How do you engage a diverse audience? How do you adapt to stay relevant and keep audiences engaged? If you think your challenges are daunting, imagine having one of the biggest hurricanes ever demolish your city. How do you rebuild, keep up with changing demographics, and create magic in the years after such a catastrophe? You look at the Audubon Institute of New Orleans.

We have had the pleasure of working with the Audubon Institute for over a decade. Their creativity in engaging visitors with themed gift shops to life underground is enlightening. Zoos, aquariums, museums and parks have to stay relevant or suffer a demise. Unlike the demise of the horse to a car, the modern world changes quickly. The key to surviving this change is to adjust and adapt. You must offer opportunities and magic while competing against the digital world, people’s schedules, and financial hardships.

In 2005 Audubon established an ambitious initiative to engage minority and underserved residents in the New Orleans Metropolitan area. Since then over 2.3 million have been served up the wonders of nature through their programs. How do they do it? Here’s a sampling of what they offer:

• Nature on Wheels: they bring nature to those who can’t come to Audubon’s attractions

• Field Trips: thousands of local minority children take memorable school trips every year

• Audubon Scholars: free membership as a reward to students with good grades

• Business Opportunities: from a business expo to Soul Fest for restaurant owners

• Partnerships: Churches, Corporations and Community

• Walkathon: theirs was to support historic black colleges

Read more about Audubon’s Community outreach here.

How do you connect a millennial with nature? You add beer on a Friday night! Audubon Aquarium features Scales and Ales. People often cannot visit attractions during a work day. Offering opportunities in the evening makes the facilities more accessible. They offer evening events like Dinner & ZOOvie, Wild Nights – Insect Adventure and Safari After Dark.

How do you get teens to have a lifelong connection with nature? Set up a program for teen volunteers. Offer an evening event called Twilight Treks for Teens.

For kids and families they offer Home School Monday’s, Zoo Wild Walks and even a Mother’s Day Celebration. Then there is variety for adults like Music Under the Oaks, Celebracion Latina and Special Needs Day. Audubon offers something for almost everybody. Even if you have a smaller organization, there are plenty of ideas to pull from these examples. They are very clear about their mission. Having a mission and strategy is key to success. Check out what they stand for here.

I visited them in 2013 and summarized the success of the zoo in this blog (hint it’s in the theming.) And again from my 2012 visit on the art of the immersive environment.

We have completed ten projects with Audubon since 2001 and are currently working on the eleventh. They range in size from a jellyfish model to complete immersive environments. It’s exciting to see another one in the shop. It includes many scenic elements for their cool zoo experience. Making magic happen takes many partnerships.

Slug and Earthworm Exhibit Photos: © HERB BYERS PHOTO