Seth Godin is the smartest marketer alive - and I always read his blog, most of the time commenting in Webmetricsguru.com; today my comment belongs in ArtNewYorkCity.com because Seth talks about why more people don't go to museums.

a. the curators think the item on display is the whole thing. As a result, they slack off and do less than they should in creating an overall story b. they assume that visitors are focused, interested and smart. They are rarely any of the three. As a result, the visit tends to be a glossed over one, not a deep one or a transcendent one c. science museums in particular almost beg people NOT to think. I can't remember the last time a museum visit made my cry, made me sad or made me angry (except at the fact that they don't try hard enough).

Besides, some people have negative associations with museums; my wife was raised in Poland where Museums were considered old, stuffy and boring!  I don't find Museums boring, but I understand why many do - they don't engage visitors enough (sounds like Musuems are often like bad websites that don't work well enough).

"They asked how long it had been since he had been to a museum.  But the group that liked his books spoke up pretty quickly, and first acknowledged that he was trying to needle them, but then said – wait, he is part of our audience, and clearly he has thought this.  And if we are not listening to our audiences, then we may not be doing our jobs well at all.  This was bounced around for a while.  At the end I pulled it back towards Godin’s books and asked what, if anything, they got from the books, felt like they could take back to their museums and use, or share with their bosses.  Even a couple of the Godin-haters mentioned things they got from them.  After the book club, back at the cabin we were staying in, there was a lot of talking around the fireplace about branding and stories, so it was clear the books, and the discussion, made them think."

Sounds like Seth Godin's books were examined by museum directors and it got them to think.  If you stop to think, getting people to a museum and keeping them engaged is the same exact problem as getting people to a website and engageing them enough that they stay.  The solution for a website is usually better content and better design.  In the case of museums, it's not so much the content as the presentation and activities at the museum that encourage people to want to be there and have a positive experience. Again, I'm not the person who has a problem with museums - I like them overall, but many don't like museums and there's probably a valid reason why.