Just one point to add. 

One of the main barriers to access for small as well as large museums is transport.  At the Grange we cut a deal with the borough's transport services to offer schools a flexible range of off-peak deals to bring groups to the museum (transport services is a separate charging cost centre).  This brought an increase of school visits to the Museum - not extraordinary but significant.




Stephen Allen
Principal Curator
Grange Museum of Community History
Neasden Lane
London NW10 1QB
Tel:  020 8452 8311
Fax: 020 8208 4233
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----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Blackwell <[log in to unmask]>
To: "'GEM'" <[log in to unmask]>, "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 12:52:12 +0100 (GMT+01:00)
Subject: Marketing to Schools

> Hello,
>  
>  Earlier this year I asked about school numbers. We had a number of respon ses
>  to the request for:
>  
>  a) an overview of the last 3/4 years to visiting patterns of schools to
>  museums/ galleries/ heritage attractions; were numbers up, down, the same ?
>  what were the major pressures & concerns of teachers ? how were travel co sts
>  and curriculum pressures affecting visits ? As a result, NEMS and
>  Northumbria Tourist Board carried out a survey of 50 sites in the North E ast
>  of England this year. The analysis of this survey islmost complete and wi ll
>  be available shortly in full on the NEMS website and the ntb website. I
>  shall also give a digest of the results on the GEM & Heritage mailbases
>  ASAP.
>  
>  b) we also asked for ideas about attracting schools, to which several peo ple
>  responded. We would like to add these ideas to the research document to g ive
>  people a number of potential ways forward for their site. Your ideas are
>  still very welcome, particularly where transport is concerned. 
>  
>  The following suggestions seem worthwhile, but I have not come across the m
>  in our region. Can i ask you to consider these and let me know if you hav e
>  (or would) run similar schemes and whether they were/are successful.
>  
>  Idea 1
>  The Museum Champion. This idea centres on personal contact with an
>  individual teacher in each school in your area. It would build on the
>  existing contacts you have with schools who regulalry visit & then spreadÿo
>  infrequent or non-visiting schools. The scheme needs to be of benefit to
>  both the museum and the teacher/ school. As your 'Champion', a teacher in
>  each school agrees to receive museum mailshots direct to them, to act as  the
>  museum's supporter within the school and to inform colleagues of your
>  activities. In return, your Champion receives a number of incentives, suc h
>  as free or reduced admission to your venue for them and their family,
>  invitations to previews, openings or special events, and a discount on
>  resources or in the shop or café. This scheme appears to be more succes sful
>  if the teacher is the Champion for a group of museums in the locality. As
>  such, the Champion receives information from a cluster of sites at regula r
>  intervals, rather than being continually bombarded with information from  all
>  quarters. This means the museums can market their services to schools mor e
>  effectively and, because the sites work together, it is more cost-efficie nt.
>  
>  
>  Idea 2
>  Children's Passes. As part of a school visit, each child receives a ticke t,
>  voucher or credit-card pass which allows them free or reduced entry if th ey
>  visit with a friend or an adult (within a given time-period) outside of
>  school time. This scheme can be modified to suit the individual site, so  for
>  example, if you are a non-charging venue, you could offer a reduction for
>  special events or in the shop, or the pass may only be valid on certain
>  days, say the school holidays.
>  
>  Idea 3
>  Supermarket Loyalty Cards - ask your local branch of Tesco or Sainsbury'sÿr
>  whatever to offer free admission to local sites as part of their loyality
>  card schemes. People get reduced admission to Alton Towers by swopping
>  points for vouchers, so why not do the same for the local museums?
>  
>  bye
>  ian
>  
>  
>  Ian Blackwell
>  Audience Development Officer
>  
>  North East Museums
>  House of Recovery
>  Bath Lane
>  Newcastle upon Tyne
>  NE4  5SQ
>  tel:   0191 222 1661
>  fax:  0191 261 4725
>  
>  www.northeastmuseums.co.uk
>  
>  




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