A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas

The Amazeum: Celebrating 10 Years of Curiosity

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Ten years of play can change a city. We sit down with Sam Dean, CEO of the Scott Family Amazeum, to unpack how a dinner table dream grew into a 50,000-square-foot engine for curiosity. We trace the museum’s origins, the kid‑invented name that fused “amazing” and “museum,” and the surprising scale of impact: attendance leaping well past early projections, a team expanding to meet demand, and programming that reaches families, educators, and corporate groups. Sam shares how staying close to guests—literally, with wind‑up toys at his office window—keeps the mission human. We also explore the big expansion underway, the focus on access, staple events like Tinkerfest, UnGala, and lots more!

Want to get involved? Become a member, donate to the capital campaign, or plan your next visit at amazeum.org.

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Beth Bobbitt :

Welcome back to the new American Town. I'm your host, Beth Bobbitt. I'm so excited to sit down with everybody's best friend, CEO of the Scott Family Amazum, who has made learning fun for so many kids and adults in Northwest Arkansas. Welcome, Sam.

Sam Dean:

Thank you, Beth. It's good to be here. Everybody's best friend. Everybody's best friend.

Beth Bobbitt :

We're just talking about how everybody loves Sam. And it's very fitting that we're ending our podcast recording with this. And that, you know, this has been a big year for you guys. You've had a lot to celebrate. You celebrated 10 years, which is a huge milestone. How are you feeling?

Sam Dean:

It has been uh I mean, it's been a great journey here, but it's been a great year. You know, we're celebrating 10 years from we opened. We opened July 15th, 2015. We're celebrating uh 10 years this year. And of course, in true amazium fashion, we love to mush words together. So we call it the Decazium, Decade of Amazing. We like to use words that no one knows how to pronounce, which means you no matter how you pronounce it, it's just fine.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah. Well, I love that. And I'd love for you to take us back to the very beginning because you came here, you know, more than 10 years ago. You've been here since the inception. So what what convinced you? Who convinced you? What brought you here? And what, you know, what led you to Binville ultimately?

Sam Dean:

Yeah, it's really interesting. If you, if you, if we celebrate if we're celebrating 10 years of the museum being open. And I'm I moved here just a little over 13 years ago. Um, but really the the history predates that. One of the things I love, I love, love, love about children's museums, and science centers is they emerge from a community. They, they, they, they're grassroots. They come from people sitting around tables and saying, like, hey, we want to offer, we want to bring this ability to do hands-on learning for the youngest of kids. And we believe strongly enough we're going to invest our time, effort, and resources in making something like this happen. And in Northwest Arkansas, around 2005-2006, a group got together around a dinner table. One of the uh, and who were really the founders of the Amazon at that time called the Children's Museum in Northwest Arkansas. And they painted a really compelling picture of why Northwest Arkansas deserves a resource like so many in larger cities have around the country.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah.

Sam Dean:

And when um I was doing some work in Arkansas, I've been in the museum world now for about 30 years, that time, about 20 years, and I was doing work helping build tinkering studios in a number of museums around uh Arkansas and and Oklahoma. And I got connected with this group. And uh they brought me out and they were looking for leadership at that time because it was all a volunteer board. It was everyone sleeves rolled up, trying to make this vision happen. And they were just getting to this tipping point. And I was fortunate enough that they they brought me out to have a conversation um while they were looking to hire their first leader. And uh Beth, when I was in a plane touchdown and got picked up, of course I ran through some cowfields. It's okay. My family's from Toledo and West Virginia, right? Like I'm I'm okay with with with with some cow pies there. Um but when you got into town and started talking to people, you could just feel this bottle lightning that was that was happening in Northwest Arkansas and the vision for not just what what the amazing could be, but what this community aspired to be just would give you it gave me goosebumps. Um so uh uh 13 years ago, I was fortunate enough to move here and be able to take the baton and help work with this board, grow an organization, all the stuff you need before you even get to opening up the museum.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah.

