Sunday, September 24: Second Day of ASTC Conference: Angie

NISE BREAKFAST
Early bird gets the worm, or in this case science discovery kits. Hadley and I arrived at an informational breakfast session at 7:30 am to learn about National Informal STEM Education (NISE) Network. NISE is provides science centers with FREE educational products to aid communities in scientific discoveries.  NISE science discovery kits center around Space, Nano Technology and Synthetic Biology.  NISE is funded by the National Science Foundation. Check them out at nisenet.org

Session I: No Money, No Mission: Strategies for Building a Financially Strong Museum

Each candid presenter shared their challenges and successes on their road to greater financial stability in their institutions.  All of them increased earned income in their institutions to become more financially stable and less dependent on government and private company donations. 

What each of the speakers had in common was setting program and admission fees based on the product benefits perceived by the consumer rather than the exact cost of the program itself.  It has been proven that value based pricing is more profitable than traditional pricing. 

When each institution created fee based programs, they always did so with the Museum’s Mission in mind- one example being educational camps. 

Session II: Apps and Why? Or Sometimes Why Not?Some institutions have developed apps to engage their audience.  Check out the Apps developed by the Exploratorium: http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/apps. Color Uncovered is one of my favorites.

Most of the apps had an interactive component, meaning users took an active role in their exploration.  I loved how the National Museum of Natural History incorporated their collection into the app they created. They took 3-D scans of the objects on display so app users could rotate the object on their device, allowing them to see multiple sides of the object and deepen their knowledge of the collection. So fun!