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Hi, Katherine:  If you would be willing to share the results of your  
revenue analysis, at what ever level of detail, that would be very  
useful to us.  If you prefer to do this off list, thats fine also

Eric Siegel
Executive VP
    Programs and Planning
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Queens, NY 11368
esiegel at nyscience dot org

On Mar 16, 2005, at 9:59 PM, Katherine Ziff 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 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
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>> ********************************************************************** 
>> *
>> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
>> Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at  
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>> To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
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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
>
> ***********************************************************************
> 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
> [log in to unmask]
>

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