Sam Dean:

So anyway, you felt that it was bottle lightning, I call it.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah, well, very fitting that it's lightning and that's you know, in your logo and um love the full circle moment. And for those who may be new, because you know, sometimes visitors listen to this podcast, Amazum is a hub for creativity and discovery, 50,000 square feet of play space. Um, you know, we were just talking about uh I think a lot of families feel this sense of ownership and pride because, you know, my daughter has grown up there and I've seen her progress in the different play areas. I've also experienced the adult nights and um, you know, she I can't tell you how many hours and hours she spent in that Walmart market. Oh my gosh, that just saved us on Saturdays and every other day. Now she's enjoying Girl Scout events and summer programs and all of that. So it's been such a source of joy and a journey. Um, I'd love for you to reflect on some of the meaningful moments or transformational times in the amazing's history.

Sam Dean:

Yeah, I mean, it's sort of like asking, like, pick your favorite child. Like we have there's so many moments that are just magical. And I and I in the and the magic isn't sort of held just with the amazing, it's what the community has brought out to share. And these moments where they connect, you know, these connection moments are the places where things really spark. I mean, I remember the day we opened and uh uh uh our friends from Nickelodeon brought out Door of the Explorer, and we had SpongeBob and Turtles and uh DJ, and everyone was dancing out front, the energy, and then and then you had this idea, this theory that this that this children's museum, this amazing would be powerful. We know this style learning is powerful, but you really don't know until people show up. And that first day, and in fact, I wouldn't even say the opening day, I'd say the first day we did member previews. We wanted to test some things out with our our member community first and watching people come in and just, you know, just make that uh uh they come into the lobby, they made a turn, you kind of go down this hallway into the gallery and just watching faces. This there's this moment where like kids' eyes open up really wide, they they start to shake because they're so excited, and sometimes they're just off like a rock down the hallway. And the moment a couple of those that happens, that's great, but but it happens time and time and time again. Magical. Then at the end of the day, we try we did this thing. We know transitions are hard for kids. So at the end of the day, we crafted this end-of-the-day parade. We worked with local singer, songwriter, Shannon Wurst. Uh, we timed it out so we can we can start with a song about putting things away. And then the then whoever is is there at closing time gets together, we bring up a bass drum because we know that kids melt down when they're having this transition. So, how do we make that a joyful moment? But again, we didn't know how that would go. And and just watching this crowd gather and march out together and laugh and wave all of these scarves and other other uh flittering, flowful things. Uh-huh. Um, it just, you know, I mean, you tears go down your face, went down my face that day. Yeah. And a lot of others.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah. So 10 years later, how do you make sure you're not, you know, hold up in your office? Because I I would imagine that's the reward is all the hard work you get to see it, you know, the kids experiencing it. And so do you have like a time of day that you pop out or time a week, or how how do you make sure that you're still seeing that engagement?

Sam Dean:

There are a couple different ways. One is um uh just the fortune of being the the the the ED, I ended up with an office that has a window. And and actually I had a both I have a window that overlooks the opening, uh the entryway to the amazing. But but actually I originally had a window that opened up in the lobby. And the idea was that I could I could um watch because we knew when we got crowded that sometimes I could pop out and help work our point of sale space. I could go greet guests, I can work through some of the lines that inevitably happen when you first open. Um turns out we had a cafe and they would give me grilled cheeses through that window, which that was a side benefit. Unexpected, not playing that way. But really, my my big window that looked out at the entryway, I put just some toys up in there. Some one was a SpongeBob prototype for the giant marionette that we have in our in our collectively operated one. We had the original um engineering model, and kids started coming up to the window in my office. And um, so I started putting wind up toys in there. I love wind-up toys, they're they're engineering mechanical marvels. And it it turns out now, if you have a meeting in my office, um the rule is no matter who you are, if kids come up to the window, we're gonna wind up some toys together and have this playful moment uh uh uh with whoever's on the other side. I love that. Uh um, so I you always just make time. So I always make time to go out on the exhibit floor. Our team always makes time. Um, we're always back in the creative shop. We just have a team environment that likes to be around people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Sam Dean:

Um, so for myself and everyone else, that helps us stay pretty grounded, yeah, even if we're not necessarily in some of the on the floor day-to-day. Sure. And then we do huddles every morning. We do an operational huddle that lets us sort of share stories. And you know, I mean, Visit Bentonville each other of things that we worked on the day before or stories of impact that are that are happening that that that make your heart swell.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah, that's amazing. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for a day or two. Uh so let's look ahead. If you've driven by recently, I'm sure you've noticed that there's a big construction project happening. You guys are expanding. Tell us a little bit about what that means for the visitor and you know, why is that needed?

