The Visitor Studies Group: Championing excellent visitor experiences
We have a suite of events, socials and networking opportunities this year, free for all VSG members. Most events will be open to non-members as well for a fee, check booking links for details. Tea with VSG dates – Zoom 21st February, 1-2pm – Topic: the use of incentives. Book here 17th April, 1-2pm – Topic… More
We’re delighted to share our Call for Proposals for VSG Conference 2025. The theme is: Valuing Audiences: Measuring, Responding to, and Understanding Audience Values and Experiences. Continuing conversations started at the 2024 conference, we want to explore the topic of value. This influences how visitors choose to spend their time, development opportunities or disposable income, and… More
Share your experience and expertise, take on a new challenge, develop skills and join a supportive team supporting the museum and culture sectors. We are currently recruiting for Committee members to assist with VSG Comms and Events. Do you have ideas you’d like to share? Can you commit a small amount of time each month?… More
Are you a freelance evaluator, audience researcher or a member of a small research agency? We are looking for people working in freelance roles to support the VSG by joining our new advisory board. We recognise that our current committee does not reflect the sector, and that extra-role time commitments might be more of a… More
AI in visitor research: possibilities, questions, concerns Tuesday 19th November, 1.30-2.45pm An introductory explanation of the opportunities that AI currently offers the visitor researcher, to begin unpacking the considerations necessary when beginning to utilise machine learning or language processing tasks to generate insights or share them with colleagues and others. We’ll look at the topic… More
At elections held in the run up to the VSG AGM on 10 May members voted to approve three proposed amendments to our Constitution , designed to assure the resilience of the VSG. These amendments were proposed by the outgoing Chair were developed following a governance review and trial of a new committee structure. They also… More
We’re thrilled to share the full programme for this year’s conference The cost of culture: measuring barriers affecting the visitor experience. This year’s conference is on 10 May with a pre-conference meet up to the London Transport Museum on the afternoon of 9 May. Each evening will also include an optional social to continue the conversations… More
We are pleased to announce the next iteration of the Visitor Studies Group Mentorship Programme. This informal mentorship programme supports emerging audience researchers and evaluators and anyone who has had audience research responsibilities recently added to their role. First created by long-standing VSG members who want to give something back to the sector, this is… More
Tickets to our annual conference on 10 May at ISH Venues in London are on sale now! The early bird discount of 20% will be available until 25 March so book early! The theme of the conference is The cost of culture: measuring barriers affecting the visitor experience. Book your ticket here . In recognition of… More
Are you an experienced in-house or freelance audience researcher working in the Cultural Heritage sector in the UK? Are you interested in becoming a mentor to support colleagues tackling audience research and evaluation projects? We are recruiting new volunteer mentors for the 2024 VSG Mentorship Programme. This informal initiative enables experienced visitor studies professionals to help, guide and be a friendly ear for others in… More
Join us for a Visitor Studies Group conference with a twist! For 2021 we have created an online event series taking place throughout May bringing together practitioners from the cultural sector and beyond to discuss a variety of themes. We want to explore, discuss, and discover different techniques that we have used in the past… More
You heard it here first – there will be a May election! No, not that election, the election of the 2024 VSG Committee which will take place this year to ratify existing committee members into their positions and elect new faces to replace outgoing members who have served their term as committee members. There are five… More
Tickets for the 2023 VSG Conference, Open for all: working towards inclusive practice are on sale via Eventbrite here> View the full Conference Programme here> View the Conference Schedule including detailed timings for the day here> Join delegates from the UK cultural sector and beyond to connect, share and reflect on experiences of developing inclusive visitor studies practice.… More
Continuing with the last few years successful Visitor Studies Group Mentorship Programme, we are pleased to announce that we are continuing this offer for 2023 to support emerging audience researchers and anyone who has had audience research responsibilities recently added to their role. First ideated by long-standing VSG members who want to give something back… More
We’ve got a busy year ahead, here are the key dates you need to know: Mentorship Programme w/c 9 Jan – applications for mentees opens 10 Feb – mentee applications close Conference 18-19 May – Open for all?: Working towards inclusive practice In person at ISH Venues and online, tickets coming soon 16 Jan –… More
Surveys 101 WorkshopTuesday, January 10, 2023 | 1:00 pm ET, 10:00 am PTPresenters: Stephen Ashton, Ph.D., Director of Audience Research and Evaluation, Thanksgiving Point Kari Ross Nelson, M.A., M.S., Research and Evaluation Associate, Thanksgiving Point Description: Back by popular demand! Surveys are one of the most widely used and flexible tools used by evaluators. In… More
The call for papers for our 2023 conference “Open for all?: Working towards inclusive practice” is now open. The conference will take place 18 & 19 May and will be hybrid – in person at ISH Venues in London, with an online component. The VSG annual conference brings together delegates from the cultural sector and beyond… More
Wednesday 9th November, 4-5pm Join us for tea as we discuss the challenge of evaluating programmes or projects which involve multiple partners, sites and activities. Such projects can be fraught with difficulty and contention as well as opportunity to support wide-scale change. Kate Measures and Jen DeWitt will begin the session drawing on our experiences… More
Are you interested in helping other audience researchers and evaluators as a mentor?We are recruiting new mentors for the 2022-2023 VSG Mentorship Programme. This initiative enables experienced professionals to support, guide and be a friendly ear for others in the sector. Volunteer mentors will be part of a small collective of mentors and the role is… More
The Visitor Studies Group is managed by a committee whose role is to: set the strategic direction for the Group oversee the annual programme of activities represent the Group professionally at conferences and workshops encourage partnership working with like-minded organisations within the UK and from overseas meet four times a year to ensure the needs… More
