Museum and other non-profit professionals have begun to realize that the complete visitor experience is the key to repeat attendance, successful fundraising, and building audience loyalty. Taking lessons learned by successful experience-shapers in the for-profit world, Stephanie Weaver distills this knowledge for museums and other organizations which depend on visitor satisfaction for success. Is your institution welcoming? Are the bathrooms clean? Does the staff communicate well? Are there enough places to sit? These practical matters may mean more to creating a loyal following than any exhibit or program the institution develops. Weaver breaks the visitor experience down to 8 steps and provides practical guidance to museums and related institutions on how to create optimal visitor experiences for each of them. In a workshop-like format, she uses multiple examples, exercises, and resource links to walk the reader through the process.

Review

Finalist, Best Business Book of 2007, San Diego Book Awards

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading Creating Great Visitor Experiences! I especially liked how Weaver mixed in terrific non-museum examples—a few even I didn't know about—with the museum examples in a way that both could be applied by the reader." —B. Joseph Pine II, author, The Experience Economy

"Thank you for writing such a wonderful, holistic approach to the museum experience. I really appreciate your framing of the experience as starting the moment a person decides to “do something” to the moment that they leave a site following their visit. It is such an inclusive vision, and absolutely necessary to create effective and engaging experiences. Your work is inspiring. After passing along the book to my colleagues, we are ordering 25 copies for all of our senior staff, and hope to have a staff seminar using the book. It is particularly poignant in that it engages the entire staff, not just the upper-tier management or exhibit designers. I think that it will really bring us together." —Kevin M. Bartoy, Director of Archaeology, The Hermitage

"Stephanie Weaver has created a practical guide to help readers systematically assess and support the visitor experience-prior to them walking through the front door and after they leave. She also tackles the museum field's million dollar question-how to get visitors to return." —Lynn Dierking, Institute for Learning Innovation

"Building on years of experience in the field as well as cutting edge economic and customer research, Stephanie Weaver has crafted a practical, friendly process to help institutions improve their visitors' experiences. This book is valuable for training emerging professionals and students on the importance of the visitor experience. Every public service professional who cares about doing a better job should keep a copy of this book handy." —Marjorie Schwarzer, Museum Studies, JFK University

"Working in the Museum industry today as a development director and as a past membership and events director and consultant for a Museum cable access TV station, I find Stephanie Weaver's book to be insightful, succinct and full of great 'big-picture' ideas for organizations of all sizes. She captures the essence of the visitor experience and analyzes it from a variety of perspectives—all critical to successful customer relations. This is a book that you can return to again and again—a 'must read' for capturing and increasing audiences." —Marie Andersen, San Diego Archaeological Center

"Creating Great Visitor Experiences is essential reading for those tasked with keeping their visiting public satisfied and engaged. It distills the principles of marketing, communication, and museum planning and presents this information through case studies, tips, and thought-provoking exercises. This book belongs on the bookshelf of every nonprofit institution—better yet, it belongs in the /staff meeting room, next to a pad of chart paper, and ready to be put to use." —Jennifer Rigby, Director, The Acorn Group and Acorn Naturalists

"A practical system for nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies to integrate remarkable and unique visitor experiences—from first impression to final memories." —Tom Richter, Chief, Interpretation and Education, National Park Service, Omaha

"Overall, Creating Great Visitor Experiences offers terrific practical advice with myriad illustrations ranging from the Holocaust Museum to Starbucks to the South Bark Dog Wash. This is a wonderful book that will inspire you to more intentionally create vivid, meaningful, and rewarding visitor experiences. Your visitors will be grateful for changes you make, and your organization will benefit through increased popularity of your site and increased revenue generation." - Larry Beck, Ph.D., The Interpreter

"I highly recommend this book. Not that I could fully mine its wisdom in the short time I've owned it, but I think it is excellent. It is simple and direct, and does not take years and years of customer service training to understand. It is grounded in sound theory about how museums, zoos, and other attractions actually work and how guests interact with those places (and each other in those places). Most importantly, the author approaches the entire work from the viewpoint of guests. I know that sounds simple, but her approach disarms some of the traditional barriers to building great guest service by framing the entire book the way she does. The book is oriented toward action, versus often unfruitful and empty intellectual exercises. It is by far one of the best works on the subject I've seen." - Ken Bubp, Chief Operating Officer, Conner Prairie Museum, Fishers, IN

"A small oversight can ruin a visitor’s tour of even the most treasured institutions, whether it’s shoddy customer service or dirty restrooms. Author Stephanie Weaver translates corporate successes in creating outstanding visitor experiences–such as those at Disney and Starbucks–to the nonprofit field. Her eight-step process outlines how to evaluate guests’ experiences from the time they walk in until they’re purchasing mementos in the museum shop." - American Association of Museums, Museum Magazine

This book asks many good questions and draws attention to issues that site managers too often overlook. Even if a reader came away inspired to do a few of the exercises..

Working in the Museum industry today as a development director and as a past membership and events director and consultant for a Museum cable access TV station, I find Stephanie Weaver's book to be insightful, succinct and full of great 'big-picture' ideas for organizations of all sizes. She captures the essence of the visitor experience and analyzes it from a variety of perspectives—all critical to successful customer relations. This is a book that you can return to again and again—a 'must read' for capturing and increasing audiences.

—Marie Andersen, San Diego Archaeological Center

Creating Great Visitor Experiences is essential reading for those tasked with keeping their visiting public satisfied and engaged. It distills the principles of marketing, communication, and museum planning and presents this information through case studies, tips, and thought-provoking exercises. This book belongs on the bookshelf of every nonprofit institution—better yet, it belongs in the staff meeting room, next to a pad of chart paper, and ready to be put to use.

—Jennifer Rigby, Director, The Acorn Group and Acorn Naturalists

A practical system for nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies to integrate remarkable and unique visitor experiences—from first impression to final memories.

—Tom Richter, Chief, Interpretation and Education, National Park Service, OmahaOverall, Creating Great Visitor Experiences offers terrific practical advice with myriad illustrations ranging from the Holocaust Museum to Starbucks to the South Bark Dog Wash. This is a wonderful book that will inspire you to more intentionally create vivid, meaningful, and rewarding visitor experiences. Your visitors will be grateful for changes you make, and your organization will benefit through increased popularity of your site and increased revenue generation. —Larry Beck, Ph.D., The InterpreterI highly recommend this book. Not that I could fully mine its wisdom in the short time I've owned it, but I think it is excellent. It is simple and direct, and does not take years and years of customer service training to understand. It is grounded in sound theory about how museums, zoos, and other attractions actually work and how guests interact with those places (and each other in those places). Most importantly, the author approaches the entire work from the viewpoint of guests. I know that sounds simple, but her approach disarms some of the traditional barriers to building great guest service by framing the entire book the way she does. The book is oriented toward action, versus often unfruitful and empty intellectual exercises. It is by far one of the best works on the subject I've seen. —Ken Bubp, Chief Operating Officer, Conner Prairie Museum, Fishers, INOne small oversight can ruin a visitor’s tour of even the most treasured institutions, whether it’s shoddy customer service or dirty restrooms. Author Stephanie Weaver translates corporate successes in creating outstanding visitor experiences—such as those at Disney and Starbucks—to the nonprofit field. Her eight-step process outlines how to evaluate guests’ experiences from the time they walk in until they’re purchasing mementos in the museum shop. —American Association of Museums, Museum MagazineThis book asks many good questions and draws attention to issues that site managers too often overlook. Even if a reader came away inspired to do a few of the exercises... the site would likely be more visitor-focused and successful. —VISITOR STUDIES