November 12, 2024 • 37 mins
This episode of Growth Powered by FareHarbor is recorded at the historical Molly Brown House! Rebekah visits the home of the “unsinkable” Molly Brown to chat with the team behind the Molly Brown House, Historic Denver. They share how they’ve leveraged FareHarbor tools like FareHarbor Dock to streamline operations and boost walk-up sales. Plus, they dive into what it takes to stay relevant in the tourism industry while preserving Denver’s rich history.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Growth powered by Fair Harbor where we explore the strategies behind thrivingtour and activity businesses.
Whether you're just starting out or scaling up, this podcast is packed with insights tohelp you succeed.
Now here's your host, Fair Harbor's Community Manager, Rebecca Cosley.
(00:27):
All right, we are here for a very special episode today of Growth Powered by Fair Harbor.
We have two very special guests.
Once again, on the episode today, we have Maddie from Fair Harbor.
Hello.
Hey.
Hi, Maddie.
And we also have Taylor with Historic Denver.
And we're at the Molly Brown House.
(00:49):
feel like as soon as I walked in, I told Maddie, I feel like I just got transported backin time.
I'm just so excited to be here.
So although I'm on a separate screen, I am actually here.
just really, I'm very passionate about Molly Brown.
So right behind me is actually, this is Margaret here.
Yes.
So she's commonly known as Molly, but she always went by Margaret in her lifetime.
(01:11):
That's the first of many fun facts, I think, that we're going to have in this episode.
Today, we're going to talk about a lot of great things.
Today, we're going to talk about the utilization of Fair Harbor.
We're going to talk a little bit about the history around this property.
And we're also going to get to know Maddie.
Maddie, hello.
How are you doing?
Hi, I'm good.
I'm excited to be here.
I'm excited to have you here, Maddie.
(01:32):
Would you like to tell the audience a little bit about what you do here at Fair Harbor andmaybe a little bit of what you do at the Molly Brown House and their work with Fair
Harbor?
Yeah, for sure.
So I am Molly Brown slash historic Denver's account manager.
So we've been working together over the past two ish, two and a half years.
(01:52):
streamlining various things with their online business and then kind of just touching baseon lots of different topics.
So website, like online conversions, improving sales, events that are coming up, gettingFair Harbor Docs set up, lots of kind of different stuff.
So I have built a relationship with Taylor along with a couple other people at theorganization.
(02:16):
And it's really been a pleasure getting to know everyone and getting to work with them.
a fantastic crew.
Amazing.
And Taylor, will you tell us a little bit about the most beautiful building I think I'veentered in my lifetime, at least in Denver, Colorado, for sure, and about what you do here
and a little bit about your time at Harbor.
From my understanding, been with us for super long time.
(02:38):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I'm the visitor experience manager here at the museum.
So I oversee all of our admission and ticketing, which is Fair Harbor, and then our storeas well, and all of our part-time staff.
I started with the museum in 2020, which was the craziest time to start a job.
And they had just launched or just started partnering with Fair Harbor, doing really smallonline ticket sales.
(02:59):
And then when I was brought on board, had to really, we put all of our tickets onlinebecause it was the pandemic and we didn't have a choice in that matter.
So we were able, that's kind of what jump started us into all of our ticket sales on FairHarbor, which was really exciting.
That is amazing.
I love hearing people's journeys on Fair Harbor, especially since y'all have been with usfor so long.
And wow, twins, because I also started up Fair Harbor in 2020.
(03:21):
And it was like, it is such an absolute crazy time to like start a job during such a crazytime during the pandemic.
So before you hop in with Maddie, and I'll let y'all talk about your journey on FairHarbor, your journey working with each other, a little bit about Fair Harbor Docs.
I would love to know what have you noticed that has kind of changed since you started.
(03:41):
During a pandemic, everything was crazy.
Travel was very different back then to now.
And maybe what trends you anticipated or didn't anticipate in your time here.
I will say every year that I've been at the museum has been different.
So even though I've been here for over four years, it feels like it's always a new battle.
Not to dwell on the pandemic by any means, but you know.
(04:02):
People were really frustrated in that time.
It was new to buy tickets online.
Things weren't as flexible as they used to be.
So that was a really difficult year for those types of things.
2021, know, we kind of coming out of it.
We started adding more and more things onto Fair Harbor.
People are getting more used to that online.
Can't just walk up things.
So actually it's gotten easier in the last four years, but it's been different everysingle year.
(04:27):
That's good.
Easy is good.
In the world of Fair Harbor, easy is what we want.
So that's good to hear.
And Maddie, I'll really let you take it away.
And we would love to get to know you two and the work you've done together and hear allthe great questions you have in store for us today.
So if we could start by kind of sharing a little more about Historic Denver and then whatyou do as an organization and what kind of tours you provide.
(04:53):
So Historic Denver began in March of 1970.
The Molly Brown House was owned by Art Lyson Ring.
And he needed to sell the home at the time, but it was the 1970s.
It was a height of urban renewal.
He knew that most likely if someone bought this home, it would be demolished and turnedinto a parking lot.
So he created Historic Denver.
(05:14):
It's a historic preservation organization and their first property was the Molly BrownHouse Museum.
So we offer tours at the museum.
have for the last 50 years, we've really shifted in the last five years on how we'veoffered those tours.
So for
I'd say 49 of those years, we only offered guided tours.
We've now switched to self-guided tours and then historic Denver, which is thepreservation side of our organization.
(05:39):
We offer a walking tour throughout the city and we keep adding onto those in differentneighborhoods and different events that we create with different historic buildings.
Very cool.
It's a really full circle moment for me working with you all as an organization and alsobeing here because I remember growing up in Denver as a kid.
(06:00):
coming to Molly Brown House and it's just such a special unique kind of part of our Denverhistory.
So being able to see it now from the operational side is really interesting to me.
And then also just walking around the neighborhood, it's like, that's a historic Denvertour.
It's so cool.
So it's pretty amazing to hear that you've come such a long way since the seventies.
(06:22):
It's, it's really a foundational part of Denver.
Like people know the name and it's just, it's really cool.
So next I would love to know what's one of your favorite stories or facts that you'veuncovered about Denver's history since working at the museum.
So I thought long and hard about this.
(06:43):
So as we're coming up on Halloween, I was just thinking about an exhibit that we had lastyear on the talking board.
not many people really put this together, but Margaret was a spiritualist.
So she would host parties that had plumberators, seances, and most likely talking boardsas well.
So in this talking board exhibit, we talked about the first woman or the woman who namedthe Ouija board.
(07:06):
So for the longest time, they were talking boards.
And then Helen Peters Nasworthy in 1890 asked a talking board what's its name, what itsname is.
And it spelled out Ouija and she asked, what does that mean?
And it said, good luck.
So that's how the Ouija board was named here in Denver.
And then she is also buried here in Denver at the cemetery.
(07:28):
That is such a cool, fun fact.
And we were talking about how the museum has to be haunted and now it's confirmed it'shaunted.
Thanks, Margaret.
I love that.
That is a fun fact.
I think that's the funnest fact I've had so far, for sure.
So you've been with Fair Harbor for quite some time.
(07:48):
Can you describe kind of the
evolution of how you've leveraged Fair Harbor.
I know you started during the pandemic, we touched on that.
So things were obviously very limited and I've only seen the past two and a half years ofyour journey.
So I'm curious how we got to this point with Fair Harbor.
So I'm going to start in 2019.
(08:11):
For the longest time we only offered guided tours.
and you could only come on site to buy those tickets, but we received a lot of feedbackthat people wanted to be able to guarantee their entry time.
We had to turn away a lot of people.
So that's where Fair Harbor first came into play is we offered a think about maybe aquarter of our tickets online just to kind of satisfy that public response.
(08:32):
2020, it was a great tool.
We just threw them all straight online.
And then as we came kind of out of that period, we started adding more of our events ontoFair Harbor.
So our walking tours are on there now.
Our events, we have our annual Halloween event, we have cocktails in cool places, we haveall of those on there.
And then when we started reintroducing our guided tours, those came online and then wejust started doing tours at the clock tower downtown.
