Enticing Adult Visitors
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issue 90 spring 2012 NEWSLETTER : CONTENTS >>> Kate Steiner - ‘Lates with MasterCard’: Enticing adult visitors the grown-up world of the Science Museum after hours page 02 By Kate Steiner, In all venues, one senses a genuine respect for Science Museum, London, UK visitors’ opinions and great skill and inventiveness in Antonia Caola and Samuela Caliari - using audience understanding to engage adults at Science, art, food and books: What could be more adult - or Italian - than that? points of personal and emotional resonance. Entice: To allure esp. insidiously or adroitly page 04 There is also an interesting thread of transformation (original etymology ‘to set on fire’) woven among these contributions, of turning the Per-Edvin Persson - In Memoriam: If in the past we’ve seen adults as a natural and traditional museum or science centre into Tiiu Sild (1958-2012) page 04 stable section of our audience (a steady third in the something else - whether a literary salon, debate Science Museum’s case), then economic, chamber, late-night club, or in the moving case of Marjolein van Breemen and Meie van demographic and market pressures have caused Miraikan, a space to think communally about great Laar - A big debate: Engaging young many of us to work much more proactively to human tragedy. And it’s noticeable that most adults at Science Center NEMO page 05 attract adults. In our own recent Audience Plan venues discussed here are very comfortable with we’ve identified independent adults as the most broad and multiple approaches to our subjects, Cláudia Velhas - Science inquiry after 60 significant growth audience, and while cherishing including perspectives from art, literature and page 07 our family and school audiences (which are near business as well as science. Perhaps, finally, we are market capacity), we recognise the need to Isao Yamasaki - Japanese exhibition standing up for science being at the heart of helps visitors tackle big questions reposition ourselves as a cultural magnet for adults. human culture and creativity. page 08 Listings page 09 News from Ecsite page 11 Courses, conferences, competitions page 12 Adults flock en masse to ‘Lates’ events, Science Museum, London, UK This Ecsite Quarterly theme shows how far Europe’s One last thought is that the case studies here are museums and science centres have come in finding mainly programmatic and ‘interpreter-led’. Events Ecsite Executive Office ways to ignite the passion and interest of adult programmes lend themselves to innovation as they audiences. There are fascinating similarities between T +32 2 649 7383 are essentially ephemeral and any experimental F +32 2 647 5098 the articles: In particular, as a veteran audience blunders can be quickly buried and forgotten, but email: [email protected] advocate, I was heartened by their sophisticated can we get the same audience appeal and relevance www.ecsite.eu understanding of the interests and concerns of into our more permanent physical exhibitions? This is Newsletter contributors: specific audiences—whether that’s an older person’s the essential focus and concern of the Science Please contact Emma Wadland, Editor need to reconnect with intellectual and social Museum’s Audience Research group and I suggest [email protected] networks, a teenager’s need to build identities and that with the benefit of its research and development informed career choices or young adults’ obsession function within exhibition development, the allure of For information about upcoming issues with social media and their own social lives. our adult offer can only soar. and how to contribute, see the Ecsite website under News > Newsletters Kate Steiner, Guest Editor of this edition Next issue: of the Ecsite Quarterly Newsletter, Inspiring careers in science and is a Learning and Publishing Executive technology at the Science Museum in London, UK. 01 INSPIRING ADULT VISITORS ‘Lates with MasterCard’: the grown-up world of the Science Museum after hours by the month, yet there is no marketing. What (in-house comedy), big-venue theatre tours and was the thinking behind this phenomenon and drama. And with a 15-year history of children’s how did it all go so right? sleepovers, we had the infrastructure to manage masses roaming our museum after hours (though generally not with a beer in hand). Background Above all, we remain convinced that facilitating There is a palpable buzz among the half-mile fun, challenge, excitement, and provocation along Adults are a vital segment of the Science Museum queue of twenty-somethings outside London’s with science content is an effective way to engage audience - currently 30 per cent come without Science Museum. The last of the day-visitors have people with the museum and its subjects. In fact, children and market research spotlights them as trooped out, the sounds of a band tuning up are our research on the