(Recaps written by Kenzie Moore, COSI membership processing associate and ASTC 2012 communications volunteer)

Teens Teach Space: Engaging Youth in Planetarium Programming
Museums are relying more and more on a teen/youth-based volunteer pool, but how do you make sure that both the teen and the center are getting the most out of the partnership? Two presenters from space centers in the U.S. shared with ASTC attendees their biggest takeaway points from their recent years involving teens in planetarium programs. Important details for institutions just beginning to wade into teen- and youth-focused involvement? Teens need more support and training to get the requisite presentational skills, the adults working with teens need clear scaffolding of what is expected of them in a leadership or cooperative role, and teens frequently benefit from having a chance to practice their roles. The key takeaway for centers with an established youth program? Give teens a chance to shine. Give them a voice in the scheduling of programs they’ll be involved with, get their feedback about what kind of programming or hands-on activities they’d like to do. It’s their center too.

Membership Best Practices Roundtable
It’s no news that members are an important part of any successful museum, but some of the ideas flying around the room today were certainly new ways of approaching those members. From installation payments instead of yearly payments to in-depth tracking of the unique ways each member uses their membership, the roundtable featured newly established practices, a few tales of development missteps, and a healthy dose of reminders to not reinvent the wheel. Members are special, and should be treated as such, but moving forward, shouldn’t we take every chance to personalize our approach to groups of similar members? Just how big of a role do the benefits play in a member’s perceived value of their relationship which your institution? (Hint: a big one.)

Bring the Noise: Doing Demonstrations with Sound
A demonstration doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to be something you can only do in the safety of your home base. A series of glasses filled with varying levels of water. A popsicle stick with string, paper, pencil erasers, and a rubber band. A cheap, corrugated plastic tube. Any of these can be turned into a quick, cheap, hands-on demonstration appropriate for in-house or outreach efforts. You can acquire these simply supplies just about anywhere and what you can’t find in a store, you can order through science supply services. Noise demonstrations can be interesting, budget-friendly, and very interactive. A Slinky makes the invisible (sound waves) visible. PVC pipes, ethanol, and a lighter can make a fascinating visual display while coaching kids through observations about wavelength and pitch. If you’re really gutsy, you can even buy a bullwhip to show what happens when you break a sound wave. Just, please, for your safety and the viewers’, watch the training videos.

What does it take to make a science center sustainable, adopted by its community, and defended by its community? In Born of Place: The Key to Institutional Sustainability, a panel composed of Don Weinreich, partner, Ennead Architects; Sarah George, executive director, Natural History Museum of Utah; and Eric Siegel, director/chief content officer, New York Hall of Science, explored the proposition that a cultural institution’s success depends on its ability to define, understand, and root itself in its community. Museums can be a safe place for dangerous dialogue

George shared perspectives gleaned through the exploration, development, and founding of the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City. She mentioned the importance of developing constituencies by reaching out to schools, the business community, elected officials, donors, and electors. She also discussed the effectiveness of having others in the community speak on your institution’s behalf, particularly business leaders and key officials. Being ready for surprises, listening to those around you, and avoiding overpromising and/or raising expectations unrealistically are also lessons to be learned.

An institution must partner with its constituencies and develop programs and buildings that sustain relevance and grow increasingly vital over time. Siegel also discussed the renovation and reconstruction of the New York Hall of Science’s facility in Queens, New York, as some of the core buildings were built for the 1964 World’s Fair.

Both the Natural History Museum of Utah and the New York Hall of Science partnered with Ennead on their construction needs. Weinreich shared step-by-step explanation and analysis of the processes Ennead followed in the construction of a wholly new museum for NHMU and the reconstruction needs of New York Hall of Science. The insights he provided gave a much clearer picture into the full scope of these processes, from interview and presentation of ideas through to execution.

(Session recaps provided by Jeremy Riga, ASTC 2012 communications volunteer from COSI)

We Love Science: Wonderful Discoveries about Our Wondrous World
“I love science. Do our visitors?” A 2010 poll of online readers asked, who do people trust when it comes to science? Scientists are mostly trusted, but that changes depending on the topic. People trust museums as sources of information. Nearly 30% of one museum’s visitors did not share the museum’s view of climate change. A speaker from another institution noticed that some visitors use the evolution display as a platform for teaching creationism. The point is that many visitors love science, but love it in different ways.

Creating Learning Spaces for Young Visitors
COSI wants to document and make visible the impact their work has had. Growing research partners to allow everyone access to the data. From early childhood perspective: height of visuals are important, taking into account kids riding in strollers. Adding small child elements to bigger museum pieces helps the younger audience engage. Dramatic play spaces have enhanced the visit for families. Young imaginations enjoy and appreciate the extra effort.
“My classroom is the museum.”

