Data @ Cooper -Hewitt and Museums during the Pandemic

Cooper-Hewitt​, Smithsonian Design Museum is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historical and contemporary design and is the steward of one of the most diverse and comprehensive design collections in existence—more than 210,000 design objects spanning 30 centuries. From ancient textiles and works on paper to icons of modern design and cutting-edge technologies, Cooper Hewitt’s collection serves as inspiration for creative work of all kinds and tells the story of design’s paramount importance in improving our world.

Almost overnight, the museum sector had to confront a triple crisis of global pandemic, social injustice and economic turmoil. Our museums closed their doors, staff moved to remote working, and we saw wide-scale job losses. The triple-crisis we face has created an urgent need for us to re-examine our roles as trusted institutions with age-old systemic structures and entrenched practices that have driven the way we collect, present, and fund our organizations.

Suddenly, being a ‘virtual museum’ became not only a priority, but a necessity; with physical spaces closed for a year, it was the only way to bring our collections and our programs to those we serve. During this period, we have gained new national and international audiences through increased digital engagement, and our teams have quickly adjusted to new ways of working with wide-scale adoption of a range of collaborative online tools. At the same time, this pivot to digital has exposed long-standing issues relating to digital engagement in our sector, including digital skills gaps for staff; lack of ongoing investment in key digital infrastructure areas; a need for increased digital literacy at leadership levels; and confusion about how to measure the impact (the return on investment) for digital initiatives, beyond simply selling tickets or increasing other revenue sources.

In this presentation, we'll be discussing some key questions - how can data help us to better understand how these changes have impacted Cooper Hewitt and museums in general? Are the changes temporary, or has there been a permanent change in visitor preferences? Based on the data, which changes have had a positive impact on museum engagement? Which changes have been more challenging to navigate? What does this mean for the future at Cooper-Hewitt and museum engagement in general?

Come hear an engaging discussion with Carolyn Royston, Chief Experience Officer, Cooper Hewitt Museum. Carolyn will discuss what Cooper-Hewitt has learned from the data on the pandemic's impact, changing preferences, and the future post-pandemic.

Across over a 25-year career in museums, Carolyn has blazed digital trails across cultural organizations to transform the way they use technology to effect change. In 2018, she joined Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum as Chief Experience Officer, a new role that aims to seamlessly weave the digital and the physical experience together to create an integrated visitor experience. Prior to Cooper Hewitt, she served as inaugural Director of Digital and Information Services at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston) where she oversaw the launch of a new award-winning website and led new initiatives to improve the visitor experience. Carolyn was previously Head of Digital at Imperial War Museums (UK) and Project Director of the National Museums Online Learning Project, a flagship project led by the Victoria and Albert Museum and working in partnership with nine UK national museums.

Carolyn completed the Oxford Cultural Leadership Program in April 2021 and was a Getty Leadership Institute (GLI) Fellow in 2017. She also served as President of MCN (Museum Computer Network) in 2017 in the 50th anniversary year of the organization, leading a volunteer board of senior level museum technologists and small Executive team representing information professionals from cultural sector institutions around the world.