(08:59):
And so fortunately, we're able to use Fair Harbor for that.
When I think about systems, they're usually hardwired and it's hard to like go remoteanywhere else.
So being able to use it on site and at the clock tower and
throughout the city, through our walking tours, it's been super helpful.
Cool, that's really interesting.
And a good point to note that you use it kind of in different ways depending on what thetour is, the location.
(09:21):
And that's a great point.
When you say you're using them in different places in different ways, you mean, it likethrough an iPhone?
Is it on an iPad?
In what ways are you utilizing the software in all these different remote places?
I think in every capacity we use computers, our iPads, our phones, all of our walking tourvolunteers, they have it on their phones so they're able to pull up their manifest pretty
(09:43):
easily.
The clock tower I just have was able to throw a new iPad over there and they're able tojust log right on.
So we use it in, I guess, in many different ways.
So walk-up sales and capturing that kind of in-person customer, I know has been
priority for your business as well as a lot of tour operators.
(10:04):
Can you share some effective strategies that you've come up with to maximize thosein-person bookings?
For the longest time we were struggling.
We had all of our tickets up online and then we still had those walk-up tickets.
So we used our point of sale system to sell those tickets, but it was really hard tocommunicate capacity at that point.
(10:25):
So Word of Mouth is a really powerful tool and we talked about how
Historic Denver and Molly Brown House, they're really staple names within the Denvercommunity.
So I'm curious how you leverage that, how you leverage word of mouth to help with yourmarketing efforts and to get more foot traffic and more bookings.
So something that's really unique to us is we really depend on local traffic.
(10:52):
That's what we want to see is we really want to serve the people in our neighborhood, butwe are a tourist attraction.
And I realized that
For a lot of other businesses and tour attractions, they're really looking for thosetourists, but for us, we're looking for both.
So we really try to achieve 50 % served for the seven SCFD counties here in Colorado, andthen 50 % tourist.
(11:15):
So when it comes to our marketing for tourists, we partner with things like Visit Denver.
They really push us out into that community.
But then for this local engagement that we're looking for.
We reach out to different libraries.
We offer free passes through our libraries, which has also been a big part of Fair Harbor,like kind of streamlining those tickets sales or reserving free tickets.
(11:40):
We do a lot of outreach in schools throughout the community.
So that's how we get a lot of our younger audiences in the museum.
And then Historic Denver, the preservation side of things.
They're the ones that are out in the community.
They're helping people with their historic structures.
neighborhoods that may be underserved, things like that.
(12:01):
It's really interesting to hear how you have so many different kind of niches anddifferent paths for those marketing efforts.
I'm wondering, is it ever hard to balance the different parts of the business where youwant to drive traffic from like the local school children, that type of thing, versus the
tourists?
Like, do you find it difficult to navigate both fronts of that?
(12:24):
I think it can be difficult, but we really try to
We're a small organization and we all wear multiple hats and we really, we've been quotedas punching above our weight.
So we really try to go above and beyond.
So yes, I think sometimes it can be overwhelming, but in the end it's worth it.
And I can attest to that.
You do go above and beyond.
And it's really cool for me as your account manager to see that.
(12:47):
And in all of our conversations, I feel like you and the other members of the organizationreally come to the table with fresh ideas and
You're always looking for a new opportunity to grow and to challenge yourselves, which isreally cool.
And it keeps it fresh for the community too.
So I see kind of benefit on a lot of different angles with that attitude.
(13:12):
that, how do you know what's working?
So there's a lot of operators that lean on like visit insert city and a lot of them havehad to work really hard to get that kind of partnership.
So good on you guys for getting that.
How do you attribute to what's working when targeting these different audiences?
Is Google Analytics?
Are you running a certain report in the dashboard?
(13:34):
What does that kind of look like?
I'll tell you that I really need to really understand Google Analytics, but right now I'mreally relying on the reports in Fair Harbor.
So we do do a lot of gut checking, which I think is good and bad at some points.
So we all receive the notifications in our emails when anything gets booked.
Which can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when we're really busy, but it reallykeeps us in check of like, if we're actually busy or not, but then at the end of the day
(14:01):
running reports.
I keep a massive spreadsheet that just I keep adding to every day of different, whataudiences were serving, what tours they were on, where they're visiting us from, things
like that.
So I guess I really take those raw reports from Fair Harbor, which I know they can be moredetailed.
That's on me for not learning more.
(14:22):
And thanks to Maddie, honestly.
Sorry, I'm going to segue into something else.
I had to run an address report the other day and I really messed up some custom fields.
But Maddie pulled that report together for me and I couldn't be more grateful.
So I really rely on those for multiple things, not just tracking our audience, but alsocollecting important contact information.
Yeah, it's really fun for me to work with you and figure out solutions.
(14:46):
it's funny because we look at the book form and seeing all the separate custom fields, itdoesn't seem like a problem.
but then to actually extrapolate that information and use it for marketing purposes orwhatever else you need to do with the customer contact info, then that's where it gets
tricky.
by, yeah, so we condensed everything into a single custom field and that's just kind ofanother way that we're working to streamline things.
(15:12):
So hopefully that will be helpful going forward with those reports.
Yes, I know I reached out to you guys for a lot of odd requests, not odd, but.
you know, we're looking for these mailing addresses, which people, don't think a lot ofpeople do a lot of mailers anymore, but you guys are always willing to work with me on
those.
Not so asked for requests.
(15:33):
What do you know?
Is that an advertising campaign you do with the mailers?
How are those going?
I'm so intrigued by mailers because I don't hear about them a lot.
How is that going?
I mean, they work really well for us.
We send them out typically in February and kind of announce all of our events for theyear.
And then we'll send another one out.
this week actually that announces all of our Halloween events.
(15:54):
So we have a whole special month for those.
And do you send it just to like past participants from Colorado or is it national?
How do you manage?
Because you have a big volume of customers who come.
So we made the decision to only collect mailing addresses from those that participated inpast events because if we collected mailing addresses for everybody that came to the
(16:17):
museum,
we wouldn't have any money left to send out mailers to every household that comes to us.
That makes sense.
And probably with those events, they're more specialized interests.
So you might get more engagement versus just mass sending flyers to anyone who visits themuseum.
So we talked about this a little bit previously, but you and I have worked pretty closelyover the past, I would say, six months getting Fair Harbor Dock set up.
(16:45):
to kind of streamline how you're managing those in-person sales.
So I know previously you were using a different system to capture those in-person sales,and then I'm curious about the process of bringing that onto Fair Harbor.
I'll be honest, it was a little bit of a process for me in training my staff.
Sometimes, and I say this in a loving way, it's hard to get my staff to change their ways.
(17:09):
We got into such a rhythm between balancing those online bookings.
and then those in-person sales.
And so when I was like, well, here's this tool that does both of them for you, it was kindof a shock, a good shock, but it's taken us a while to get used to it.
But it's allowed us to create, I've actually separated our registers.
So we have a register in the front of our store and the back of our store.
(17:32):
And now that we have Fair Harbor Dock, we can see actual live ticket sales between the tworegisters, which has been really helpful.
So I've seen an increase in ticket sales and our store sales by separating.
those registers.
Very cool.
So that's interesting how you've separated it out and then also managed to grow both sidesof the business.
(17:54):
Was that surprising to you or is that what you were expecting to happen when youtransition on to DOC?
My intention definitely was to to grow store sales for sure.
When you have people in multiple places, people don't have to seek you out.
And so I think that also I didn't expect it to, but it did play into those tickets aswell.
They didn't have to wait.
and what seemed like a really long line, there was somebody that was readily available onthe back of the store.
(18:18):
Yeah, cool.
And just for some more context, you're using staff mode.
So it streamlines those in-person sales to make it faster and avoid those long queues.
Fair Harbor Doc is a new feature that we recently released.
The whole purpose of this is to maximize and streamline in-person ticketing.
(18:41):
So rather than staff having to go through the usual dashboard process, using Doc, it'smore streamlined.
The custom fields are bigger, clearer, and it just takes out the unnecessary information.
