Working in events, I was very interested in Karen’s focus on fundraising opportunities during our panel discussion today. While I work primarily in free or included with admission events, I’ve also planned or aided with ticketed events. I’m excited to look over Karen’s syllabus and see what could be helpful for me!

After the panel, (and our class work) I went to Cal Academy’s NightLife event with a renewed interest in fundraising. It was curious how painless the event seemed to be running, and how regular an evening event like that can be. It was primarily just keeping the museum open with adequate staffing to field the truly packed house.

My museum does one, more involved, event a month, rather than more straightforward events weekly. A product of not operating in such a bustling city, perhaps!

It was interesting to see and compare different models for running these events. I’m presenting with a poster at ASTC about both ticketed and unticketed events, and how we evaluate them. I wonder what goals Cal Academy has going into their NightLife events!