SITEM 2018: museum issues and trends
SITEM 2018 was : 140 exhibitors, 17 workshops, 12 conferences, 1 startup competition … and the impossibility of being everywhere at once. For all those who have not been able to come, or dropped by quickly, or those who do not have the gift of ubiquity, the smArtapps team has prepared a review of the highlights, trends and innovations to watch.
Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality: the stars of SITEM
Whatever time you spent at SITEM, you could not miss it. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality — AR and VR — were everywhere this year. Spectacular and highly appreciated by the public, the first makes it possible to superimpose all sorts of digital elements onto the real environments and the second to create a complete digital environment.
AR and VR however, tend to deviate from the only “Wahoo effect”. It is no longer a question of amazing visitors, but of integrating these technologies into a global mediation strategy, as shown during the fascinating workshop conducted by 44 Screens and the Musée de la Mer (Quebec).
The context: in 2008 a sperm whale washed up on the beach is discovered. His skeleton is now on display in the museum but is incomplete: he lacks a tooth! The museum team then has the idea to develop a mediation around this missing tooth. As part of this project, AR serves a dual purpose. On the one hand, reconstitute what visitors can not see anymore of the sperm whale (his organs and skin); on the other hand, allow a playful script of the visit. To find the sperm whale’s tooth, visitors must succeed in a serie of games, quizzes and puzzles.
AR and VR projects remain long and costly. But well thought out and integrated into a reflection on mediation, they can really give a new dynamism to the museum, help to modernize its image and, above all, offer visitors a more pleasant access to information.
Screenwriting, gamification: a demand of the public well assimilated
The other sector booming is the scripting and gamification. Many companies at SITEM were offering scripted walks or digital treasure hunts.
As Charles Dumoulin, the president of Atelier Nature, explains at the conference organized with the National Forest Office: the requirements of visitors have evolved. Today, audiences are demanding what he calls an “experience +++”, that is to say the one that allows them to stage themselves, to be heroes. This is where scriptwriting and gamification come in.
The gamification is the fact of inserting in reality the phenomena and logic of games: to embody a character, to progress in a scenario, to gain experience, to pass levels… Invested in a role and a mission, the visitor plays a central role in this type of experience, which continually renews its adherence.
Because they provoke strong feelings among visitors, gamification and scriptwriting are an important asset for touristic and cultural sites. Thanks to the scenario, visitors are no longer confronted with “raw” knowledge but can acquire and manipulate contextualized knowledge, which facilitates its memorization.
More, this emotional investment has a significant influence on the public’s relationship with the museum. Visitors appreciate and reward this consideration of their expectations and habits. Thus, the musée de la Mer of which we spoke above and developed a mediation using screenwriting, gamification and augmented reality saw its attendance increase.
How to find funding when you are a museum?
Equity research is still one of the major issues facing museums today. How to generate benefits when carrying out a public service mission? How to attract the attention of new patrons and maintain a privileged relationship with them?
These are several questions to which Museumexperts contributed to answer by organizing, at the same time and in the same place as SITEM, the first trade show devoted to the privatisation of space in museums and places of culture : Museva. Many institutions were present, as the Palais de Tokyo, the musée et domaine national de Compiègne, Paris Musées or the Voyage à Nantes.
The workshop “Good practices for the search for patrons”, organized jointly by Nomination and the Grand Palais, also met a notable success. Aware that this is an key topic for our customers, the smArtapps team attended it. In a few words, here’s what to remember.
During the search for new sponsors, 30 to 40% of your time is devoted to check their coordinates. More : today, it is almost twice as difficult to contact a decision-maker than ten years ago — because their contact information is not accessible, they do not like to be solicited on LinkedIn and stay in their post only three years on average. Based on this observation, Nomination proposes to help with this time-consuming activity.
Constance Lombard, Head of the Patronage Department at the Grand Palais, and Christophe Wilmart, Head of Development at Nomination, then delivered their ten golden rules during the search for sponsors. Some are common sense but are always helpful to remember.
1. Contact the right person at the right time, with the right information. In other words, make a personalized proposal to the potential patron, adapted to his needs and schedule. Constance Lombard adds that to obtain a donation, it is necessary to contact the companies on average one year and a half in advance.
2. Do not confuse anecdote and “lead”. In other words, before exploiting information, you must wait until it is complete and cross-checked.
3. Understand the challenges of sponsors to meet their expectations. Constance Lombard explains: “When you are a cultural institution, you have the natural reflex to talk about your project first. The ideal is to evoke the needs of the company before talking about yourself. “
4. Do not give up. On average, you won’t get any donation before the fourth contact. So pamper your potential sponsors, even when you do not need them! Stay informed of their news, invite them to events… Thus, maintain their interest and make sure you won’t miss any opportunity.
5. Tell a story, centered on the potential patron and his needs. This good practice meets the first: you must be attentive to the desires and affinities of the patron and not just focused on your own needs.
6. There is no need to aim too wide and exhaust your strengths: segment your audience.
7. Broaden your point of view. You found a receptive person? Do not settle for it. A sponsorship relationship must be maintained at different hierarchical levels.
8. Take advantage of your network. You most certainly know people who can put you in contact with potential sponsors interested in your activity.
9. Keep watching. Always. This will save you from missing out on an opportunity.
10. And of course, never forget your good manners!
This year again, SITEM was informative, rich in encounters and discoveries; and we are very glad to have participated! And you, what do you remember from this SITEM? 🙂
Stay tuned: an article dedicated to INA’s feedback on the implementation of its “visit guides” applications is coming very soon. 😉
In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding the development of your digital tour guide, do not hesitate to contact us! We will respond as soon as possible. 🙂
