Open Forum

My museum has historically hosted an evening lecture series for senior adults that has been moderately successful. In recent years, the numbers have dwindled (for many reasons).  We currently have a growing Science on Tap event monthly that draws in young and middle aged adults. We're looking for a program to add to re-invigorate our adult audiences, specifically seniors. 

What great successes have you seen in adult programming?

What unique things have you seen added to traditional lecture platforms to make it more interesting and unique?


-------------------------------------------
Jillian Becquet
Collections Manager & Registrar
Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History
Corpus Christi TX
-------------------------------------------

We have a fairly robust senior program. We call ours "leisure programs" for people with leisure time during the day. We partner with the community college and provide classes on history related topics. The classes are Monday's at 1030am. We usually get about 80 people. They are also very popular with our docents. Once a month we offer a lungi me program called History on the side. This is an hour program either a documentary or a curator talk. We market it specifically to senior centers who bring their clients along with their lunch. Attendance depends on the topic, but we get about 60 to 75. We have also partnered with a senior arts group called music and it's muse. They provide music programs once a month. All of the performers are seniors. Some of the things we have learned is that this group likes morning programs. Many don't want to drive in the late afternoon or evening. We are going to look into expanding the program to our archives and library and begin holding programs. We will also hold over weekend special speakers and have them repeat the same program on Monday mornings specifically for this group. This allows them to keep their regular schedule and not try to get to the museum over the weekend. You can find all of our programs on our website, www.mohistory.org Please let me know If you have any questions. ------------------------------------------- Melanie Adams PhD Managing Director Missouri Historical Society and Museum Saint Louis MO -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 01-10-2015 09:48 AM From: Jillian Becquet Subject: Innovation in Adult Programming My museum has historically hosted an evening lecture series for senior adults that has been moderately successful. In recent years, the numbers have dwindled (for many reasons). We currently have a growing Science on Tap event monthly that draws in young and middle aged adults. We're looking for a program to add to re-invigorate our adult audiences, specifically seniors. What great successes have you seen in adult programming? What unique things have you seen added to traditional lecture platforms to make it more interesting and unique? ------------------------------------------- Jillian Becquet Collections Manager & Registrar Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History Corpus Christi TX -------------------------------------------

Jillian,

We have also been struggling to reach out to the adult crowd.  We have a monthly program called Coffee With the Curator where we invite local speakers in to talk about all kinds of history.  This has been mostly popular with the senior crowd, although all are welcome.  Our lecture series, however, has struggled to get any traction, so we recently began to look at alternative educational avenues to serve the adults of our community.

We just started a new program in November called Murder at the Museum.  This is modeled after a classic participant driven Murder Mystery party, but we throw in historical elements from the Museum to make it unique.  For example, our November one had a 1920s theme and the murder weapon was a 1896 Mauser pistol from our collection (which was displayed and handled by curatorial staff).  We put information about the 1920s around the party and encouraged the guests to dress in historical costume.  We also included hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.  This program was a smash hit from the start and, since we put it on, we have not stopped getting inquiries over when we will be putting the next one on.  It seems we have really managed to reach the 20-40 crowd with this.

Hope this helps!

-------------------------------------------
Kristin Martin
Education Director and Volunteer Coordinator
Museum of World Treasures
Wichita KS
-------------------------------------------

Jillian,

The Mob Museum in Las Vegas has a mostly adult audience and is frequently holding events for adults related to their collection.  Their building is the federal courthouse where the Kefauver hearings took place, so they run programs related to important dates in the history of organized crime, as well as parties related to Prohibition and the like.  Check out their website and join their email list.  Their newsletters go out in the name of "Known Associates," and are fun to read.  I don't know the education director over there but I'm sure if you call you can get in touch with them.

Cheers,
Barbara

-------------------------------------------
Barbara Punt
President
Punt Consulting Group
Redondo Beach CA
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-21-2015 04:36 PM
From: Kristin Martin
Subject: Innovation in Adult Programming

Jillian,

We have also been struggling to reach out to the adult crowd.  We have a monthly program called Coffee With the Curator where we invite local speakers in to talk about all kinds of history.  This has been mostly popular with the senior crowd, although all are welcome.  Our lecture series, however, has struggled to get any traction, so we recently began to look at alternative educational avenues to serve the adults of our community.

