I was reading the tributes to Edmund Capon AM OBE, director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales for 33 years from 1978 to 2011, upon his passing recently. Wayne Tunnicliffe, head curator of Australian art recalled that:
Edmund’s achievements over his 33-year tenure are readily quantified and even he would admit occasionally that statistics can be useful. They include lifting Gallery admissions from 329,000 in 1978 to more than 1.3 million in 2010, an increase which came from his commitment to making great art available to all. This led to a vigorous resistance to government pressure to reintroduce admission charges in 1991… ‘I have proved 199 times that we make more money by letting people in free and charging them to get out – by always having paying shows, two restaurants and a book shop.’
Edmund certainly showed a rare understanding of the way to increase the average value of a sale. Not charging admittance but then making sure patrons were tempted by paying shows, two restaurants and a book shop on the way out certainly demonstrates a savvy, and maybe unusual for the arts sector, appreciation of the ways to maximise the value of a customer.
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