‘Big data, big opportunities?’

Natural History Museum, London

The full programme can be found on our website: http://visitors.org.uk/conference-2018/.

We are living in a data world. From the moment we leave our houses in the morning until the time we go to bed, we (or others) can monitor and track what we do, where we go, what we purchase, and who we socialise with. From a researcher’s perspective, this presents great opportunities. For visitor studies, the ability to track and understand our visitors more is vital to keeping our museums, galleries, heritage sites and other attractions relevant and focused around visitor needs. With technology advancing, the ability to collect such information quickly and cost-effectively potentially enables us to do more for less and gain greater insight. Moreover, with the availability of open source data and greater collaboration across the sector, we may also be able to understand more about those who are not coming to our sites.

These opportunities are not, however, without their challenges. Becoming more acquainted with our visitors and non-visitors comes with responsibility. We need to respect people’s privacy. We need to comply with the law (and the forthcoming GDPR regime, which safeguards personal data and data rights). We also need to cast a critical eye on what the data can and cannot tell us. Just because we have ‘big data’ does not always mean we understand everything. How can we use qualitative research or other more ‘traditional’ research and evaluation methods to blend with the metrics to give us a full picture? How can we advise others within our organisations on the strengths and weaknesses of big data approaches? How can we work with other teams and analysts to build a more holistic profile of our visitors? How can we ‘tool-up’ to help our organisations understand and interpret big data?

This conference will examine these issues and critically assess the opportunities and challenges big data brings. Key themes will include:

1. Getting started with big data
2. Big data sources within and outside organisations
3. Experiences and insights from practitioners from both within and outside our sector
4. Skills and support needed
5. How we can add meaning to big data
6. Interpreting, visualising and sharing big data insights
7. Collaboration

Building on feedback from members and previous conferences, we have designed a conference that combines presentations, workshops, breakout sessions and reflection sessions as well as networking opportunities. There will be the opportunity to get hands-on with big data and learn how to manipulate it using freely available tools. Delegates can also practise how to translate and present big data into a meaningful story for others in your organisation. They will also hear the very latest from the Market Research Society on GDPR and what it means for research and evaluation, and hear about the experiences of practitioners who have implemented big data projects.

We are very aware that big data does not hold all of the answers, but understanding how we can use it and sharing our knowledge of it will help us take advantage of the opportunities that are out there. We hope you can join us!

Our keynote speakers, Angie Judge (Chief Executive, Dexibit) and Lauren Sager Weinstein (Chief Data Officer, Transport for London) will share perspectives from the cultural and commercial sector. Practitioners and researchers from the British Museum, Cambridge City Council and the University of Cambridge Museums, the University of Oslo, the Museum of Science Boston, the Market Research Society and more, will continue to develop the conversation throughout both days,

We are very aware that big data does not hold all of the answers, but understanding how we can use it and sharing our knowledge of it will help us take advantage of the opportunities that are out there. We hope you can join us!