We've been doing a very successful behind the scenes tour once a month for over a year now. We advertise it through our membership newsletter, and any other general information pieces that go out. It is open to the public, and reservations are encouraged. Our maximum number is 15 on a tour, and the tour lasts about 2 hours. Our most effective advertising tools has been green 81/2 x 11 laminated signs hung from staircases and doorknobs saying "What's Behind This Door" or "What's Up These Stairs". When we guide people through our historic home on a regular tour, these signs are noticed and the guides explain the when and where of the tour. We also have a corrugated cardboard sign we made from a kit at Office Max (about $25) we put out the week before our tour that says "Behind the Scenes Tours Saturday at 11am". We have 25,000+ cars driving past our Site each day, and that sign gets noticed! We charge $15/person for this tour (regular admission is $8), and people are willing to pay it! And I'd say if you have the staff to do this tour multiple times a day, go for it! Allison Sharaba James A. Garfield National Historic Site Mentor, Ohio ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jason Aikens" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 12:55 PM Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Tours in History Museums I'm working on developing a "behind the scenes tour" provided by some of our summer staff. The tour would be on a first come first serve basis, would be free and would be unadvertised. The idea is to offer the tours 3- 4 times a day and the tour would be 30-45 minutes long. Each group would be about 10-15 visitors. The tour would show the visitors some of the "nooks and crannies" of the museum such as our library and archives and would be an added bonus for our visitors. Traditionally we have been a self-guided museum. Some of our staff is concerned that if we don't offer these tours to everyone that some will object if they learn about it after the fact. They also feel uncomfortable with the un-advertised notion of the tour. It is impractical to offer the tour to everyone since there will only be two summer staffers available daily for this project and our attendance can reach a 1000 people a day on the weekends. Does anyone have any experience in starting guided tours? Any pitfalls I should watch out for? Do people get mad if they are not able to participate on a free guided tour? Jason Aikens Collections Curator Pro Football Hall of Fame ========================================================= 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).