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Hello, Jamie et al:

This is the first time I have ever heard this kind of rationale, that as the economy improves museums (I assume that's what you mean by "institutions like ours") experience decreases in attendance.  I would love to see some broader data that supports that.  I am very skeptical about the pent up vacation spending rationale.  I don't have an answer for Jason, and there doesn't seem to be any consistent shift in attendance at NY museums who share data other than a significant fall off in school visits due to Sandy and other factors that affect the schools.

I could speculate all day long, but the responses wouldn't be much different...budget more conservatively, make sure your programming and marketing is functioning efficiently and well, and try to come up with creative things the museum can do to attract visitors.  I do like the tropical fish show at the Buhl idea a lot.  People are much too strict in their interpretation of mission. ;^)

Eric
On Jan 8, 2013, at 7:18 PM, Jamie Alonzo <[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.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> FYI - We recently had a consultation resulting from an extremely robust market research project where it we learned that - historically, as the economy improves - institutions like ours tend to experience decreases in attendance, and that we should be working toward steady admission (i.e. as opposed to increases over the next FY) as a result. Additionally, there is evidently substantial pent-up vacation spending that tends to be 'released' in the form of travel outside of local areas when the economy improves. 
> Best,
> Jamie 
> 
> 
>>  >
>> 
>> --- On Tue, 1/8/13, Jason Archer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> From: Jason Archer <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Subject: attendance
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Date: Tuesday, January 8, 2013, 5:29 PM
>>> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the
>>> Association of Science-Technology Centers
>>> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and
>>> related institutions.
>>> *****************************************************************************
>>> 
>>> All,
>>> 
>>> I know this is a common thread but we are interested in how
>>> your attendance has been this past fall.  We are an
>>> aviation museum in CT that offers the traditional aviation
>>> artifacts and exhibits with lots of science and aviation
>>> demonstrations, programs, workshops, etc driven by a very
>>> solid floor staff.  Usually we track pretty well year
>>> by year with only 5% variations either way.  Our member
>>> base is very strong and we have great community/corporate
>>> support.  However this fall we have noticed a 30%
>>> drop.  As you can imagine this is quite
>>> alarming.   And to be honest we are not too
>>> sure why.   A colleague of mine was alarmed
>>> to find that attendance on a recent Sunday at a major museum
>>> was scary low.   This got us thinking (which
>>> usually gets us into trouble).
>>> 
>>> Is it the weather, the economy, the recent elections, our
>>> near death experience with the end of the Mayan calendar,
>>> all of these, none of these?  None of this made sense
>>> to us.  Maybe this is a temporary but unusual blip for
>>> us.  We didn't feel that was right either.
>>> 
>>> We did discuss this - With the ever increasing access to
>>> media and entertainment, we were wondering if more and more
>>> people are selecting to stay at home.  That the idea of
>>> going out and engaging in an activity outside the home is
>>> not as attractive or common as it use to be.  To put it
>>> another way, we are wondering if there has been a societal
>>> change in people's use of and attendance at museums. 
>>> We were wondering if we are seeing the beginning of
>>> declining attendance or flat attendance at museums.  I
>>> know, scary.  Like I said we are usual pretty well
>>> attended and will commonly track better than other museums
>>> in our community.
>>> 
>>> We wanted to see what others thought.  I hope I
>>> explained this correctly and am happy to provide
>>> clarification on our thoughts.
>>> 
>>> Clear skies,
>>> 
>>> Jason
>>> 
>>> Jason T. Archer
>>> Director of Floor Programs
>>> NEW ENGLAND AIR MUSEUM<http://www.neam.org/>
>>> Bradley International Airport
>>> 36 Perimeter Rd
>>> Windsor Locks, CT 06096
>>> 860.623.3305 ext 316
>>> 
>>> Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/NewEnglandAirMuseum#!/NewEnglandAirMuseum
>>> 
>>> Visit www.neam.org<http://www.neam.org/> for details on
>>> these and other activities for the whole family!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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> _____________________________
> 
> Jamie J. Alonzo
> Director of Education
> The Maritime Aquarium
> 10 North Water Street, Norwalk, CT 06854
> 
> v 203 852 0700 x2337
> f 203 852 8892
> [log in to unmask]
> _____________________________
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
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