{"id":7529,"date":"2016-07-11T13:18:56","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T17:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumhack.wpengine.com\/?p=7529"},"modified":"2022-11-20T00:32:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T05:32:19","slug":"pokemon-go-museums","status":"publish","type":"do_not_index","link":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit ’em all"},"content":{"rendered":"

A special guest post by Blaire Moskowitz.<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you seen more people than usual staring at their phones in your museum?<\/p>\n

That is because \u201cPok\u00e9mon GO\u201d was released this weekend. It quickly claimed the number one place in the app store and will soon surpass Twitter in daily active users <\/a>by capturing the attention of two coveted demographics \u2013 children with cellphones and millennials craving 90s nostalgia.<\/p>\n

\"Pokemon
Pokemon in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Charles Engelhard Court Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Pok\u00e9mon GO\u2019s tagline has remained the same as the prior Game Boy iterations. \u00a0You still want to \u00a0\u201ccatch \u2018em all\u201d, only this time it\u2019s not limited to the virtual world inside the Game Boy.<\/p>\n

It is the right time and place for this game: advancements in geolocation (which people increasingly find commonplace) and mobile phones (already in our pockets, no bulky awkward GoogleGlass this time!) mean Pokemon live in our world through augmented reality. \u00a0With a GPS overlay, the app knows where you are as you walk around real streets and will buzz when you get near a Pokemon.<\/p>\n

Historical Markers as Pok\u00e9Stops<\/h2>\n

This is where museums come in \u2013 the virtual monsters are in public places, as detailed in Pokemon\u2019s\u00a0March press release<\/a>, which explains,<\/p>\n

\u201cExplore cities and towns around where you live and even around the globe to capture as many Pok\u00e9mon as you can\u2026. Also look for Pok\u00e9Stops located at interesting places, such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments, where you can collect more Pok\u00e9 Balls and other items.<\/i>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Pokemon
Pokemon “Krabby” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gallery 401.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To determine the location of the Pokemon, the PokeStops, and PokeGyms, it appears that Pok\u00e9mon GO is running from two databases. \u00a0The first would be the database of locations they used for Ingress<\/a>, Niantic\u2019s last game, which was conceptually similar. \u00a0The second is the Historical Marker database<\/a>, which keeps track of local points of interest in the United States. \u00a0On the plus side, this is how most towns have Pokestops. \u00a0But on the negative side, some of the historical markers were put into the Ingress databases years ago, and the sites may no longer be public<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Catching” Millennials<\/h2>\n

Our museums, similarly, want to \u201ccatch\u201d these difficult to reach children and millennials and attract them to the museum. \u00a0We\u2019ve seen previous attempts to attract these groups with varying success \u2013 how many children’s\u2019 activity days, young member parties, and hands-on scavenger hunts have you seen?<\/p>\n

We recruit participants for teen and young adult councils, organize internal task forces for brainstorming sessions, hire external consultants, and conduct focus groups, all to determine the best way to grab the attention of these demographics. \u00a0Museums repeatedly make claims that we are competing with Netflix and YouTube and a host of other entertainment, so when new visitors spend a weekend walking through our doors to play a game we didn\u2019t devise, how can we capitalize on that?<\/p>\n

Yes, you read that right: there are visitors who have walked in our doors this weekend, just to find Pokemon!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tweets<\/a>
Tweets about Pokemon from museum visitors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Searching \u201cPok\u00e9monGO\u201d and \u201cMuseum\u201d on Twitter has dozens of people posting about visiting a local museum, often for the first time.\u00a0\u00a0Most of these people have even entered\u00a0the museum and walked around the exhibitions. \u00a0In large museums, Pokemon will \u201clive\u201d in one wing, so players are on the look out for each other to provide helpful hints \u00a0(There are multiple\u00a0stories online today<\/a>\u00a0about people becoming real life friends through Pokemon quests. \u00a0Sherry Turkle<\/a>, what do you have to say to that?).<\/p>\n

But, there are also museums where people are just sitting in the parking lot and not venturing inside. \u00a0At one small museum, nine people were observed sitting in the parking lot playing Pok\u00e9mon GO, none of whom entered the museum. \u00a0And by sheer irony, this institution\u2019s curatorial theme is fairly \u201cnerdy\u201d, which would likely interest the people playing the game.<\/p>\n

Is Your Museum Up to the Challenge?<\/h2>\n

It might be a challenge to pull these people away from their game, but if we museum professionals want to do community outreach, figure out what interests non-visitors, and then engage them in the world\u2019s greatest treasures, we need to figure out how, quickly.<\/p>\n

Some museums have advertised on Twitter and Facebook that there are Pokemon onsite. \u00a0Others have mentioned that visitors can have Pokemon battles with the staff. \u00a0Crystal Bridges<\/a>\u00a0has blogged about Pok\u00e9mon GO, posting images of their Pokemon next to art work (Pikachu is appropriately next to a Dan Flavin).\u00a0 And outside of the museum-world, commercial spaces are also capitalizing on these new visitors, from\u00a0indie clothing shops<\/a>\u00a0inviting people to catch Pokemon and browse their goods to multiple\u00a0NBA teams\u00a0<\/a>depicting Pokemon playing with team members (which reminds me of SpaceJam).<\/p>\n

