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Dear Regan,

>A significant proportion of the funding is hoped to be secured from
>corporate sponsors, and there has already been some interest from
potential
>sponsors. However, at this critical stage we are aware of the danger that
>sponsor requirements could end up steering the project in a direction we
do
>not necessarily want it to head, with too much branding and not enough
>consistency in design and exhibit content. I gather it's generally too
late,
>or very messy, to try and iron this out once a sponsor is on board. So in
>advance, we want to be able to establish some 'ground rules' so there is a
>common understanding of what is negotiable, and what is off the table.

>Thus I'm asking  how your  institution tends to handle sponsor involvement
-
>how do you manage it so that you keep *your* hands on the wheel? Do you
have
>guidelines that dictate the level of input the sponsor can have with
respect
>to brand presence, design, exhibit content? If so, is this something you
>would be willing to share ?

I have been dealing with more than one sponsor that want to have a final
say in our exhibits, and I quote the "ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums" as a
defence (http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/icom/ethics_rev_engl.html, in
particular clause 2.10).  After our sponsors understood that this is an
international code, it becomes much easier for us to substain our argument.

All the best,

Chee-kuen

YIP, Chee-kuen
Chief Curator
Hong Kong Science Museum
(T) +(852) 2732-3201
(F) +(852) 2311-2248
(E) [log in to unmask]
(W) http://hk.science.museum

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