2023-02-24 chat

Attendees:

1. April Whitt here on a rainy night in Georgia.

2. Pat T-I from Bellevue College ...sunny Kirkland!

3. Alan Gould with the Lawrence Hall of Science Planetarium, UC Berkeley California USA.

4. Amie Gallagher, Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg, New Jersey

5. Carole Holmberg, Rock Hill, SC

6. Karrie Berglund, Digitalis, Bremerton, WA.

7. Ken Miller - retired in Indianapolis

8. Mike Francis just outside Boston

9. Ellen Thompson, Planetarium Lead Educator at Lawrence Hall of Science 🙂

10. John Erickson, Berkeley/Richmond CA

11. Dário Fonseca from Exploratório in Coimbra, Portugal

12. Rachel Scheet, Lincoln, NE State Museum Planetarium

13. Carlos Miranda, Paterson Public Schools, Paterson NJ

14. Carla from Fiske Planetarium in Boulder.

15. Margot Frey, Marketing Director at The Lawrence Hall of Science. Sadly, I have to leave early, so Ellen please take notes.

16. Jeff Nee, Pasadena, CA

17. Greg Anderson, Cosmic Adventures Traveling Planetarium (Frederick, MD)

18. Jeremy Amarant, SAGE Planetarium, Palmdale, CA

19. Romee Wizza Gaoiran - Watumull Planetarium at Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI

20. Rosemary Walling. Marie Drake Planetarium, Juneau

21. Jon Elvert, Richmond, VA

FIRST BREAKOUT ROOMS - Define marketing

SUMMARY DISCUSSION

Room 4: Way to inform other people of what you're doing (services and products). 

Sometimes the other people can be directors, colleagues, etc. at your own institution who need to know what you're doing/how wonderful you are.

Group 1: Image building, branding, advertising various products. Difference between marketing and philanthropy. Phil = just asking; marketing = exchange of products and services for $.

Communication of services and products to end user. "Advertising" versus "marketing." Advertising may be more narrowly focused than marketing. Advertising in print/on TV; now more ways to spread the word.

Usually you have to paid for advertising; marketing can be free.

SECOND BREAKOUT ROOMS - Marketing techniques

SUMMARY DISCUSSION

Social media is key, video is better than a still image. Video attracts the eye more.

Community calendar, listing upcoming events.

Make news--one year ahead of an eclipse, do a press conference. Get some buzz, have info on website. Look at what the news is doing and make better news.

Calling people or even visiting them. One on one can be the most effective tactic to engage people. Makes people feel really special.

The attention economy--you have to catch people's attention.

Tie ins to pop culture--Harry Potter, Star Wars. Tie in to popular events.

Mail out hard copies--postcards, booklets, etc. Can be a challenge to figure out who they need to go to.

Email is another option, but emails are easy to ignore. People get a lot of emails.

Find a community insert sponsor--like you get with utility bills, coupon booklets, etc.

Use NASA content--mostly free and eye-catching. People love it.

Library Telescope Program--online list.

Word of mouth

Space Poetry Slam--in the dome

[14:41:53 From Ellen Torres Thompson to Everyone: that sounds so cool! poetry in space!!]

Performing arts--cultural work under the dome. Spread the word to the community.

[14:42:42 From April Whitt to Everyone: Great ideas!]

Gearing your programming to draw in different types of people.

Get schools involved--they can design a brochure, for example.

Art contest--logos, stickers, etc. Have students/public design the art.

Local celebrity to amplify your message. News anchor, weather people, etc. to cover your services.

Use space for non-astro education. Bio-tech group at Lawrence Hall of Science. Planetarium experience on sickle cell disease that targeted middle school groups. Contests--maybe even a make your own planetarium show for undergrads.

Laser programming / laser camps for middle and high schools.

14:48:52 From Carlos Miranda to Everyone:

Jeff are there better tutorials in open space?

14:50:50 From Jeff Nee to Everyone:

"better" is a relative term.  The OpenSpace Slack workspace is full of little tutorials and people collaborating giving/getting help.

14:51:38 From Carole Holmberg to Everyone:

People want to bring crying infants into shows.

14:55:20 From Carlos Miranda to Everyone:

They work more with patterns.

14:59:50 From Carlos Miranda to Everyone:

Monthly newsletter?

15:02:54 From Carlos Miranda to Everyone:

Thats a great idea