An example of a non-museum person using a cultural site in a brilliant way was the Facebook event to\u00a0walk together through the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens<\/a>\u00a0(near the Opera House), which attracted one thousand people and inspired the hashtag #PokeGoWalk. \u00a0Imagine if the Gardens had officially hosted the event. What can the value-add be if the event was institutionally hosted? \u00a0Could distributing discount admission tickets to a future visit increase repeat visitation? \u00a0Advertise classes? Encourage visitors to\u00a0download the museum\u2019s app<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Use “Lures” to Invite Players Inside<\/h2>\n

One opportunity within the app is\u00a0an\u00a0in-game purchase called \u201cLure\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to get Pokemon (and in turn visitors) to arrive onsite for 30 minute intervals. \u00a0This seems to be the only way to make your museum a destination, however limiting, since one can not request that a specific site becomes a Pokestop or PokeGym. \u00a0Therefore, if your site is already a Pokestop, you’re in luck; if its not a Pokestop, you can’t drop a Lure. \u00a0Between providing free wifi (just wait until the players get their cellphone bills this month!) and Lures, visitors really are attracted to these sites. \u00a0Wait there for a few minutes with the app on, and your phone will buzz that a Pokemon has arrived.<\/p>\n

\"PokemonGO
Lures are a potentially inexpensive way for museums to attract players into their spaces.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So how does one get a Lure? \u00a0Buy one for 100 coins or 8 Lures for 680 coins (100 coins cost $.99, 550 coins for $4.99, etc). \u00a0They can be purchased and designated to a site by anyone (institution or player) that wants the Pokemon to come to them.<\/p>\n

Then, the Lure will appear in your location on the GPS map, as a pink hotspot.\u00a0 As you can see in the image below, my avatar is standing at a Pokestop that has a Lure (the pink petals).\u00a0 The blue hotspots are Pokestops (which turn pink when you “touch” them) and there is a PokeGym at the crossroad of Times Square, NYC.<\/p>\n

\"PokemonGo
Pok\u00e9mon GO Lure near Times Square in New York City.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CEO John Hanke is already planning upgrades<\/a>, including customizable functions for Pokestops and PokeGyms, including the possibility of\u00a0sponsored locations<\/a>, although no timetable has been set.<\/p>\n

We might not have built this app, but the people have come.<\/p>\n

“Gotta Visit ‘Em All – PokemonGo in Museums” by Blaire Moskowitz was originally published on Blaire’s blog<\/a> on July 11, 2016.\u00a0 Blaire Moskowitz is a PhD student at the University of Leicester via distance learning, where her research focuses on how museums use the internet to gather information. Concurrently, she works in the marketing department of the world’s largest supplier of museum apps and audio tours. Thank you to Blaire for giving us permission to re-post her awesome article!<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you using Pokemon GO to engage your visitors at your museum? We want to hear from you! Email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":19801,"template":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit 'em all<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pok\u00e9mon GO is attracting the coveted millennial audience to museums. Here's everything you need to know about this new visitor engagement tool.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit 'em all\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pok\u00e9mon GO is attracting the coveted millennial audience to museums. Here's everything you need to know about this new visitor engagement tool.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Museum Hack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MuseumHack\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-20T05:32:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mafa-large.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@museumhack\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/\",\"name\":\"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit 'em all\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-11T17:18:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-20T05:32:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"Pok\u00e9mon GO is attracting the coveted millennial audience to museums. Here's everything you need to know about this new visitor engagement tool.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit ’em all\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/\",\"name\":\"Museum Hack\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Museum Hack\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/museumhack.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/museumhack.png\",\"width\":1010,\"height\":352,\"caption\":\"Museum Hack\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MuseumHack\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/museumhack\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/museumhack\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/museum-hack\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/museumhack\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/museumhack\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit 'em all","description":"Pok\u00e9mon GO is attracting the coveted millennial audience to museums. Here's everything you need to know about this new visitor engagement tool.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit 'em all","og_description":"Pok\u00e9mon GO is attracting the coveted millennial audience to museums. Here's everything you need to know about this new visitor engagement tool.","og_url":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/","og_site_name":"Museum Hack","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MuseumHack\/","article_modified_time":"2022-11-20T05:32:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/mafa-large.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@museumhack","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/","url":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/","name":"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit 'em all","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-07-11T17:18:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-20T05:32:19+00:00","description":"Pok\u00e9mon GO is attracting the coveted millennial audience to museums. Here's everything you need to know about this new visitor engagement tool.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/pokemon-go-museums\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pok\u00e9mon GO in Museums: Gotta visit ’em all"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/","name":"Museum Hack","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#organization","name":"Museum Hack","url":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/museumhack.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/museumhack.png","width":1010,"height":352,"caption":"Museum Hack"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MuseumHack\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/museumhack","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/museumhack\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/museum-hack\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/museumhack\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/museumhack"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/do_not_index\/7529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/do_not_index"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/do_not_index"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}