To deepen Idahoans’ connection to their state, build a statewide sense of community, and create an essential resource for education, the Idaho State Museum was designed for impact. ISHS connected Idaho’s past to the present; integrated Idaho’s cultural diversity throughout the visitor experience; and used a multidisciplinary approach to maximize historical literacy across subjects. This session explores engagement practices used to achieve statewide resonance, understand affective outcomes of the museum experience, and respond to community needs.

1. Idaho State Museum: Designing for Impact
Janet L. Gallimore
Randy L’ Teton
Dr. Gloria
Totoricagüena
Liz Hobson

2. Idaho has made History!
Idaho State Museum Expansion
The Idaho State Historical Society has renovated and
expanded the Idaho State Museum and developed world-class
exhibitions that inspire learning and invite an engaged
discussion of Idaho’s past and its impact today

3. Project Goals
 To repair dated infrastructure
 To respond to public demand
 To create comprehensive, new
exhibitions

4. How to achieve statewide relevance
COULD WE:
 Embrace History Relevance and prove that history
was relevant and meaningful to our state?
 Transcend history being thought of as 4th grade social
studies ONLY?
 Make our new state museum resonate across the state
of Idaho?
 Regain our appropriation and successfully undertake the largest capital
largest capital campaign in our Agency’s history?

5. Project outcomes and intended impact
 Deepen Idahoans’ connection to
their state
 Create an essential resource for
education
 Contribute to the economic
vitality of our state

6. Commitment to excellence
 Execute at high level of practice
 Balance of ideas, emotional connection, objects, multi-sensory
experiences
 Maximize museum’s role in applied, informal, and lifelong learning

7. Visioning with key stakeholders
 Core Values?
 Audience?
 Role in the life of the local,
regional, and state community?

8. Exhibit Planning

9. Exhibition Principles
 People and the land shape each other.
 History is made by people. People make decisions
that have consequences. Everyone is a history-maker.
 Historical decisions are relevant to contemporary life;
our decisions will impact the future.
 Idaho is not an island. Idaho’s story has a regional
and national context.

10. Statewide engagement
 Tribal partnership with Idaho’s five recognized tribes
 University Academics and Scholars across Idaho
 Executive Branch Agencies
 JFAC
 Teacher Advisory Council
 On-site interviews and focus groups
 Statewide electronic surveys
 Public Interviews

11. Key storyline testing results
 Idahoans will visit our State Museum to learn about
Idaho’s Native People
 Participants expect to be educated in an entertaining
fashion with interactives, sensory use, apps, games,
 60% statewide want multi-media immersive
experiences are worth the cost
 Idahoans want increased access to the State
Museum and collections via technology
 The Idaho State Historical Society is expected to be
fundamental to the educational mission of Idaho

12. Key educational summit results
 Nearly all proposed exhibition stories deemed interesting and useful
for Idaho State Standards, Common Core and 21st Century Skill for
teachers in K-12 in all disciplines.
 96% marked “important” or “very important” that students have an
emotional as well as intellectual experience at the new museum;
they can not create this in a classroom.
 Educators responded that 100% of the exhibitions are relevant to
all grade levels and have content and skills at all levels K- Career.
They see the ability to use the Museum at all levels of complexity.
 Teachers reported that STEM content and process objectives can
easily be incorporated.

13. Tribal Engagement
• Seek permission and approvals
• Establish ongoing liaisons
• Travel to Homelands
• Report to Chairmen
• Pay stipends for work

14. Takeaways for Impact
 Purposeful outcomes inspire donors and stakeholders
 Engagement and inclusion is critical
 Specific takeaway messages for all narratives increase potential
impact and ability to measure learning
 Connecting the past to contemporary issues gives context
 A multi-disciplinary lens- art, history, science, language appeals to
a broad audience
 Co-creating content is respectful and results in a better story
 Measuring impact provides validation and data for future decisions
 Aligning strategy with branding and marketing amplifies the story

27. In Idaho, museums contribute
$228 million to our economy
Bill Connors, President & CEO of the Boise Metro
Chamber
“The Boise Chamber has long supported the Idaho
State Museum and its expansion and
renovation. Museums not only create and attract
economic activity, they are part of a portfolio of
amenities that help keep and attract good people and
employees. The new museum will be an important
asset in our city’s economic development efforts for
decades to come.”

28. Idaho State Museum
Collecting and Using
Decision Quality Data
2015-2019
Dr. Gloria Totoricagüena
Idaho Policy and Consulting LLC

29. Decision quality data:
Gather quantitative and
qualitative data that inform
1.) content
2.) design
3.) multimedia
experiences for the new Museum.

32. Outcome Evaluations-
Turn data into operational intelligence
Phase 1. Outputs- goods/services delivered by
the Museum: exhibits, design, multimedia,
programming in the building and via Internet, etc.
Phase 2. Outcomes- impact of the those
good/services in learning, feeling, entertainment,
earned marketing, etc.

33. Museum
Outcomes
Content Design Multimedia
Learning
Entertainment
Feeling
Trust in ISHS
Expectations
Earned Free
Marketing
Museum Outputs

34. Building the Data Gathering Methodology
1. Observation- visitor behavior/interactions with
displays.
2. Survey Questions- precise, fast & anonymous
3. Open discussion/ free writing

35. ID State Historical Society
and
BSU School of Public Service
Continuing MOU for
internships

36. 105 topics addressed
3 separate surveys
Free writing questions
Answering time 3-5
minutes
Discussion notes kept
Statistical

37. Source: Totoricagüena, Gloria. Idaho State Museum Visitor Exit Survey. 2019.

38. Source: Totoricagüena, Gloria. Idaho State Museum Visitor Exit Survey. 2019.

40. Source: Totoricagüena, Gloria. Idaho State Museum Visitor Exit Survey. 2019.

41. Source: Totoricagüena, Gloria. Idaho State Museum Visitor Exit Survey. 2019.

42. Recommendation:
Continue to use the data to guide budgeting,
programming, marketing, special events, traveling
exhibits, staff training and updates to
infrastructure.

43. Pop-Up exhibitions

44. Exhibition modifications

45. Ongoing partnerships

46. GEM Program

47. Visitor Engagement Standards

48. Takeaways for Impact
 Purposeful outcomes inspire donors and stakeholders
 Engagement and inclusion is critical
 Specific takeaway messages for all narratives increase potential
impact and ability to measure learning
 Connecting the past to contemporary issues gives context
 A multi-disciplinary lens- art, history, science, language appeals to
a broad audience
 Co-creating content is respectful and creates a better story
 Measuring impact provides validation and data for future decisions
 Aligning strategy with branding and marketing amplifies the story

49. Contact information
Janet L. Gallimore, Executive Director and State Historic Preservation Officer
Idaho State Historical Society, 2205Old Pen Rd., Boise, ID 83712 janet.gallimore@ishs.idaho.gov

50. What’s your story?
 How have you created strong tribal
relations?
 What are some of your successful
community engagement methods?
 What kind of data collection has been
useful for you in creating impact?