Bryan Blaney Email & Phone Number

East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States

Corona, Ny

I led the museum’s data-driven audience development efforts and the oversight of visitor experience, including group sales, general sales, parking, membership, gift shop, café, and ancillary attractions, with the goal of growing revenue. I developed a Customer Service Framework, establishing gold standards in quality and staff expectations for engaging with the science center's diverse constituencies. I leveraged business data, market research, and industry knowledge to forecast revenue for various business areas. This was shared and integrated throughout the organization to inform planning, operations, marketing, and fundraising strategies. NYSCI was still suffering the impacts of the pandemic and catastrophic damage from Hurricane Ida. I was tasked with rebuilding our overall visitation and maximizing revenue opportunities, especially with school groups.I oversaw the planning and execution of the seasonal program SciSkate to enhance visitor experience and increase ancillary revenue and lead the weekly Cross-Department Operations Meeting in an effort to streamline workflows across the organization.OUTCOMES:1. Brought school visitation back to 98% of pre-pandemic levels for academic year 2022 – 2023.2. Identified over $200K in missed revenue opportunities in my first year with the organization and took corrective action to recoup losses and made operational changes to capitalize on future revenue opportunities.3. SciSkate experience earned $111K in new ancillary income in winter 2022 – 2023.

Jersey City, New Jersey

It was essential that we imparted the Center’s vision and strategic direction to employees at every level and align their work with the institution's high-level objectives.I worked closely with the Chief People Officer (CPO) to reinforce a forward-thinking company culture that embraced creativity and encouraged innovation. Taking risks contributed to a large part of the Center’s programming and special projects. I supervised all of the front-facing operations: exhibit experiences, safety and security, food service, customer service, volunteers, and guest programs as well as box office retail and call Center sales and progress reporting.Additionally, I collaborated with CFO and the VP of Marketing to create revenue models for fee-based experiences and budget projections regarding attendance.Our minimum wage compensation planning wasn’t competitive; nor was it enough to attract top talent.It left our guest operations discordant because it lacked effective protocols and processes that would have standardized the work; then, if someone new were to come in, they couldn’t hit the ground running.Issues around the box office, sales, exhibit, and security teams all possessed different standards—different levels of institutional knowledge. From a quality control perspective, the Center lacked an established and universal standard of service and performance evaluations, and there were issues with managers who lacked the training and infrastructure to be successful.To turn this around I mentored the guest operations directors to improve efficiencies, productivity, and increase collaboration. I also devised compensation-planning models and established professional development and career growth opportunities, which incentivized current and new hires.OUTCOMES:1. Raised efficiencies and increased collaboration.2. Ensured long-term compliance with changing minimum wage laws.3. Generated higher job satisfaction and retention and lowered attrition.

Jersey City, New Jersey

I was promoted to Senior Director having outgrown the former position. This job was essentially created so that I could formally take a leadership position and raise the bar on my previous job responsibilities filling a void at the senior leadership level.My charter was to lead the leaders and establish a shared vision of the high-level business objectives and workflow among the directors. I managed the organization’s largest business unit to ensure a world-class museum experience in a safe, friendly environment. My direct reports were the Directors of the Guest Engagement, Public Programs, and Volunteer Development Departments, and third-party food service provider.One of my proudest achievements was overseeing the opening of the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, previously the nation’s largest IMAX Dome Theater.To engage our community in building our annual and long-term programming, I established connections with local universities, technology companies, and professional societies to showcase their work at the Center.I established and led an institution-wide directors’ council to increase efficiencies and engage in collaborative problem solving. I partnered with the president and CEO to create engagement opportunities for the Board of Trustees to leverage their expertise and company resources. These activities enhanced the guest experience and streamlined operations.I worked with Human Resources to implement new institution-wide hiring, training, and performance management practices. We also overhauled part-time employee compensation and benefits to be more competitive and attractive to applicants. We switched to a group-assessment activity from individual interviews to increase efficiency.OUTCOMES:1. Attracted top-notch talent.2. Improved job satisfaction and productivity.3. Sped up onboard and hiring practices.4. Less-experienced managers were exposed to recruitment best practices from more-senior managers.

