ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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This is a timely conversation. We just did an in-depth review of the 
real costs for revenue-generating programs here at the Bay Area 
Discovery Museum. Once we accounted for staff time in marketing, 
operations, reservations and the full-time ed staff who manage the 
program we found that if camp-ins  are assessed fairly they don't 
meet our revenue goals. By a significant amount.

We hold camp-ins for 30-45 kids in a night. We have 2-3 staff for the 
evening, and our safety officer requires us to have 2 of those people 
spend the night. While I agree with that decision, it means we have a 
VERY high staff to child ratio when everyone is asleep. That's 
expensive. To make up for that expense the program would have to grow 
immensely, and given our other plans and the limitations of our site, 
we've decided not to offer camp-ins next year.

I love the program. It gives city kids an experience of a national 
park at night, and is very satisfying for our staff. It just doesn't 
justify itself at a small scale, though. I'd be happy to answer more 
questions about our program and our decision by phone or e-mail--my 
contact info is below.




>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
>*****************************************************************************
>
>I wonder how sleepover programs differ with the size of the museum?
>
>Many years ago, I was a very part-time staff member of the camp-in 
>program at the Museum of Science in Boston and really enjoyed 
>working with the visiting campers. I hear that the Bay Area 
>Discovery Museum in Sausalito, CA runs sleepovers and I know their 
>museum is much smaller than my experiences. You can check their 
>website at: http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/programs/group.html and 
>then maybe find someone to chat with.
>
>Good Luck,
>Wendy
>
>
>--
>Wendy Derjue-Holzer
>Field Trips
>
>Exploratorium
>3601 Lyon St.
>San Francisco, CA 94123
>www.exploratorium.edu
>
>415.674.2867 telephone
>415.561.0370 fax
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>
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-- 
  Katherine Ziff
  Manager of School and Community Programs
  Bay Area Discovery Museum
  557 McReynolds Road
  Sausalito, Ca 94965

(415) 339-3922

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More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
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