So for businesses that get a lot of walk-up traffic, it's really helpful in terms ofspeeding up those individual bookings.
(19:05):
And there are a couple different modes.
There is staff mode, where
In your case, Molly Brown's staff is behind the register taking those ticket sales, butjust doing it faster than the normal dashboard.
And the other mode is called kiosk mode, where you can put up an iPad on a stand actually,and customers can fully just book themselves.
(19:28):
So kind of depending on the business, there are different, you know, benefits to eachmethod.
So your events have a lot of variety, which is really cool to see.
the business itself, you have the museum, you have the walking tours.
But in addition to that, you're always kind of on the lookout for new fresh avenues andnew ideas, which makes my job really fun.
(19:51):
But I'm wondering what is your kind of strategy behind finding relevant new engagingcontent for your customers?
That's a great question.
We have a great team of people who run all of our events.
I will say that I'm someone that's more on the back end.
I really enjoy the back end of Fair Harbor.
So I'm always there to be like, I can build your, your tickets.
(20:13):
But I really have to give credit to my team of event planners, I guess.
We usually plan our events at least a year or two in advance.
We try to pick a theme for the year.
So whenever there's big anniversaries coming up.
last summer we focused on the World's Fair.
The Browns attended that in 18.
(20:36):
my goodness.
189, I'm not going to try to fact check it.
I don't want to be wrong because we just had it.
2023 would be 1893, the 1893 World's Fair.
So a lot of our programs were based on the World's Fair.
For example, one of our events, had Pabst Blue Ribbon, Vienna sausage, double mint gum,and just talked about the history of the things that came out of that World's Fair.
(21:01):
And in 2020, we had the women's suffrage exhibit.
So all of our events or planned events were really around the women's suffrage movementand the passing of the 19th amendment.
So we really take the time to figure out what things we want for the year and how thosealso tie into our mission, vision, and values.
Very cool.
Thank you.
(21:21):
So you did mention that you're really interested in the back end of the dashboard.
What tools or features have you found most beneficial?
And I'm also curious, because I love that you and your staff go in and do things and makeupdates yourselves.
It's awesome to see.
So what do you find the most helpful and what are things that you find yourself reachingout to Fair Harbor for more help with?
(21:46):
I definitely reach out to you, but I am just somebody who hates bothering people.
So all of the tutorials on Fair Harbor are ridiculously easy to use.
They're step by step and I'm able to figure out almost everything, which is reallyexciting.
So I'm really grateful for that.
But if I can't get to it, I definitely reach out to you.
But again, feel terrible bothering people.
(22:06):
That's just my trait.
What's your sign?
I'm a cat for corn.
okay.
And I'm a Leo Virgo cusp.
Maddie, I'm scared of you when you know the cusps.
I know I'm not.
I can't mess with that person.
Like they know too much.
They know too much if they know all of that.
(22:28):
just know.
No, but it is our job as account managers to support your business and answer those kindhigher level questions that maybe you don't want to figure out or just take too much time
or whatever.
So you never have to feel bad about reaching out.
I love your questions and working together.
Well, I definitely feel that.
(22:48):
And like I said in the previous example of you helping me pull that report the other day,I...
I tried three times to figure out how to do it and I was like, this is time sensitive.
I have to get these mailers out now.
So I was like, I have to ask Maddie and you turned it around in like five hours.
it was amazing.
Good.
And yeah, our help center is a super helpful resource.
(23:09):
I use it all the time too.
We have basically help docs for any topic that you need.
So I'm glad to hear that you found those useful.
I'm really interested with the events that you plan and
They're very different.
Obviously, the experiences are different.
So the photos will be different.
The listings will be different.
(23:30):
How do you use Fair Harbor, and I'm assuming booking flows and integrations, to make sureon your website, whoever is looking for something fun to do gets to where they need to go?
And do you adjust those listings at all?
Like, for example, Denver is so beautiful in the fall.
and the leaves are changing, especially around Molly Brown House.
(23:51):
It's so beautiful out there with all the foliage.
Do you update those photos within Fair Harbor?
How specific do you get in that integration process with our software and your website?
So I have to first say, Maddie and I had a meeting, I think it was a couple of years agonow, and we're just kind of looking at, we looked at the website.
And the first thing that everyone pointed out to us is that we didn't have a book onlinenow button anywhere.
(24:16):
One crayon.
Our CEO actually pointed that one out.
Thanks, Andrea.
So that was super helpful.
So now we have a book online button now on every single page.
So that drives people right exactly to where they need to go.
So it was just one of the silliest things that we were like, my gosh, how did you not?
But then we do utilize booking flows all over the website.
So we have two, right now we have two different websites in historic Denver.
(24:38):
They really focus on our walking tours, those new clock tower tours, things like that.
And then we adjust the booking flows depending on really what we're trying to push.
And then on the Molly Brown side, we have a bigger advantage because we have more trafficgoing to that website.
So our big book online button now, that's the one that really sells what we're reallytrying to push.
(24:59):
So our upcoming October and fall events or our clock tower events are brand new.
So we're like, need them front and center.
I remember when we kind of first started looking at the website and it's interestingbecause this has been a topic that we've been talking about for two
probably two years, two and a half years since we first started working together.
(25:20):
And it's really interesting to see the progress there because we are in the process ofbuilding you out a Fair Harbor powered website.
So that's been a really interesting project because your current website has so muchamazing information and it's really great with the historical part highlighting, you know,
the unique missions, the value that your organization brings to our culture, our society.
(25:46):
But how do we combine that in a way that streamlines online bookings?
And so it's been an interesting kind of challenge, I know for on all fronts of how do wetake so much information from two separate websites, three actually, if we include the map
of Denver, what is the Denver Story Track?
(26:06):
Denver Story Track, right.
So three different websites, and then how do we combine that into a single site that staystrue to?
the different missions and then also makes it accessible to book.
Yes, we really handed you a project and it's been fun to explore.
Like I love that we've been talking about this for a long time and it's finally coming tofruition.
(26:29):
So I'm really excited to see the updated website reveal.
Hopefully that's going to be pretty soon here.
One thing I heard you say, Maddie is the word organization, which I
When I was an accountant, I didn't hear a lot.
I didn't work with a ton of nonprofits.
So I'm curious how much that goes into play when you're operationally thinking about, whodo I want to connect with?
(26:55):
Like you said, Visit Denver.
Who do I want to promote with?
maybe the schools.
Well, also, you have to keep the doors open.
We have to keep the lights on.
So I'm just curious, how do you think that may be different than a lot of the listeners?
might be, they, you know, are for profit, very for profit, I would say.
What do you think are the biggest differences in that?
And what do you think are maybe some hoops or obstacles that come with being a nonprofitand running a nonprofit?
(27:24):
So even as a nonprofit, we still have an operating budget.
So we have about a $1.2 million operating budget between the two sides of theorganization.
So I think that we have a lot in common.
with those that are still for profit.
While we're still trying to drive those ticket sales, we still want people to come in thedoor.
It's part of our mission to serve people, especially those in Denver and the surroundingareas.
(27:50):
So really making sure that, especially with this new website, that all of that informationis there and available.
Reaching out to appropriate partners.
As we talked about Visit Denver, that's a great partner in any, I would say in any city ifyou can find your tourism.
department, partner with them.
There's typically a fee, but it's worth it because they'll get your name out there.
(28:12):
That was a great answer.
thank you.
That's awesome.
Is there any mistakes along the way?
know you you've been here since 2020.
Do you have anything that, any lessons you kind of had to learn the hard way that maybeour listeners might find relatable?
Probably.
think the-
I keep coming back to the book online button now.
(28:34):
That was a big one.
So if you don't have that on your website, do it.
And just, guess, being available in any capacity.
Like sometimes I notice on our social media posts that we don't make it very easy forpeople to get to us or to our tickets.
So I think just making anything easier is the path to go.
Even like on-site ticket sales, when we would tell people that we needed to do like thisback end on the Fair Harbor, it's not the dock.
(29:01):
What is it?
The dashboard.
