Party at the ROM | If you’ve ever been on Toronto’s Red Rocket, you know where our Royal Ontario Museum is. It’s that super elaborate stop with Pharaohs and totem poles for support beams. It’s that station that any good tour guide with complain about what that money could have bought. But, I’ll give the ROM this one – they know how to throw a party.
Exhibits Worth Drinking To | First of all, I’m glad we bought our tickets online. Last Friday night wasn’t exactly what I’d call a toasty warm one. On first arrival, the sheer length of the line snaking out and around the oddly shaped building was almost enough to send me on my way. So thank you to the kind person who saw my ticket in hand and guided me towards to express line. No matter how many times you walk into the ROM much like a TARDIS, it still surprises you how spacious it is on the inside. Bright neon lights illuminate those doing a pre-museum stretch on what I believe was the dance floor. To say the DJ looked misplaced was an understatement. Perhaps its that museum solemnity that makes dancing so hard. Had the bass not been thumping so violently, we might have been able to hear the minute long Austin Power clip that was projected on loop.
The Real Experience | On first hearing about a clubbing event at the museum, I didn’t see the strategy behind the move. General perceptions around museums define them a places of education and learning, so how does a tall-boy and a lobster roll fit in? My friends and I spent the first half hour on the main floor, by the DJ and the drinks, but as the night progressed we began looking at the exhibits and features. For the first time in my life, I was having enlightening and active discussions around history and ancient civilizations in a way that only an alcohol precursor could explain.
Marketing History | The ROM is right to want to appeal to an audience outside of history majors, and elementary field trips. And my Friday night at the ROM reinvigorated my desire to learn about history in a really social setting. If museums are going to survive in the age of Wikipedia, they have to provide something my Macbook with a Wifi connection can’t. ♣
