Tuesday, July 11th

This Tuesday, I continued entering data from the surveys. As I work with the forms, I continuously realize how different the dictation styles are between myself, Isabella, and Maeve. I have found that Maeve and I tend to record direct quotes, while Isabella summarizes and structures responses in third person.

The individuality between the ways in which visitor data is gathered feels like it can be a study in and of itself, i.e. a meta-study on the responses to visitor responses to the gallery. While the usefulness of such a study could be debated, what that example attempts to demonstrate that I am fascinated by the various filters that information passes through even between individuals interacting directly. Almost like a game of telephone, what I hear (and ultimately record) when I conduct a survey is not a loss-less conversion of the speakers thoughts to paper. So how can one factor in all of these filters when analysis begins. And as another form of filtration, how does analysis itself reorient the data's meaning and significance to accurately reflect visitor perspectives.

On the subject of reorienting meaning and significance, I was very interested to overhear a conversation in the exhibitions department about efforts to re brand the museum to increase its local and regional presence. Taking from the observations I have made from visitor responses, this is a real problem. I would venture to guess that most of the individuals we surveyed who visited the museum on the Wawa Fourth of July Day had never ventured to the museum before. Some had heard of it previously, and others had only just learned the museum existed through websites that provided a list of things to do for the Fourth of July holiday. One of the questions posed during the conversation was whether re-branding, specifically changing the name of the institution, would be effective for increasing the overall presence of the organization.

Thinking about the museum's re-branding seems so relevant to the questions we are asking regarding the gallery, albeit in an indirect way. Who is our audience, why should they care, and how do you share that message clearly and in a wide-reaching manner that they feel invested? I hope the survey can be useful in locating answers to some of these questions.

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