That process takes forever and people get impatient.
So now with the doc, it's a little bit more streamlined, not asking people to scan a QRcode, giving them a little bit more human in the process has been really helpful for us.
Yeah, there are a lot of little logistics that it's really interesting for me to see andwork out the kinks with you because I don't really see that on my end.
(29:25):
I am so focused on the booking software and how do we...
make you more ticket sales, drive more business, but then actually translating that intoyour business in action.
It's just interesting the things that we uncover.
You mentioned making online bookings easier.
(29:45):
And one method of that that you talked about is adding like a call to action on Instagram.
And something like that is really minor, but it makes a huge difference in terms of thoseconversions.
So any opportunity that Tor operators can provide to just streamline that booking processa little more and really put yourselves in the customer's shoes is super beneficial.
(30:10):
So even if it's literally saying book here, that usually makes a big difference.
You know what?
I would love to put Maddie on the spot with a question.
So I know that this is one of your favorite accounts.
If not, it is probably your favorite account.
But what's something that you two have worked on together that has been something reallyvaluable, memorable, or even profitable for Historic Denver?
(30:33):
I think getting docs set up.
I know we've talked about this already, but that was a really cool experience for me.
Historic Denver was actually our very first account at Fair Harbor that adopted this newfeature.
So it was a big deal for me being a part of it.
The fact that you were so open and willing to troubleshoot us along the differentiterations, because we have kind of reformatted the structure of that product and changed
(31:02):
it around a little bit over the past few months.
But you've been really open and that was a really cool experience to kind of from theother side with product talking about the feature for so long and then seeing it actually
in action.
And the fact that
your staff got over the hurdle of adopting the new software, which of course is hard.
(31:25):
Any transition like that is, but now it's been pretty successful for your business.
just seeing the whole course of that was really interesting and cool for me to be a partof.
Well, thank you for letting us be.
I knew we were in the beta testing, but I didn't know that we were like one of the first.
were the first.
Yeah.
So thank you for trusting me and going.
(31:49):
testing out this new system with you.
Absolutely.
And I think a lot of what comes down to making a relationship special for me is that I dofeel there's a lot of trust both ways.
And you're willing to hear out my suggestions, even if they're not super relevant and viceversa.
So I appreciate that.
(32:11):
Now, how long has this building been like
Molly Brown House.
long?
What year was that?
So the home was built in 1889.
They purchased it in 1894.
And then Margaret owned the home up until her death in 1932.
(32:31):
And then in the 1970s when Art Lyson Ring created Historic Denver to save the property.
So I imagine, you know, history typically stays the same.
It's history, right?
So how do you like
get make things like we talked about Instagram.
I don't think there was Instagram in 1970s.
Don't quote me there.
I don't think so.
(32:51):
But how do you keep things like fresh?
How do you not post the same thing over and over again?
And you've also been here while you talked about getting repeat customers.
I think that kind of forms into one question on how are you attracting people to comeback?
How are you attracting people in general when things have probably been the same for awhile?
Just how do you get people to come in when you know, maybe the facts are saying the same,but you're
(33:15):
Are you presenting them a different way?
What's that strategy look like?
So we have two things that we can use to our advantage.
It's the story of the Titanic.
So we're really lucky, not lucky, but that's a big draw.
People typically know what the Titanic is and then the myth of the unsinkable Molly Brownas well.
So those are big draws to the museum.
(33:38):
But it's interesting, history doesn't really stay the same.
We gave a completely
I don't want to say completely inaccurate tour in 1970, but a tour that was based on whatthey knew at the time.
And then today we give a complete tour.
We have learned so much about the Browns and their time here just in the last 50 yearsthat I know it's easy to look at the house and think that we are telling the same story
(34:04):
every day, but we're actually like, Hey, guess what?
We found something new.
One of our volunteers published a new book that really
dove into the family's wealth and that gave us lot of insight into things that we didn'tknow about.
So history is not always changing, but new information is always coming out.
And then when it comes to our social media practices, we have someone great on site who's,she shows behind the scenes, she'll open up a closet that has collections in it and be
(34:34):
like, look behind this messy closet, just kind of giving a more insider view.
that really draws people to come and see the rest of the house.
That's awesome.
And how do you let people know of that new information?
I know we talked about mail, talked about you're updating your website with Fair Harbor,which is incredible.
I didn't know that.
So that's a really fun fact for me.
(34:55):
But you touched earlier about how great or slay, as the kids say, Maddie is withreporting.
And she helps you out with those custom fields.
And then you said a little bit about also utilizing Fair Harbor reporting for emailaddresses.
I'd love to touch on that a little bit.
What strategy do you use for your email marketing?
So I think we use a few different methods.
We have our development manager who's really targeting folks that are already members withus and folks that have signed up to be on our email list.
(35:24):
And then when we get new email addresses through Fair Harbor for daily ticket sales, weadd those typically to those events, email blasts.
But then depending on what event they signed up for, then we do kind of section it out anddecide to target them on, you know, if you attended a cocktail and cool place event with
us around the city, don't you come have a cocktail with us at a 1340 pen on site kind ofevent.
(35:49):
Can I ask what your favorite tour or event that you host is?
Or not that you host, but that the organization puts on.
That is a great question.
I mean, it's a very generic answer.
think a lot of people will give you this is our October Victorian Horrors event.
It's over three weekends.
(36:10):
It's a lot of work, but it's well loved.
We've been doing it for over, this is our 31st year doing it.
So it brings in a lot of that local community that we're looking for, but we definitelychange up the stories each year and make sure to keep it fresh.
But that's definitely my favorite, favorite event.
It's fun.
And the whole thing is spooky.
(36:31):
So we're going to that, Rebecca, right?
Yeah, please.
I want to get Spencer to book our ticket.
Book online.
sure.
Amazing.
Maddie, did you have any other questions?
I guess something that came to mind more about your mission is, so I know Molly Brown wasreally progressive for her time, and she was a suffragette.
(36:57):
She cared a lot about equity and inclusivity even in a time where maybe that was not atthe forefront of a lot of people's minds, especially in that kind of upper society.
So I'm wondering how do you stay true to her mission with the equity and diversity thatthe museum and organization brings and has that changed throughout your time here?
(37:20):
We change our mission, vision, and values.
every five to 10 years and that's something we're kind of in the middle of doing rightnow.
So I don't feel confident enough to talk about where we're at with that, but it's a greatquestion.
So I'm sorry.
No, not at all.
I think it's really important that your organization reevaluates.
(37:41):
Yeah.
And to make sure like you're staying true to the history, but like you mentioned alsouncovering those new facts and staying relevant.
And I know for
The majority of people, like museums, are a really important source of factualinformation.
So like a lot of things can be super divisive, but museums really bring people together.
(38:02):
So it's cool to see you kind of blending like the history and also keeping it modern.
Yeah.
I mean, something I love about the organization is that we don't stay the same.
We are always trying new things.
And I think that's what keeps people coming to us.
Absolutely.
I think.
people change and they want to see new, exciting, relevant info.
(38:26):
But then at the same time, it's really cool for me to come back as an adult and experiencethe museum and see so many things and remember, my gosh, yeah, that's exactly how I
remember it.
So it's a kind of interesting intersection.
All right, well, I'm gonna do the, is chugis still a thing?
Cringe maybe is the right word.
(38:47):
Taylor, I'll have you look at that camera and tell the audience to come visit you herebecause how fun these tours are, how cool Molly Brown is.
So I just plug maybe the website and to come on down.
Come visit Historic Denver's Molly Brown House Museum.
You can get tickets at mollybrown.org, tour the home, tour downtown Denver, or the Danielsand Fisher Clocktower.
(39:11):
Amazing.
Awesome.
Thank you, Taylor, for coming on.
Just letting us come, I just feel like I'm in a time machine.
I feel like I'm in like Miss Frizzle's bus and we just parked outside and I'm like sittingwith Molly Brown right now.
It was amazing to have you on and thank you, Maddie as well for carving out time to sitwith me here today and to the audience, please like, subscribe, rate us well, leave a
(39:35):
comment.
