How to Run a Planetarium
A planetarium shows people of all ages what the stars, constellations and other universes look like in a small, relaxed atmosphere. Even if you are running the biggest planetarium in the world with the best equipment, none of it will be used for good use unless people are seeing it on a consistent basis. Promoting a planetarium attracts new customers and keeps old customers updated.
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Instructions
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Determine whether you want to build a portable or a stationary planetarium. Portable planetarium are much cheaper and only take one person to operate. The downside is that they can hold only a handful of people. Stationary planetariums are much larger and can hold hundreds of people at one time, but they require an entire staff of highly-educated people to run them.
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Find funding for the planetarium. Many planetariums are run by a college. Some are run for profit, while others are non-profit organizations. To fund a for-profit planetarium, you will need a business loan. To find funding for a non-profit, you can try to get loans and also apply for grants.
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Decide who you want to target the planetarium to, and use that to help you determine where you want to place your planetarium. For instance, if you want to cater to college students, open a planetarium in a college town.
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Choose the planetarium dome. Decide if you want a large dome that holds hundreds of people or a smaller one that holds fewer than 100. Decide if you want a perforated metal roof or a solid plaster one.
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Decide on how you want to entertain the customers. Things like lighting and music can make your planetarium stand out from the competition.
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Hire a staff. When hiring people who are going to speak, look for people who have a background in physics and astronomy. During the interview phase, look for qualified people who are polite and are good public speakers. These two traits are needed to be able to command the attention of large groups of people.
Hire the services of technicians to make sure your equipment is always running at its best. The last thing you want is for any of your equipment to stop working before a show and to have no one to fix it.
Hire an accountant to keep track of the financial side. Hire someone who is certified and has background in working with a business. This ensures that the person you will hire will know what they are doing.
Hire a cleaning crew to keep the planetarium to keep the place in good condition. If your planetarium is dirty, word will rapidly spread. Once that happens, fewer and fewer people will come to the planetarium.
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Obtain a projector designed for a planetarium. You need one that can show different solar systems and other universal bodies such as eclipses, sunsets, sunrises and constellations.
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Set up a schedule where shows are run the same time every week. This allows people in the area to know when your shows happen and when they should show up.
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Contact local schools to see if they are interested in setting up a field trip to visit your planetarium.
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Set up a website that contains the planetarium's address and contact information.
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Open social networking accounts on sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Engage the community with discussions on recent events at the planetarium and events going on in the world of astronomy.
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References
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