Open Forum

We do rent space for private and corporate events in our galleries. They have been a definite income generator but we sometimes struggle with closing a gallery during regular operating hours in order to host a daytime corporate meeting or event. Although most rentals are after normal hours of operation, those taking place during public hours pose some issues regarding denying public access - does anyone else encounter these issues?

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Bonnie Brown
Director of Operations & Guest
Grounds for Sculpture
Hamilton NJ
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We have a classroom, theater and "party" room that are rented to private groups. These areas can be closed to the general public.  On occasion we have rented out portions of our Exhibition Hall for private functions.  Its more the type of activity to take place that governs how much separation is given the group.  The American Fighter Aces Association have held presentations of WW2 aces in our Exhibition Hall, with upwards of 100-200 seated attendees.  A ticket is required to be purchased to attend.  We charge the AFAA a pre-established rental fee for the portion of museum they will be using.  We also advise them that the museum will be open to the pubic and we can't stop people from standing around on the fringes and listening.  We have had no complaints or questions about this from the AFAA and numerous other groups/organizations.

Our Exhibition Hall is approximately 30,000 sq feet of floor space without any walls, partitions, etc.  We did have one group was unhappy about not having the place to themselves.  They questioned about letting the general public in.  Our Executive Director explained the cost to them for closing the museum during normal business hours.  They didn't have a problem with some "free" admissions seeing their event.  

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Raymond Meyer
Safety & Security Manager
Aerospace Museum of California
McClellan CA
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We've had a rental program for years, but don't often run into the issue of someone wanting to use the whole museum.  While we have public areas on two floors, the second floor "lecture hall" is the primary rental space, and prospective rental clients are informed up front that the first floor exhibit galleries need to be open to the public during regular hours.  After 5 PM, they can rent this area, as well, and even the exhibit galleries themselves can be open for their guests for an additional fee.

For me, it boils down to mission, and what we're here to do.  We're the city history museum and a historic site first, and a publicly rented space second, so if a rental activity is going to adversely impact the building or daytime visitors' experience in any way, we aren't going to do it.

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James Mackay
Director
The Lyceum
Alexandria VA
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As a small museum, our gallery space is our rental space.  It's perfect for events, thanks to a sponsored renovation, but it does require us to close the museum if the event is not open to the public.

We haven't had much difficulty with this, though; we announce on social media beforehand that the museum will be closed for a private event, and it has not significant generated negative feedback.

Admission is free, so it's far too valuable a source of revenue to us to turn away events.  We have been lucky with the visitor response so far.

-Meredith

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Meredith Peruzzi
Manager
Gallaudet University Museum
Washington DC
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We are a historic house museum that is open 6 days a week and offers private rentals. We depend on the revenue from both, but the rentals take priority over being open for a day since they will always bring in more money. Sometimes if it's a really small event (a 8 person tea for instance) we will just close the dining room and leave the House open for tours... it hasn't been a problem to my knowledge.

It would be great to have an alternative space for events, but our House isn't set up to accommodate that. We are working towards developing an outdoor venue that will allow for this at least part of the year. 

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Leah Murray
Executive Director
Shelton McMurphey Johnson House
Eugene OR
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