Hi Tamra Renting to the public is a good way to build a strong relationship with the community. It also provides much needed revenues with little (or no) cost. But renting museum facilities has to be done carefully. 1: you only rent the facilities to "ethical" client: no casino, no rave party, etc… Most, if not all the requests, are within this limit. 2: Define clearly what the areas that can and will be rented are. Give name to those areas (for example, the Cosmodôme has the Rotunda, the Carrefour, the Cafe Ariane, etc…). This will help you confine the activities inside limits that will be manageable. It is also a nice way to sell a room to a client! 3: you have to consider that any renting will have its share of damage to the facilities either by accident (spilled wine…), sheer number (a lot of people walking on the grass…), or plain mischief. Once, there has been a dancing party in our facilities. The guests danced all night long on loud music. The morning after, we discovered that the vibration from the low frequency of the music had damaged most of the expensive minerals that we sell in the giftshop. Over 20 000$ in damage… Another time, somebody stole the stainless steel signs indicating the men and women washrooms… 4: Set strict rules of conduct and enforce them. Rules should apply for: Alcoolic beverage Smoking Illicit substances Access to the other areas of the facilities (what is off limit…) Time schedule (set-up of the rooms by the guests, time to leave, etc…) Tools, accessories, and employees that your institution will provide. If your client needs an extension cord (or anything, this is an example), this should be written in the contract. Else… if you provide them will tools and accessories, there is a good chance that you will never see them again! Music: defines what is the limit. Do you have close neighbours? They will not like loud music until the wee hours! 5: think about clean-up. Renting a facility is always something messy. Every year, we rent our facilities to a children foundation that sets-up a lobster party. 1200 guests eating lobsters… as much as they can eat… this is a lot of lobsters. Let me tell you, the stench of lobster is sticking in the building for 2-3 days afterward. And it takes at least 12 hours to clean... Yves Cosmodome de Laval -----Message d'origine----- De : Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] De la part de Tamra Brosseau Envoyé : 25 octobre, 2006 11:45 À : [log in to unmask] Objet : [MUSEUM-L] Facilities rental question Hello all, We are a brand new facility that will not be open to the public until next June. An issue that I am dealing with is our facility rental program. The Center is beautiful with stunning landscaping and was planned to be rented out occasionally. My question is how do you handle questionable rental request that come from within the organization? We are in a very close community and I am getting request from everything from weddings to flee markets. Our development department insists that everyone be accommodated. I want to establish and protect our credibility. Does anyone have ideas on how to handle this type of issues when it comes from within? Because we are new there are no established policies and no experience with renting to the public. Thanks, Tamra ========================================================= 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).