Adler After Dark

Location: Adler Planetarium

Date: Thursday, May 15, 2014; 5:00-10:00 pm

Finally, it was here, my first ‘After Dark’ event.  I arrived around 5 pm and ran into Michael as I made my way downstairs to the staff area and he introduced me to other volunteers and staff members as we passed them.  I clocked in and received my t-shirt from Natalie, as well as a dinner coupon.  Michael also gave me a binder, which had a handbook and descriptions of a couple of floor experiments that I would be assisting with.  Armed with all of this, I went upstairs to the classroom where pizza was being served.  I chatted with another volunteer Carrie, who works at ‘Greater Chicago Food Depository’ and we talked about the upcoming ‘Hunger Walk’, an event that I had participated in last year.  Michael came and grabbed me and another volunteer for our first duty of the evening – registration.

The main task was to collect tickets and put on the dreaded wrist band, something for which I have no skill.  We were to do all of this while introducing the evening’s activities, including the new show “Destination Solar System” – I had seen a preview of that – and encourage the guests to play the ‘Bingo’ game.  Throughout the evening, there were many activities that they could participate in and collect stickers for the squares on their card.  I sat down with other registration volunteers and the guests started coming in.  As usual, I struggled to put the wristbands on, though I was engaging the guests in banter.  I asked everyone if it was their first time here – as it was for many – and for those guests, I welcomed them and gave a map for reference.  I would complement that by saying that if they got lost, we would send out a search party after 4 years or so and would then offer them a job, since by that time they would be the experts on the museum!  If any of the guests had been here before, I would tell them that most of the activities were for one night only and so this would be a brand new experience for them.  If anyone said that they had not been here for a long time, I would say “Oh, so last time that you were here, Pluto was still a planet.”  Man, the things I do for a cheap laugh!

Which is your favorite planet?

For the ‘Bingo’ game, we were getting the guests started by giving them a sticker in exchange for them telling us about their favorite planet and why it was so.  Everyone enjoyed this and I got hundreds of responses.  Some said that it was “Earth”, because it was the only planet that they had seen; and to which I would reply, “Yet!”  I would also point out that they were offering one way ticket to Mars.  Some said that it was “Venus” because it “sounded good”, whereas some said that it was “Mercury”, because it was closest to the Sun.  If people said “Mars”, because it was red, I would respond by saying, “that’s what everyone keeps telling me”.  Many said “Jupiter”, because of the giant red spot and I would ask them how many Earth’s could fit in it.  One of the most popular choices was “Saturn”, due to its rings.  I would tell them to enjoy them while they could, since they would be disappearing in a few million years.  As expected, “Uranus” was another popular one and when I asked why, people would grin sheepishly and say it was because of the way it sounded; to which I would respond, “Oh, I thought it was because of its tilt”.  Some said that it was “Neptune” because it was blue, while many said it was “Pluto”, no matter what the astronomers said.  I told them that I would credit them if they convinced me why it should still be a planet. Some said because it was part of their childhood while one girl said she spent time studying it in school and she would be damned if she gave up on it.  One even said that it was because it's ‘Mickeys’ dog, which would lead to a discussion on why ‘Pluto’ was a pet while ‘Goofy’ – who was also a dog, wasn’t.  I had a great time doing this and even sent some folks to the Solar System section of the museum, saying that I would find them later in the evening for a pop quiz. 

After couple of hours Michael came to fetch me and along with another new volunteer Don, continued my orientation by walking about the museum and pointing out interesting tidbits that we could tell our guests.  A visiting couple was looking at the ‘Gemini’ capsule and Michael did just enough to peak their curiosity, while leaving them to learn more by themselves.  This was a solid concept which he had been trying to teach us earlier – “Don’t be a sage on a stage, but a guide on the side”.  The party was well and truly on and Michael took us through the back corridors of the museum to where the experiment carts are stored.  This is where we could come to take and return one of these if we were responsible for that experiment.  Saw a volunteer doing “pocket science” with meteorites and he showed us how to engage people with statements such as, “Would you like to touch a shooting star “and “What is the oldest thing that you have touched?” 

We found the “UV Cart” and saw Michael in action as he engaged a visitor and let him do the entire experiment “hands-on”, while providing subtle hints on what he should be doing.  He then gave me my schedule for the rest of the evening and I was supposed to shadow Carrie from 8-9 at the “vacuum tube experiment”.  She is as good as Michael and I saw her engage the crowd as she demonstrated how various props perform in vacuum – balloon, alarm clock, water, shaving cream etc.  There was a huge crowd and they were enjoying watching interesting things happen to these objects under the vacuum cylinder. 

With no cell phones allowed on the floor and me forgetting my wrist watch, I was latte for my 9-10 and Michael had to come get me.  I was paired with a veteran volunteer Bob at the ‘Bingo’ prizes table.  People came and turned in their completed cards and choose between a reusable bag or a shot class with zodiac signs.  Unfortunately we were out of several signs like ‘Gemini’ or ‘Libra’ and I was telling guests that it was because people born under that sign are smart enough to come for this event and thus our shortage!  I saw a group to whom I had given the assignment to find out more about their favorite planet and asked them to report if they wanted their prize.  It was all in fun and we made sure that none left empty-handed.  It is amazing how a simple thing like this excites people and just goes to reinforce my belief that people love presents or prizes, no matter how humble.

At 10 pm Michael came and told me that my shift was over and that I could leave.  I went and collected my things at the locker, amazed at how fast the last few hours had seemed to pass.  It had been a terrific first experience and I had been glad to receive some “on-the-job” training.  I was definitely looking forward to my next event over here.