Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area hosted a Pokémon Go workshop to explore engagement at historic sites that took place at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in October 2016 and collaboratively examined how museums, parks, and historic sites can leverage the popular game to bring in new (and potentially, younger) visitors.
Click this image to watch coverage of the workshop from WHAG News.
Participating in the workshop was the National Park Service, Visit Frederick, Preservation Maryland, and several historic sites. Rangers for the National Park Service stationed at the National Mall play during the day, and that visibility helps to encourage visitors around them to join in the game, too. Some of the discussion focused on weather Pokémon Go is here-to-stay or a cultural fad, but while it is still a popular game, heritage and cultural sites may want to take advantage of the phenomenon.
Preservation Maryland’s Ben Israel, who participated in the workshop, recently wrote a how-to guide on how to use Pokémon Go to attract and engages visitors of all-ages to historic sites and Main Street communities with the game. You can read that guide and follow links through to additional resources here: presmd.org/pokemon.