Liz, is the dilemma because if groups come on a free night, it will
become too crowded - or is the concern you will lose paid group
attendance on other days?

You could define your "free night" as "family night" - open to families
and individuals only. No need to explain further to groups that want to
attend.

Another way to approach this is to look for a sponsor for the free
night. You can approach a family-friendly sponsor - a family restaurant
or a kids clothing or toy store, for example. Then you can tell groups
that the free night is designated for families, courtesy of the sponsor.

We don't accept organized groups at family times, because our house
museums are so small that a group takes up the entire facility.

Cindy Boyer
Director of Museums and Education
The Landmark Society of Western New York
Rochester, NY
(585) 546-7029 x12
[log in to unmask]
 
www.landmarksociety.org
 
Our mission is to discover, protect, and revitalize the architectural 
and related cultural heritage of the Rochester region, and to 
educate and inform our community about that heritage.
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Liz N.
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 2:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Free Nights at Museum

Hello. This question goes out to all of you but I am especially
interested 
in hearing from smaller museums. If you offer a free night, do you allow

organized groups to schedule field trips during that admission-free
time? 
Our educator posed the question, but we did not get a lot of responses
and 
this has become a real dilemma for us. If you allow groups to come, do
you 
have limit in terms of number of kids or number of groups. Finally, if
you 
do not allow groups to schedule trips during your free times, what 
explaination do you provide? Thanks.

Liz Nohra
Children's Museum of the Valley
Youngstown Ohio

_________________________________________________________________
Get FREE Web site and company branded e-mail from Microsoft Office Live 
http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/mcrssaub0050001411mrt/direct/01/

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