Hopefully if it's nice, I will read it and everyone take care of yourselves and I willtalk to you on the next episode of Grow.
powered by Fair Harbor.
See you next time.
Thanks everyone.
Thanks Taylor.
Thank you guys.
Welcome to Growth powered by Fair Harbor where we explore the strategies behind thrivingtour and activity businesses.
Whether you're just starting out or scaling up, this podcast is packed with insights tohelp you succeed.
Now here's your host, Fair Harbor's Community Manager, Rebecca Cosley.
(00:27):
All right, we are here for a very special episode today of Growth Powered by Fair Harbor.
We have two very special guests.
Once again, on the episode today, we have Maddie from Fair Harbor.
Hello.
Hey.
Hi, Maddie.
And we also have Taylor with Historic Denver.
And we're at the Molly Brown House.
(00:49):
feel like as soon as I walked in, I told Maddie, I feel like I just got transported backin time.
I'm just so excited to be here.
So although I'm on a separate screen, I am actually here.
just really, I'm very passionate about Molly Brown.
So right behind me is actually, this is Margaret here.
Yes.
So she's commonly known as Molly, but she always went by Margaret in her lifetime.
(01:11):
That's the first of many fun facts, I think, that we're going to have in this episode.
Today, we're going to talk about a lot of great things.
Today, we're going to talk about the utilization of Fair Harbor.
We're going to talk a little bit about the history around this property.
And we're also going to get to know Maddie.
Maddie, hello.
How are you doing?
Hi, I'm good.
I'm excited to be here.
I'm excited to have you here, Maddie.
(01:32):
Would you like to tell the audience a little bit about what you do here at Fair Harbor andmaybe a little bit of what you do at the Molly Brown House and their work with Fair
Harbor?
Yeah, for sure.
So I am Molly Brown slash historic Denver's account manager.
So we've been working together over the past two ish, two and a half years.
(01:52):
streamlining various things with their online business and then kind of just touching baseon lots of different topics.
So website, like online conversions, improving sales, events that are coming up, gettingFair Harbor Docs set up, lots of kind of different stuff.
So I have built a relationship with Taylor along with a couple other people at theorganization.
(02:16):
And it's really been a pleasure getting to know everyone and getting to work with them.
a fantastic crew.
Amazing.
And Taylor, will you tell us a little bit about the most beautiful building I think I'veentered in my lifetime, at least in Denver, Colorado, for sure, and about what you do here
and a little bit about your time at Harbor.
From my understanding, been with us for super long time.
(02:38):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So I'm the visitor experience manager here at the museum.
So I oversee all of our admission and ticketing, which is Fair Harbor, and then our storeas well, and all of our part-time staff.
I started with the museum in 2020, which was the craziest time to start a job.
And they had just launched or just started partnering with Fair Harbor, doing really smallonline ticket sales.
(02:59):
And then when I was brought on board, had to really, we put all of our tickets onlinebecause it was the pandemic and we didn't have a choice in that matter.
So we were able, that's kind of what jump started us into all of our ticket sales on FairHarbor, which was really exciting.
That is amazing.
I love hearing people's journeys on Fair Harbor, especially since y'all have been with usfor so long.
And wow, twins, because I also started up Fair Harbor in 2020.
(03:21):
And it was like, it is such an absolute crazy time to like start a job during such a crazytime during the pandemic.
So before you hop in with Maddie, and I'll let y'all talk about your journey on FairHarbor, your journey working with each other, a little bit about Fair Harbor Docs.
I would love to know what have you noticed that has kind of changed since you started.
(03:41):
During a pandemic, everything was crazy.
Travel was very different back then to now.
And maybe what trends you anticipated or didn't anticipate in your time here.
I will say every year that I've been at the museum has been different.
So even though I've been here for over four years, it feels like it's always a new battle.
Not to dwell on the pandemic by any means, but you know.
(04:02):
People were really frustrated in that time.
It was new to buy tickets online.
Things weren't as flexible as they used to be.
So that was a really difficult year for those types of things.
2021, know, we kind of coming out of it.
We started adding more and more things onto Fair Harbor.
People are getting more used to that online.
Can't just walk up things.
So actually it's gotten easier in the last four years, but it's been different everysingle year.
(04:27):
That's good.
Easy is good.
In the world of Fair Harbor, easy is what we want.
So that's good to hear.
And Maddie, I'll really let you take it away.
And we would love to get to know you two and the work you've done together and hear allthe great questions you have in store for us today.
So if we could start by kind of sharing a little more about Historic Denver and then whatyou do as an organization and what kind of tours you provide.
(04:53):
So Historic Denver began in March of 1970.
The Molly Brown House was owned by Art Lyson Ring.
And he needed to sell the home at the time, but it was the 1970s.
It was a height of urban renewal.
He knew that most likely if someone bought this home, it would be demolished and turnedinto a parking lot.
So he created Historic Denver.
(05:14):
It's a historic preservation organization and their first property was the Molly BrownHouse Museum.
So we offer tours at the museum.
have for the last 50 years, we've really shifted in the last five years on how we'veoffered those tours.
So for
I'd say 49 of those years, we only offered guided tours.
We've now switched to self-guided tours and then historic Denver, which is thepreservation side of our organization.
(05:39):
We offer a walking tour throughout the city and we keep adding onto those in differentneighborhoods and different events that we create with different historic buildings.
Very cool.
It's a really full circle moment for me working with you all as an organization and alsobeing here because I remember growing up in Denver as a kid.
(06:00):
coming to Molly Brown House and it's just such a special unique kind of part of our Denverhistory.
So being able to see it now from the operational side is really interesting to me.
And then also just walking around the neighborhood, it's like, that's a historic Denvertour.
It's so cool.
So it's pretty amazing to hear that you've come such a long way since the seventies.
(06:22):
It's, it's really a foundational part of Denver.
Like people know the name and it's just, it's really cool.
So next I would love to know what's one of your favorite stories or facts that you'veuncovered about Denver's history since working at the museum.
So I thought long and hard about this.
(06:43):
So as we're coming up on Halloween, I was just thinking about an exhibit that we had lastyear on the talking board.
not many people really put this together, but Margaret was a spiritualist.
So she would host parties that had plumberators, seances, and most likely talking boardsas well.
So in this talking board exhibit, we talked about the first woman or the woman who namedthe Ouija board.
(07:06):
So for the longest time, they were talking boards.
And then Helen Peters Nasworthy in 1890 asked a talking board what's its name, what itsname is.
And it spelled out Ouija and she asked, what does that mean?
And it said, good luck.
So that's how the Ouija board was named here in Denver.
And then she is also buried here in Denver at the cemetery.
(07:28):
That is such a cool, fun fact.
And we were talking about how the museum has to be haunted and now it's confirmed it'shaunted.
Thanks, Margaret.
I love that.
That is a fun fact.
I think that's the funnest fact I've had so far, for sure.
So you've been with Fair Harbor for quite some time.
(07:48):
Can you describe kind of the
evolution of how you've leveraged Fair Harbor.
I know you started during the pandemic, we touched on that.
So things were obviously very limited and I've only seen the past two and a half years ofyour journey.
So I'm curious how we got to this point with Fair Harbor.
So I'm going to start in 2019.
(08:11):
For the longest time we only offered guided tours.
and you could only come on site to buy those tickets, but we received a lot of feedbackthat people wanted to be able to guarantee their entry time.
We had to turn away a lot of people.
So that's where Fair Harbor first came into play is we offered a think about maybe aquarter of our tickets online just to kind of satisfy that public response.
(08:32):
2020, it was a great tool.
We just threw them all straight online.
And then as we came kind of out of that period, we started adding more of our events ontoFair Harbor.
So our walking tours are on there now.
Our events, we have our annual Halloween event, we have cocktails in cool places, we haveall of those on there.
And then when we started reintroducing our guided tours, those came online and then wejust started doing tours at the clock tower downtown.
(08:59):
And so fortunately, we're able to use Fair Harbor for that.
When I think about systems, they're usually hardwired and it's hard to like go remoteanywhere else.
