Just like Kindergarten - Show AND Tell!
A colleague recently shared a great example of the power of social media. She was preparing to visit a local attraction for the first time and, of course, decided to visit the website. The attraction was the Art Gallery of Ontario, located in downtown Toronto. She was pleased and surprised to discover that on the “Directions and Parking” page, the Gallery had placed not only the now obligatory Google Maps view of its location, but also a YouTube video, demonstrating the sights and sounds of the direct route, on foot, from the closest subway station to the front doors of the Gallery.
As my colleague pointed out, when you find yourself in any typical subway station, even the best 2-D map can be of little to no use. The “underground” is one of the easiest places to become disoriented in the city. The YouTube video solved this problem by introducing a practical view of the little landmarks and other items that just don’t come across in a map or a set of written directions.
How wonderful that the Gallery decided to tell and show visitors how to reach their destination. To borrow (and shamelessly modify) the words of Shoeless Joe - “If you show it, they will come!”