We just started a new program in November called Murder at the Museum.  This is modeled after a classic participant driven Murder Mystery party, but we throw in historical elements from the Museum to make it unique.  For example, our November one had a 1920s theme and the murder weapon was a 1896 Mauser pistol from our collection (which was displayed and handled by curatorial staff).  We put information about the 1920s around the party and encouraged the guests to dress in historical costume.  We also included hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.  This program was a smash hit from the start and, since we put it on, we have not stopped getting inquiries over when we will be putting the next one on.  It seems we have really managed to reach the 20-40 crowd with this.

Hope this helps!

-------------------------------------------
Kristin Martin
Education Director and Volunteer Coordinator
Museum of World Treasures
Wichita KS
-------------------------------------------

Do any of you charge fees for these events or are they perks of membership?

-------------------------------------------
Karen Everingham
Museum Tech III
Illinois State Museum
Springfield IL
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-10-2015 09:48 AM
From: Jillian Becquet
Subject: Innovation in Adult Programming

My museum has historically hosted an evening lecture series for senior adults that has been moderately successful. In recent years, the numbers have dwindled (for many reasons).  We currently have a growing Science on Tap event monthly that draws in young and middle aged adults. We're looking for a program to add to re-invigorate our adult audiences, specifically seniors. 

What great successes have you seen in adult programming?

What unique things have you seen added to traditional lecture platforms to make it more interesting and unique?


-------------------------------------------
Jillian Becquet
Collections Manager & Registrar
Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History
Corpus Christi TX
-------------------------------------------

Our Coffee With the Curator breakfast lecture event is free with membership.  The Murder Mystery I mentioned is $25 for members and $30 for non-members.  This is because it costs a lot to get a mystery story, send out roles in advance, and pay for food and extra staff and decorations.  What we found with that event is that there is a crowd in our area that absolutely loves this sort of thing, so the admission fee has not been a problem.

-------------------------------------------
Kristin Martin
Education Director and Volunteer Coordinator
Museum of World Treasures
Wichita KS
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-22-2015 10:09 AM
From: Karen Everingham
Subject: Innovation in Adult Programming

Do any of you charge fees for these events or are they perks of membership?

-------------------------------------------
Karen Everingham
Museum Tech III
Illinois State Museum
Springfield IL
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-10-2015 09:48 AM
From: Jillian Becquet
Subject: Innovation in Adult Programming

My museum has historically hosted an evening lecture series for senior adults that has been moderately successful. In recent years, the numbers have dwindled (for many reasons).  We currently have a growing Science on Tap event monthly that draws in young and middle aged adults. We're looking for a program to add to re-invigorate our adult audiences, specifically seniors. 

What great successes have you seen in adult programming?

What unique things have you seen added to traditional lecture platforms to make it more interesting and unique?


-------------------------------------------
Jillian Becquet
Collections Manager & Registrar
Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History
Corpus Christi TX
-------------------------------------------

This year we started experimenting with a program we call Wednesday@2. The programs all are based on a partnership with a community group or a local speaker. For example, our first series was based on the exhibition Toulouse Lautrec and La Vie Moderne. It included a program on Music in the Belle Epoque with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Art and Literature of the Belle Epoque with the Thurber House, Fashion of the Belle epoque presented by the Director of the Kent State Museum and former curator of the Costume Institute of the Met, and Dance of the Belle Epoque presented by a professor in the OSU Department of Dance. Nearly all of those programs were sold out.

We find that if we partner with a group that brings its own audience we do best and we are bringing new audiences to the Museum. We charge a nominal fee of $5 for members (of the Museum and of our partner organization) and $10 for non-members so that we can track the audience and cut off sales if we have too many people.

After surveying the audience, we found that people are looking for programs that are both intellectually stimulating as well as entertaining. As you might expect, the audience is primarily retirees, but there are some students as well.
Nancy

-------------------------------------------
Nancy Turner
Director of Community Relations
Columbus Museum of Art
Columbus OH
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 01-10-2015 09:48 AM
From: Jillian Becquet
Subject: Innovation in Adult Programming

My museum has historically hosted an evening lecture series for senior adults that has been moderately successful. In recent years, the numbers have dwindled (for many reasons).  We currently have a growing Science on Tap event monthly that draws in young and middle aged adults. We're looking for a program to add to re-invigorate our adult audiences, specifically seniors. 

What great successes have you seen in adult programming?

What unique things have you seen added to traditional lecture platforms to make it more interesting and unique?


-------------------------------------------
Jillian Becquet
Collections Manager & Registrar
Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History
Corpus Christi TX
-------------------------------------------