nature of ‘Life-Enhancing our biggest opportunity for growth. But we aim to seeping into the street and the crowd is chatting, Experiences’ within a museum suggests that fun is be a broad cultural venue, which means breaking laughing, fidgeting in anticipation of... what? not just an adjunct but a necessary first step to down barriers for a culturally active, mainly non- On the final Wednesday of every month the Science learning because it puts people in a receptive science demographic, and switching on a younger Museum transforms for ‘Lates with MasterCard’, a state to think and absorb. audience to science. night of performance, events, dancing, drinking, Through twenty years of Audience Research we socializing and science enjoyed by around 5,000 have a fairly good picture of what this audience is adults, almost all of whom (88 per cent) are within Vision like: Choosy, discriminating and quick to leave if the elusive 18-35-year-old category. By 2009 the concept for ‘Lates’ took shape: bored. Young adults enjoy novelty and intriguing Walk in - there’s no charge - and you’re treated to design, but they are also very information-hungry - • It had to be after hours - young adult audiences live music, snacks, three bars, a science pub quiz, as long as the information is given in exciting ways and family audiences simply don’t mix and a and speed-dating (geeks need love too), while (i.e. not just words on a wall). In general, young night programme freed the museum to become upstairs a silent disco progresses eerily among the adults are quite like children, in that they want to a different space, with an exclusively adult vibe. planes of the Flight gallery. These are merely the play, but they hate having children around while staples of nights with seriously adult science • It couldn’t just be the museum at a different they’re doing it. We needed a programme that met themes – sexually transmitted diseases, bio- time - ‘Lates’ had to have a unique and vibrant the needs of this demanding crowd. terrorism, and surgery, for example. programme and personality. While themes Fortunately by 2010 we’d built up experience of Our eclectic themes mix well with talks by the should follow (and exploit) our current cultural such a programme through our Dana events - an world’s top scientists including James Lovelock on offer, the format had to be mixed, quirky, and evening programme of controversial science climate change, Richard Dawkins and James different each month to match an audience topics, experimental formats, complete with a bar Dyson on the subject of genius, as well as more that is curious, experimental, and social. The and food. At the same time our pioneering off-the-wall happenings; you might be ambushed programme had to target non-science Learning teams were broadening experimental by actors dressed in nuclear protection suits, find audiences and reinvent the traditional image of performance-based interpretation - Punk Science yourself heckling our in-house Punk Science science museums as places for school groups. comedy team or join a workshop to make your own sex education film. Stitch and Bitch knitting club rub shoulders with the British Kendo team while 300 self-conscious teenagers line up for a master class with Dr Dance (whose day-job is in a university psychology department modelling the attractiveness of body language). Three years after its birth ‘Lates’ is now an established part of London’s young cultural scene. In 2011 MasterCard came on-board and began a three-year partnership, offering support for ‘Lates’ as part of their overarching campaign ‘Priceless London’. ‘Priceless London’ gives cardholders access to exclusive offers and extraordinary events and experiences, including, for example, bookable places at the ‘Lates’ MasterCard Bar. ‘Lates’ evenings are crowded, noisy and alive, the atmosphere is electric and audiences are growing ‘Lates’: Social network marketing on Facebook and Twitter draws adults to the Science Museum in droves 02 INSPIRING ADULT VISITORS • ‘Lates’ had to be free (at least at point of entry - there are secondary charges for food and drink, for example). Young audiences are not usually rich and - driven mainly by social motives could just as easily meet in pubs, union bars and other free venues. • Marketing was accomplished entirely through social media or word of mouth. ‘Lates’ recognizes that its target generation organises their lives through social media which, in turn, revolves around friendship groups (most come to ‘Lates’ with 3-5 friends). Growing success: audiences Nearly 2,000 visitors came to the January 2009 ‘Lates’ pilot based on minimal media presence. The The ‘Lates’ silent disco takes over the Science Museum’s Flight Gallery experiment confirmed that ‘Lates’ was logistically possible and had huge potential. Our monthly museum as a place that had a lot to offer in The programme has stimulated interest among programme developed from there.