Jersey City, Nj

I was promoted from Director, Public Programs to Director, Guest Experience based on the leadership skills I had demonstrated, taking on both the Director of Public Operations and Director, Public Programs responsibilities. In this position, I managed an annual budget of $2.5M and led the Guest Experience and Guest Programs departments along with a staff of 125 on-site employees composed of managers and team members.In 2009 there were many of layoffs due to the Great Recession and the public programming and guest experience team were gutted and merged. We had to rebuild the departments, so I assigned responsibilities to the department heads to keep the organization going—and then built the teams back up to pre-layoff levels while creating departmental structure and a new organizational chart.To boost visitation, I oversaw the creation, marketing, and execution of the reimagined overnight Camp In Program and orchestrated the recruitment of a talented and diverse programming team. I also developed and implemented large-scale programs, concepts, and events such as the Birthday Party program and fostered external partnerships with well-known entertainment partners.OUTCOMES:1. New business lines generated over $1M in revenue annually.2. The overnight Camp In Program produced $300K in new annual revenue. 3. Accelerated overall attendance.4. Improved existing attractions by making them more interactive—created companion activities for public programming, which guided consumers through the experience.

As the Director of Public Programs, I oversaw the public programming strategy for the grand opening of the new Liberty Science Center. I partnered with the VP of Experience Integration to establish the operations management structure including the Manager on Duty responsibilities, the daily supervisory team, new training, onboarding protocols, and service quality standards.New membership was lagging as the Center had been closed to perform a 22-month expansion. As a result, we lost members because of an insufficient number of fresh and innovative activities to engage in and a lack of hands-on experiences.My first order of business was to establish partnerships with professional organizations such as the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Construction Industry Advancement Program of New Jersey. Next, as a thank-you to our current members, I created member-only customer experiences and led the Guest Programs team to create hands-on and immersive programs and activities as a part of the Center’s “Something New to Do Every Visit” strategy. I also constructed public programming events and connected real-world science and technology experts with the public.OUTCOMES:1. Established experience-based public programming standards, tone, and style.2. Engaged and retained 14K members.3. Converted walk-in visitors to subscribing members.

Jersey City, New Jersey, United States

I was promoted to this position during the building expansion. I jumped at the opportunity because it would give me the chance to interact more with the general public, to teach, and be immersed in the community (not to mention staying employed).I managed the Science Center’s partnership with the State of New Jersey, offering free off-site programs for students and their families living in 31 underserved school districts. During the renovation, it was important for the Center to maintain a presence and stay relevant to the community. I created outreach programs for underserved districts to stimulate interest and stay engaged in minority communities.Inner-city kids weren’t being exposed to science in a fun and engaging way. Our outreach allowed parents to learn alongside their kids and excite them about science vs. having a fear of it. Whole families became involved, which helped to stimulate interest and overcome the intimidation felt by the students. I developed the Family Health and Science program. I recruited and trained bilingual volunteers to assist in the delivery of science programs in predominantly Spanish-speaking communities. I supervised and provided professional development opportunities and guidance for 90 paid and volunteer staff members and spearheaded the implementation of attendance-driven, activity enhancements for the satellite exhibitions. The objective was to stimulate growth and interest and to engage the community in the Center’s programs and activities.OUTCOMES:1. Offered 9 free community evenings at the Center annually after if reopened. 2. Provided a reduced admission program.3. Produced 120 programs throughout different communities over the course of 22 months.4. Increased the attendance of underserved minority populations. 5. Brought the Center’s presence to schools across the state in the form of community health fairs, live-science demonstrations, and in-school science festivals.

Jersey City, Nj

I managed the front-line operating areas, including welcome and orientation areas, exhibit floors, and the nation’s largest IMAX Dome Theater.My challenge was to fix the scheduling process for the entire organization, which was created and distributed manually, and which became a huge problem as updates did not occur in real time, leading to scheduling conflicts organization-wide.To improve the process and enable the entire organization to function productively and collectively, I optimized the development of operational strategies to more efficiently allocate staff resources and prepare spaces for public use. I served as the department’s technology expert, liaising with IT department to assess needs and identify solutions to build dynamic scheduling for weekly teams.OUTCOMES:1. Maximized operational efficiencies and enhanced the guest experience.2. Increased productivity and streamlined interdepartmental communication and coordination.3. Supervisors were on the floor interacting with the public and coaching staff vs. performing time-consuming administrative tasks.

Jersey City, New Jersey

Enhanced on-site learning experiences by facilitating exhibit exploration, delivering educational programs, and providing hospitality services to museum visitors.

Jersey City, New Jersey

Mentored volunteers, helping them to develop professional skills such as public speaking and facilitating inquiry-based education.