BSA Museum at Philmont Scout Ranch

[The Latin Scot]

Ugh, this is just going to make things even more difficult for an organization with enough problems on its plate already. And what of the new Scouting Museum? That place just barely opened, and now it's going to be all but devoid of visitors for almost two months ... it's like the BSA has been cursed! 

[carebear3895]

14 hours ago, The Latin Scot said:

 And what of the new Scouting Museum? That place just barely opened, and now it's going to be all but devoid of visitors for almost two months ... it's like the BSA has been cursed! 

Never should've moved from Dallas in the first place. I get the idea of putting it by Philmont, I really do....but why move it from one the largest growing cities in america to Cimarron, New Mexico.

If they really wanted to move it that badly, should've gone to the summit. Lord Knows they need more attention. 

[NJCubScouter]

1 hour ago, carebear3895 said:

Never should've moved from Dallas in the first place. I get the idea of putting it by Philmont, I really do....but why move it from one the largest growing cities in america to Cimarron, New Mexico.

If they really wanted to move it that badly, should've gone to the summit. Lord Knows they need more attention. 

I think that was just a money thing.  (What else is new?)  I believe they were renting the property in Dallas, so now they are no longer paying that rent, and instead they improved their own property and can keep the revenue from the museum for themselves.  (Where it will naturally be used to keep our registration fees from increasing again, cough cough.) Of course the fire is interrupting that, but major fires happen in cities too, just not as often as they used to.

Edited June 5, 2018 by NJCubScouter

[Jameson76]

1 hour ago, NJCubScouter said:

I think that was just a money thing.  (What else is new?)  I believe they were renting the property in Dallas, so now they are no longer paying that rent, and instead they improved their own property and can keep the revenue from the museum for themselves.  (Where it will naturally be used to keep our registration fees from increasing again, cough cough.) Of course the fire is interrupting that, but major fires happen in cities too, just not as often as they used to.

Official line is that it was the amount of visitors.  As was discussed I guess it depends on the why of the museum.  If to promote BSA and be visible to everyone, Dallas is good.  If just another box to check from National...yeah I guess we gotta have a museum, then why not Philmont

Candidly I do not think they promoted it or made it a "Destination".  I did visit the Dallas one a few years back.  Good mementos and items.  Animatronic Baden Powell was might creepy

[NJCubScouter]

36 minutes ago, Jameson76 said:

Official line is that it was the amount of visitors.  As was discussed I guess it depends on the why of the museum.  If to promote BSA and be visible to everyone, Dallas is good.  If just another box to check from National...yeah I guess we gotta have a museum, then why not Philmont

Candidly I do not think they promoted it or made it a "Destination".  I did visit the Dallas one a few years back.  Good mementos and items.  Animatronic Baden Powell was might creepy

I'm assuming that before the museum was in the Dallas area, it (along with the rest of National HQ) was in North Brunswick, NJ, which is less than 20 miles from my house.  I would have just kept the whole thing here. 

As for the animatronic BP, if I ever do go I'll try to skip that one. 

[Buggie]

(has a nightmare of animatronic BP chasing him saying, "and now for you scoutmasters....")

[Jameson76]

19 minutes ago, Buggie said:

(has a nightmare of animatronic BP chasing him saying, "and now for you scoutmasters....")

 

[The Latin Scot]

Good merciful wilikers ... that things is WEIRD!!!

[The Latin Scot]

Wait ... I don't remember starting a whole new thread on this. Was this me, or is this some moderator wizardry? Not that I mind! It makes more than enough sense as its own topic. I just want to make sure I haven't lost my mind. 

[Chris1]

On 6/5/2018 at 8:38 AM, carebear3895 said:

Never should've moved from Dallas in the first place. I get the idea of putting it by Philmont, I really do....but why move it from one the largest growing cities in america to Cimarron, New Mexico.

Dallas may be a growing city but car more scouts and scouters travel through Philmont each year than go to Dallas. People do not make a trip to Dallas to see the Scout museum, unless they are within a couple hours by car. So if non-Texans are going to see it, Philmont is a logical place.  Summit also has its logic, but Philmont is still a bigger destination. 

[eagle90]

Before moving to Dallas the National Scouting Museum was in Murray, KY, on the campus of Murray State University.

[ParkMan]

14 hours ago, Chris1 said:

Dallas may be a growing city but car more scouts and scouters travel through Philmont each year than go to Dallas. People do not make a trip to Dallas to see the Scout museum, unless they are within a couple hours by car. So if non-Texans are going to see it, Philmont is a logical place.  Summit also has its logic, but Philmont is still a bigger destination. 

I'd still think about putting it in someplace like DC or NYC.  In theory many Scouts eventually get to Philmont.  But, a collection there is like preaching to the choir.

You want to leverage the collection to expose it to more people - put it someplace where there are more people.

[scoutldr]

I visited the museum in Irving, only because I was attending a work conference in Dallas.  Checked it off the bucket list.  If it were anywhere else, I would not make a special trip.  The coolest part was the Rockwell collection.

[The Latin Scot]

14 hours ago, ParkMan said:

I'd still think about putting it in someplace like DC or NYC.  In theory many Scouts eventually get to Philmont.  But, a collection there is like preaching to the choir.

You want to leverage the collection to expose it to more people - put it someplace where there are more people.

I concur. For those many of us who love Scouting but don't do high adventure often (or in my case, ever if I can help it), there's almost nothing that would ever bring us all the way out to NM. Putting it in a major metro center would not only make it more accessible to the general public; it would give Scouting a good, independent center of visibility that would help as it struggles to build its membership and restore its former numbers.

[MikeS72]

On 6/5/2018 at 1:28 PM, NJCubScouter said:

I'm assuming that before the museum was in the Dallas area, it (along with the rest of National HQ) was in North Brunswick, NJ, which is less than 20 miles from my house.

My troop and I visited the museum when it was in North Brunswick.  It was probably a 3 hour drive or so for us, but well worth the trip.