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As a former Exploratorium staff member, I am incredibly saddened by this
news.  The years I spent at the Exploratorium were easily some of the
happiest in my life, and I desperately hope that the character of the place
-- and its amazing, amazing staff -- carries on.

Raphael

-------------
Raphael Rosen
www.raphaelprosen.com
@raphaelrosen22


On Sat, Aug 17, 2013 at 10:04 AM, William Katzman <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> This is sad, but if what one of the commenters said:  "Lack of
> advertising" is true, then perhaps the new Exploratorium attendance will do
> what my former institution did after expanding:  we didn't meet our initial
> projections for the first few months, then had far more robust audience
> later that year and the next - superseding our projections.  In other words
> instead of experiencing a sophomore slump as many big expansions do, we
> opened the expansion with less fanfare and grew steadily.  One can hope
> this holds true, but plan on on reduced attendance levels.
>
> On a side note, it seems to me that expansions typically take one of three
> forms:
>
> Expect a boom at opening and hire to accommodate that boom, but always
> expect lay offs shortly after that boom (many organizations do this, some
> tell the staff they are hiring that this may happen, some organizations do
> not, and some use this a as a chance to reorganize).
> Purposefully use conservative projections and hire if necessary if you are
> overwhelmed.
> Overly optimistic projections without the thought of sophomore slumps
> (some organizations really seem to believe they will expand dramatically
> without any slump in following years) - at least that's what they
> profess....admittedly this one surprises me...
>
> From the article it sounds like the Exploratorium was expecting lay offs
> to come, just not to come so quickly or dramatically.
>
> I wish everyone there well!
>
> -William
>
>
> On Aug 17, 2013, at 8:37 AM, Eric Siegel wrote:
>
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> >
> *****************************************************************************
> >
> > I agree with both the tone and the substance of Alan and Rachel have to
> say.  Erich points to a comment labeled "ExploStaff" that echoes comments I
> have seen on Facebook about this:
> >
> > "An only partially accurate representation of what's happening at work
> today.
> >
> > Over a half of the workshop received notices today, most legacy folks
> who were around to work with the founder were laid off or encouraged to
> take early retirement packages, plans to outsource our public relations
> department, and most of the creative staff to be restructured underneath
> the business development group. That, is the tail wagging the dog.
> >
> > Most of our senior scientists and artists received layoff notices today,
> as did I.
> >
> > On the other hand, they have plans to grow the business development
> department.
> >
> > Today, one of our long time creatives put a shroud on the sign that
> hangs over the shop that says:
> > "Here is being created
> > the Exploratorium
> > a community museum
> > dedicated to awareness"'
> >
> > ======
> >
> > Yes, staff reductions are sometimes necessary in the face of economic
> uncertainty, Alan and I lived through a couple of recessions and doubling
> the space of NYSCI.  One question that needs to be answered by management
> (not publicly, but as part of the internal deliberations) is:  is the
> institution going to use these reductions to restructure or redefine the
> institution, or are you going to do what you can to preserve the core so
> that the institution can grow back more or less unchanged?
> >
> > In the case of NYSCI, we typically used the latter strategy.  It sounds
> like Explo is using the former.  On a personal level, the loss of 80 jobs
> (reading closely, its a loss of 80 headcount, with leaving positions
> unfilled, early retirement buyouts etc, and probably a significant portion
> of that headcount would be casuals directly related to the scale of their
> visitorship---front of house etc) is very sad particularly when colleagues
> and friends are among those who have to leave unwillingly.
> >
> > Professionally, the restructuring of the organization has the potential
> for much more sustained impact.  Explo has always been an outlier with
> unionized exhibition shop/developers and a...dynamic...organizational
> structure (I think the fundamentally individualistic nature of the place
> made many people there were unwilling to say that they worked *for* anyone
> or were in *any* bureaucratic structure).  I can only imagine how much care
> and thought must have gone into the idea that "most of the creative staff
> [will be] restructured under the business development group" (which echoes
> what I have seen on facebook, though this poster is anonymous and salt
> should be liberally applied.)  Given the unprecedented and unmatched
> allegiance among the staff to the original vision of the Exploratorium, as
> reflected in the new building, any tinkering with the core of that vision
> must be extremely delicate and challenging.
> >
> > Most of us know people who work at the exploratorium, and I've always
> been amazed at how a meeting there is likely to include 10 of the smartest
> people in the room in one room.  So with that in mind, we really do wish
> them the best and will be watching how this evolves.  It is an indication
> of how much the Explo means to both SF and to the museum community that
> this bump in the road has elicited so much commentary in various online
> forums.
> >
> > Good luck Explo friends reading this.  Our hearts and minds are with you!
> >
> > Eric Siegel
> >
> >
> > --
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