Nancy... They MAY be an upfront expense, but going with a first rate group who does museum master planning is well worth every cent! The business plan is just one part of what they do. If I were you, I would work with the board to develop a scope of work and then put it out to bid. You probably can get some advice--gratis--for a start from WhiteOak Associates in MA. I only mention them because they are the firm we settled upon and we got 150% of what we paid for! Good luck-- don't hestiate to email/call with questions. Good luck, Lois Lois Brynes, Principal DeepTime Associates P.O. Box 58 Rockport, MA 01966 USA [log in to unmask] land 978 546-8574 air 978 290-3029 On Aug 21, 2009, at 12:23 PM, Guy Hermann wrote: > Nancy-- > > It is a daunting task compiling such a list since there are so many > projects out there and so many variables. There are lots of museum > building and expansion projects out there, very few of them are > directly comparable because of difference in community size and make- > up, resource availability (all kinds: collections, a building, > endowment or governmental support, etc.), the focus of the museum > (history, art, science), the kinds of audiences served (tourists, > researchers, kids, community members), the scale and scope of the > project, location, competing venues, etc. > > Unlike doing these kinds of projections for a commercial enterprise, > where one Starbucks is much like another, every museum is different, > so there are few standard rules that apply--what works one place may > need to be substantially reworked to work in a different place. Any > comparison must be taken with a large margin of potential error. > > Rather than focusing on new or expanded museums, I might look at > existing successful museums of comparable size and scope to identify > the characteristics that make them work well for their communities. > You can then use these as a benchmark for your project and for > assessing the new or expanded museums that turn up in the process. I > think AASLH might have some resources for identifying similar museums. > > Best of luck, > > Guy > > ----------------------------- > > Guy Hermann, LEED GA > Museum Insights: Master Planning for Museums > 860-245-1323 > http://www.museuminsights.com > > On Aug 18, 2009, at 2:51 PM, Nancy Geyer wrote: > >> Our board and staff are working on a business plan for a new museum >> we hope to build in the not too distant future. We are trying to >> make projections on visitation numbers and revenue for the new >> museum. I am hoping to get some data from other museums that have >> expanded or built new museum buildings in the past ten years. So I >> am compiling a list. I will need to eventually filter the list to >> cities and museums of comparable size to ours but right now I am >> just trying to put together the preliminary list. If you know of >> such a museum would you mind shooting me an e-mail with the name >> and location? Thanks so much. >> >> Nancy >> >> ========================================================= >> 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). ========================================================= 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).