1. Bacon’s Castle
Cultural Resources Management
Internship 2013
Andrea Williams

2. Internship Projects
 Marketing
• Transient visitation
development
• Social media
• Community marketing efforts
 Daily Museum Operations
• Guided tours and register
operations
• Special events
• Merchandising
• Paperwork and guest survey
analysis
 Historic Preservation &
Site Improvement
• Restoration of cast-iron railing
• Norton grape vine training
• Maintained site grounds after
storms

3. Transient Visitation Development
 Established 25 new business contacts through direct calling
and e-mailing
 Initiated 25 cross-promotional exchanges between historic
sites, hotels, B&Bs, and visitor centers in the
Williamsburg, Hampton Roads and Charles City regions
 Distributed over 2,550 Bacon’s Castle rack cards in the state of
Virginia

4. Social Media Marketing
 Facebook pay per click campaigns
• Campaign to generate special event
registration
• Reached 104,898 people for a total of 68
clicks
• Generated four event responses on facebook
• Campaign to increase number of
Bacon’s Castle facebook page likes
• Reached 15,488 people for a total of 122
page over a one month period
 Community calendar listings
• Updated seven electronic community
calendars with Bacon’s Castle special
events

5. Community Marketing
 Promoted Bacon’s Castle visitation and special events at
three farmer’s markets or festivals
 Offered special admission prices with rack cards
• Williamsburg Market
• 35 rack cards distributed, 6 guests redeemed
• Smithfield Market
• 28 rack cards distributed, 6 guests redeemed
• Pork, Peanut & Pine Festival
• 91 rack cards distributed, 19 guests redeemed

6. Experience Gained from Marketing
 Developed skills in product development and advertising
 Navigated regional travel, tourism, and hospitality
networks
 Observed the crucial role tourism plays in economic
development
 Increased comfort making sales calls and establishing
business partnerships for cross-promotion

7. Restoration of Cast-Iron Railing
 Project goal: stabilize the metal entrance railing by
removing and preventing rust
 Process:
• Removed rust and peeling paint with a rotating metal
brush
• Primed railing using KemKromik for the prevention of
future rust and decay
• Applied black paint to restore appearance after thirty
years of exposure
 Total time dedicated to the railing project: 68 hours

8. Before…

9. During…

10. Finished Product

11. Limb Removal and Vine Training
 Removed oak tree limbs from the grounds after a heavy
storm
 Trained Norton grape vines into two-trunk, four-arm
kniffins for optimal growth, eventually to produce a
Bacon’s Castle label wine

12. Experience Gained from
Site Improvement
 Increased knowledge
and appreciation of
historic preservation
techniques
 Gained understanding of
how site maintenance
affects visitor experience
and museum operations

13. Guided Tours
 Gave an average of six
tours per weekend for a
total of seventy-two guided
tours
Provided tours for
weekend visitors, academic
programs, and scheduled
group events

14. Special Events
 Facilitated guests during the Historic Gardening Symposium and
the Seventeenth-Century Domestic Material Culture Symposium
 Generated 30% of total attendance for the Domestic Material
Culture Symposium through social media advertising
 Solicited nine potential speakers for the Nat Turner Symposium

15. Guest Survey Data
 Entered data from 135 guest surveys collected from July –
December 2012
 Analyzed why visitors toured Bacon’s Castle, what interested
them most, how they heard of the site, and their future
expectations
 Guest data analysis will be used in interest-based
marketing strategies for visitor appeal and site exposure

16. Experience Gained from Daily Operations
 Improved public speaking ability
and customer service skills
 Built confidence in contacting
guest speakers and generated
ideas for increased revenue and
visitation outside normal
operations
 Provided insight on visitor
expectations at historic sites, as
well as how to target marketing
toward different demographics
 Gained experience with widely
applicable business practices

17. Impact and Legacy
 Marketing efforts resulted in a 46% growth in
visitation in 2013 compared to the same period in 2012
 As an example:
• Compared to the same month in 2012, June 2013
experienced a 54% increase in site visitation, a 75%
increase in site revenue, and a 12% increase in per
guest spend
 Increased marketing efforts will help preserve and
promote Bacon’s Castle by sharing its international
reputation

18. Thank you to the Bacon’s Castle staff and
volunteers for a wonderful three months! The
CRM internship was the best preparation for a
career in historic sites and small museums I
could have asked for.