So being able to use it on site and at the clock tower and
throughout the city, through our walking tours, it's been super helpful.
Cool, that's really interesting.
And a good point to note that you use it kind of in different ways depending on what thetour is, the location.
(09:21):
And that's a great point.
When you say you're using them in different places in different ways, you mean, it likethrough an iPhone?
Is it on an iPad?
In what ways are you utilizing the software in all these different remote places?
I think in every capacity we use computers, our iPads, our phones, all of our walking tourvolunteers, they have it on their phones so they're able to pull up their manifest pretty
(09:43):
easily.
The clock tower I just have was able to throw a new iPad over there and they're able tojust log right on.
So we use it in, I guess, in many different ways.
So walk-up sales and capturing that kind of in-person customer, I know has been
priority for your business as well as a lot of tour operators.
(10:04):
Can you share some effective strategies that you've come up with to maximize thosein-person bookings?
For the longest time we were struggling.
We had all of our tickets up online and then we still had those walk-up tickets.
So we used our point of sale system to sell those tickets, but it was really hard tocommunicate capacity at that point.
(10:25):
So Word of Mouth is a really powerful tool and we talked about how
Historic Denver and Molly Brown House, they're really staple names within the Denvercommunity.
So I'm curious how you leverage that, how you leverage word of mouth to help with yourmarketing efforts and to get more foot traffic and more bookings.
So something that's really unique to us is we really depend on local traffic.
(10:52):
That's what we want to see is we really want to serve the people in our neighborhood, butwe are a tourist attraction.
And I realized that
For a lot of other businesses and tour attractions, they're really looking for thosetourists, but for us, we're looking for both.
So we really try to achieve 50 % served for the seven SCFD counties here in Colorado, andthen 50 % tourist.
(11:15):
So when it comes to our marketing for tourists, we partner with things like Visit Denver.
They really push us out into that community.
But then for this local engagement that we're looking for.
We reach out to different libraries.
We offer free passes through our libraries, which has also been a big part of Fair Harbor,like kind of streamlining those tickets sales or reserving free tickets.
(11:40):
We do a lot of outreach in schools throughout the community.
So that's how we get a lot of our younger audiences in the museum.
And then Historic Denver, the preservation side of things.
They're the ones that are out in the community.
They're helping people with their historic structures.
neighborhoods that may be underserved, things like that.
(12:01):
It's really interesting to hear how you have so many different kind of niches anddifferent paths for those marketing efforts.
I'm wondering, is it ever hard to balance the different parts of the business where youwant to drive traffic from like the local school children, that type of thing, versus the
tourists?
Like, do you find it difficult to navigate both fronts of that?
(12:24):
I think it can be difficult, but we really try to
We're a small organization and we all wear multiple hats and we really, we've been quotedas punching above our weight.
So we really try to go above and beyond.
So yes, I think sometimes it can be overwhelming, but in the end it's worth it.
And I can attest to that.
You do go above and beyond.
And it's really cool for me as your account manager to see that.
(12:47):
And in all of our conversations, I feel like you and the other members of the organizationreally come to the table with fresh ideas and
You're always looking for a new opportunity to grow and to challenge yourselves, which isreally cool.
And it keeps it fresh for the community too.
So I see kind of benefit on a lot of different angles with that attitude.
(13:12):
that, how do you know what's working?
So there's a lot of operators that lean on like visit insert city and a lot of them havehad to work really hard to get that kind of partnership.
So good on you guys for getting that.
How do you attribute to what's working when targeting these different audiences?
Is Google Analytics?
Are you running a certain report in the dashboard?
(13:34):
What does that kind of look like?
I'll tell you that I really need to really understand Google Analytics, but right now I'mreally relying on the reports in Fair Harbor.
So we do do a lot of gut checking, which I think is good and bad at some points.
So we all receive the notifications in our emails when anything gets booked.
Which can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when we're really busy, but it reallykeeps us in check of like, if we're actually busy or not, but then at the end of the day
(14:01):
running reports.
I keep a massive spreadsheet that just I keep adding to every day of different, whataudiences were serving, what tours they were on, where they're visiting us from, things
like that.
So I guess I really take those raw reports from Fair Harbor, which I know they can be moredetailed.
That's on me for not learning more.
(14:22):
And thanks to Maddie, honestly.
Sorry, I'm going to segue into something else.
I had to run an address report the other day and I really messed up some custom fields.
But Maddie pulled that report together for me and I couldn't be more grateful.
So I really rely on those for multiple things, not just tracking our audience, but alsocollecting important contact information.
Yeah, it's really fun for me to work with you and figure out solutions.
(14:46):
it's funny because we look at the book form and seeing all the separate custom fields, itdoesn't seem like a problem.
but then to actually extrapolate that information and use it for marketing purposes orwhatever else you need to do with the customer contact info, then that's where it gets
tricky.
by, yeah, so we condensed everything into a single custom field and that's just kind ofanother way that we're working to streamline things.
(15:12):
So hopefully that will be helpful going forward with those reports.
Yes, I know I reached out to you guys for a lot of odd requests, not odd, but.
you know, we're looking for these mailing addresses, which people, don't think a lot ofpeople do a lot of mailers anymore, but you guys are always willing to work with me on
those.
Not so asked for requests.
(15:33):
What do you know?
Is that an advertising campaign you do with the mailers?
How are those going?
I'm so intrigued by mailers because I don't hear about them a lot.
How is that going?
I mean, they work really well for us.
We send them out typically in February and kind of announce all of our events for theyear.
And then we'll send another one out.
this week actually that announces all of our Halloween events.
(15:54):
So we have a whole special month for those.
And do you send it just to like past participants from Colorado or is it national?
How do you manage?
Because you have a big volume of customers who come.
So we made the decision to only collect mailing addresses from those that participated inpast events because if we collected mailing addresses for everybody that came to the
(16:17):
museum,
we wouldn't have any money left to send out mailers to every household that comes to us.
That makes sense.
And probably with those events, they're more specialized interests.
So you might get more engagement versus just mass sending flyers to anyone who visits themuseum.
So we talked about this a little bit previously, but you and I have worked pretty closelyover the past, I would say, six months getting Fair Harbor Dock set up.
(16:45):
to kind of streamline how you're managing those in-person sales.
So I know previously you were using a different system to capture those in-person sales,and then I'm curious about the process of bringing that onto Fair Harbor.
I'll be honest, it was a little bit of a process for me in training my staff.
Sometimes, and I say this in a loving way, it's hard to get my staff to change their ways.
(17:09):
We got into such a rhythm between balancing those online bookings.
and then those in-person sales.
And so when I was like, well, here's this tool that does both of them for you, it was kindof a shock, a good shock, but it's taken us a while to get used to it.
But it's allowed us to create, I've actually separated our registers.
So we have a register in the front of our store and the back of our store.
(17:32):
And now that we have Fair Harbor Dock, we can see actual live ticket sales between the tworegisters, which has been really helpful.
So I've seen an increase in ticket sales and our store sales by separating.
those registers.
Very cool.
So that's interesting how you've separated it out and then also managed to grow both sidesof the business.
(17:54):
Was that surprising to you or is that what you were expecting to happen when youtransition on to DOC?
My intention definitely was to to grow store sales for sure.
When you have people in multiple places, people don't have to seek you out.
And so I think that also I didn't expect it to, but it did play into those tickets aswell.
They didn't have to wait.
and what seemed like a really long line, there was somebody that was readily available onthe back of the store.
(18:18):
Yeah, cool.
And just for some more context, you're using staff mode.
So it streamlines those in-person sales to make it faster and avoid those long queues.
Fair Harbor Doc is a new feature that we recently released.
The whole purpose of this is to maximize and streamline in-person ticketing.
(18:41):
So rather than staff having to go through the usual dashboard process, using Doc, it'smore streamlined.
The custom fields are bigger, clearer, and it just takes out the unnecessary information.
So for businesses that get a lot of walk-up traffic, it's really helpful in terms ofspeeding up those individual bookings.
(19:05):
And there are a couple different modes.
