I talk a lot about visior experiences. But it occurred to me recently that I’d never really spelled out why I think they’re so important. We all like to think our work makes the world a better place in some small way, so how do I think what I do matters? Thinking about it over the past few weeks, I’ve come up with the following:
Why do I do what I do?
Because I believe that museums, heritage sites, science centres, zoos, aquariums and national parks have the power to make the world a better place. They can:
- give us the thrill of discovering something new, or seeing “the real thing”
- promote wellbeing by bringing us closer to art and nature
- raise consciousness of the environment we depend upon
- encourage empathy by presenting the point of view of a different person or culture
- provide a context for memorable and meaningful experiences with our family and friends
And I firmly believe that the key to unlocking this potential is a good quality, well-planned visitor experience.
So that’s why I do what I do (And have just updated the interactivate web site to reflect this).
What about you – what inspires you to do what you do?
I do this because we’re spending other people’s money; money which could have been spent on many other worthy causes – hospitals, schools, drug rehabilitation schemes, research into new treatments for cancer, after school clubs for disadvantaged students and so on. It’s given to us and that’s OK – museums also have beneficial social impact – but it means we have a moral duty to spend every penny of that money to the very best of our abilities.