MOSI Seeks HCP to Study Science Center Trends and Visitor Expectations

TAMPA, Fla. (November 3, 2014) Nearing its 60th anniversary, management at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) turned to HCP to help get a pulse of perceptions of the brand within the marketplace and develop a plan for reinventing the way in which the brand and facility are presented for the future. The end-goal was to position the organization for renewed direction that would help it appropriately integrate STEAM in every endeavor it undertakes.

HCP began collaborating with the management team and the marketing sub-committee to discuss the challenge at hand. It became apparent that there was a lack of historical data collected by the museum to help align decision-making with visitor demands. The next logical step was then to develop an overarching research plan that would capture this missing information from key stakeholder groups to gain a sense of the most critical value MOSI delivers to the community and how the organization is perceived by those regularly visiting as well as those less regularly so.

Collectively, HCP and the MOSI team pinpointed the various stakeholder groups that would be best suited to offer insight. These groups included active members, lapsed members, donors, board members, unaffiliated (non-member) visitors, front line staff, education staff, and volunteers. Online, telephonic and in-person interviews were arranged with each of these groups. Questions varied from group to group, but the common themes were perceptions of MOSI, observations, the value of the organization, delivery on expectations and areas for improvement.

HCP also collected secondary data from industry-wide studies MOSI had commissioned through third-parties as well as data the museum had collected at the gate over the past several years. This provided insight into the “reach” of the museum and how it compared across a number of metrics to other attractions in the region and across the country. During this secondary data evaluation, HCP also collected best practices held by the nation’s top museums and science centers through a competitor research phase.

The research is currently underway and will be presented to the management team and board in early 2015 to help guide activities in the New Year.