We imagine our visitors moving through our exhibitions in the exact order we devise. But visitors that follow every step of our sequence … don’t exist. Even if our experience were a one-way people-mover, a visitor can still get distracted …

In Las Vegas they have The Sphere, a hollow moon coated with LEDs, inside and out. It cost well over $2 billion to make, and it’s awesome, even though nobody knows what “LED” stands for. Can’t tell LED from LCD? You’re not alone. …

We forget. We forget that we are experts. We can’t unlearn our subject. We forget we can’t automatically empathize with our visitors’ level of knowledge. We have to actively do so. We forget we should stop adding just a little more …

What is “immersive”? A. A bad, over-hyped marketing buzzword of the moment? B. A good, evergreen basic principle worth a spot in the toolkit? C. Both. Let’s clarify something here …

It’s a special day. Here’s a short break from the usual. Today is the 20th anniversary of the founding of C&G Partners, the firm that makes Making the Museum possible. I’m one of the founders, so I’m a proud … uh … co-papa? …

PHIL: Look at this script. Is this too much text? MONIQUE: Yes. [Sips matcha.] PHIL: But you didn’t even look! MONIQUE: Don’t have to. PHIL: Why not? MONIQUE: It’s always too much. PHIL: True. …

Technology changes fast. Flat panels are bigger now, LED is cheaper now. Both work in sunlight. In classrooms and conferences, projectors are dying out. But they are sometimes still necessary in (darker) exhibitions. When? …

Here’s a little bit of everyday magic. When airport staff need to line people up efficiently in front of a ticket counter, they make a switchback out of short poles and nylon straps. What’s a switchback, you might wonder. …

Richard Saul Wurman, co-founder of TED, popularized the idea of L.A.T.C.H. in the 90s. Can you come up with a way to organize information that does NOT fall into one of Wurman’s five L.A.T.C.H. methods? …

When a stakeholder or colleague suggests expensive additions midway through a project, make it gently clear — on the spot — if you think it might be over budget. Don’t refuse. Just be clear. …

What happens if you choose the wrong museum architect? Susanna Sirefman (President, Dovetail Design Strategists) discusses “The Art of Choosing a Museum Architect” with host Jonathan Alger …

MONIQUE: [Sips matcha.] A huge tech revolution is coming to the museum world, you know. PHIL: Maybe. MONIQUE: What do you mean? PHIL: [Sips coffee.] I’m not sure which tech revolution you’re talking about. But in my time …

Exhibition and experience projects are like any process of custom-making something. We want to see representations of the final thing, before it’s final. Enter samples, mockups, and prototypes …

Here's a quick way to gut-check whether an experiential idea is going to work — before you commit time and money to developing it. Take any idea being considered, put it in the blank in the following sentence, and …

Got an idea for a guest, or a topic, for Making the Museum, the podcast? Whatever themes, people, ideas, trends, problems, pains, joys, or mysteries are on your mind — I’m all ears. Hit REPLY and LMK. And by the way …

SVEN: You guys coming to my session, “Objects Speak for Themselves”? PHIL: Yep! MONIQUE: Yep! PHIL: So untrue. MONIQUE: No, I’m really going. PHIL: I mean his title. It should be “Objects Can’t Speak for Themselves.” …

What if every museum were more like ... a children’s museum? Edwin Link (Executive Director, The Children’s Museum of Atlanta) discusses “Think Like a Children’s Museum” with host Jonathan Alger.

Q: 4K screens are the only choice! Netflix sends 4K into living rooms! Who would ever use HD again? A: Sure, expectations have changed. But Netflix optimizes for a couch inches from a screen. In exhibitions, screens are often farther away. …

Time to build your exhibition. But wait! Before you build a single wall … order a single mount … send a single graphic to print … do me a favor. Hold a page-turner meeting. Consider it the final step before fabrication begins. …

MONIQUE: That exhibition this morning felt like a $1 show. PHIL: Were we on the same tour? That felt like $5,000,000. MONIQUE: Exactly. You were thinking total cost. I was thinking cost per visitor. PHIL: What? …