GET ATTRACTIONS MANAGEMENT
magazine
Yes! Send me the FREE digital edition of Attractions Management and the FREE weekly Attractions Management ezines and breaking news alerts!
Not right now, thanksclose this window
Get Attractions Management digital magazine FREE
Sign up here ▸
Jobs   News   Features   Products   Company profilesProfiles   Magazine   Handbook   Advertise    Subscribe  
Research
Elizabeth Merritt

Since 2015, the VP and founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums has been tracking the sector in an annual TrendsWatch publication. She tells Magali Robathan about this year’s biggest trends and how to capitalise on them


As a futurist, how do you support museums?
I create little temporal anomalies that give museum people a glimpse into what the world might be like, decades hence. That sounds very sci-fi, but it’s a pretty good summary of what a futurist does.

What does your role involve on a day-to-day basis?
In day-to-day practice, this involves teaching, forecasting and research. I teach museum people the skills of foresight, starting with a basic awareness of the fact that decisions about long-term organisations, such as museums, need to be made in the context of envisioning long-term futures. What challenges will face their community in 10, 20, or 50 years? What changes will they need to navigate?

Realising that not every museum person has the time to become a futurist, I do some of the groundwork – identifying important trends, creating scenarios that describe worlds museums might inhabit in coming decades, and asking critical questions.

To fuel this work I unearth the information museums need to inform their foresight. That sometimes requires conducting research, whether that’s on public expectations of museums, or trends in museum practice.

What do you see as the most important trends highlighted in this year’s TrendsWatch?
Two of the trends this year illustrate the power museums have to help create a better world for all of us. The term ‘existential crisis’ has been overworked in the past few years, but I think it’s warranted when applied to the current levels of partisanship in the US. Some historians and political analysts fear for the future of our democracy, even as we approach the semiquincentennial (250 years).

Museums have a superpower that can help us tackle this wicked problem: they are one of the most trusted sources of information in America (ranked second only to friends and family), and that trust is non-partisan. I think it’s entirely possible we might look back in 100 years and recognise that museums played a significant role in holding our country together through difficult times, by helping people understand and become more tolerant of other points of view.

The second trend I think has culturally transformative potential is the pivot towards reparative practice. Museums can play a significant role in shifting the dialogue in America from what the law demands to a values-based approach to reparations and restitution for descendant communities.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of technologies in the museum sector. What does this mean for the future?
Museums are, overall, slow to adopt new technologies and new practices. Prior to 2020, relatively few museums implemented practical digital applications – such as business analytics, advanced ticketing and variable pricing – that were transforming for-profit practice.

The pandemic lit a fire under the field, as directors realised these tools weren’t just shiny new toys, they were potential lifesavers.

Going forward, I hope we’ll see a broader appreciation of how an integrated digital strategy can make museums more resilient and successful.

What other lasting impacts is the pandemic having on the museum sector?
Public appetite for digital content has ballooned since the start of the pandemic and many museums have expanded the size and diversity of their audience via digital programming. This has presented opportunities, but also threats.

It’s clear digital can be an effective medium to deliver meaningful content and can have a wider impact on the world and so if museums can solve the thorny problem of monetising digital offerings, it could add a whole new income stream to the bottom line.

However, in terms of threats, will school attendance ever rebound, especially now more teachers are aware of the rich trove of online museum content and the convenience of digital field trips?

Even pre-pandemic, the rising cost of transportation and decreasing tolerance for risk had already begun to threaten the traditional school field trip.

What are the challenges for museums in attracting and retaining staff? What trends are impacting the workplace?
The US is still in an incredibly tight labour market and that’s teaching us all a great deal about what it means to be a good employer, as workers can vote with their feet if they’re unhappy.

For the most part, successful practices for attracting and retaining staff are the same for nonprofit and for-profit employers: flexibility of working conditions, equitable pay and benefits and pathways to advancement. And, of course, creating a healthy workplace culture, including good communications, fair treatment, and mechanisms for meaningful input.

This might mean a change in the allocation of resources, as museums may have to devote more of their budget to human resources as they commit to paying a living wage and providing critical benefits such as parental leave.

