, retooling itself to spread a “bigger tent,” be more
inclusive. The intention is not just to add more members, but to
deepen relationships with other groups having similar interests and
magnify the visibility and lobbying power in the face of shrunken
Federal assistance. AAM has likewise changed its institutional
membership tiers for inclusiveness, offering at the lowest level a
“pay what you wish” membership and setting the highest at $5,000
(down from $15,000) which can be upgraded to an all-staff package.
Alliances with other groups include crossover accreditation and best
practices programs with AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) and
AASLH (American Association of State and Local History). Other
efforts include outreach to engage other categories of stakeholders
such as museum trustees. “We are fighting for a very pathetic sum
of money,” he said, pointing out that Federal funds for museums
total $60 million annually. AAM will make the most of its “big
tent” to boost its annual Advocacy Day in Washington DC.
Ike Kwon, Guy Labine, Cynthia Sharpe (Thinkwell) and John Robinett |
Measurements
In
a subsequent session, John Robinett of AECOM, which has done numerous
attendance studies for museums and cultural institutions, showed ways
to obtain meaningful stats that can be used to make peer comparisons
and examine such things as the differing behavior patterns of
residential markets to tourist markets, the ratio of visitation to
exhibit square footage, the operations cost per square foot (most
museums come in about $80-$100 per square foot) and evaluate
admission prices. Robinett's fundamental graph showed the declining
attendance curve of the museum that fails to reinvest on a regular
basis – he maintains that museums should follow the practice of
successful theme parks - reinvest yearly and take a close look at how
to maximize earned income (“retail performance is a missed
opportunity for a lot of museums”, enhance the perceived value to
the visitor and increase per-capita spending.
Satisfying
the many
Ike
Kwon, director of guest operations at San Francisco's California
Academy of Sciences (home of the Morrison Planetarium) talked about
strategies that the museum had employed in order to maintain visitor
satisfaction in the enviable position of huge attendance numbers.
Before the museum was rebuilt (the previous structure was damaged by
earthquake), its average yearly attendance was 80,000, reported Kwon.
“Now we do 8,000 in 3 weeks and are creeping up on 7 million
attendance since opening [in 2008],” he said. He illustrated the
problem with an example from the planetarium: the bundled ticket
option covers a visit to the Morrison, but throughput in the dome
wasn't sufficient to meet demand, meaning that some visitors would
not get the full value of their ticket. They analyzed theload/unload
p ace and created a shorter planetarium show to facilitate a
30-minute cycle. This adjustment was one of many implemented in a
full-scale overhaul of operations with the goal of improving the
guest experience, based on a model Kwon had learned in his days in
the hospitality industry. The process relies heavily on input and
suggestions from staff who deal with day-to-day issues.
Know
your value
Guy
Labine, CEO of Science North in Sudbury, Canada, talked about how the
museum used the results of an economic impact assessment conducted 5
years ago to attract more government funding and more than double the
proportion of earned income relative to total budget (from 30% to
70%). The study revealed the true extent of the museum's role in the
community and of its contributions. “We found that Science North is
a main driver of the city's economic tourism engine,” he said.
Tom Mehrmann |
Doing
things right
Ringing
the leadership bell was luncheon speaker Tom Mehrmann, Chief
Executive of Ocean Park Corporation. Regarding Ocean Park Hong Kong's
significant recent expansion and 8 years of growth, he noted how
decisions were made and strategies put in place to keep the park open
during expansion, to differentiate from the competition (Disney), to
empower employees and “break through the wrong kind of thinking.”
One
intriguing guest services policy: There is $250 available to any
employee on the property to tap in order to solve any guest issue on
the spot, rather than send the issue, along with the weary guest, up
through the chain of command. He remarked on how judicious the
employees are with these funds.
As
did previous speaker Ike Kwon, Mehrmann conjured the hospitality
industry as a model. His example of gracious, empathetic service: the
Ritz Carlton. He put emphasis on the value of personal, handwritten
thank-you notes.
His
talk was peppered with maxims such as “managers do things right;
leaders do the right thing,” “not for profit is a tax status, not
a business plan,” catch employees doing things right,” and
“listening lavishly; responding with focus.”
Mehrmann
also shared some of his favorite keys to success, with examples of
how they'd been implemented at Ocean Park Hong Kong. 1) Be hungry for
change. Example: When the park achieved its goal of 7 million
attendance early, it was necessary to get rid of all the branded “7
million” coffeemugs. 2) Be innovative. Example: Ocean Park's very
successful commercial campaign that juxtaposed human behavior with
interesting counterparts in the animal world, and “changed the way
our market saw and interacted with us.” 3) Be disruptive by nature.
Examples: Ocean Park's “Aqua City” commercial, for which a custom
song was composed that became a popular ringtone, how an Ocean Park
K-pop spoof video had gone viral, and how the park's Halloween Bash
and promotions had brought record attendance numbers and helped
establish the holiday in Hong Kong. 4) Be genuine, not just generous.
Example: Ocean Park's corporate social responsibility programs, and
special discounts for locals, the disabled, seniors and low income
residents.
Mehrmann's
final list: the 10 qualities he looks for when grooming new
leadership in the company: Curiosity, Sense of responsibility, Sense
of humor, Passion, Courage of convictions, Initiative,
Creativity/innovation, Sense of urgency, Persistence and Confidence.
Mehrmann
began his tenure with Ocean Park in 2004. He started his career in
the theme park industry in 1977 as a park attendant at Knott's Berry
Farm, working his way up to the position of Vice President of Park
Operations and Entertainment in 1996. He was with Six Flags Marine
World as Vice President and General Manager in 1998, and was
appointed VP and GM of Warner Bros. Movie World (Madrid) in 2000.