Over the past several months, museums have been occupied with adapting to widespread coronavirus closures. Membership professionals have worked hard to adjust their communication, messaging, and membership fulfillment strategies, while continuing to reinforce the value of membership while physical sites are closed. Now, approaching two months into closures, many cultural organizations are beginning to think about plans for reopening, and some have already begun. What strategies, workflows, and policies can help facilitate a safe and successful reopening?
On May 4, 2020, over 2,000 guests joined Dan Sullivan (Head of Growth and Partnerships @ Cuseum), Meghan McCauley (Director of Membership and Visitor Services @ Perez Art Museum Miami), Aidan Vega (Director of Membership @ Philadelphia Museum of Art), Laura Schmid (Membership Manager @ Cincinnati Nature Center), & Kristi Masterson (Director of Engagement and Operations @ Cincinnati Nature Center) as they discussed the steps and process of reopening. This conversation included voices from organizations that have already opened to members, as well as those planning to do so in the coming weeks and months!
View the video recording here.
Read some of the top takeaways below!
Develop a Task Force and Plan
As institutions look to reopen, creating an interdepartmental task force will help your organization assess and make recommendations based on guidance from your local government. Involving all departments in the decision-making process will ensure a safe reopening for everyone. Meghan expressed that the Perez Art Museum Miami is researching what other institutions are doing and looking towards other sectors to understand best practices in creating a safe environment upon reopening.
“We have to absolutely be in a position where we can make coming back to the museum a safe experience for visitors, for members, for staff, as well as an enjoyable one.”
– Meghan McCauley
The experience is going to be different for both members and staff upon reopening. Institutions are creating various plans and protocols to provide a safe and welcoming environment. In an effort to understand what the guest experience will look like upon reopening, Aiden and her colleagues at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have reinvented their visitor journey map. The goal of the journey map is to plan for the safest ways to have people come into the building in a socially distanced way by examining pre-visit, during visit, and post-visit etiquette.
Communicate and Adapt Reopening Plans
Increasing personalized member communication has been a top priority for many institutions during this time. As guidelines pertaining to safety and social distancing requirements are constantly shifting, it is important to continue to relay this information to members and visitors. Meghan stated that this time has allowed her institution to increase a conversational approach with their membership, they have developed a phone call system to check in on members and plan on using this same system to communicate reopening procedures. She stressed the importance of maintaining a level of transparency and involving members through surveys and testing in some of the decision making processes.
“We surveyed everybody when they came. What was their experience? How safe did they feel? Tell us one of the reasons why they liked us reopening, and anything we can do to improve. These open-ended questions, we acted upon immediately.”
– Kristi Masterson
Institutions that have already opened are making sure to gather feedback and are adjusting as they go. As new procedures are put in place, being agile and listening to how new policies can be improved will go a long way in developing a safe and efficient environment for visitors.
The Cincinnati Nature Center has already opened to members only, so they’ve already had experience with this. As Kristi explained, upon reopening many members were confused about the new policy which involved walking the nature center’s trails only in a clockwise direction. By gathering community feedback, the Cincinnati Nature Center was able to quickly assess confusion and communicate the adjustments back to their members more clearly. Moving forward, it will be important for institutions to understand that new procedures may be challenging to implement, but being open to feedback, making modifications, and informing members of updated policies will help in making the new changes easier for everyone to understand and follow.
Address Capacity Limitations
As many institutions are facing a 25% capacity limitation from local and state officials, organizations are turning to technology to regulate visitor flow. All of our panelists expressed that their institutions are currently using or will look to use advanced ticketing in the future. As Laura explained, the Cincinnati Nature Centre is already having success using a timed ticketing system and have worked their way up to four unique visitation time slots each day. Organizations are also looking towards other sectors to implement policies like exclusive early morning hours for seniors and adjusted operating hours.
“Members have been over the moon. They have been enthusiastic. The response has been so great.”
– Laura Schmid
The Cincinnati Nature Centre has reopened to members only at this time. Laura expressed that the response has been very positive and has allowed them to demonstrate value to their existing members while attracting new membership acquisitions. Many of their constituents have also responded by contributing additional donations. All of our panelists agreed that inclusiveness and accessibility will always be a top priority in the cultural space, but during this time, offering your members special perks is a perfect way to show how much they are appreciated and an opportunity to bring in new members.
Create a Contingency Plan
Over these last two months, all physical events have been canceled or postponed, leaving organizations wondering how they should approach rescheduling and what these events may look like under new guidelines. Our panelists all acknowledged that while special programming is something they are looking towards in the future, their first priority is to create a safe experience where people can enjoy the collections and exhibitions again.
“We really want to make sure that we can have the visitation experience locked in and we feel really comfortable with that. I think then we'll take the next steps to think about programming.”
– Aidan Vega
Concerns over the second wave of coronavirus forcing additional closures are also contributing to hesitation in making concrete plans. Institutions must have contingency plans in place for this possibility. Laura expressed that the Cincinnati Nature Center is planning this year around that possibility, with the understanding that things could rapidly change.
While making plans for special programming and tours, institutions can also look to continue to include digital programming to complement a limited physical experience and also as a contingency plan if a ban on large gatherings continues.
The reopening process may be full of changes and setbacks, but having a transparent line of communication, an agile approach to planning and a clear set of guidelines will help institutions through this difficult time. Although it will be a new experience for everyone, it is finally time to start moving forward with reopening!
Looking for more information? Check out our coronavirus resources page.
Further Reading:
Tips and Strategies For Reopening Museums After COVID-19 Closures
Webinar Highlights: Supporting Communities with Digital Programs During Coronavirus
Webinar Highlights: Collaborating On Virtual Educational Programs During Coronavirus
4 Ways Museums Can Successfully Leverage Digital Content And Channels During Coronavirus (COVID-19)