The Museum of Dungeons & Dragons Is A Go! Funding Begins

[Narl]

While there are more people in the northeast, or in Florida, I believe there is a much higher percentage of gamers in the Midwest. Here in Madison, a city of less than 250,000 people, there are six gaming stores. Six. And an incredibly active RPG community.

Wisconsin is the epicenter of the RPG universe and I think it would be appropriate for the D&D museum to be where it all started. Lake Geneva is quite a tourist town already and the D&D museum would add to that. Real estate there is reasonable, I expect the town would embrace it, and you would have no problem finding special guests and having lots of enthusiastic volunteers.

 

[DemonKing]

I have worked as a museum professional for over 15 years and this proposal, while well-intentioned, seems a bit dodgy to me.

What are the funds going to be spent on? A museum is more than just a display space (You need secure storage for collections with appropriate shelving and environmental conditions to ensure the long term survival of your collection, adequete PR and education programs to attract visitors, a web presence to attract "virtual visitors", exhibition development teams etc).

$150,000 seems woefully inadequete for even getting a decent museum up and running let alone ensuring its operational and fiscal survivability. For example, I project managed the development of a new museum for a local council 10 years ago in a pre-fabricated building and the start-up costs alone (building works, exhibit and multimedia development, air-conditioning infrastructure etc) were almost $2million - that's not taking into account any of the recurrent funding required to keep it going (salaries, power, security, maintenance etc).

It seems this museum intends to charge for entry - has a cost-benefit analysis been done? For example there's no point charging for entry if it puts people off attending. Also I am concerned about corporate governance if one can simply "buy" a position on the museum's board by donating enough money. A museum board needs a diverse range of backgrounds, genders and expertise to operate effectively - not a bunch of male power-gamers fighting for control.

Don't get me wrong - it's a great idea but this model seems seriously flawed to me at first glance.

 

[frankthedm]

The n location has not been chosen - it will be decided by the supporters of the museum.

How are the votes going to be tallied? Per backer or Per Dollar? This is important information and should been posted already.

 

[dhunton]

I have worked as a museum professional for over 15 years... What are the funds going to be spent on? ...

You've asked a lot of really good questions, and I want to take time to answer. But it's after midnight here, and my brain is a little fuzzy, so I hope you'll excuse the delay. I will definitely give a full response tomorrow.

How are the votes going to be tallied? Per backer or Per Dollar? This is important information and should been posted already.

The quick answer is "one per sponsor so no one can buy the location." Again, it's really late for me, and if you need further details, please let me know, and I'll address your questions tomorrow.

And just as a note: we are trying to give further information on our blog. Over the next couple days, there will be information on the curators, the locations, the voting process, and other items that need more info than would fit on the pledge page (without, of course, being so verbose no one wanted to read it).


Jim & Debbie Hunton
Curators, Museum of D&D

Email: MuseumofDnd@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MuseumofDnD
IndieGoGo: http://bit.ly/ZQIdu6
Blog: http://museumofdnd.blog.com

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is eternal." -Albert Pike

 

[frankthedm]

and if you need further details, please let me know, and I'll address your questions tomorrow.

The important one is will this museum be run for profit or Accredited Non Profit?

 

[dhunton]

The important one is will this museum be run for profit or Accredited Non Profit?

It will be a 501(c)(3) non-profit.


Jim and Debbie Hunton
Curators, Museum of Dungeons & Dragons

Email: MuseumofDnD@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MuseumOfDnD
IndieGoGo: http://bit.ly/ZQIdu6
Blog: http://museumofdnd.blog.com/
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. “ - Albert Pike

 

[dhunton]

I have worked as a museum professional for over 15 years...

What do you do? What museum do you work for? Maybe we know some of the same people.


Jim and Debbie Hunton
Curators, Museum of Dungeons & Dragons

Email: MuseumofDnD@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MuseumOfDnD
IndieGoGo: http://bit.ly/ZQIdu6
Blog: http://museumofdnd.blog.com/
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. “ - Albert Pike

 

[DemonKing]

What do you do? What museum do you work for? Maybe we know some of the same people.

I am currently the manager of collection management at the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia: http://nfsa.gov.au/. Our collection includes around 2 million items consiting of audio-visual, documentation, digital files and artefact-type material (eg Movie props, costumes, projection equipment etc).

I have also worked in Europe and at a number of other institutions in Australia but not in the US I'm afraid. I do know that museums operate a bit differently in the states to elsewhere - for example there is a much more established tradition of raising revenue from individual donors there than here in Australia where most institutions tend to rely on government sources for most of their funding.

After some thought, have you considered altering the project so that the $150,000 goal is to fund a Business Plan only? That way you could probably hire some knowledgeable consultants to look into the feasibility of the museum plan and you'ld also have something solid to take to funding bodies/government/donors etc. You would also get a better idea as to where such a proposed museum would likely succeed and if there is sufficient audience out there to make it a viable concern.