The Visitor Studies Group: Championing excellent visitor experiences
The Visitor Studies Group (VSG) was established in 1998 and is a Membership organisation for individuals whose role involves, uses or benefits from visitor studies. The Group aims to champion visitor studies as a force for evidence-based decision-making to encourage and create excellent visitor experiences for all audiences.
Members’ Programme
For its Members, the Visitor Studies Group aims to:
- promote and provide training, development and skills-sharing opportunities
- provide a website with information and resources to support best practice in visitor studies including practical case studies, methodology and research and access to presentations from VSG events
- provide networking opportunities to facilitate the exchange of ideas and best practice
- deliver an annual conference with content which focuses on a theme relevant to the sector at that time
- produce a Members’ newsletter to which all Members are encouraged to contribute
- award, on an annual basis, the Alison James Professional Development Bursary of £500 to a VSG Member
Objectives
The Visitor Studies Group will:
- understand and meet the needs of its Members through consultation and identification of those needs. VSG will ensure that the programme of activities benefits practitioners at all stages of their careers from students to those in leadership roles
- develop a strategic approach to marketing including the development and maintenance of a website, delivery of a Members’ newsletter and relationship building with Members
- actively promote and facilitate a programme of high quality training, development, skills-sharing opportunities and networking opportunities. These activities will be delivered by VSG Members and assisted, where required, by Committee Members
- facilitate and encourage opportunities to debate current issues in visitor studies
- offer Members opportunities to influence the visitor studies community through Committee Membership ensuring that Committee Members enhance and develop their own skills set
- facilitate the exchange of ideas between the many disciplines where visitors studies are created or used
- deliver an annual conference which meets the needs of Members and which aims to deliver the majority of the objectives identified above
Download and view the VSG constitution 2016 here.