ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

SOMEWHERE I remember reading about a solution to corporate executives 
being impatient at elevators.  Apparently the solution  was to 
install floor length mirrors next to the elevators, so that the execs 
would become preoccupied...
Beryl

>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
>*****************************************************************************
>
>In James Gleick's "Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything", he
>theorized that the modern device which most test our patience is... the
>elevator. (So, how often do YOU hit an already lit call button, knowing full
>well that this does absolutely nothing?)
>
>Anyhow... Personally, I'd be reluctant to set any hard + fast rules for how
>long a time limit you'd want to recommend for a given exhibit apparatus. I
>can think of plenty of them where visitors can and hopefully will explore +
>test it out for much longer than 90 seconds. (That's a good thing, right?)
>
>Perhaps the solution is in the overall layout of the center. If you know
>that component X is very popular, scatter a lot of other things nearby so
>that rather than standing around waiting, visitors can try something else
>and come back to X. In very heavy visitation periods, you can call on your
>floor staff to bring some extra experiments to the area to keep people
>occupied.
>
>In theory,
>Jonah Cohen
>Outreach & Public Programs Manager
>Science Center of Connecticut
>
>"On blind faith they place reliance,
>what we need more of is science"
>            -MC Hawking
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Peter A. Anderson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 6:08 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Popular exhibits
>
>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
>institutions.
>****************************************************************************
>*
>
>Dave,   I've long had a "by guess and by golly" rule that we should try to
>have
>every experience come available to a new person every 90 seconds.  So, a
>three minute experience should be twinned, etc.
>
>I arrived at that by timing how long people would wait before they showed
>signs of impatience, or moved on to another exhibit.  It was rather
>unscientific;
>I did not have a statistical sample.
>
>Like you, I'd be interested to hear what others think of this matter, and
>if there
>are good measurements.
>
>Marty, for multimedia exhibits, there are several examples of a request,
>after
>x minutes or a complete cycle, to let someone else use the exhibit.
>
>Regards,  Peter Anderson
>
>***********************************************************************
>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]
>
>***********************************************************************
>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]


-- 
Beryl Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs
MIT Museum
265 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA  02139
Tel: 617-452-2111
Fax: 617-253-8994
[log in to unmask]
"A great place to explore ideas, invention, and innovation: 
http://web.mit.edu/museum"

***********************************************************************
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]