you wrote:

>... but basically what I'm trying to say is that, if the visitor just wants to
>have
>something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon, why in the world would the
>visitor be interested in the inner workings of the museum?


I'm afraid I disagree.  And perhaps our problem is that we are not all
thinking of the same thing.  We may all be envisioning different things
when we think of a "tour of the inner workings of the museum."  If it is an
unplanned event, where staff may not be present to show what they are
doing, or have not prepared in advance to talk with visitors then of course
it would be boring on a Saturday afternoon.   Who would rather  watch me
typing e-mail messages to a museum mailing list, than see our latest
Omnifilm?  No one, I hope.

But imagine this behind-the-scenes tour involves developers walking you
through models and prototypes of upcoming exhibits,  designers revealing
drawings or computer renderings of components or graphic panels,
fabricators explaining materials and processes as you watch them build
components, paleontologists meticulously cleaning bones and fossils before
you as they explain why this delicate process is necessary, collections
managers providing a peak at curious objects not on exhibit while
conservators explain why those objects may never be on exhibit because of
their fragile nature, and curators describing the research they are doing
and why we even collect objects in the first place.  Now add to all of this
the mystery of seeing something you haven't seen before, plus the
excitement of being somewhere not everyone has a chance to be, and meeting
real people who seem really glad to see you and are grateful that you are
interested in what they do.

I know when we have our members-behind-the-scenes day we have lots of very
curious people of all ages here, and I think if we tried it with general
visitors we'd find even more interested folks.

Sincerely,
Bill Stirrat

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William H. Stirrat  (Bill)
Evaluator/Market Researcher              ? !
Our Minnesota Science Hall                  o
Science Museum of Minnesota          /( )\
30 East 10th Street                                    /\
St. Paul, MN  55101
612/221-9442
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As always, opinions expressed are my own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bye!