Improving the Visitor Experience with Data, with Ryan Auster

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1. 

   E71 · 29 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 11 min

   Testing the Right Thing at the Right Time, with Jessica Sickler

   Why can’t we just ask our visitors what they want? Why bother evaluating our design ideas? Which type of evaluation is the biggest bang for your buck? Why is “timing and tracking” a great way to find out if your exhibition works? What is the “button-mashing code?” Jessica Sickler (Principal, J. Sickler Consulting) discusses “Testing the Right Thing at the Right Time” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: Lego, dinosaurs, and Monets. Talking Points: 1. Reasons (plural) to evaluate in museums 2. Mapping…

2. 

   E70 · 15 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 13 min

   Innovation Secrets of the Museum of Science, with Mike Horvath

   [ASTC 2026 Special] Science changes fast. How can science museums keep up? What’s a “technology toolkit”? Can one interactive turn into another? Can you do that same trick with a whole room? What about a whole exhibition? What’s “Wizard of Oz-ing”? Do constraints make for better design? How could museums work together to solve the challenges they all face? A special episode for ASTC 2026, where Mike will be speaking about this and more. Mike Horvath (Vice President of Exhibits, Museum of Science, Boston) discusses “Innovation Secrets of the Museum of Science” with MtM host Jonathan Alger…

3. 

   E69 · 26 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 20 min

   The 9/11 Museum, 25 Years After 9/11, with Mark Wagner

   A very special episode of Making the Museum, for the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. The unique, unforgettable story of the architect who found himself on the 9/11 debris pile right after the tragedy, working for years to save artifacts for a museum he could only imagine. What do you do when your two largest museum artifacts aren’t there anymore? What is the “Bilbao Effect Upside Down”? How is architecture a stage for a story? Mark Wagner (Design Principal, Arts & Culture Sector Leader, Stantec) discusses “The 9/11 Museum, 25 Years After 9/11” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G…

4. 

   E67 · 28 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

   What Museums Can Learn from Casinos, Theme Parks, Sports, and More, with Renée Hampton

   What could museums learn right now — from their competitors? What’s happening out there that museums should know about? How can museums compete with a sports venue that has 18,000 seats, each with its own interactive controller? What do IP, KPI, and F&B mean? What if museums went out and learned from theme parks, advertising, corporate centers … and even casinos? Renée Hampton (Strategic Partnerships Manager, Electrosonic) discusses “What Museums Can Learn from Casinos, Theme Parks, Sports, and More” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience…

5. 

   E66 · 23 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

   Make Space for Change (The New Book), with Femke Bijlsma

   How can exhibitions create positive change in the world? Why is play the key? How can we build trust with a community that doesn’t know us? Why should exhibition makers preserve their “beginner’s mind”? What can exhibitions do climate change, polarization and global conflict? How do we measure our impact? Femke Bijlsma (Partner, Kossmanndejong) discusses “Make Space for Change (The New Book)” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: un-discipline, Santa Claus, and eating the story. Talking Points: 1. Why Make…

6. 

   E65 · 9 Jun 2026 · 53 min

   Liminal Space Research, with Dan Clevenger, Monika Smith, and Helen Ho

   Museum lobbies have a huge influence on visitor experience. But what makes a good lobby? What is a “liminal space” in a museum? How does research actually work? What does “peer-reviewed research” actually mean? What do researchers hope their outcomes will be? Which department of a museum is even responsible for the lobby, and all the other “spaces in between”? Dan Clevenger (Principal), Monika Smith (Principal), and Helen Ho (Senior Associate, Senior Design Researcher) from DLR Group discuss “Liminal Space Research” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The…

7. 

   E64 · 19 May 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

   “Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual” (the New Book), with Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian & Chris Wood

   How do you build a museum? How do you build the right project team? How do you engage with community? What does it mean to plan a museum? What does it mean to design a museum? How do you align your budget with your purpose? How do you build the story of your museum project? Jamē Anderson, Monteil Crawley, Sarah Ghorbanian, and Chris Wood from SmithGroup discuss “Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual (the New Book)” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience Design Studio). Along the way: a one-year process that took ten years, a mystery…

8. 

   E63 · 3 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 18 min

   “Serious Fun” at First Americans Museum, with Shoshana Wasserman, Kimberly Rodriguez, and Bill Smith

   How do you design for all ages at the same time? What is “serious fun”? Does nature ever go out of style? How do you create content for both Native and non-Native audiences? What do education staff do when a gallery has no text panels? What are “Native sensibilities”? Why is Blue Deer blue? Shoshana Wasserman (Deputy Director) and Kimberly Rodriguez (New Media Specialist) from First Americans Museum, and Bill Smith (Principal, Storyline Studio) discuss “Serious Fun at the First Americans Museum” with MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners | The Exhibition and Experience…