One thing folks should consider when deciding whether or not they are going
to stay open during the holidays would be the total lack of competition for
audiences on holidays.  Few if any sporting events, many other Museums
closing early and all the kids out of school have commandeered the movie
theaters and malls.  Even some restaurants are closed!

Imagine, if you will, your family entertaining a house full of out-of-town
relatives.  They have been there for ... well ... too long, and you are
reaching your wits end.  So you ask yourself, "What am I supposed to do with
Aunt May?  Can I stand to look at those same family photos AGAIN?  Am I
completely jigsaw puzzled out?  Please oh please oh please ... let there be
someplace open where we can be entertained!  OMG look!  The Aquarium is open!
 Our holidays are saved!!!!"

OK, maybe that's a tad exaggerated, but the fact remains ... people want to
be entertained over the holidays, and Museums are often the only show in
town.  Our organization also works with a heavily tourist-based audience.  We
are open every day except Christmas, and we close at 2 p.m. Christmas Eve and
New Year's Eve.

We usually have very solid visitation on holidays.  On Thanksgiving we get
all the men and kids, or relatives who are visiting from out of town, while
Mom stays home and gets dinner ready (sorry to be gender biased, but that's
truly what our visitors say)!  New Year's Day is always busy ... it just
starts later than usual.  While we open at 9, most of our visitors won't
start coming until noon or later.

When you consider all of the times during the year you are competing for an
audience, it's really really nice to have somewhat of a corner on the market
on the holidays.

Of course, that's just my 2 cents!

Betsy Martinson
Education and Events Coordinator
Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
987 1/2 Lookout Mountain Rd.
Golden,CO  80401
303-526-0744

=========================================================
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).