Sam Dean:

Yeah, the museum, we're on this with this great journey. And when we opened up the museum, gosh, we thought we would we would see about 120 to 140,000 people a year. Well, quarter million, 300,000 people a year is a lot different story. Um, so it it means we were and and and we had a team that was 35 people and we're now about 100 to 120 people. So the organization is growing. The the demand for our spaces was so high. You know, on any given day, we only have a couple of classrooms. And what we're hearing is that the Girl Scouts might want to come and use our space, but we also use those spaces for teacher professional learning. By the way, we just had major corporation in the other day talking about great guest service training. Oh, by the way, birthday parties want to come in. And so there was this large kind of crush and demand on our space that people wanted more amazing moments. And so for us, number one, we wanted to create more community-oriented spaces where more groups could come in, more folks who are affiliated with our type of playful learning uh moments, um, could have spaces. So we're growing some spaces, we're bringing a cafe back because you want to break bread around that. And nothing is more scary than a young kiddo who's ready to go into food meltdown. So bringing the cafe back. And then we also wanted to double down on the early childhood side. So we're we're creating an early learning advancement center that allows us to focus on zero to six. We've been prototyping this for a number of years now with our studio grow, and we're ready to turn that into a permanent space that honors the youngest of kids, helps create a network for parents. Um, because boy, particularly if you're having your first kid or if you just moved here, you're really in a mode where you need to meet other parents who who um that uh and you want to meet the network of resources that are available to yourself. And then early uh early learner um professionals, how do you grow the cadre? We know that's one of the biggest issues in our communities, being able to grow the early childhood opportunities, um, uh have great high-quality um early learner uh spaces. And who grows the professionals who works in that work in that space? And the Amazeum is one of the solutions I know the community is looking for, leadership in.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah, it's amazing the learning that you're doing alongside the community. Um what's something cool that we may not know about the Amazum? You got any fun facts for us?

Sam Dean:

Well, so the Scott Family Amazum started as the children's museum in Northwest Arkansas. And there was a moment where the idea that the children's museum aspect of it was is important, but that we would be doing a lot more in kinds of different things, creative work, we'd be doing workout in the community. And so it was really uh the board pulled together a lot of kids to workshop ideas, and it was a kid's idea to take amazing museum, smoosh them together, and get the amazing.

Beth Bobbitt :

So I did not know that.

Sam Dean:

Amazing wasn't a marketing-driven name. It was one that was really driven from kids uh being creative, which we know that they they are they are creative, capable, confident kiddos is what we're trying to grow.

Beth Bobbitt :

And you know, descriptive, distinct, like intuitive, like those are all the qualities that make that up.

Sam Dean:

And then one more thing, I have to add this in. I was just counting the other day, and it turns out at the Amazum, we do some large-scale arts experiences. And I realized that we have we have taken apart almost 20 cars through our Tinkerfests where kids come in and thoughtfully take them out in mechanics. We've had art pieces like the life-size mousetrap group or or the hand of man, this giant robotic arm that guests could could um could pick up a car and start to slowly crush it. And I realized like we've been really hard on the auto industry here in Northwest Arkansas Tymasium.

Beth Bobbitt :

Oh, that is a good fun fact. Wow. Who knew? So we've talked about all the ways that you support the community. I want to hear about ways we can support you, whether it's membership, capital campaigns, volunteer opportunities, what's out there?

Sam Dean:

I think you know it's important the amazing came from the community, and we need the community to continue to not just survive, but thrive. So um, of course, being able to financially help support the amazing. I mean, one in five people come into the amazing at no cost to themselves. And no one pays the full cost to come into the amazing of what it actually costs to get every guest in the door. It we rely on on the generosity of the community to be able to make the place uh affordable, that everyone can come in some way, shape, or form.

