Soft openings or soft launches are common practice in the business world. It’s especially true for retail establishments like restaurants. In the museum exhibit world it is less common. It shouldn’t be! Unfortunately, I’ve experienced what can happen when a crowd rushes into a new exhibit gallery that has not been tested. Grand opening dates are often set without enough cushion to test the exhibits. Recently, several of our clients have planned quiet openings before being officially open to the public.

Our clients at Horicon Marsh astutely planned for more than a month of testing prior to their big grand opening event. This uncovered many tweaks that could be made before the big day. It included improving timing on interactives, redirecting lighting, and training staff on how to handle visitors. The same applied to our clients at the North Dakota Heritage Center. Installing their project in phases gave them the opportunity to run school groups through ahead of time. They viewed it as an opportunity to bolster the engineering; they even set up a GoPro camera during this period to get a better view. Since the exhibits were still under warranty, things were easily tweaked to create a better experience at the grand opening.

What does a testing period look like?

• You can open periodically to the public, maybe once a week for a month.

• You can invite several school groups to get a sneak peek.

• You can have a sneak peek event for friends and family. This can also help with word of mouth.

• You can quietly open your doors a few weeks before the grand opening.

Why do you want to test the exhibits ahead of the grand opening?

1. Mistakes will be magnified at a grand opening.

2. You want the grand opening to be Grand, not overshadowed by flaws.

3. It offers an opportunity to test operations, procedures, and traffic flow.

4. It is good practice for your staff.

5. You can bolster the engineering.

6. You can gather data.

7. You can work out all the kinks.

8. A sneak peek for a limited audience can help create buzz around the new exhibits.

9. If you open without testing and visitors have a bad experience, poor word of mouth may begin to circulate. You want the first experience to be awesome.

It’s important to plan for your soft opening from the start. Don’t publicize a grand opening until you are sure you will have time to test your exhibits. Make sure your schedule has plenty of cushion. Stick to your deadlines or that cushion will fade. A delayed opening could cause poor public relations. Good planning gives you time to test and offer the best experience to increase visitation and repeat visitors.

Testing leads to failure, and failure leads to understanding.

– Burt Rutan