Application for CPC Project Assistance
HMM Self-Guided Tour Systems & Software Project
SECTION 1: Organization Information
Name of Organization: Herreshoff Marine Museum/ Americas Cup Hall of Fame (HMM)
Type of Organization: Private (non-profit)
Name of Contact Person:
William (Bill) Lynn
Executive Director
Arthur (Sandy) Lee
Reliance Project Manager, Board Member
David Curtin
Exhibits Chair, Board Member
Address of Organization/Contact Person:
Herreshoff Marine Museum/ Americas Cup Hall of Fame
One Burnside Street, PO Box 450
Bristol, RI 02809 - 0450
Phone: (401) 253-5000
Fax: (401) 253-6222
E-mail:
w.lynn@herreshoff.org
aclee@cox.net
Description of Organization and Mission:
The Herreshoff Marine Museum/ America’s Cup Hall of Fame is dedicated to the education and inspiration
of the public through presentations of the history and innovative work of the Herreshoff Manufacturing
Company (HMCo).
The Museum, bordering beautiful Narragansett Bay in Bristol, Rhode Island, is one of the nation’s most
important historical maritime treasures. We celebrate excellence in design, innovation, technology,
manufacturing, and education through museum displays and educational events, sponsoring symposia on
classic yacht design and restoration, hosting classic yacht regattas, and operating an outstanding sailing
school for youth and adults.
Over the past decade HMM has been best known for its collection of beautiful Herreshoff yachts, with
accompanying “storyboard” picture exhibits, Classic Yacht Symposiums, and waterfront activities. Over the
past five years, HMM has embarked on a growth strategy to emphasize a more comprehensive range of
maritime and America’s Cup exhibits, with exhibits featuring HMCo’s U.S. Navy business, Herreshoff’s
marine steam engines, America’s cup notables, and the Reliance Project, for example. The Reliance
project is perhaps the most ambitious of these endeavors. The Museum now considers its “Centers of
Excellence” (COE) to include:
1. Mega (Steel) Racing Yachts, of which RELIANCE is a powerful symbol and example
2. Steam powered yachts, launches, work boats, and naval craft
3. Wooden sail boats
4. Highly advanced engineering and manufacturing HMCo
5. Spirit of Innovation
Each of these COE’s will enable us to tell exciting, engaging and educational multi-dimensional stories.
Three COE’s (#1-3) enable us to tell HMCo’s product line stories – to include in each the boats; the
technologies, innovations, and evolution; and surrounding culture, people and historical context. The fourth
COE will tell stories of an incredibly advanced, highly productive HMCo which stories still resonate with
modern cutting edged advanced engineering/ manufacturing firms. The fifth and very important COE brings
together the innovative, technical business and engineering spirit demonstrated in the preceding COE’s
These COE’s enable us to not only be relevant in an historical context but in a current, modern context - so
important for a younger, more diverse audience.
HMM executives and directors recognize that the success of this strategy will be a major factor in creating
an important regional and national museum. To that end, the Museum must also develop:


Its museum infrastructure, notably communications, information management, documentation, and
research
A new exhibit strategy to include exhibit prioritization, use of varied exhibit media, and enhanced
and broader visitor experience, to name a few attributes. HMM should also leverage exhibit
strategies developed by other leading maritime museums.
In the aforementioned Reliance project, the Museum is building a museum quality1/6th scale static display
replica of the famous 1903 America’s Cup winner “Reliance” which will become a cornerstone display and
source of related museum exhibits. This model will be 33’ in length and more than 37’ in height.
Importantly, RELIANCE will be surrounded by exhibits telling the story of HMCo’s mega yachts
To give the reviewer of this application an appreciation for the majesty of the original “Reliance,” her hull is
twice as long as the hull of the modern America’s Cup boat “DEFIANT” displayed at the Museum.
Reliance’s bowsprit and main boom overhang make her three times as long! She stands 200’ tall in the
water. She could not fit under the center span of the Newport Bridge and certainly could not fit under the
135’ clearance of Mt. Hope Bridge.
How did you hear about the CPC?
Through:
Pete Wilbur
Associate Vice President
Community & Government Relations
Roger Williams University
ON-going CPC and intern relationship with the Museum for the past three years
SECTION 2: Project Description
Title of the Project: “Self-Guided Systems & Software Project”
Project Locations:
Herreshoff Marine Museum/ Americas Cup Hall of Fame
One Burnside Street, PO Box 450
Bristol, RI 02809 - 0450
General Project Description:
The Museum must attract visitors with a wide variety of interests to be successful, and it must demonstrate
relevance to a younger, enduring audience. We create interest through telling interesting, exciting and
educational stories about the boats, history, people, and technology.
This cannot be done with static storyboard displays. It cannot be accomplished with docent conducted
tours. Many museums have bulky audio systems for self-guided tours, but recently there have been a
number of “app” and cell phone devices that promise a better visitor experience.
The Museum has the opportunity to leap smartly into new, inexpensive technology. This project would help
the Museum to:
1. Survey new and existing technologies to understand cost, benefit, ease of use, and ease of
systems maintenance and update
2. Understand where technology and systems capabilities are going
3. Find collaborators and grant funds; to include the RI Council on the Humanities which has been
looking at this area for RI Museums.
This project should interest professors and students in the following fields:
 Software Engineering
 Multi-Media, Communications and Graphics design
 Education
 Museum Studies
 History
Potential Scope of Work/Tasks for RWU CPC:
Phase One: Developing the Project Plan and Conducting Research - Fall 2015
Enlist two –four students as an intern project team to develop the project plan and conduct initial research.
