Open Forum

Hello all,

Our museum is celebrating our 150th building anniversary this year and we were considering putting together some kind of tour/open house for members of the press that would give them behind-the-scenes access to our museum and the story of the past 150 years in our building. Usually, we only focus our media relations around specific events, but we are trying to develop plans to get more general coverage for our museum and programs on the whole. This seemed like a good way to jumpstart that effort. 

I wonder if this is a common thing museums to do or is it a completely out-there idea? If your museum has done something similar, do you have any advice to impart? Some of my questions include: what is a good size group to aim for? Should we open it to other important stakeholders like foundation representatives or just keep it to media? Should we have separate tours with distinct topics to account for writers' different beats (one for science writers, one for architecture writers, etc.)? 

And is there anything else here I am not thinking of that I should be? 

Best,
Cara


-------------------------------------------
Cara Scharf
Program and Communications Manager
Wagner Free Institute of Science
Philadelphia PA
-------------------------------------------

This is a great question and an excellent idea. We've done something similar at my current museum for our 50th Anniversary last year and at my previous museum for our exhibit overhaul. The big things we find that pitch well are stories and "how-to" stuff. Media loves "never-before-seen" or "not seen in a long time" objects, as it is an easy entree into the story and will attract attention. We also had some success with a reporter being "Curator for a day" and taking him back into Collections with our Curator.

Feel free to contact me off-line if you have questions or need more info.

-------------------------------------------
Christopher Kolakowski
Director
MacArthur Memorial
Norfolk VA
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2015 02:23 PM
From: Cara Scharf
Subject: Media Open Houses

Hello all,

Our museum is celebrating our 150th building anniversary this year and we were considering putting together some kind of tour/open house for members of the press that would give them behind-the-scenes access to our museum and the story of the past 150 years in our building. Usually, we only focus our media relations around specific events, but we are trying to develop plans to get more general coverage for our museum and programs on the whole. This seemed like a good way to jumpstart that effort. 

I wonder if this is a common thing museums to do or is it a completely out-there idea? If your museum has done something similar, do you have any advice to impart? Some of my questions include: what is a good size group to aim for? Should we open it to other important stakeholders like foundation representatives or just keep it to media? Should we have separate tours with distinct topics to account for writers' different beats (one for science writers, one for architecture writers, etc.)? 

And is there anything else here I am not thinking of that I should be? 

Best,
Cara


-------------------------------------------
Cara Scharf
Program and Communications Manager
Wagner Free Institute of Science
Philadelphia PA
-------------------------------------------

Thanks, Christopher! This is helpful info. 

------------------------------
Cara Scharf
Program and Communications Manager
Wagner Free Institute of Science
Philadelphia PA
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-10-2015 11:01 AM
From: Christopher Kolakowski
Subject: Media Open Houses

This is a great question and an excellent idea. We've done something similar at my current museum for our 50th Anniversary last year and at my previous museum for our exhibit overhaul. The big things we find that pitch well are stories and "how-to" stuff. Media loves "never-before-seen" or "not seen in a long time" objects, as it is an easy entree into the story and will attract attention. We also had some success with a reporter being "Curator for a day" and taking him back into Collections with our Curator.

Feel free to contact me off-line if you have questions or need more info.

-------------------------------------------
Christopher Kolakowski
Director
MacArthur Memorial
Norfolk VA
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2015 02:23 PM
From: Cara Scharf
Subject: Media Open Houses

Hello all,

Our museum is celebrating our 150th building anniversary this year and we were considering putting together some kind of tour/open house for members of the press that would give them behind-the-scenes access to our museum and the story of the past 150 years in our building. Usually, we only focus our media relations around specific events, but we are trying to develop plans to get more general coverage for our museum and programs on the whole. This seemed like a good way to jumpstart that effort. 

I wonder if this is a common thing museums to do or is it a completely out-there idea? If your museum has done something similar, do you have any advice to impart? Some of my questions include: what is a good size group to aim for? Should we open it to other important stakeholders like foundation representatives or just keep it to media? Should we have separate tours with distinct topics to account for writers' different beats (one for science writers, one for architecture writers, etc.)? 

And is there anything else here I am not thinking of that I should be? 

Best,
Cara


-------------------------------------------
Cara Scharf
Program and Communications Manager
Wagner Free Institute of Science
Philadelphia PA
-------------------------------------------