Credit Panels: Low Cost, Priceless Outcome

Every exhibition needs a credit panel. 

They cost almost nothing. Every additional name costs nothing. But the lasting goodwill can’t be bought.

Nearly zero cost, potentially priceless outcome. How’s that for ROI?

What’s a credit panel? It lists the people who did the project. It’s different from recognizing donors and sponsors, which is usually separate and more visible.

Credit panels usually come at the “end,” whatever that might mean. Sometimes exhibitions don’t really have an “end.” So we improvise.

At the end of a movie, the credits are hundreds of names, hard to read unless you know what you’re looking for. They’re largely for the people listed, just like in exhibitions.

Yes, you’ll need to name the organizations, lenders, and paid firms that helped. But after that, add as many individual names of your colleagues as you can. Make the panel huge, or use smaller type. Whatever it takes.

Now watch the pride on people’s faces when they visit and show their name to their friends.

Here’s the thing:
Every project should have a credit panel. Nearly zero cost, potentially priceless outcome.

Warmly,
Jonathan

P.S. Pro Tip: Put up a temporary one for a while first. See if anyone finds someone you forgot. Then make the final one.

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MtM Word of the Day:

Gross square feet (GSF). The total floor space of a museum building, measured by the entire footprint of the building, including the outside walls and everything inside them. (In contrast, net square feet, or NSF, refers only to the usable areas of the building, calculated by excluding all walls, circulation, and structure.)