Making the Museum

Why can’t we just ask our visitors what they want? Why bother evaluating our design ideas? Which type of evaluation is the biggest bang for your buck? Why is “timing and tracking” a great way to find out if your exhibition works? What is the “button-mashing code?” Jessica Sickler (Principal, J. Sickler Consulting) discusses “Testing the Right Thing at the Right Time” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: Lego, dinosaurs, and Monets. Talking Points: 1. Reasons (plural) to evaluate in museums 2. Mapping evaluation stages to project stages 3. Visitors can’t suggest a story they’ve never heard 4. Formative evaluation: the biggest bang for your buck 5. Timing, tracking, & the button mashing code 6. So. Many. Methods. How to Listen: Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G Listen at Making the Museum, the Website: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ Guest Bio: Jessica Sickler has spent 20 years as an evaluator, helping museum and education teams turn their questions and hunches about what's working into real evidence. As Principal of J. Sickler Consulting, she leads studies across the full arc of projects – from gauging visitor interest, to testing prototype ideas, to understanding what people actually take away from the experience. With training as a museum educator, classroom teacher, and in-house exhibit evaluator, Jessica approaches evaluation as a way to help designers and interpreters see their work through visitors' eyes. She holds an M.S.Ed. in Museum Education from Bank Street College of Education. About Making the Museum: Making the Museum is a newsletter and podcast on exhibitions, written and hosted by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio. Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Links for This Episode: The Evaluation Therapy Newsletter https://www.jsickler.net/newsletter Jessica on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicasickler/ Evaluation Firm: J. Sickler Consulting www.jsickler.net “When is it worth evaluating an exhibit?” Graphic & Article https://www.jsickler.net/updates/make-evaluation-worthwhile-in-exhibit-design “Every step they take: Three things we’ve learned from Timing & Tracking” Article https://www.jsickler.net/updates/every-step-they-take Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast: Contact Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger Email Jonathan Alger: [email protected] C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Making the Museum, the Newsletter: Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly email about exhibitions for museum leaders and teams. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.) Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/

[ASTC 2026 Special] Science changes fast. How can science museums keep up? What’s a “technology toolkit”? Can one interactive turn into another? Can you do that same trick with a whole room? What about a whole exhibition? What’s “Wizard of Oz-ing”? Do constraints make for better design? How could museums work together to solve the challenges they all face? A special episode for ASTC 2026, where Mike will be speaking about this and more. Mike Horvath (Vice President of Exhibits, Museum of Science, Boston) discusses “Innovation Secrets of the Museum of Science” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: Star Wars, Powers of Ten, and a lot of squirrels. Talking Points: 1. The Current Science Problem 2. Transformative Technology Toolbox 3. The F.A.S.T. Table Project 4. The A.I.M. Initiative 5. The “Always On” Presentation Area 6. Changing the “Changing Landscapes” Project How to Listen: Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G Listen at Making the Museum, the Website: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ Guest Bio: Michael Horvath began his museum career as a designer at the Museum of Science in 1998. Today, as Vice President of Exhibits, he leads exhibit development for the Museum, which welcomes more than 1.3 million visitors annually. Over the course of his career, Horvath has led the design of numerous high-profile exhibitions, including The Science of Pixar, which received the American Alliance of Museums' Excellence in Exhibition Award for Planning Process and the Association of Science-Technology Centers' Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience. More than a decade after its debut, two versions of The Science of Pixar continue to tour science centers and museums around the world. He also led the design of Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, which toured internationally for more than ten years and became one of the Museum's most successful traveling exhibitions. In 2005, while promoting the Star Wars exhibition, Horvath made national headlines when he threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game dressed as Chewbacca. The image was featured in Sports Illustrated and picked up by media outlets across the country. Fortunately for him, few people recognized the person behind the Wookiee costume. About Making the Museum: Making the Museum is a newsletter and podcast on exhibitions, written and hosted by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio. Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Links for This Episode: Mike Horvath: [email protected] Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-horvath-529b7712/ Museum of Science, Boston: https://www.mos.org/ The F.A.S.T. Project (Flexible, Accessible Strategies for Timely Digital Exhibit Design): https://informalscience.org/research/the-fast-table-a-new-approach-to-developing-timely-and-accessible-exhibit-experiences/ The A.I.M. Initiative (Alliance for Immersion in Museums): https://www.museumimmersion.org/ Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast: Contact Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger Email Jonathan Alger: [email protected] C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Making the Museum, the Newsletter: Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly email about exhibitions for museum leaders and teams. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.) Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/

