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Eric, this, your original post on marketing (below) is clear enough and 
worth re-iterating:

>  I got an MBA nearly 25 years ago, and at the time, the marketer's 
> mantra was that the most efficiently spent marketing dollar was in 
> product research and design.  In other words, it is better, more 
> efficient, and generally savvier to develop products that people want 
> rather than trying to sell products into a market that is either 
> uninterested, saturated, or even negative to your product.
>
> I always use that as an example of where nfp's are different than for 
> profits.  We are here as nfp's specifically because the product we are 
> selling is not tailored to the market, but is rather driven by a 
> specific social mission.  It is clearly not going to be a profitable 
> venture to supply meals to indigent people, but nfp's do it anyway.  
> There seem to be some who think that it would be better for us to find 
> a way to provide meals for those who can pay, but of course that 
> obviates our mission.
>
> That is an extreme case of what I think is at hand with the current 
> question.  If we were purely market driven, then screw it, we would 
> just give the people the version of truth they are most comfortable 
> with, or only provide it to those who already agree with us.

And here it is!  I just got this forwarded to me, the purely market 
driven Science Center:
http://modernhumorist.com/mh/0108/explanatorium/
;-)



Seriously folks, we've gotten much mileage marketing our centers as 
"science is fun!"  that we have come perilously close to losing a key 
asset available to us: Relevance.  Our society has a glaring need to 
utilize science to work the problems that our world faces.  As THE 
institutions most prevalently representing science in our society we 
need to be advocates of solving the things that will keep us, our 
society, and our planet the richest, applying science to minimize 
losses like plant and animal extinctions, or the loss of our ability to 
stay mobile because we are still making transportation infrastructure 
(vehicles) like we can afford to burn up all of the oil.   Is there a 
science center that doesn't presently count on its parking lot?  Better 
start your engines on an exhibit on sustainable transportation before 
tertiary activities in people's lives, like going to science centers, 
become unaffordable.

Relevance, besides being relevant, is marketable.  Pointing out 
problems not to say Oh No! here it comes and it is inevitable, but to 
say Oh No! We've got a problem and we need to apply science to work the 
problem so we can fix it.  That is a positive, relevant message that I 
submit we need to embrace.  " Work the Problem, people" is a quote from 
Apollo 13 spoken by the head of mission control, Gene Kranz, when they 
had so much wrong to deal with to get the astronauts back to earth.

  We've got a planet full of people that we have to get sustainable now 
for the sake of us and all the generations that follow us, keeping all 
that we can of the quality of life we now presently know is possible.  
This is not the time to stick our heads in the sand and act like there 
are no problems.  Let's get in there, state positive goals, identify 
problems, and be the leaders we can be for helping all that are here on 
this planet.   If we want people of all religions on our side, working 
together to deal with these very real problems is the answer.  Science 
Centers can be leaders if we choose to be.

Who has read Jared Diamond's latest book "Collapse- How societies 
choose to fail or succeed" ?   We, in this age of human population 
(yes, overpopulation, that's a topic we can't duck, either)  coming 
into this age of resource shortages, must choose to succeed.  And 
science, complete, unbent science is the tool to work the problems.

Real problems with real relevance:
We can't apologize for evolution, we didn't make it up.  It is real 
science, useful for helping us comprehend our biological world so we 
can work the real problem related to evolution:  saving the flora and 
fauna that we have at present from impending extinctions.  No one, of 
any persuasion, can think those extinctions are a good thing happening.

Maureen, does that reach the 3rd, 4th or 5th level of the discussion?  
Come on folks, where are the responses to Maureen's post?  It was under 
the disguise of coming from me, in case you didn't see it

I want to thank all of you working through these important  issues on 
the listserv here and at your individual institutions.  Don't let 
Science Centers become irrelevent or extinct.  There is a danger of 
both happening.

Sincerely,
Clifford

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