Over my Thanksgiving break, I chose to visit the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago to learn more about how non-profit organizations offer leisure services. As one of the largest museums in the world, many artifacts are stored here, such as the only German U-Boat within the United Sates. It is composed of three floors separated into wings which cover multiple aspects of science and industry, such as "Earth Revealed," which is a look into what the earth is composed of, and "ToyMaker 3000," where for a small fee people can design a spinning top and then watch it move through an entire assembly line that puts the toy together and packages it. (photo taken from gochicagocard.com)
The museum opened in 1933 after Julius Rosenwald, an American philanthropist, was inspired by a visit to an industrial museum in Munich, Germany, and decided to bring one to his hometown of Chicago. Since then, the museum has regularly updated its exhibits and become one of the largest and most innovative museums in the world. It is home to over 400,000 square feet of exhibits, including Chicago's only five-story Omnimax theatre, which shows educational programs such as "The Human Body" and "Mysteries of the Great Lakes." Today, they strive to live by Rosenwald's ideals of providing a hands-on environment for people of all ages to come and learn about the sciences and industries of the world. As a non-profit organization, they charge admission to enter the museum and all revenue earned goes towards paying their employees and maintaining or improving their exhibits.
The museum offers seemingly endless opportunities for
employment. The basic requirement they have for employment is that the applicant be at least 16 years old, but many of their jobs require either degrees or work experience. For example, in the exhibit "The Coal Mine," a group of people are taken on a tour through a coal mine led by a tour guide. When I went through this exhibit, I asked the guide about how he got his job, and he told me that he has a degree in geology and had worked for a coal mine for ten years before he joined the museum staff, and he believes that the reason he was hired is because of his education and experience. The museum also offers employment for human resources, engineers, geneticists, historians, maintenance, food services, and multiple other areas. The museum also has several exhibits that change periodically, so specialists can be brought in at random intervals. Right now, there is a special "Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light" exhibit that employs anthropologists who specialize in how people in different countries celebrate Christmas. Essentially, if a person would like to work for the museum, he or she should speak with the employment office about available positions, and depending on the type of employment he or she should have a background in the topic before applying.
At this point in time, one of the major trends for this museum is the popularity of "going-green." To address this, the museum has created a "Smart Home" exhibit in which people can tour a completely green home, which is updated regularly with the newest technologies for staying green. Through the house, people can see green options which they can implement in their own homes. Another general trend is the competition to stay current with the latest technologies and provide people access to the most modern advancements in the fields of science and industry. In accordance with the ideals of providing everyone access to these technologies, another issue is how to reach low-income people. To counter this issue, the museum has consistently provided "Free Admission Days" to allow even less well-off people to visit the museum. (photo taken from msichicago.org)
The museum's stated vision is "to inspire the inventive genius in everyone." To meet this goal, they do their best "to inspire and motivate our children to reach their full potential in science, technology, medicine, and engineering" (quoted from www.msichicago.org). Overall, their philosophy of leisure is to provide an environment in which people of all ages can spend their leisure time in both a fun and educational way, such as seeing a baby chick hatch for the first time. They believe that by providing such experiences, especially to children, people will become inspired to pursue a career in one of these industries.
Overall, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry provides a very unique, fun way for all generations to spend some of their leisure time. A career in this industry could definitely be fun, but a person needs to have strong interpersonal skills in order to work well with the many customers who come to the museum each day. A career in this field would also require a person to stay current with the latest advancements in the field he or she chooses to work in. A benefit for this field, however, would be easy access to the many technologies currently evolving within the world and an environment in which one could converse with experts in other fields on a daily basis. This agency also serves a very useful role in the leisure delivery system. It provides much-needed access to the sciences and technologies of modern society to everyday people which they would not otherwise be able to see. By providing these services, they can inspire young people to pursue careers in fields which they might not otherwise have seen as possibilities. This serves to educate the masses and better society, which is one of the founding purposes of the leisure industry.
More information from the Museum of Science and Industry can be found at their website: http://www.msichicago.org/.
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