Beth Bobbitt :

So you're still doing priceless nights?

Sam Dean:

We're still doing priceless nights. We are. Yeah. Started in in partnership with um with uh uh with with Tyson Foods and the Walker Family Foundation is helping support that. But um, yeah, priceless night on Wednesday night. It's it's really I usually stay late on Wednesday nights, the the night where you can pay what you want from 4.30 to 7.30, almost every Wednesday during the year. The the number of languages spoken, the great social mixings that happen that night, the kind of incredible learning that happens that evening. Um it it just kind of uh well again, it it warms the heart. And I learn a lot from our community on those evenings. Um so support us. Uh come on uh donate to the Amazeum, our annual fund, our capital campaign. We're we're we're on our way to $25 million, and we need uh the whole community to come together to be able to have us achieve that goal here in the next couple of years. Be a member. Yes, come on out. I mean, the place feels better the more it's used and loved. So come on out. And if if you don't have kids to come out, that's okay. Adults can come here too. Uh I'd like, I mean, I think it's it's your choice. It's dealers' choice. I am an Ungala person.

Beth Bobbitt :

Ungala. Okay, I like it. You know, that is my favorite event in Northwest Arkansas, and it's a fundraiser, of course, but adults only, you just get to play and relax, and there's cocktails and music, and it's amazing. So is that in April? When when do you typically okay?

Sam Dean:

It is. We we host our Ungala, our uh our night uh for for play, but also fundraising, um, uh big fundraiser for the year. Uh, it is in April. Uh, our goal, uh frankly, our goal is to raise money for a great cause. Yeah. Frankly, our design of it was so that some of us would never have to wear a tie. That's a life goal, is to we we all wanted people to be able to come out and play. In fact, you've come out to play there before. I think you've put a Tyvek suit on even. Oh yeah.

Beth Bobbitt :

Oh yeah, we got into it.

Sam Dean:

Got a little messy.

Beth Bobbitt :

Oh, love it. Well, so now switching gears a little bit, we always wrap up with um a little bit about you and your experiences in Bentonville, especially as a transplant, would love to hear what has surprised you, delighted you. Do you have any favorite hangouts, restaurants? What do you like to do in Bentonville when you're not working?

Sam Dean:

Well, I uh I mean, what don't I like to do uh around Bentonville? I mean, I there's something about being able to watch, and I've only been here 13 years, or some would say I've been here 13 years. Different perspectives. Watching the just the rate of change of the way things have happened means I it's I feel like every time I walk through the community, I see something new. I see a new idea out there. I meet someone new who's trying something out. I think that's my favorite part. It's really just meeting people and finding what, you know, what kind of idea that they're they're working on, whether it's creating a, you know, idea. Uh I remember meeting Monica when uh she just moved to your Two Friends Bookstore, right? When Monica and Rachel were creating that as a pop-up in airship. You know, I uh there are lots of folks who have lots of crazy, wonderful ideas, and it's fun to watch them take root and emerge here. And what I love is that how supportive people are. So um I just I pinch myself all the time when I get a chance to come around and figure out people are always working on ways to help each other do really interesting ideas.

Beth Bobbitt :

Yeah, yeah. It is a special place, and um, I can't thank you enough. I I know we're wrapping up. We want to tell people how to find more information. So amazium.org, you have social newsletters, all the ways to stay connected, right?

Sam Dean:

We do. Yeah, yeah. We do uh mazeum.org. Please follow uh us on uh Instagram and Facebook. We tell different stories on each channel. Yeah. If you want to see photos of things that'll make you go, aww and oh, definitely check us out online.

Beth Bobbitt :

That's great. So thanks so much for being here, Sam. Appreciate you.

Sam Dean:

Well, it's good to be here, as always.

Beth Bobbitt :

Ready to explore Bentonville? Check out visitbittenville.com for dining guides, event calendars, and trip planning tools. Follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter. Links are in the show notes. Thanks for listening to a new American town.