There is staff mode, where
In your case, Molly Brown's staff is behind the register taking those ticket sales, butjust doing it faster than the normal dashboard.
And the other mode is called kiosk mode, where you can put up an iPad on a stand actually,and customers can fully just book themselves.
(19:28):
So kind of depending on the business, there are different, you know, benefits to eachmethod.
So your events have a lot of variety, which is really cool to see.
the business itself, you have the museum, you have the walking tours.
But in addition to that, you're always kind of on the lookout for new fresh avenues andnew ideas, which makes my job really fun.
(19:51):
But I'm wondering what is your kind of strategy behind finding relevant new engagingcontent for your customers?
That's a great question.
We have a great team of people who run all of our events.
I will say that I'm someone that's more on the back end.
I really enjoy the back end of Fair Harbor.
So I'm always there to be like, I can build your, your tickets.
(20:13):
But I really have to give credit to my team of event planners, I guess.
We usually plan our events at least a year or two in advance.
We try to pick a theme for the year.
So whenever there's big anniversaries coming up.
last summer we focused on the World's Fair.
The Browns attended that in 18.
(20:36):
my goodness.
189, I'm not going to try to fact check it.
I don't want to be wrong because we just had it.
2023 would be 1893, the 1893 World's Fair.
So a lot of our programs were based on the World's Fair.
For example, one of our events, had Pabst Blue Ribbon, Vienna sausage, double mint gum,and just talked about the history of the things that came out of that World's Fair.
(21:01):
And in 2020, we had the women's suffrage exhibit.
So all of our events or planned events were really around the women's suffrage movementand the passing of the 19th amendment.
So we really take the time to figure out what things we want for the year and how thosealso tie into our mission, vision, and values.
Very cool.
Thank you.
(21:21):
So you did mention that you're really interested in the back end of the dashboard.
What tools or features have you found most beneficial?
And I'm also curious, because I love that you and your staff go in and do things and makeupdates yourselves.
It's awesome to see.
So what do you find the most helpful and what are things that you find yourself reachingout to Fair Harbor for more help with?
(21:46):
I definitely reach out to you, but I am just somebody who hates bothering people.
So all of the tutorials on Fair Harbor are ridiculously easy to use.
They're step by step and I'm able to figure out almost everything, which is reallyexciting.
So I'm really grateful for that.
But if I can't get to it, I definitely reach out to you.
But again, feel terrible bothering people.
(22:06):
That's just my trait.
What's your sign?
I'm a cat for corn.
okay.
And I'm a Leo Virgo cusp.
Maddie, I'm scared of you when you know the cusps.
I know I'm not.
I can't mess with that person.
Like they know too much.
They know too much if they know all of that.
(22:28):
just know.
No, but it is our job as account managers to support your business and answer those kindhigher level questions that maybe you don't want to figure out or just take too much time
or whatever.
So you never have to feel bad about reaching out.
I love your questions and working together.
Well, I definitely feel that.
(22:48):
And like I said in the previous example of you helping me pull that report the other day,I...
I tried three times to figure out how to do it and I was like, this is time sensitive.
I have to get these mailers out now.
So I was like, I have to ask Maddie and you turned it around in like five hours.
it was amazing.
Good.
And yeah, our help center is a super helpful resource.
(23:09):
I use it all the time too.
We have basically help docs for any topic that you need.
So I'm glad to hear that you found those useful.
I'm really interested with the events that you plan and
They're very different.
Obviously, the experiences are different.
So the photos will be different.
The listings will be different.
(23:30):
How do you use Fair Harbor, and I'm assuming booking flows and integrations, to make sureon your website, whoever is looking for something fun to do gets to where they need to go?
And do you adjust those listings at all?
Like, for example, Denver is so beautiful in the fall.
and the leaves are changing, especially around Molly Brown House.
(23:51):
It's so beautiful out there with all the foliage.
Do you update those photos within Fair Harbor?
How specific do you get in that integration process with our software and your website?
So I have to first say, Maddie and I had a meeting, I think it was a couple of years agonow, and we're just kind of looking at, we looked at the website.
And the first thing that everyone pointed out to us is that we didn't have a book onlinenow button anywhere.
(24:16):
One crayon.
Our CEO actually pointed that one out.
Thanks, Andrea.
So that was super helpful.
So now we have a book online button now on every single page.
So that drives people right exactly to where they need to go.
So it was just one of the silliest things that we were like, my gosh, how did you not?
But then we do utilize booking flows all over the website.
So we have two, right now we have two different websites in historic Denver.
(24:38):
They really focus on our walking tours, those new clock tower tours, things like that.
And then we adjust the booking flows depending on really what we're trying to push.
And then on the Molly Brown side, we have a bigger advantage because we have more trafficgoing to that website.
So our big book online button now, that's the one that really sells what we're reallytrying to push.
(24:59):
So our upcoming October and fall events or our clock tower events are brand new.
So we're like, need them front and center.
I remember when we kind of first started looking at the website and it's interestingbecause this has been a topic that we've been talking about for two
probably two years, two and a half years since we first started working together.
(25:20):
And it's really interesting to see the progress there because we are in the process ofbuilding you out a Fair Harbor powered website.
So that's been a really interesting project because your current website has so muchamazing information and it's really great with the historical part highlighting, you know,
the unique missions, the value that your organization brings to our culture, our society.
(25:46):
But how do we combine that in a way that streamlines online bookings?
And so it's been an interesting kind of challenge, I know for on all fronts of how do wetake so much information from two separate websites, three actually, if we include the map
of Denver, what is the Denver Story Track?
(26:06):
Denver Story Track, right.
So three different websites, and then how do we combine that into a single site that staystrue to?
the different missions and then also makes it accessible to book.
Yes, we really handed you a project and it's been fun to explore.
Like I love that we've been talking about this for a long time and it's finally coming tofruition.
(26:29):
So I'm really excited to see the updated website reveal.
Hopefully that's going to be pretty soon here.
One thing I heard you say, Maddie is the word organization, which I
When I was an accountant, I didn't hear a lot.
I didn't work with a ton of nonprofits.
So I'm curious how much that goes into play when you're operationally thinking about, whodo I want to connect with?
(26:55):
Like you said, Visit Denver.
Who do I want to promote with?
maybe the schools.
Well, also, you have to keep the doors open.
We have to keep the lights on.
So I'm just curious, how do you think that may be different than a lot of the listeners?
might be, they, you know, are for profit, very for profit, I would say.
What do you think are the biggest differences in that?
And what do you think are maybe some hoops or obstacles that come with being a nonprofitand running a nonprofit?
(27:24):
So even as a nonprofit, we still have an operating budget.
So we have about a $1.2 million operating budget between the two sides of theorganization.
So I think that we have a lot in common.
with those that are still for profit.
While we're still trying to drive those ticket sales, we still want people to come in thedoor.
It's part of our mission to serve people, especially those in Denver and the surroundingareas.
(27:50):
So really making sure that, especially with this new website, that all of that informationis there and available.
Reaching out to appropriate partners.
As we talked about Visit Denver, that's a great partner in any, I would say in any city ifyou can find your tourism.
department, partner with them.
There's typically a fee, but it's worth it because they'll get your name out there.
(28:12):
That was a great answer.
thank you.
That's awesome.
Is there any mistakes along the way?
know you you've been here since 2020.
Do you have anything that, any lessons you kind of had to learn the hard way that maybeour listeners might find relatable?
Probably.
think the-
I keep coming back to the book online button now.
(28:34):
That was a big one.
So if you don't have that on your website, do it.
And just, guess, being available in any capacity.
Like sometimes I notice on our social media posts that we don't make it very easy forpeople to get to us or to our tickets.
So I think just making anything easier is the path to go.
Even like on-site ticket sales, when we would tell people that we needed to do like thisback end on the Fair Harbor, it's not the dock.
(29:01):
What is it?
The dashboard.
That process takes forever and people get impatient.
So now with the doc, it's a little bit more streamlined, not asking people to scan a QRcode, giving them a little bit more human in the process has been really helpful for us.
Yeah, there are a lot of little logistics that it's really interesting for me to see andwork out the kinks with you because I don't really see that on my end.
