Message-ID: <012a01c8bab8$7998e070$4001a8c0@HP50151119617> From: "Susan McLeod" <s.mcleod@cvmuseum.com> Subject: Re: Open hours for historic house museums Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 15:31:25 -0500
----- Original Message -----
From: "JAMES STROSCHEIN" <stromedia@verizon.net>
To: "Janice Dibble" <Dibble@oshkoshpubliclibrary.org>
Cc: <localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 1:30 PM
Subject: Re: Open hours for historic house museums
> Currently we have a very minimal budget for house tour promotion. We
> place an ad in the annual Chamber of Commerce visitor guide, we have
> one or two sandwich boards that we place near the commercial district
> (one of the boards has a small box with lid that contains brochures),
> we hang posters downtown, we send group emails to our Chamber's list,
> and we distribute both our newsletter and our brochures to downtown
> restaurants and galleries.
>
> Our hours are 1-5 Friday & Sat. and 11 am - 2 pm on Sundays. We don't
> generally invest in advertising that gets only one viewing, such as a
> newspaper ad that is glanced at once and is bird cage liner the next
> day. We used to be open 1-5 Sundays but, if you want to catch the
> tourist, we found they want to do something after breakfast on Sunday
> and then hit the road. By 2 pm the tourist is gone.
>
> But having said all that, we don't think "chasing the tourist" is a
> very good business strategy for a historical society. For us, house
> tours are currently only slightly better than a "break even"
> proposition. We generate income in other ways, including a solid
> year-end Annual Campaign that touts all of the educational and fun
> activities that we do throughout the year. We ask our members for
> additional gifts to support those activities and they come through for
> us. We also have a very good newsletter that keeps our name and
> activities in front of the membership 4 times a year.
>
> One other thing that you might consider: if you have a board member who
> can deliver a good 90-second elevator speech, ask them to work it into
> any appropriate public gatherings, such as at the town ice cream social
> or during a break in a concert or between speakers. We have free music
> concerts at Orchard Lawn, called Jammin' on the Porch, (the second
> Friday of each month in summer) and before the show or during the
> break, one of our board members comes to the microphone and touts house
> tours and the historical society in general. We get good responses from
> this.
>
> I've even been known to ask for volunteers in this way, and then send a
> signup sheet around.
>
> I hope some of this helps, Janice. This exchange is another great
> benefit of this list serve. I think we all face similar challenges.
>
> Jim Stroschein
> President, Mineral Point Historical Society
>
>
>
>
>
> On May 16, 2008, at 12:14 PM, Janice Dibble wrote:
>
>> Our members volunteer on weekends during the summer to give tours of
>> our
>> Morgan House.
>> It's always a struggle to find the right hours and best promotion (with
>> very low $ budget for promotion).
>> (1) What hours work for you in terms of highest attendance? Has anyone
>> found week days or nights successful and/or other times of the year
>> (excluding Holiday Season, which we also open up for)
>> (2) What promotional methods have worked best?
>> (3) We mostly get out-of-towners in the summer -- is that your
>> experience?
>>
>> Thanks for any feedback, Janice for Winn. County Historical Society
>>
>> Janice Dibble
>> dibble@oshkoshpubliclibrary.org
>> Head of Reference & Adult Serv.
>> Oshkosh Public Library
>> 920.236.5214 ph 920.236.5227 fax
>> www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org
>>
>