A very special episode of Making the Museum, for the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. The unique, unforgettable story of the architect who found himself on the 9/11 debris pile right after the tragedy, working for years to save artifacts for a museum he could only imagine. What do you do when your two largest museum artifacts aren’t there anymore? What is the “Bilbao Effect Upside Down”? How is architecture a stage for a story? Mark Wagner (Design Principal, Arts & Culture Sector Leader, Stantec) discusses “The 9/11 Museum, 25 Years After 9/11” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: bicycling to Paris, recovering musicians, and an angel in a green gown. Talking Points 1. Cathedral Memories 2. Selecting Artifacts from The Pile 3. Architecture as a Stage for a Story 4. The Greatest Artifact is the Site Itself 5. The Bilbao Effect, Upside Down 6. Recognizing Visitor Sensitivity How to Listen: Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G Listen at Making the Museum, the Website: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ Guest Bio: Mark Wagner, AIA, is a Design Principal in Stantec’s New York office and the firm’s Arts & Culture Sector Leader. With more than 30 years of experience, he has led the design of award-winning museums, cultural institutions, and civic projects from vision through realization. His practice focuses on experience-based design, exploring how architecture shapes memory, narrative, and human connection. Known for guiding multidisciplinary teams through complex cultural and technical challenges, Mark believes architecture can strengthen communities by creating meaningful public experiences. He advances this philosophy across Stantec’s global practice, championing design that enriches civic life through arts and culture. About Making the Museum: Making the Museum is a newsletter and podcast on exhibitions, written and hosted by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio. Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Links for This Episode: Mark Wagner: [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-wagner-8a1242a/ Stantec: https://www.stantec.com The National September 11th Memorial & Museum: https://www.911memorial.org/ Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast: Contact Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger Email Jonathan Alger: [email protected] C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Making the Museum, the Newsletter: Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly email about exhibitions for museum leaders and teams. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.) Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/

If we’re not studying our visitors, how can we fulfill our mission? What is a net promoter score? And what should a museum’s net promoter score be? How do you ask a survey question if you want a meaningful answer? What is capacity building? What is COVES, and how can people get involved with it? Ryan Auster (Manager of Learning Metrics, Museum of Science, Boston) discusses “Improving Visitor Experience with Data” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: OERs, excellent vs outstanding, and statistics 101. Talking Points: 1. What is visitor studies? 2. What is COVES (Collaboration for Ongoing Visitor Experience Studies)? 3. Net Promoter Scores & Overall Experience Ratings 4. Drowning in data, but starving for wisdom 5. The Voice of the Visitor 6. How to join the COVES movement How to Listen: Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G Listen at Making the Museum, the Website: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ Guest Bio: Dr. Ryan Auster (he/him) is the Manager of Learning Metrics at the Museum of Science, Boston (MOS) where he serves as the Project Director of the Collaboration for Ongoing Visitor Experience Studies (COVES), a research initiative with 100+ museum members across the United States and Canada. Ryan has a passion for simplifying messy data, advocating for visualizations that tell stories to inform decision making and improve societal outcomes, and believes that collaborative projects make for stronger work. Before joining the museum field, he was a professional ski bum and an amateur long-distance athlete, but now he just chases his two young sons for physical activity. About Making the Museum: Making the Museum is a newsletter and podcast on exhibitions, written and hosted by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio. Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Links for This Episode: Ryan Auster: [email protected] COVES: www.understandingvisitors.org Visitor Studies Association: www.visitorstudies.org Museum of Science, Boston: www.mos.org Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast: Contact Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger Email Jonathan Alger: [email protected] C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Making the Museum, the Newsletter: Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly email about exhibitions for museum leaders and teams. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.) Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/

What could museums learn right now — from their competitors? What’s happening out there that museums should know about? How can museums compete with a sports venue that has 18,000 seats, each with its own interactive controller? What do IP, KPI, and F&B mean? What if museums went out and learned from theme parks, advertising, corporate centers … and even casinos? Renée Hampton (Strategic Partnerships Manager, Electrosonic) discusses “What Museums Can Learn from Casinos, Theme Parks, Sports, and More” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: eye tracking, Donkey Kong, and Cirque du Soleil. Talking Points: 1. What sports experiences … can teach museums 2. What theme parks … can teach museums 3. What advertising activations … can teach museums 4. What corporate briefing centers … can teach museums 5. What casinos … can teach museums How to Listen: Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G Listen at Making the Museum, the Website: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ Guest Bio: Renée Hampton is passionate about bringing creativity and multidisciplinary partnerships into the way organizations design and build experiential attractions across industries. As Strategic Partnerships Manager at Electrosonic, she collaborates with architects, interior designers, exhibit designers, fabricators, media producers, and technology partners to develop innovative technology solutions for institutions, owners, and operators. With a background spanning film production, real-time interactive media production, and experiential events, Renée combines creative and technical expertise with partnership strategy, project management, and business development. She is dedicated to building strong relationships that help create immersive environments connecting people with spaces, stories, and technology through the power of design. About Making the Museum: Making the Museum is a newsletter and podcast on exhibitions, written and hosted by Jonathan Alger. MtM is a project of C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio. Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Links for This Episode: Renée via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-hampton/ Renée via Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Electrosonic: https://www.electrosonic.com/ Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast: Contact Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger Email Jonathan Alger: [email protected] C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/ Making the Museum, the Newsletter: Like the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly email about exhibitions for museum leaders and teams. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.) Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips, and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/