(29:25):
I am so focused on the booking software and how do we...
make you more ticket sales, drive more business, but then actually translating that intoyour business in action.
It's just interesting the things that we uncover.
You mentioned making online bookings easier.
(29:45):
And one method of that that you talked about is adding like a call to action on Instagram.
And something like that is really minor, but it makes a huge difference in terms of thoseconversions.
So any opportunity that Tor operators can provide to just streamline that booking processa little more and really put yourselves in the customer's shoes is super beneficial.
(30:10):
So even if it's literally saying book here, that usually makes a big difference.
You know what?
I would love to put Maddie on the spot with a question.
So I know that this is one of your favorite accounts.
If not, it is probably your favorite account.
But what's something that you two have worked on together that has been something reallyvaluable, memorable, or even profitable for Historic Denver?
(30:33):
I think getting docs set up.
I know we've talked about this already, but that was a really cool experience for me.
Historic Denver was actually our very first account at Fair Harbor that adopted this newfeature.
So it was a big deal for me being a part of it.
The fact that you were so open and willing to troubleshoot us along the differentiterations, because we have kind of reformatted the structure of that product and changed
(31:02):
it around a little bit over the past few months.
But you've been really open and that was a really cool experience to kind of from theother side with product talking about the feature for so long and then seeing it actually
in action.
And the fact that
your staff got over the hurdle of adopting the new software, which of course is hard.
(31:25):
Any transition like that is, but now it's been pretty successful for your business.
just seeing the whole course of that was really interesting and cool for me to be a partof.
Well, thank you for letting us be.
I knew we were in the beta testing, but I didn't know that we were like one of the first.
were the first.
Yeah.
So thank you for trusting me and going.
(31:49):
testing out this new system with you.
Absolutely.
And I think a lot of what comes down to making a relationship special for me is that I dofeel there's a lot of trust both ways.
And you're willing to hear out my suggestions, even if they're not super relevant and viceversa.
So I appreciate that.
(32:11):
Now, how long has this building been like
Molly Brown House.
long?
What year was that?
So the home was built in 1889.
They purchased it in 1894.
And then Margaret owned the home up until her death in 1932.
(32:31):
And then in the 1970s when Art Lyson Ring created Historic Denver to save the property.
So I imagine, you know, history typically stays the same.
It's history, right?
So how do you like
get make things like we talked about Instagram.
I don't think there was Instagram in 1970s.
Don't quote me there.
I don't think so.
(32:51):
But how do you keep things like fresh?
How do you not post the same thing over and over again?
And you've also been here while you talked about getting repeat customers.
I think that kind of forms into one question on how are you attracting people to comeback?
How are you attracting people in general when things have probably been the same for awhile?
Just how do you get people to come in when you know, maybe the facts are saying the same,but you're
(33:15):
Are you presenting them a different way?
What's that strategy look like?
So we have two things that we can use to our advantage.
It's the story of the Titanic.
So we're really lucky, not lucky, but that's a big draw.
People typically know what the Titanic is and then the myth of the unsinkable Molly Brownas well.
So those are big draws to the museum.
(33:38):
But it's interesting, history doesn't really stay the same.
We gave a completely
I don't want to say completely inaccurate tour in 1970, but a tour that was based on whatthey knew at the time.
And then today we give a complete tour.
We have learned so much about the Browns and their time here just in the last 50 yearsthat I know it's easy to look at the house and think that we are telling the same story
(34:04):
every day, but we're actually like, Hey, guess what?
We found something new.
One of our volunteers published a new book that really
dove into the family's wealth and that gave us lot of insight into things that we didn'tknow about.
So history is not always changing, but new information is always coming out.
And then when it comes to our social media practices, we have someone great on site who's,she shows behind the scenes, she'll open up a closet that has collections in it and be
(34:34):
like, look behind this messy closet, just kind of giving a more insider view.
that really draws people to come and see the rest of the house.
That's awesome.
And how do you let people know of that new information?
I know we talked about mail, talked about you're updating your website with Fair Harbor,which is incredible.
I didn't know that.
So that's a really fun fact for me.
(34:55):
But you touched earlier about how great or slay, as the kids say, Maddie is withreporting.
And she helps you out with those custom fields.
And then you said a little bit about also utilizing Fair Harbor reporting for emailaddresses.
I'd love to touch on that a little bit.
What strategy do you use for your email marketing?
So I think we use a few different methods.
We have our development manager who's really targeting folks that are already members withus and folks that have signed up to be on our email list.
(35:24):
And then when we get new email addresses through Fair Harbor for daily ticket sales, weadd those typically to those events, email blasts.
But then depending on what event they signed up for, then we do kind of section it out anddecide to target them on, you know, if you attended a cocktail and cool place event with
us around the city, don't you come have a cocktail with us at a 1340 pen on site kind ofevent.
(35:49):
Can I ask what your favorite tour or event that you host is?
Or not that you host, but that the organization puts on.
That is a great question.
I mean, it's a very generic answer.
think a lot of people will give you this is our October Victorian Horrors event.
It's over three weekends.
(36:10):
It's a lot of work, but it's well loved.
We've been doing it for over, this is our 31st year doing it.
So it brings in a lot of that local community that we're looking for, but we definitelychange up the stories each year and make sure to keep it fresh.
But that's definitely my favorite, favorite event.
It's fun.
And the whole thing is spooky.
(36:31):
So we're going to that, Rebecca, right?
Yeah, please.
I want to get Spencer to book our ticket.
Book online.
sure.
Amazing.
Maddie, did you have any other questions?
I guess something that came to mind more about your mission is, so I know Molly Brown wasreally progressive for her time, and she was a suffragette.
(36:57):
She cared a lot about equity and inclusivity even in a time where maybe that was not atthe forefront of a lot of people's minds, especially in that kind of upper society.
So I'm wondering how do you stay true to her mission with the equity and diversity thatthe museum and organization brings and has that changed throughout your time here?
(37:20):
We change our mission, vision, and values.
every five to 10 years and that's something we're kind of in the middle of doing rightnow.
So I don't feel confident enough to talk about where we're at with that, but it's a greatquestion.
So I'm sorry.
No, not at all.
I think it's really important that your organization reevaluates.
(37:41):
Yeah.
And to make sure like you're staying true to the history, but like you mentioned alsouncovering those new facts and staying relevant.
And I know for
The majority of people, like museums, are a really important source of factualinformation.
So like a lot of things can be super divisive, but museums really bring people together.
(38:02):
So it's cool to see you kind of blending like the history and also keeping it modern.
Yeah.
I mean, something I love about the organization is that we don't stay the same.
We are always trying new things.
And I think that's what keeps people coming to us.
Absolutely.
I think.
people change and they want to see new, exciting, relevant info.
(38:26):
But then at the same time, it's really cool for me to come back as an adult and experiencethe museum and see so many things and remember, my gosh, yeah, that's exactly how I
remember it.
So it's a kind of interesting intersection.
All right, well, I'm gonna do the, is chugis still a thing?
Cringe maybe is the right word.
(38:47):
Taylor, I'll have you look at that camera and tell the audience to come visit you herebecause how fun these tours are, how cool Molly Brown is.
So I just plug maybe the website and to come on down.
Come visit Historic Denver's Molly Brown House Museum.
You can get tickets at mollybrown.org, tour the home, tour downtown Denver, or the Danielsand Fisher Clocktower.
(39:11):
Amazing.
Awesome.
Thank you, Taylor, for coming on.
Just letting us come, I just feel like I'm in a time machine.
I feel like I'm in like Miss Frizzle's bus and we just parked outside and I'm like sittingwith Molly Brown right now.
It was amazing to have you on and thank you, Maddie as well for carving out time to sitwith me here today and to the audience, please like, subscribe, rate us well, leave a
(39:35):
comment.
Hopefully if it's nice, I will read it and everyone take care of yourselves and I willtalk to you on the next episode of Grow.
powered by Fair Harbor.
See you next time.
Thanks everyone.
Thanks Taylor.
Thank you guys.
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