"Institutions strive to reach millennials in digital age" (Rochester: 2014, house)

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I thought this was a really good article talking about how museums are trying to reach the Millenials'. I'm a Gen-Xer so I'm not quite the demographic the article is talking about, but my generation is the first generation where numbers are declining for visiting museums and art institutions. I personally love Museums. Whenever I vacation a museum is always first on my list of a place to visit. I've also now made it a priority of my own to visit every Rochester museum and attend performances at all the local theaters at least once each year. It is very important to support these institutions.

Some interesting attendance numbers for the Rochester area large museums:
Strong Museum - 560,000
Rochester Museum & Science Center - 369,000
Memorial Art Gallery - 218,000
George Eastman House - 110,000
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra - 102,000

Kyle Psaty, a 30-year-old professional who moved to Pittsford from Boston less than two years ago, wants to develop roots here.

As the product marketing director at Brand Networks, a software firm, Psaty is very attuned to digital technology and had a chance last month to give some friendly advice to the new director of the Memorial Art Gallery, Jonathan Binstock.

"How do we find more of a way to personalize the experience at the MAG?" said Psaty. "My millennial generation experiences the world through our mobile phones and we'd like him to take that into account as he imagines the future of the MAG."

Binstock, who convened the brainstorming session with Psaty and a handful of other young professionals, is eager to hear more, especially since the vast majority of the MAG's members are older than 45.

"People of this generation are engaged in the world in a different way. Part of that engagement is being an active participant," said Binstock about the young adults.

The MAG's efforts to reach out to the millennial generation are representative of a wide-ranging push by museums, businesses, governments and other institutions to reach out to young adults.

Binstock, who has a background as a curator, wants the MAG to continue as a traditional museum that shows works from its permanent collection, which includes such masters as Monet, Cezanne and Matisse, and attracts visiting exhibits.

But Binstock hopes to open the doors more to younger adults — particularly millennials in their 20s and early 30s.

It's an issue also being addressed by other traditional cultural institutions, here and elsewhere, that have an older membership. And by making these institutions more responsive to young adults, the likelihood increases that millennials will stay here — and not become part of the "brain drain" relocating elsewhere.

Institutions strive to reach millennials in digital age