This study provides some valuable insights about the experiences of visitors to Expo 70.
What they remember 34 years later is a telling account of what mattered most to them about their
experience - their joys, wonderment, hope, and also their frustrations and traumas that
constituted their experiences then, and now live with them in their memory of that experience
now.
Key among visitors memories of the event were those exhibits and experience which held
cultural significance and/or high degrees of novelty, such as the moonstone or seeing foreigners.
Additionally, events which were frustrations to their planned agendas (not being able to see an
Memories of Expo 70: Insights on Visitors’ Experiences and the Formation of Vivid Long-Term Memories - Dr David Anderson 18
exhibit) or frustrations to attainment of needs (inability to find shade or seating) were strong
features of visitor’s accounts of the experience.
The statistical analysis and modeling of the 112 memory events of visitors interviewed,
revealed that there were four inter-related factors that were key to the development and
retentions of vivid memories thirty-four years later. These were 1) Intentionality – planning to
do or see something at the expo, 2) Agenda Fulfillment – the degree to which planned agendas
were fulfilled or frustrated, 3) Experiential Affect – the extent of positive or negative emotion
that was associated with the event or episode, and 4) Rehearsal – the degree to which the
memories of the event were subsequently relived and brought back to memory over the years.
Assuming the outcomes of this new research are generalizable, then there may be some lessons
for ways future expositions might think about how to maximize the impact of visitor
experiences. Put very simply, I think there are four questions exposition planners might ask
themselves: How do exposition planners get visitors to intentionalize their visitation experiences
in both general and specific ways? How do exposition planners help visitors to realize and even
surpass their planned intentions and minimize experiences that might case agenda frustration?
How do exposition planners get visitors to revisit their experiences in the days and months
following their visit? And finally, how do exposition planners maximize the positive affect
associated with science centre experiences and ensure that we minimize the potential for
negative experience.