ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on evaluation and how to gain insight into museum professionals' audience’s needs, motivations, and perception of their museum. Museums have often suffered from being late to trends. Pop-up museums have usurped our name and aim to create selfie moments around every corner. A quick glance through TripAdvisor or Yelp reviews of museums shows that some guests love interactive, modern, and digital interactives. When social impact and community engagement is embraced broadly by the entirety of a museum—from the board of directors and CEO to the front-line staff—we can begin to transform our society. Social media and internet review websites provide museums with another tool to evaluate their success. Google, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Yelp, and many other sites provide starred ratings and comments about museums and cultural organizations. Additionally, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and community panels are often the best way to get rich, in-depth information about specific museum initiatives and projects.