Research should include reviewing journals and publications where evaluations have occurred; obtaining
company literature, government/ NGO research on the topics, and other sources for a thorough base of
research. Students should contact RI Council on the Humanities to ascertain what they’ve done in this
area, and where their efforts are going forward.
Deliverables:
1. Structure and methodology to evaluate systems
2. An initial systems list of potential candidates
3. Listing of Museums contacted and bibliography of research sources
4. Museum visit (in-person or electronic visits) summaries & key person interview summaries
5. Spring semester project plan
Phase Two: Creating Product - Spring 2016
Complete the evaluation and provide recommendations
Deliverables:
1. Complete the listing of candidates and evaluations
2. Evaluation worksheets and rankings
3. Presentation of findings and recommendations
Final Product Output for this Project
1. See output defined above
2. HMU staff will assist in meeting these class requirements, as defined by professor advisor and in
project plan
3. A finished product, as defined in the 2015-2106 school year project plan
Proposed Project Schedule
 Project plan and research to be completed in fall semester
 Approval of the Plan by RWU and HMM to be finalized in fall semester
 Initial product deliverables – Interim deliverable April 30, 2016 and final product end of spring
semester
 Ongoing support and review of progress for the duration of the project
Names and Contact Information of HMM Staff Playing Primary Role in the Proposed CPC Project
Bill Lynn, Executive Director, HMM
Sandy Lee, Reliance Project Manager, HMM
John Palmieri, Curator Emeritus, HMM
Dyer Jones, Curator, HMM
Noreen Rickson, Historian, HMM
Dave Curtin, Exhibits Committee Chair, HMM
S. Cutler, Graphics Designer, HMM (RWU alumna)
Resources/ Previous Work for the CPC to Build Upon
 RELIANCE Project research and documentation
 Curator’s Notes
 Archives
 Current exhibits
Other information to help us to better understand the project (we encourage feel free to include
pictures, site documentation, maps etc.):
 Visit to the Museum and discussions with executive staff
SECTION 3: Project Outcomes
This project is a key project among several proposed CPC projects that will broaden the interest in HMM
beyond just a collection of classic Herreshoff yachts into:
 The stories behind the boats
 The human endeavors and people behind the boats
 Insight into the development of yachting, boat building, technologies
 Insight into that early advanced technology firm of HMCo.
Please describe how this project will benefit your organization:
We anticipate that this will benefit the Museum by:
 Curatorial enrichment:
 Preserving out Museum heritage
 Providing deeper understanding/ insights to the curatorial and library staff
 Exhibit enrichment:
 Developing materials for richer exhibit materials
 Develops new media for more exciting visitor experience
 Expands HMM beyond a collection of boats
 Providing a major step in the development of a nationally recognized educational, cultural, and
inspirational venue
 A financially successful and important regional and national museum cannot exist solely as a
collection of beautiful boats, but must also be a broader educational, cultural, and inspirational
venue
 Resulting in increased Museum membership, patronage, and financial support
Please describe how this project might benefit the overall community, including who could benefit
from this project (i.e. target groups, neighborhoods, the region/city/town as a whole, etc.).
HMM’s target virtual and on-site “customer” groups on a growing and repeat basis are:
 Its members
 Visitors
 The Town
 The State
 The Region, Nation and International boating community
Its members and visitors benefit by:
 Increased breadth of exhibits and interests
 Deeper insights into the stories behind the boats and business
 Interactive and varied exhibits and media
Town of Bristol benefits by:
 Improving Bristol’s image as a destination visit/ vacation spot
 Providing multiple activities to draw visitors year round
 Deepening the educational experience for school children and adult residents
 Increasing Bristol pride in its own residents and products
The State benefits by:
 A tangible example of Rhode Island ingenuity and international leadership that can be a beacon for
future high-tech firms for the state
 A regionally, nationally, and internationally renowned museum located in the East Bay
o Reputation
o Visitor magnet that also supports the restaurant and hospitality business
How This Project will Benefit RWU Students
1. This will be a real-world project - application of baccalaureate learning to a business situation
2. We should treat this project as if it were a business engagement – a multi-media firm (RWU
student team) is engaged by a commercial firm (HMM). To that end, we should run the project in
real-world project management scenario.
3. Involves subject matter enrichment for students – not just boats, but also innovation, business
management, and history among other topics
SECTION 4: Financial Information
What is your organization’s annual operating budget?
$1.3 Million
What are your major sources of funding?
 Major Donations
 Rent
 Memberships
 Waterfront Marine Revenues
 Admissions
 Grants
How much funding from your annual operating budget is set aside for this project (if any)?
 None has been budgeted.
 Some small amounts may be able to be allocated to cover out-of-pocket expenses
o To be determined, based on project plan
 It is hoped that the Project Plan will provide insights into potential grants and corporate
sponsorships which may be applied to out-year tasks
 It is further hoped that with the development of an excellent plan and strategies that HMM can
leverage these to also seek major donations for the defined implementation plans.
SECTION 5: Private Sector Involvement
Have you or your organization discussed the project with practicing professionals (e.g. architect,
engineer, planner, etc.)?
With RWU’s help, we would be glad to contact professionals in the relevant business/ technology areas so
enlist their support
If yes, please explain why you have chosen to seek assistance from the RWU CPC with your project
request, instead of undertaking the project using fee-for-services from a paid professional:
1. To build, lasting, on-going relationship with RWU
2. To provide educational opportunities – part of our mission
3. To leverage meager financial and staff resources