Happy New Year! As we embark on another exciting and busy season of events to delight new and returning visitors, we wanted to share insight into the work that goes into deciding what we do and why.
We welcomed around 45,000 people to our events last year. Our events are an important revenue stream – almost 11% of our visitor generated income is from event ticket sales and on-site spend on the night. Don’t underestimate the importance of fish and chips!
When planning the following year, we look at a combination of ticket sales (and ease/speed of ticket sales) alongside an annual calendar that considers school holidays, Bank Holidays, popularity of and interest in particular nights of the week, clashes with other related big events and staffing capacity in order to set the programme.
There is a huge amount of feedback from visitors who attend our events. We receive this via our online survey and on social media and review websites. We now run post-event focus groups, too. Last year we commissioned some market research that gave insight into how people who’ve never attended the museum before see our events so we can look to future audiences with confidence.
You’ll notice lots of old favourites in the line-up: Events – Black Country Living Museum. Events up to and including Halloween Nights are on sale now. You’ll see some new events appear this year or next as a pilot. They are likely to be smaller events that use a limited part of site, thereby making them cheaper and easier to staff and being flexible enough to diversify income during the quieter periods. Of these we hope a Murder Mystery will make an appearance in 2025, the model of which could then be used by corporate groups as well.
A reminder that colleagues are all always invited to view the event overview on the intranet a week or more beforehand. And to give their feedback afterwards. You can find visitor feedback from events on the intranet posts as well. Visitor and colleague feedback is considered after every event, and is our starting point before planning for the year ahead. We really do take things on board.
And, finally, we get great feedback about our events and programmes. Visitors love them! We have an average 91% satisfaction rating with over half of the events consistently being rated 95% or more Excellent/Good. So, if you’re not working – come along! Bring the family or a group of pals. And remember, colleagues are entitled to a 50% discount on all event tickets. Just go and see the Ticketing team in Canalside offices Monday-Friday, 9-4pm.
None of this is possible without our bostin’ team of colleagues who work long days and evenings to make this happen and make sure our visitors have the best time, so thank you. We look forward to another successful year!
Janine Downes
Head of Public Programmes
Claire Packer
Head of Audiences & Communications
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