Last fall, New York City’s tourism and marketing agency hosted "Culturefest," an open-air forum for dozens of museums and other art institutions. I signed up with more than a dozen organizations, including The New York Transit Museum, the Queens Jazz Heritage Trail and the Museum of the Moving Image.
Only one, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), regularly sends me e-mails. Perhaps three of them followed up with generic membership applications -- once. None of these held any mention of Culturefest. The rest? Nada.
The Museum of the City of New York even collected my information twice – once at Culturefest and a second time when I turned in a freebie pass that had my name and contact information on it. (I won it for knowing more about the Forbes collection of Faberge eggs than is probably healthy.)
So the museum knows I’m interested enough to sign up offsite. Its membership department should know I’m interested enough to show up and re-give my contact information. With a little additional research it would know I’m a life-long New Yorker. You’d think it’d see me as a live prospect.
In contrast, when I wrote about Harrah’s Casino a few years ago, I noted that the company collects very little personal information on its players. Harrah’s believes that most of the actionable data it needs is collected as its people play. What little it does ask for (name and address, mostly) is used – and members know how it is being used. Harrah’s mailings reflect guests’ level of play and interests, and reward each appropriately.
So fie on the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum. Poo on you, Staten Island Zoo. I resent your deportment, Lower East Side Tenement Museum. I trusted you with my personal data, and while you didn’t abuse it (that I know of) you did the next worst thing: You ignored it.
To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact rlevey@primediabusiness.com.