One of the biggest challenges to improving museum jobs is getting over the baggage that comes with nonprofit employment, including the expectation that people are prepared to sacrifice pay for the opportunity to do what they love. Maybe one bright spot from the pandemic will be that the disruption of our assumptions about work will free us to create more equitable jobs.

What positive trends are you seeing?
I think the most positive trend in the museum sector over the past century is a shift in its core identity – both in how museums see themselves, and how they’re seen by their communities.

Rather than narrowly identifying themselves by what they do (collect, preserve, interpret), museums increasingly define themselves by the ways in which they can change the world.

In the course of a dozen years of writing TrendsWatch, I’ve documented museums combatting climate change, supporting people who are homeless, advocating for criminal justice reform and fostering empathy. This cause-based work is rooted in their core strengths, but deploys those strengths to meet the needs of their communities.

Individually and collectively, museums are waking up to the power they have to shape the future.

During the lockdowns, a video of Wellington the penguin watching the belugas got 93,000 views on YouTube Credit: Photo: Brenna Hernandez
Visitors put on virtual reality goggles to enter the Kremer Museum Credit: Photo: www.thekremercollection.com
The Philbrook Museum acquired ‘Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV’ by artist Kehunde Wiley who champions diversity Credit: Photo: Kehinde Wiley& Roberts Projects
COMPANY PROFILES
TechnoAlpin

TechnoAlpin is the world leader for snowmaking systems. Our product portfolio includes all different [more...]
RMA Ltd

RMA Ltd is a one-stop global company that can design, build and produce from a greenfield site upw [more...]
Vekoma Rides Manufacturing B.V.

Vekoma Rides has a large variety of coasters and attractions. [more...]
Simworx Ltd

The company was initially established in 1997. Terry Monkton and Andrew Roberts are the key stakeh [more...]
+ More profiles  
CATALOGUE GALLERY
 

+ More catalogues  
DIRECTORY
+ More directory  
DIARY

 

08-08 May 2024

Hospitality Design Conference

Hotel Melià , Milano , Italy
04-07 Nov 2024

Global Wellness Summit (GWS)

In person, St Andrews, United Kingdom
+ More diary  
LATEST ISSUES
+ View Magazine Archive

Attractions Management

2023 issue 4


View issue contents
View on turning pages
Download PDF
FREE digital subscription
Print subscription

Attractions Management

2023 issue 3


View issue contents
View on turning pages
Download PDF
FREE digital subscription
Print subscription

Attractions Management

2023 issue 2


View issue contents
View on turning pages
Download PDF
FREE digital subscription
Print subscription

Attractions Management

2023 issue 1


View issue contents
View on turning pages
Download PDF
FREE digital subscription
Print subscription

Attractions Management News

06 Apr 2020 issue 153


View on turning pages
Download PDF
View archive
FREE digital subscription
Print subscription

Attractions Handbook

2019


View issue contents
View on turning pages
Download PDF
FREE digital subscription
Print subscription
 
ABOUT LEISURE MEDIA
LEISURE MEDIA MAGAZINES
LEISURE MEDIA HANDBOOKS
LEISURE MEDIA WEBSITES
LEISURE MEDIA PRODUCT SEARCH
 
ATTRACTIONS MANAGEMENT
ATTRACTIONS MANAGEMENT NEWS
ATTRACTIONS HANDBOOK
PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS
FREE DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
ADVERTISE . CONTACT US

Leisure Media
Tel: +44 (0)1462 431385

©Cybertrek 2023
Get Attractions Management digital magazine FREE
Sign up here ▸
Jobs    News   Products   Magazine   Subscribe
Research
Elizabeth Merritt

Since 2015, the VP and founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums has been tracking the sector in an annual TrendsWatch publication. She tells Magali Robathan about this year’s biggest trends and how to capitalise on them


As a futurist, how do you support museums?
I create little temporal anomalies that give museum people a glimpse into what the world might be like, decades hence. That sounds very sci-fi, but it’s a pretty good summary of what a futurist does.

What does your role involve on a day-to-day basis?
In day-to-day practice, this involves teaching, forecasting and research. I teach museum people the skills of foresight, starting with a basic awareness of the fact that decisions about long-term organisations, such as museums, need to be made in the context of envisioning long-term futures. What challenges will face their community in 10, 20, or 50 years? What changes will they need to navigate?

