Wag more, bark less

By Megan Smith

I saw that slogan on a bumper sticker this morning on my way to work and I thought it was a pretty great description of the changes we’re making to our public programs for reopening. We’re calling our new programmatic focus “Conversational Interpretation,” which means: “we want to talk less at you and give you more opportunities to talk back.” We want to wag more, bark less.

Hands-On Science: What is it?This isn’t an entirely new concept—we’ve always had a tremendous group of docents who are terrific at having great conversations about history with our visitors. But now, you’re really going to see this idea reflected in all of our programs. Instead of focusing on panel discussions and lectures that happen periodically, we’re planning more interactive programming out on the floor every day. When you visit the museum, we want you to have multiple opportunities to touch something, listen to live music, participate in a theater program, or just talk to one of us.

What’s been your most memorable visit to a museum? What did you enjoy most about it?

Megan Smith is an Education Specialist. She wishes her beagle Baxter would also wag more and bark less, but that’s a story for an entirely different blog.