Te destinations interviewed in this issue of Destinology all presented a wide variety of challenges and the innovative programs, staff, and solutions they harness to tackle them. While one might think the operations of a steadfast military encampment couldn’t share anything with a beautiful botanical garden bursting with blossoms, they’re a lot more similar when you get down into the weeds. All nine destinations agreed on three, powerful best practices:


1. Every destination has celebrity power to leverage


It’s true: we can’t all have James Cameron swooping in to talk about his Deepsea Challenger submarine, but each interviewee stressed that every destination has celebrities, and guests love them. It can be a resource-efficient, and often-times more effective approach, to bring these celebrities live and in the flesh to visitors, rather than developing complex programming or interpretive displays about their exploits. Guests love to meet the heroes behind the stories, and those interactions help the lessons stick.


2. Hands-on activities are essential for inspiration and cementing the lesson


It comes as no surprise that destination managers agree that the more senses you can engage in the lesson, the better the guests will remember it. Far gone are the days of simple lectures, demonstrations, tours, and walls of text: you have to get visitors' hands dirty. Tat’s why every student to the Botanical Garden pots their own plant: to smell the rich soil and feel the rigid stems. Tat’s why all guests to the Inside the Economy Museum leave with a bag of shredded money: to feel the physical fuel of America and remember its importance. Field trippers at Fort Ticonderoga live it all: they sleep in the barracks, they eat similar meals, put on uniform components: it’s all part of making the lessons memorable for a lifetime. Identifying key subjects to teach is the foundation, but the most successful educators will find a variety of ways to teach the same subject to cement it in students’ minds.


3. Educational programming and environments need to constantly evolve


It can be painful to go to your interpretive staff, look them in the eyes, and tell them, “All the programming you developed over the last year has all been great. Now it’s time to scrap it all, and start fresh.” But it’s the nature of any successful business: the industry, the market, and guests are always evolving, and so must you to survive. Guests’ topical interests are always changing, state testing standards are evolving, new educational tools are being developed (remember Smart Boards, and could you imagine iPads a decade ago?), how we learn is evolving, and even the technologies our destinations celebrate – like Caterpillar or Sony - are advancing by the day. It’s a tireless process, but an immensely rewarding one: we must continue to innovate our programming to remain at the forefront as educators.


Photo courtesy of Sony Wonder Lab


KEY LESSONS

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