Realising that not every museum person has the time to become a futurist, I do some of the groundwork – identifying important trends, creating scenarios that describe worlds museums might inhabit in coming decades, and asking critical questions.

To fuel this work I unearth the information museums need to inform their foresight. That sometimes requires conducting research, whether that’s on public expectations of museums, or trends in museum practice.

What do you see as the most important trends highlighted in this year’s TrendsWatch?
Two of the trends this year illustrate the power museums have to help create a better world for all of us. The term ‘existential crisis’ has been overworked in the past few years, but I think it’s warranted when applied to the current levels of partisanship in the US. Some historians and political analysts fear for the future of our democracy, even as we approach the semiquincentennial (250 years).

Museums have a superpower that can help us tackle this wicked problem: they are one of the most trusted sources of information in America (ranked second only to friends and family), and that trust is non-partisan. I think it’s entirely possible we might look back in 100 years and recognise that museums played a significant role in holding our country together through difficult times, by helping people understand and become more tolerant of other points of view.

The second trend I think has culturally transformative potential is the pivot towards reparative practice. Museums can play a significant role in shifting the dialogue in America from what the law demands to a values-based approach to reparations and restitution for descendant communities.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of technologies in the museum sector. What does this mean for the future?
Museums are, overall, slow to adopt new technologies and new practices. Prior to 2020, relatively few museums implemented practical digital applications – such as business analytics, advanced ticketing and variable pricing – that were transforming for-profit practice.

The pandemic lit a fire under the field, as directors realised these tools weren’t just shiny new toys, they were potential lifesavers.

Going forward, I hope we’ll see a broader appreciation of how an integrated digital strategy can make museums more resilient and successful.

What other lasting impacts is the pandemic having on the museum sector?
Public appetite for digital content has ballooned since the start of the pandemic and many museums have expanded the size and diversity of their audience via digital programming. This has presented opportunities, but also threats.

It’s clear digital can be an effective medium to deliver meaningful content and can have a wider impact on the world and so if museums can solve the thorny problem of monetising digital offerings, it could add a whole new income stream to the bottom line.

However, in terms of threats, will school attendance ever rebound, especially now more teachers are aware of the rich trove of online museum content and the convenience of digital field trips?

Even pre-pandemic, the rising cost of transportation and decreasing tolerance for risk had already begun to threaten the traditional school field trip.

What are the challenges for museums in attracting and retaining staff? What trends are impacting the workplace?
The US is still in an incredibly tight labour market and that’s teaching us all a great deal about what it means to be a good employer, as workers can vote with their feet if they’re unhappy.

For the most part, successful practices for attracting and retaining staff are the same for nonprofit and for-profit employers: flexibility of working conditions, equitable pay and benefits and pathways to advancement. And, of course, creating a healthy workplace culture, including good communications, fair treatment, and mechanisms for meaningful input.

This might mean a change in the allocation of resources, as museums may have to devote more of their budget to human resources as they commit to paying a living wage and providing critical benefits such as parental leave.

One of the biggest challenges to improving museum jobs is getting over the baggage that comes with nonprofit employment, including the expectation that people are prepared to sacrifice pay for the opportunity to do what they love. Maybe one bright spot from the pandemic will be that the disruption of our assumptions about work will free us to create more equitable jobs.

What positive trends are you seeing?
I think the most positive trend in the museum sector over the past century is a shift in its core identity – both in how museums see themselves, and how they’re seen by their communities.

Rather than narrowly identifying themselves by what they do (collect, preserve, interpret), museums increasingly define themselves by the ways in which they can change the world.

In the course of a dozen years of writing TrendsWatch, I’ve documented museums combatting climate change, supporting people who are homeless, advocating for criminal justice reform and fostering empathy. This cause-based work is rooted in their core strengths, but deploys those strengths to meet the needs of their communities.

Individually and collectively, museums are waking up to the power they have to shape the future.

