Lincoln Presidential Museum wins 2008 EXPY Award

[October 08, 2008]  SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield institution dedicated to the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln has been named the top visitor experience of the year by a national organization that challenges museums to meet consumer demands.

Strategic Horizons presented its 2008 EXPY Award to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum on Sept. 25 during the organization's annual "thinkAbout" conference in Las Vegas. The EXPY, or Experience Stager of the Year, Award was presented to the museum for the creativity and authenticity that combine to make its visitor experience "a new zenith" in the museum world.

Strategic Horizons LLP of Aurora, Ohio, was founded by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, co-authors of "The Experience Economy" and the new book "Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want." The latter publication made Time Magazine's list of "Ten Ideas that are Changing the World." Pine and Gilmore argue that museums must learn to "get real." They must present authentic experiences to ever-more-savvy consumers who desire "memorable events that engage them in an inherently personal way." During a recent visit, Pine and Gilmore discovered that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum "brings it all together" with its combination of cutting-edge presentations and historical detail.

"The EXPY Award is another confirmation of what more than 1.7 million visitors have been saying since we opened in April 2005 -- that we've 'gotten it right' at the Lincoln Presidential Museum," said Rick Beard, executive director of the presidential library and museum.

The EXPY is just the latest award garnered by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. The institution received a THEA Award from the Themed Entertainment Association in 2007 for outstanding achievement in themed entertainment. It also received the Award of Achievement from the Lincoln Group of New York in 2006. The library and museum complex has also been honored for its design and construction by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers; American Council of Engineering Companies and the Illinois Engineering Council.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is open daily in downtown Springfield.

For more information, visit www.presidentlincoln.org.

[Text from Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum file received from the Illinois Office of Communication and Information]