Museum Studies Blog at Tufts University

by columnist Madeline Karp,

Welcome to Dispatches from the Mid-Atlantic’s new series Meet the Museum! where we interview museum professionals in the Mid-Atlantic region to get a feel for who they are and what they’re up to.

Today, we’re talking to the Please Touch Museum’s new Manager of Visitor Services, Patrick Wittwer.

Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you get into the museum field?

Back in high school, a friend of mine had a part-time job at the Franklin Institute and suggested I apply. I was hired to work the overnight program there and have been working in museums ever since.

What do you do at the Please Touch Museum?

I am the Visitor Services Manager, and I am responsible for the quality of the guest experience at PTM. I oversee a large staff, and work on developing the programs and training that ultimately improves our ability to serve our guests.

What is the most challenging thing about working in Visitor Services?

With a large staff, learning everyone’s name has certainly been challenging. Beyond that [I think] dealing with unexpected issues can be a challenge.

Any crazy customer services stories to share with us?

When I worked at Disney World, we were encouraged to go above and beyond Disney’s guest service standards whenever we could. One of my favorite things to do was to give birthday kids a special message. There was an extension you could call and Goofy would pick up the phone and wish the child a happy birthday. The reaction that this call garnered was one of the many highlights of working for the Mouse.

Do you think Philadelphia museums have a particular “personality” in comparison to institutions in other cities/regions?

I think that the spirit of collaboration amongst Philadelphia institutions is higher than that of their counterparts in other cities, but do think a museum’s “personality” depends on what audience they are catering to.

What are some of the ups and downs about being a manager? We understand that PTM’s Visitor Services department is upwards of 70 people.

One of my goals as a manager is to bridge the gap between the floor staff and back-of-house staff that exists in just about every business. At PTM, there is an enthusiasm from both sides to create unity, which is very refreshing. On the flip side, every manager whose primary responsibility is guest service has to deal with dissatisfied guests, which at times is unpleasant, but the ups definitely outweigh the downs.

You’ve posted a March Madness bracket of children’s television shows and asked the staff to vote on their favorites all month. What inspired you to start this tournament, and what are you hoping the Visitor Services staff will gain from participating?

I had two goals with March Madness. One was to break up the day for the floor staff. My main goal was to use it as an icebreaker. I wanted to get to know my staff and assess their feelings about their jobs, the department, the museum, and get a feel for their personalities. With the tournament being posted on my door, it brought people into my office that may not have been comfortable approaching a new manager. It also prompted discussions that started with the [children’s] television shows on the board and inevitably segued into a chat about the job they do at the museum.

[Update: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles won the 2013 Children’s Television March Madness Tournament, with The Muppet Show coming in a close second place. Reading Rainbow and Hey Arnold! rounded out the Final Four slots.]

What advice would you give to someone looking to break into the museum field?

Never settle for anything less than what you truly want to do. People who go into the museum business don’t do it for the money; they do it because they have a passion that they are pursuing.  Networking helps. Joining a group like Philadelphia Emerging Museum Professionals (cheap plug – phillyemp.com) is a great way to get to know other people in the field.

Any last thoughts?

Sure, two little nuggets of wisdom:

1. There are a tremendous amount of resources out there for people in the museum field, use them as often as possible.

2. If you are not enjoying your position or you are no longer fulfilled in your job, find something new that challenges you and keeps you engaged in your work.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Patrick!

Got a question for Patrick? Post it in the comments!

by columnist Madeline Karp

Working for a children’s museum, I am all about supporting the hopes and dreams of young children. Kids tell me them all the time.

I hear dreams of being an astronaut, a firefighter, a doctor, a professional athlete. I hear dreams about being able to read chapter books or tying shoes without help, and dreams of one day being tall enough to ride the museum’s carousel without an adult. I hear it all.

Some of them are silly, some of them are sincere, and some of them are downright outlandish. The thing is, I think it’s so important to support kids’ dreams, rather than quash them no matter what. So what if you can’t grow up to be a Tooth Fairy? It’s about having aspirations, goals to work for and finding ways to make seemingly impossible things come true.

So it really hit home for me when I heard what the Denver Museum of Nature and Science did for one little dreamer.

Eli Navant, 9, dreams of being a paleontologist and museum curator – so much so that when a position for a chief curator opened at the Denver Museum last November, he decided to apply. With the help of his third grade teacher and his parents, he sent in a handwritten cover letter and set of references that included Robert Bakker, an expert paleontologist whom Eli met briefly at one of the museum’s in-house mini-dig programs.

It would have been easy for the curatorial staff to ignore this little boy’s dream, but instead, they made him an honorary “Curator for the Day.” Clearly the museum’s exhibits and programming had made a lasting impression on this little boy, and that was something to be rewarded and shared.

This story is inspiring – both for children and museum professionals.

Kids: You can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.

Museum Professionals: You can connect with your audience in new and innovative ways. You can support a child’s dream, and make the museum a place of welcome and community, sometimes in unexpected ways.

To see the heartwarming CBS Evening News segment on Eli and the Denver Museum, click here. (Apologies for the ad beforehand.)

I’ve had a lot of kids ask me how to get a job like mine at the Please Touch Museum. I used to tell them they had to wait until they were 18 to apply. But now I think I may just tell them to pick up an application at the admissions desk.  Because why not? Let’s support their dreams.