Jay-
    Here at the New York Hall of Science, we have adopted what we call a
Service Promise, not a charter so much as a simple one-sentence oath to both
our visitors and our co-workers. The Service Promise is this- "We promise
to provide our visitors with a welcoming, comfortable experience...and to
offer our staff the information and skills to deliver this promise."
    We then facilitate a mandatory Visitor Service Workshop that ALL staff-
frontline and office- must attend, to explain both our Mission Statement,
our Service Promise, and how they relate.  Also, the Workshop helps staff
understand what amenities we offer, how to give clear directions, how to
maintain our Zone of Influence, and how to deal with co-worker and visitor
conflicts, etc.
    So far we've found it to be a huge help in both serving our visitors, as
well as knowing more about the Hall, and also how to deal with those
sometimes sticky problems with co-workers.  Our Workshops are based on a
Program that was developed by the Museum of Science in Boston, who offer it
to other Museum professionals at a yearly conference.
    I hope this helps, even if it's not exactly what you were looking for...

                                                Michelle Levengood
                                                Admissions Supervisor
                                                New York Hall of Science
-----Original Message-----
From: Jay Heuman <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, February 23, 2001 4:27 PM
Subject: Re: Proper term


>Dear All:
>
>        As the original poster of the "visitors charter" question, I was
(and
>remain) disappointed to have received only three comments: two inquiries
>if I could offer further information about Joslyn Art Museum's approach
>to the issue.    [Joslyn Art Museum hasn't an approach to this issue
>because I -- the person in charge of Visitor Services (amongst several
>other "hats") -- have found little information.]  One listing of items
>for a visitors charter -- based on a conference paper presented by Judy
>Rand at the 1995 Visitor Studies Association Annual Conference in Estes
>Park, CO.
>        In fact, all the information I have on visitors charters is from
the
>web (URLs I posted for Museum-L) . . . and all are based on "customer
>service."  However, non-profit museums and for-profit businesses *are*
>fundamentally different.  (No, I do not want to get into that debate . .
>. <grin>)
>        Perhaps this is the point where Museum-L is prepared to deal with
the
>issue of visitors charters in the context of defining what it is that
>we -- museum professionals -- promise our visitors?  Obviously, we
>promise exhibitions of quality, with educational application.  And we
>promise accessibility to all people -- regardless of age, sex,
>sexuality, ethnicity, etc.  But, what else do we promise?  What is the
>minimum . . . what is "beyond the call of duty"?
>
>I really would appreciate feedback on the topic of visitors charters . .
>. something I'd like to post on our web site.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Jay Heuman, Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
>Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
>342-3300 (telephone)     342-2376 (fax)
>http://www.joslyn.org
>
>
>Paula Hill wrote:
>
>> After all of this my question to the list is why the debate -
>> interesting as it is - on proper terms, when the issue of visitors
>> charters raised a couple of weeks ago went unnoticed?  Having
>> standards of public programs and visitors' charters would, I
>> think, go a long way towards reducing fantastic history (or
>> science or art).
>>
>> P. Hill
>> Royal Saskatchewan Museum
>
>=========================================================
>Important Subscriber Information:
>
>The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes).
>
>If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).