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National Park Service Belies The Image Of The Unimaginative Government Agency

by:

Joe Patti

Government agencies tend to have a reputation for being dull, unimaginative, and rule bound. Speaking from experience, I can confirm there is good reason for that reputation.

I have to say though that the National Park Service social media accounts can serve as an exemplar for most commercial and non-profit enterprises. There is a engaging goofiness to their posts where they mix humor with educational content about the parks.

Interestingly, the best content seems to be on LinkedIn. Though since they don’t post the same content on every social media site on the same day, I may have missed some posts on Facebook and X that may have appeared further back than I scrolled.

For example, a post today on LinkedIn about splooting (basically animals splaying their bodies out to keep cool) appeared a couple days ago on Facebook.

Last week there was a post that started “It’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the dinosaurs. 🦖 Well, it may be just the heat.” It went on to talk about the importance of staying hydrated during the summer with references to hallucinating about dinosaurs as well as references to Jurassic Park.

💧Drink water often. Stay hydrated and drink before you feel thirsty. Plan to bring extra water just in case you need to place a cup on your dashboard to watch for concentric ripples portending the arrival of a large creature.

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The post ends with a picture of a guy in a dino suit eating a park ranger which they caption

Image: This ranger was clearly not hydrated. Costumed dinosaur and a ranger have an awkward encounter in front of the Dinosaur National Monument sign.

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There was a really extensive post on Friday the 13th referencing all sorts of horror film lore while warning about approaching animals and living camp fires burning.

3: Like, he’s not that cute. 🦬

Oh my gosh, like, as if! That squirrel is, like, totally adorbs with its fluffy tail and those cute little paws. And that bison, like, needs a friend for sure, but, like, let’s not forget that squirrels can totally bite, especially from the bitey end, and that the bison has all the friends they need. Now, like, who packed the bandages and the extra leg splint?

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However, one of my favorite posts in recent weeks was one where they asked viewers what their favorite National Park color palette was and matched palettes up with 12 different National Park sites.

We talk about how arts organizations need to emphasize their value to their communities. National Park Service social media staff does a great job of communicating that value and capturing the national imagination.

Arts in an Age of Technology, Audience Relations, Government Relations, Marketing/PR

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Be Cautious With Claims Linking Arts-Health

by:

Joe Patti

Back in April The Lancet had a brief piece by researchers of arts and health cautioning readers about the strength of research results connecting the arts with positive health outcomes.

In general critiques have to do with the research methodologies of various studies. They also mention that the results of some studies aren’t as significant as they may be made out to be.

…a rigorous large-scale randomised trial of singing versus standard physical training…found only modest improvements in exercise capacity and quality of life (far from the minimum important difference), no improvements in anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, or respiratory function, and no differences in outcomes compared with standard physical training.

[…]

We accept that engagement in the arts and cultural activities could represent a positive health resource, but emphasise the importance of a scientific approach which balances optimism with assessments of uncertainty to guide efficient deployment of the arts to benefit health. Further, we believe that the evidence base is still to be established as to whether the arts are as “necessary for our health and wellbeing as are exercise, good nutrition, and sleep”.

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I have long been cautious and skeptical of claims about the benefits of arts and culture, partially due to the work of Createquity which spent about a decade scrutinizing research about many aspects of arts and culture practice. They ceased operation back in 2017, but I based a lot of my blog posts on the information they shared across the years.

It is regrettable they shutdown because we continue to need the insight they provided as well as the critical eye they applied to research findings.

Advocacy, Art(ist) Education

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NBC News Looks At Dynamic Pricing At Museums

by:

Joe Patti

I was pleasantly surprised this past weekend to see NBC News devote a little time into reporting about the use of dynamic pricing by zoos and museums. I would typically expect them to report on dynamic pricing used for large stadiums and festivals so I was happy to see them spending time exploring how exhibit based arts and cultural entities are approaching pricing.

As you might expect, prices aren’t as high if you commit well in advance of the date you wish to visit. Some of the software helping these organizations make pricing decisions are also factoring in weather and Google searches alongside actual purchase patterns, capacity, time of day, day of the week, etc.

Museum industry groups laud this as a win-win for everyone, but customer perception may be a little different:

Data-driven pricing can be “a financial win for both the public and the museum,” said Elizabeth Merritt, vice president of strategic foresight at the American Alliance of Museums. It can reduce overcrowding, she said, while steering budget-minded guests toward dates that are both cheaper and less busy.

But steeper prices during peak periods and for short-notice visits could rankle guests — who may see anything less than a top-notch experience as a rip-off, said Stephen Pratt, a professor at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management who studies tourism.

Source

Research by IMPACTS Experience that I wrote about in March presented survey results that support the claim consumers have higher expectations of their ticket buying experience at exhibit based organizations. In particular, consumers didn’t want to commit that far in advance out of concern someone might get sick or a scheduling conflict might arise.

Pricing confusion of the type mentioned in the NBC News piece was also mentioned–both in terms of not knowing what rate was applicable when and not being able to easily compare a desired date with surrounding dates to determine if visiting on another day of the week might be much cheaper.

The NBC News article mentioned that many museums offer a plethora of discount categories alongside their full price. I suspect that may add to the pricing confusion that was noted as a barrier in the IMPACTS data. I also wondered if these organizations were undermining all their dynamic pricing efforts by offering so many discount categories.

Arts Facilities, Audience Relations, Marketing/PR, Pricing

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Is Your “Buy Tickets” Button Really Emphasizing That Action?

by:

Joe Patti

Last week Drew McManus posted a slidedeck he used for a presentation at the Chorus America conference on LinkedIn. I wasn’t at the conference, but I have previously attended conferences at which he did his Click. Click. Done. presentation on using Google Analytics. So I have been a fan of his conference presentations for awhile.

The one he did at Choral America followed his naming theme, Ciick, Buy, Cry. This one was on the topic of web design and how some elements can be a deterrent to a customer’s purchase experience.

The slidedeck he made available as all the presenter notes and talks about different aspects of a user experience from how people scan a webpage, how mobile first design prioritizes how people increasingly interact with webpages, and the importance of repeating your primary links if people have to scroll more than two page lengths to view all parts of your site so that they aren’t forced to scroll back up later.

The part that really caught my attention was the visual hierarchy of buttons: A solid button indicates more important role than an outlined button which indicates a more important role than just text.

I have included that specific slide and Drew’s notes below. If this piques your interest at all, check out the full slidedeck and notes.

Arts in an Age of Technology, Audience Relations, Info You Can Use, Marketing/PR

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Butts In The Seats by Joe Patti is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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