Web hosts should have the capabilities for capturing stats for a given web page. Sometimes it's part of the cost, sometimes it is added or can be added for specific pages where stats are important.
Indiana State Parks made a significant effort to move into virtual programming through the only social media platform parks are allowed to be on - Facebook. (It's a matter of being able to monitor 32 properties with only a limited centralized staff.) After discussion, we chose to count "People Reached" as the audience and "Engagement" as interaction. Kind of like talking to a crowd versus getting feedback from individuals. We have several categories such as "posts," i.e. photos of fossils, winter scenes, birds, etc. with descriptions; "activities," including quizzes, games, anything where the audience is encouraged to respond. There are categories for videos, clips (3 seconds long), watch parties, live stream, and newsletters. In 2020, I posted 160 'programs' on Facebook from mid-March to Dec. 31 with an attendance of 187,087. The average attendance was 1,169 per post. Engagement was a smaller percentage - generally less than 5% of people reached.
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Alan Goldstein
Interpretive Naturalist
Falls of the Ohio State Park / Interpretive Center
Clarksville IN
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-25-2021 09:35 AM
From: Melissa Sarver
Subject: Virtual Exhibition Attendance Data
Vivian,
This is a great question! At our museum we are looking at this as well as "how" to track virtual attendance for virtual programs......and for how long. What counts as "attending" v.s. "views" etc. Would love to see some conversation around this topic!
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Melissa Sarver
Director of Guest Relations
COSI
Columbus OH
Original Message:
Sent: 02-24-2021 01:39 PM
From: Vivian Zavataro
Subject: Virtual Exhibition Attendance Data
Dear all,
For those that work in museums with virtual exhibits, do you have the analytics of "attendance."
I would like to know if you find cost-efficient and worth it for smaller museums that don't have a team dedicated to this kind of programming.
Please let me know.
All the best!
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Vivian Zavataro
Director
John & Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art
Reno NV
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