![\"Civil](\"https:\/\/museumhack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen-Shot-2015-11-13-at-9.54.37-AM.png\")
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Stepping into a museum is a transcending experience,\u00a0a<\/span>nd for good reason.<\/p>\n In a moment, you can go from the bustling city street to a quiet temple devoted to the richest collection of history we have. On your left are REAL dinosaur bones, fragments of a time we didn\u2019t even know existed until the 1800s. On your right are REAL WWI boots that an actual soldier laced up every morning for four long years. It\u2019s intoxicating — the first time you realize that history isn\u2019t just a grade 10 mandatory credit, but instead something that has been unfolding since the beginning of time.<\/p>\n In fact, museums are so f****ing awesome that it\u2019s easy to forget that the vast majority of history actually happened outdoors. Boston\u2019s Freedom Trail, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, and heck, pretty much the entire Atlantic Ocean all harbor the same richness of stories as the Louvre, the Met, and the Vatican.<\/p>\n But while museums can offer a consistent experience to each new guest, the \u201chistorical outdoors\u201d have a challenge to overcome. How do you tell great stories when your battlefield has been turned into farmland? What if your Freedom Trail now passes by Chipotle?<\/p>\n Navigating this challenge is the subject of today\u2019s case study.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Earlier this year the management team from the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, \u201cHCWHA\u201d, reached out to Museum Hack with a problem. As one of the leading curators of this period of American History, HCWHA had an important story to tell but were struggling to communicate it. As we investigated, we found a few key issues:<\/span><\/p>\n With these challenges in mind, we crafted a workshop tailored to HCWHA\u2019s needs.<\/span><\/p>\n Our work with HCWHA centered around a Millennial Engagement Workshop. This workshop distilled our regular multi\u00ad-week training program into a 4.5 hour workshop, with a focus on high \u00adlevel audience engagement, the \u2018hack\u2019 structure of a tour, and playful activities in museum spaces. Some solutions to the HCWHA\u2019s challenges began to form.<\/p>\n For many historical sites, reenactments are a fun and informative way to engage guests.\u00a0\u00a0I.E., instead of just telling guests what happened, you dress up in full costume and act it out. But on HCWHA\u2019s\u00a0land, reenactments aren\u2019t allowed. We had to get creative and find another way to recreate the experience.<\/p>\n As we explored the space, we asked the helpful curators of the land to walk us through a battle. A forward charge, a flank from the North, surprise reinforcements. As we waved our hands through the air, gesturing wildly to imagine the movements, we had a spark of realization. The movements of the battle looked a lot like a dance! Boom, breakthrough idea. So we simplified it, formalized it, and taught the dance to the curators. It was the first time a dance\u00a0reenactment had been done, and it was a huge hit. Watch the video below to see our dance\u00a0in action.<\/p>\nCase Study: Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area<\/b><\/h2>\n
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The Millennial Engagement Workshop, AKA How to be Cool<\/h2>\n