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I agree, science centers need *enough* money, but too much money can be as
deadly as too little.  It's important to identify the sweet spot of
optimality, and avoid the delusion that more is better.

I often discussed the problem of "money poisoning" with Richard Gregory,
founder of the Exploratory and a major influence on the early
Exploratorium.  As Richard wrote:

"The Exploratory attracted over two million visitors, and became an
accepted Bristol institution with a wide reputation. Curiously and sadly,
it has been killed by the massively funded Millennium project. Money can
destroy as well as create."






On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 4:35 PM, Eric Siegel <[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.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> After 30+ years in museums, my response is: Science centers that have
> survived well have enough money.  Not having enough money seems to cause
> problems for science centers.
>
> To quote Charles Dickens' Micawber:  "Annual income twenty pounds, annual
> expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result
> happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds
> ought and six, result misery."
>
> As another sage, Rabbi Hillel, said in a very different context "the rest
> is just commentary."
>
> Sorry, its been a long week.  I hope others have more useful responses...
>
> eric siegel
>
> On Sep 25, 2013, at 7:20 PM, Amy Johnston <
> [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.
> >
> *****************************************************************************
> >
> > Hi all,
> > Here is a big philosophical question for you all.  At Science Alive in
> Christchurch, New Zealand the earthquakes have given us a unique
> opportunity to start again. We can build a new purpose built centre. We
> want to make the most of this opportunity. One of our biggest challenges is
> to make the new centre sustainable so it is around for years to come. The
> world seems to be full of science centres that started so well but then had
> to close down a few years later or make significant numbers of staff
> redundant. We want to know what are the characteristics of centres that
> have survived well?  Also the converse. Are there any factors that seem to
> cause problems for science centres?
> >
> > We know what we believe to be the answers to these questions, but would
> love to get your unbiased (and biased) opinions. The collected knowledge
> will feed into our strategic planning.
> >
> > Thanks for your time.
> >
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

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