8 Key Elements in a Well-Defined Exhibit Plan
8 Key Elements in a Well-Defined Exhibit Plan
March 18, 2014 by Taylor Studios
Exhibit Planning/Strategic Planning
Exhibit planning is like strategic planning:
Effective planning articulates where you are going, how you are going to get there, and what it will look like when you get there. It’s a disciplined effort that guides the team and stakeholders to move in a defined direction.
Opportunities, Vision, and Politics
Recently, I was given the opportunity to give back to my community and be more involved in its future. I accepted a position on the board of our county and became the chairperson of the Advisory Board. Surprisingly, being more involved locally has thrown me into some tough local politics.
For example, here in Rantoul, our Mayor just fired our City Administrator. I was aware of the administrator’s vision and plan for the town’s future. This vision brought enthusiasm and excitement to a town that lost its mojo after the Air Force base was closed in the ‘90s. The administrator managed the city’s budget, the relationships with folks at places like the Department of Defense, contractors that were helping build that future, and more.
Last week, a large group of people came to a town hall meeting to question the mayor’s decision. I was asked to speak. I did not know what to expect. The city auditorium was filled to the brim with standing room only. It was a cold winter night but the room was stuffy and hot. The city board was at the front of the room in their official seating pattern and other officials were seated in front of them. Many citizens spoke of their concerns. In my brief statement, I expressed concern about our ability to move forward with the city’s strategic plan after losing a key player. It’s a tough environment to get a group of people moving towards a mutual vision.
Build Consensus
In a community, you must get buy-in from wide ranging groups with different interests. It is difficult to get this many different viewpoints taking action for the same future direction. As we have discussed previously on this blog, Taylor Studios donated a to Rantoul in hopes of gaining buy-in from citizens in town to further the vision for our future. The CEP experience is more like planning for a museum than strategic planning is for a company. A museum has its mission, its donors, possible government grants, boards, foundations, and the public they serve.
Most often, museums have a less contentious environment in which to achieve success. Yet, there will still be bumps along the way. If a museum has a well-defined plan, they will be able to overcome them more easily and efficiently. What are some good elements of an exhibit plan? A few elements include:
Goals and Objectives
The goals and objectives and what we call success objectives, if well defined, can help guide and keep all parties on task when disputes or questions arise. Here are examples of different goals and objectives that set the tone for entire projects.
An overarching project goal: To encourage all people to reconnect with nature; to support Children and Nature initiatives.
Interpretive Objective: As a result of viewing these exhibits, visitors will know glacial heritage, wetland wildlife, etc.
Outcome of a visitor experience: Create an interpretive visitor experience that is so exceptional in both content and activities visitors will tell their friends and family and help grow visitorship.
Success objective: Increase traffic to the center from 55,000/year to 150,000/year within three years.
Here are a couple of examples of our first meeting agenda with a client that helps them start down the exhibit planning process.
Example #1 – Typical Meeting Agenda
Example #2 Retrofitted Agenda for Client with finalized Interpretive Plan
Is your exhibit plan well-defined? Does this definition help you get buy-in from all groups involved? Does it paint a vision worth pursuing?