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Case Histories

Museum of Science and Industry Seeks Roommate

Situation

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI), Chicago was in the midst of a historic $205 million capital campaign to renovate a significant portion of its interior space with new, permanent exhibits and had rolled out a new brand identity. To showcase the ambitious changes inside the Museum’s 14 acres of interior space and introduce its new identity, MSI needed a high-impact program that was as innovative as the Museum itself to inspire and excite the Museum’s key audiences.

Action

With PCI’s help, MSI rolled out Month at the Museum — a worldwide search to find a curious, adventurous and outgoing person to become the Museum’s first-ever roommate. The winner would live inside the Museum for 30 days, experience the Museum from every vantage, and share his/her experience with the world through traditional and social media. In addition to unrestricted access to the largest science center in the Western Hemisphere, the winner would receive $10,000, tech gear to document their experience, and the adventure of a lifetime.

Results

The call for applicants captured the imagination of people around the world, resulting in more than 1,500 entries from all seven continents and all 50 states. Thousands followed the winner, former teacher Kate McGroarty, during her 30-day residency by meeting her in-person at MSI and interacting online through her Facebook updates, tweets, nightly videos, photos and blog.

According to a survey conducted at the end of the roommate’s in-residence period, 59 percent of all MSI guests were aware of Month at the Museum prior to their visit and many cited it as a reason they came.

A total of 1,137 media hits were secured, resulting in more than 460 million impressions, including:

  • A live talk-back on “Good Morning America” with host George Stephanopoulos on the roommate’s first day.
  • Two live MSNBC interviews with anchor Tamron Hall, mentions on CNN and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”
  • Six AP stories, including a nationally distributed feature covering Kate’s entire month at MSI.
  • Two USA Today features; interviews on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and PBS “Newshour.”
  • High-profile online coverage from Wired.com, FastCompany.com, BoingBoing, AOL Travel and more.
  • Local media covered each phase of the contest, resulting in seven feature stories in both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, and blanket local television hits including multiple live shots and in-studio interviews.

Unprecedented social engagement online resulted in:

  • More than 288,000 unique visitors viewed the Month at the Museum website.
  • More than 4,000 “likes” on Kate’s Facebook page and 1,600 followers on Twitter in one month.
  • MSI’s Facebook fans grew by 25 percent, with record levels of engagement, commenting and interaction.
  • More than 100,000 views of all MATM-related videos posted to MSI’s YouTube page (application videos, finalist videos, winner announcements, etc.), with 43,000+ viewing Kate’s videos alone.
  • Hundreds of applicants posted their own entry videos to YouTube, generating thousands of additional views.

And there was overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic reaction from fans:

  • “A seven-year old girl has been enlightened and enthralled by reading your posts and getting to meet you.” – Meghan, Nov. 18, via the Month at the Museum blog
  • “If it weren't for this past month, it might have been many more years before my husband and I returned to MSI, and our young children would have missed out. Now we're members and our children are begging to know when we can go back!” – Rachel, Nov. 19, via Facebook
  • “…Your rediscovery of the museum often brought a tear to my eye. It was nice to share your experiences through your blog entries and your videos. I too will be sad when you finish your time there.” – buck020, Nov. 18, via YouTube