It is our position that Conner Prairie Interactive History Park is blazing new trails with its focus on the customer.
The Fishers living-history museum is now featured as one of six “magnetic” museums in the new book, “Magnetic: The Art and Science of Engagement,” published May 2013 by AAM Press. The book highlights six institutions that the authors say have the “secret sauce” to drive their success as high-performing American museums.
Based on three years of research, the book, by authors Anne Bergeron and Beth Tuttle, concludes that Conner Prairie, along with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pa.; the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va.; The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pa.; the Greensboro Science Center in Greensboro, N.C., and the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Okla., attract the human, social and financial capital necessary to thrive rather than just survive.
Conner Prairie and the other five museums were identified by the authors through an analysis of quantitative performance metrics of a decade’s worth of data (2000 to 2010) from hundreds of U.S. institutions. The study found that these museums have become much more than simply keepers of cultural heritage or places of learning; they have also become vital players in the social, civic and economic vibrancy of their communities.