Communicating Climate Change: Building Global Awareness through Local Citizen Science
One institution uses “citizen scientists” that help them get temperature readings in the sand by having students and families collect data for them outside the museum. They give these people the GPS coordinates of the sensors and can then go locate the sites, download the data, and learn about temperature change and feel part of the process.

Product Demo: Increasing Revenue at Your Venue from a 3D Theater
3D growth: Theatrical, home consumer, aquariums, amusement parks, zoos, science centers, planetariums. 3D increases capture rate an average of 30%, but changes widely by geographical area. Raising revenue means mixing it up: moms and strollers, school groups, families.

(Session summary by Sean Smith, ASTC’s Director of Government and Public Relations)

In the first of what will be a number of sessions with a U.S. federal agency angle, Mike Shanahan (Bishop Museum, Honolulu) moderated the “Astronomy and Aerospace Showcase 2012,” which featured 10 panelists, including representatives from NASA facilities (Marshall Space Flight Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory), ASTC-member science centers (Bishop Museum, Pacific Science Center, the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis, and Adler Planetarium) and other institutions (Digitalis Education Solutions, Space Telescope Science Institute).

Panelists highlighted a variety of exciting new information and opportunities, including updates on the latest on upcoming space flights and the present and future of planetarium shows—like how to involve teens and younger children in astronomy and planetarium programming. Attendees were also provided with a detailed overview of NASA-related resources available to science centers and museums. Many ASTC members are already involved with the NASA Museum Alliance, but did you know that a Mars rover will be available for earth-bound travel to science centers and museums beginning next year? How about that through NASA’s artifacts program, you can gain access to flight-flown NASA hardware, materials, and garments, and even make inexpensive additions to your permanent collections? In addition, science centers can now receive Space Shuttle tiles and space food, which were both previously unavailable through the program. To date, more than 6,179 artifacts have been allocated, including 222 here in Ohio. For more information, visit gsaxcess.gov/nasawel.htm.

During the session, NASA announced the launch of a new website, www.nasawavelength.org, which will serve as an online repository for NASA resources for earth and space science education. The site, created in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science, serves as a digital library for resources developed through funding of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD), all of which have undergone a peer-review process through which educators and scientists ensure the content is accurate and useful in an educational setting. ASTC members can use NASA Wavelength to quickly and easily locate resources, connect them to other websites using atom feeds, and even share the resources you discover with others through social media and email.

ASTC Annual Conference attendees are encouraged to visit the NASA Exhibit Hall Booth (#728), for educational materials, DVDs, high-resolution images for download (plus the ever-popular tattoos and stickers), and everyone is encouraged to learn more via the NASA website, www.nasa.gov.

While you’re online, be sure to follow-up on International Observe the Moon Night (www.observethemoonnight.org), which was also highlighted during the session and will next take place on October 12, 2013. ASTC members are encouraged to get involved and to help get their visitors excited about lunar science and exploration. International Observe the Moon Night happens every year, and anyone can host an event; the website has great materials for hosts, including fliers, activity ideas, etc.

Intel futurist Brian David Johnson helped officially launch ASTC’s 2012 Annual Conference earlier today, as the keynote speaker at the Opening General Session held in the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Johnson, who made a point of explaining to the crowd that as a futurist he does not predict the future, is a self-proclaimed “geek” and a fan of science centers. So much so, in fact, that he disclosed he and his wife were married in the planetarium at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland.

Johnson explained that one of the main objectives of his job is to determine what it will feel like to be a human 10-20 years from now. He took umbrage with the vision of the future put forth in so many movies and books—the vision of a person in a stark, sterile room with the sleekest of electronic devices surrounding them. As he put it, “If we’re going to envision the future, we need to envision a future for people, one that is comfortable.”

“We are all fire hydrants of data,” Johnson said. “We spew data—financial data, social networking data—all over the place. Yet data only has meaning when it comes back and touches the lives of humans. Humans make data and all technology meaningful.”

In his presentation, Waking the Algorithm, Johnson explained that algorithms are imbued with humanity and are, essentially, a story.

He urged the audience not to be passive about the future. “Don’t sit back and let the future happen to you,” he explained. “The future will be awesome because we’re going to build it; why would we build a future that is negative?”

Johnson emphasized the power of science centers and museums in building the future. “You will build the future in the minds of people who come to your science centers,” he said. “You put the visions of science and technology in people’s minds and let them touch it.”

We can change the future, he explained, by changing the story people tell themselves about the future they will live in. We need to focus on making the lives of people better.

“You have an incredible opportunity to shape the future through the work you do,” Johnson concluded. A worthy message to kick off four days of learning, sharing, connecting, and being inspired.