Open Forum

The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden has a restaurant that does not require admission to access.  However, the restaurant is located in a paid admission area of our facility.  We have many visitors who eat at the restaurant and then decide to tour our gardens without paying admission.  For this reason, we're going to begin requiring guests wear stickers so we can determine who has and has not paid admission.

A question has been raised about rental guests, especially area business leaders who often have meetings here.  Should rental guests also be required to wear stickers?

If your museum has a similar situation I would like to know how you handle it.  My recommendation is everyone wears stickers, no matter who they are, but I'm open to ideas.

Thanks!

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Eric Morse
Des Moines IA
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Our local museum (at which I used to work) has a museum store that does not require admission to the museum.  So, everyone who goes beyond the front desk (which stands between the store and the exhibit halls) is asked to wear a sticker if they visit during normal operating hours.  (Stickers are not required for after-hours events that are closed to the public, and visiting researchers are given a different temporary badge for access to collections areas.) 

Admissions staff ask visitors to put the sticker anywhere on the front of their shirt so that security will know that they belong in the building.  This reminds visitors that security is present (an unspoken "please behave yourselves") while also giving them an opportunity, because their admission price is good for two consecutive days.  Visitors are encouraged to save their stickers and return with them the next day, when they'll be given a new one (different colors for each day) to continue their museum experience at no charge.

Extra bonus - many visitors continue wearing their stickers around town after their visit.  Some choose to do so and others may simply forget to take them off, but either way the effect is positive.  Many of the area businesses, hotels and restaurants that they patronize are business members of the museum, and it's good for them to see that their support is having real public benefits.  

    MH

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Michael Holland
Principal/Owner
Michael Holland Productions
Bozeman MT
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The museum I work for has a free gallery and store that is free to enter but we use admission stickers, that are a different color for every day of the week, to make sure guests have paid admission. 
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Jessica Strom
Briscoe Western Art Museum
Boerne TX
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Not sure why this didn't post the first time, so please excuse if this is a duplicate post.

Stickers are a good idea, and as Michael Holland mentioned, great news if they continue wearing their stickers around town either accidentally or on purpose!

In addition to the sticker approach, have you considered an 'information campaign' to help educate and inform (remind) guests of the importance of admission?  This should / can be a light, friend, positive, and creative campaign that serves as a reminder about your mission, vision, and the importance of admission fees.

i.e. table toppers with fun facts about the botanicals which will remind visitors of where they are and why it is important to support it (and can also be great conversation pieces for guests). Also, your mission is so succinct, it would fit nicely on a table topper.

Or, if this is a white-table cloth restaurant (no table toppers) add beautifully designed "info graphic cards" to the menus that are delivered to the table. So that when they open the menu there is a nice little info card about the mission of the gardens with a follow up paragraph that states something like "admission supports the butterfly habitat" or "your small donation supports the banzai garden". The info card can be as tall as the menu but half the width so that it doesn't fall out, but fits naturally into the menu itself even if it is a separate piece.

Perhaps servers can wear a 'flash' (button or ribbon) for a period of time (a month or so at a time) that says something cute but classy "Ask me about the gardens" or "I  <3  ginkgo" or something similar. This opens the door for a conversation that can include the server saying "yes, of course you can pay your admission here/at the door/at the gardens".

If the restaurant has the planters on the bar and tables as depicted in the photo on your website, then add little garden identifier tags as you might in an herbal garden. Print the mission of the museum on one side and the benefits of membership or admission on the other.

Or, for more direct approach, have the host/hostess who seats them ask if they will be visiting the gardens and if they would like to include their admission on the dinner ticket now or later.

This type of approach may help remind diners that admission is not just a number, it is a way to contribute and support the mission of your museum! 

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Berlin Loa MLS, CA
Museum Director

The Museum of Casa Grande
Casa Grande Valley Historical Society
Casa Grande AZ

www.TMOCG.org
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Lucky you that you've got customers for the restaurant who come just to eat rather than only serving visitors to the garden. That's a great problem to have. 

How many rental visitors really go into the gardens?

Our solution for rental guests is to assume the cost of visiting is built into their facility rental. Most of them do not visit the gardens anyway and if they do we hope they see something they'd like to visit as a paying customer later. Personally I would not require they to wear stickers.  

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Diane Gutenkauf
Director
Robert R. McCormick Museum at Cantigny
Wheaton IL
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At the Asian Art Museum we have local workers who come in just for lunch or to visit our gift shop.  They get a completely different sticker than those who pay admission to see the exhibits, it is the guards responsibility to make sure they do not enter the galleries.

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Sharon Steckline
Head of Rergistration
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
San Francisco CA
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We give stickers to everyone who enters (also serves as an accounting control for the register/visitor count).  Sticker colors vary according to purpose, kind of visitor (General, Business, Free, Friend).  Our rental fees include visiting the galleries. Gallery hosts monitor the stickers.  Great suggestions from Berlin!  We don't have a restaurant, but might try to incorporate some of the suggestions in our store (accessible without paying admission). 

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Marsha Rankin
Executive Director
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg TX
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