Skip to main content
COMMUNITY:
Formative

Volunteers: exploring their impact on the zoo guest experience

September 20, 2014 | Public Programs
Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) has more than 700 active adult and teen volunteers, the majority of whom spend much of their time speaking with guests out on grounds. Despite the thousands of contacts volunteers have with guests every year information about these interactions has so far been limited to measuring the frequency of these interactions and how they rate along a few customer service variables, such as friendliness and availability. In addition, many of these past measurements have grouped staff and volunteer engagements together, making it challenging to understand the role that volunteers play in the zoo experience. In the summer of 2014 the Audience Research and the Volunteer team decided to conduct a study to quantify the percent of guests that speak with volunteers compared to staff members, to improve WPZ's understanding about the nature of these guest-volunteer interactions and most importantly to explore how these interactions impact the guests’ experience at the zoo.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • 2015 07 31 Mary with a tuatara
    Contact
    Woodland Park Zoo
  • Citation

    Resource Type: Evaluation Reports
    Discipline: Ecology, forestry, and agriculture | Life science
    Audience: Youth/Teen (up to 17) | Adults | General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Public Programs | Aquarium and Zoo Programs

    If you would like to edit a resource, please email us to submit your request.