I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this 2009 article in Museum Audience Insight on how technology is actually preferred by older museum visitors to younger ones. Have a look at the chart below:
Courtesy of Museum Audience Insight
According to their findings of visitors to Outdoor History Museums,
Singapore is not just a “fried rice paradise”. It is also a “hard sell paradise”.
If you flip through the papers on any single day, approximately 80% of the advertisements scream “DISCOUNTS”, “SALE”, “FREE”, “PROMOTION” and other words aimed at tugging at your wallets. Because we’re such avid bargain hunters, anything priced at the normal rack rates or list price will fail to trigger any immediate (or impulsive) purchase decision.
As I was about to enter my car a few days ago, I spotted this bright colourful flyer on my window.
Courtesy of Inner Altitude
Last night, I decided to catch a much talked about TED talk by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor and boy was I blown away! In the video, the celebrity neuro-anatomist described her experiences when she suffered a stroke on her left brain and painted a beautiful and vivid picture of that somewhat transcendental encounter. From that incident, she was able to isolate the functions of both brains via a first person perspective, showing how the two cerebral hemispheres (connected by a bunch of tissue called the corpus callosum) interact and work with each other.
Here’s the video for your viewing pleasure:
By now, tablet PCs are fairly de rigueur in almost any household with a need for fuss-free technology. Initiated first by Apple with its legendary iPad launch in April 2010 – barely 15 months ago – the market for tablet devices has swelled tremendously with major technology players launching a range of devices operating on Apple, Android, Blackberry, and Windows 7 Operating Systems (OS).
The latest player to jump into the fray is computer giant HP. Its tablet device the HP TouchPad runs on a proprietary HP WebOS 3.0, and comes with a 9.7 inch diagonal flush capacitive multitouch display, support for Adobe Flash, a virtual keyboard and instant-on access.
Singapore Blog Awards 2011 has upped the ante yet again. As a long-time supporter of the awards (we hosted it at Asian Civilisations Museum in 2008, and I helped judge last year’s event), I can safely say that this year’s competition organised by Omy.sg has set new milestones in many areas – categories, sponsors, prizes, event attendees, and of course the fun factor.
Museum visits needn’t be a yawn if you design them well (Courtesy of BelieveJay)
While doing some desktop research recently, I came across an interesting article by Gareth Davey titled “What is Museum Fatigue?” in InformalScience. The academic piece explained why visitors get tired when visiting museums, and proposed how we can better manage visitor behaviours when designing exhibitions.
Apparently, from research conducted thus far, the following findings are derived:
With the theme “Home – What We Love About It”, Singapore HeritageFest 2011 kicked off yesterday, across multiple venues around the island, in colourful fashion.
Source of image
Have you always wanted to do something but somehow didn’t have the time, guts or will to see it through? Do you want to see a positive change in your life while embarking on a fresh adventure in an otherwise humdrum existence?
Why not try the 30 Day Challenge?
Good storytelling helps to sustain consumer interest (Universal Studios Singapore’s Madagascar Crate Ride)
One of the greatest challenges faced by theme parks, zoos, museums, and other visitor attractions is that of getting one’s visitors to keep returning. While adding new rides, exhibits and enclosures can help to draw repeat patronage, their prohibitively high costs make such strategies unfeasible over the short term.
What then should one do to renew one’s product and keep guests coming back?
Sightseeing tours are all about the journey
What is your idea of a job well done? Is it that golden moment when you can proudly tick off the box on your “To Do” list? Would completion alone be equated to success?
While some may argue that one should just “do whatever it takes to get there”, I believe that the process of reaching that goal is often just as important as breasting the finish line. The path which we take – the way in which things were done, the people whom we worked with, the relationships forged, the kicks that we get along the way – play a far stronger role in influencing its eventual outcome than we imagine.