During the lockdowns, a video of Wellington the penguin watching the belugas got 93,000 views on YouTube Credit: Photo: Brenna Hernandez
Visitors put on virtual reality goggles to enter the Kremer Museum Credit: Photo: www.thekremercollection.com
The Philbrook Museum acquired ‘Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV’ by artist Kehunde Wiley who champions diversity Credit: Photo: Kehinde Wiley& Roberts Projects
LATEST NEWS
Sony Pictures to launch immersive Wonderverse entertainment destination
Sony Pictures is set to launch an immersive indoor entertainment park at Oakbrook Center in Chicago in December, featuring escape rooms, interactive exhibits, racing simulators, VR attractions, bumper cars and food and drink.
Tourism think tank explores gender equity and male allyship
At a recent think tank, The Tourism Society hosted a panel overseen by its first female chair, Alison Cryer MBE, to discuss the importance of male allyship in the travel and tourism industry.
Shenzhen art museum opens exhibition showcasing work of MAD Architects
Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning (MoCAUP) has opened An exhibition which provides a retrospective of the research and practices of MAD Architects.
Timbaland, music producer to the stars, joins forces with Myndstream to co-create music that improves health and wellbeing
Timbaland, Platinum Grammy Award-winning music producer, who's worked with artists such as Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Madonna, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Drake, has announced a partnership with health and wellbeing music provider, Myndstream.
Accenture says AI is bringing on a decade of deconstruction
The rapid advance of technology in all areas of life is putting societies in flux, creating uncertainty and forcing people to reassess their plans for the future, according to a new report from consulting firm Accenture.
Cedar Fair and Six Flags merge – combined company will operate 51 theme parks and resorts
Two iconic theme park operators, Cedar Fair and Six Flags, have confirmed they are merging.
Back in time – visitors experience 1960s healthcare in Black Country Museum's new living history centre
Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, UK, has opened a life-sized replica of a healthcare centre for infants, offering visitors an opportunity to discover how new and expectant mothers in the early 1960s were cared for and supported.
Attractions.io creates night-time map for Alton Towers
Attractions.io has created a bespoke nighttime app for UK theme park Alton Towers, which the operator will use for its Scarefest and Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular events.
Morgan’s Wonderland reveals plans for largest expansion in its history
Morgan’s Wonderland – a Texas-based theme park which caters specifically to people with disabilities – has revealed plans tol add attractions worth US$6 million in 2024.
Falcon’s Beyond, raises US$100m and begins trading on Nasdaq
Falcon’s Beyond Global has begun trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange, after raising more than US$100 million to support its growth strategy and completing a business combination with Fast Acquisition Corp.
SeaWorld to introduce marine life-themed rides and experiences 'at every park' during 2024
SeaWorld has revealed plans to open new, "one-of-a-kind" marine life themed rides and attractions at all three of its SeaWorld parks during Spring 2024.
Former Forrec executive, Matt Dawson, Joins JRA as VP of business development
JRA has appointed Matt Dawson, a former VP at experience design company Forrec, as its new VP of business development.
+ More news   
 
COMPANY PROFILES
TechnoAlpin

TechnoAlpin is the world leader for snowmaking systems. Our product portfolio includes all different [more...]
RMA Ltd

RMA Ltd is a one-stop global company that can design, build and produce from a greenfield site upw [more...]
Vekoma Rides Manufacturing B.V.

Vekoma Rides has a large variety of coasters and attractions. [more...]
Simworx Ltd

The company was initially established in 1997. Terry Monkton and Andrew Roberts are the key stakeh [more...]
+ More profiles  
CATALOGUE GALLERY
+ More catalogues  
DIRECTORY
+ More directory  
DIARY

 

08-08 May 2024

Hospitality Design Conference

Hotel Melià , Milano , Italy
04-07 Nov 2024

Global Wellness Summit (GWS)

In person, St Andrews, United Kingdom
+ More diary  
 


ADVERTISE . CONTACT US

Leisure Media
Tel: +44 (0)1462 431385

©Cybertrek 2023

ABOUT LEISURE MEDIA
LEISURE MEDIA MAGAZINES
LEISURE MEDIA HANDBOOKS
LEISURE MEDIA WEBSITES
LEISURE MEDIA PRODUCT SEARCH
ATTRACTIONS MANAGEMENT NEWS
ATTRACTIONS HANDBOOK
PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS
FREE DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS