How To Stay Open When Your Doors Are Closed
How To Stay Open When Your Doors Are Closed
April 2, 2020 by Taylor Studios
With so many forced to stay home, and many parks, nature centers, and museums being closed to the public right now, people are turning to online resources to find entertainment and education. I think we can all relate to those moments of being bored, or just needing something to engage our kids that has real value, and scrolling through our social media feeds looking for some way to connect to the outside world.
Fortunately, we’re living in a very interconnected digital world. Even if we can’t meet in person, the internet has built a global community where we can reach out and ‘touch’ someone near and far away. And something even more inspiring is how museums and nature centers have innovated and are finding ways to open their virtual doors to all.
Here are some ways our clients are connecting with their visitors right now:
Mahaska County Conservation has created their own online ‘show’ called . Each weekday, one of their rangers goes live and shares content that connects their viewers to nature and science. Their visitors are leaving comments and interacting, showing that they really appreciate the posts!
The Tampa Bay History Center was just about to open their new exhibit about the history of wrestling when the coronavirus hit and derailed their plans. But they pressed on and instead hosted a video event on Facebook, giving the public a chance to see the exhibit up close and personal (well, as personal as you can get right now). You can check it out They have many other available on their website as well.
And we can never underestimate the appeal of live web cam streams! The Toledo Zoo has live 24-hour web cams showing various animal exhibits. !
A quick google search for ‘virtual tours’ will bring you lots of options.
And if you’re wanting to take your search to the four corners of the earth, then check out . From this portal you can see everything from the to the .
In fact, one of our Interpretive Planners just “traveled” to the British Museum with her mother to enjoy the project. Though they live in different towns, they got to experience the museum together by using Skype and then sharing their screen. Very cool!
So the question is, how are you staying engaged with your visitors when they can’t come to your location?
Bonus for Museums: The folks over at ExhibiTricks have a great blog about how you could use some of your time to build up your colleagues in the Museum community.
Someday very soon, we will be able to go out and explore our museums and parks together again, but let’s not forget the lessons and innovations that we’re discovering now. I see so much opportunity for more accessibility and outreach; our exhibits and parks no longer have to be bound by walls or fences.
Let’s open the virtual doors and let everyone in!