An odd question for all museum volunteers and visitors....

[Cindy]

gee...that probably covers most of us

What are your thoughts about 'requiring' volunteers, particularly docents, to wear some time of uniform? Under what circumstances do you consider this appropriate (keep in mind I'm a volunteer at POF - a flying museum)? Does it make a difference to you and your impression of a museum if a docent is wearing a uniform?

Thanks!
Cindy

[peter]

Not necessarily a uniform. Could be as simple as an ID tag with the name of the museum, the persons name and underneath VOLUNTEER

[mustangdriver]

At the NMUSAF we were only required to weat nice pants and a golf shirt. We then all made a deal to wear blue or black blazers with our name tags. People seem to really like that. But I also think that nice jeans, a polo and a name tag can be alright as well. The museum wanted a more professional look.

[John Ceglarek]

The Airzoo requires all volunteers to wear a tan-colored button-down shirt with a nametag. Again, the more professional look. No jeans...at least I've never seen another docent wear jeans, and I don't either.

I think it's a good idea to have the docents stand out from the crowd, so people can identify you easily. In the "old days" at the Airzoo docents wore different colored shirts than the other volunteers...I wish we would go back to that policy.

John

[Zachary]

I work in a museum and I think it's essential for docents to have some type of identification, whether it be a vest, shirt, etc. There are many reasons for this. It's a point of pride for many docents to be able to stand out from the crowd and be recognized for their volunteer efforts through easily identifiable means - a shirt, a vest, a hat, etc. Another reason is that docents are often the only point of contact a visitor will have with a museum, and you want to put the most professional foot forward and have the people representing your museum to look good. In our museum, the docents wear vests to distinguish themselves, and this also lends some authority to what they have to say to visitors, from talking about objects in the museum to telling school groups to behave. It's also important from a visitor standpoint to be able to easily recognize who you can go up to to ask directions to the bathrooms, the giftshop, emergency exits, etc.

I am an advocate of vests personally, as they can be decorated with pins and such to give the docent a sense of individuality, yet still provide the visitor an easy means of identification. It's easy to have a rack of vests than a bunch of shirts handed out, and I think they are cheaper to purchase than shirts in the long run, as you can keep the vests at the museum for the docents to wear during their shifts, and they can be used by multiple docents.

Sorry for the long answer!

Zack

[JDK]

I think it's a good idea to have the docents stand out from the crowd, so people can identify you easily. In the "old days" at the Airzoo docents wore different colored shirts than the other volunteers...I wish we would go back to that policy.

Well put. Visible is critical. Professional and 'uniform' in the other sense is good too, IMHO.

The RAAF Museum issues a blazer, shirt, tie and polo shirt, and we wear business attire otherwise - that's the guides and host officers (greeters). There's also a name badge. When I started volunteering there wasn't a blazer available and while I had a badge, I felt uncomfortable opening a discussion with a visitor while not in uniform.

I don't think there's any argument that smartly dressed identifiable volunteer docents are an asset to a smartly presented museum, and make it easier for visitors to know who to ask the questions of.

I liked the guys' presentation at the NMUSNA; conversely, if the museum's a workshop, and informal, a badge is enough - but maybe even more important.

Cindy, if you want a bit more info from around the world, drop me a PM. I've visited quite a few a/c museums!

HTH.

[mrhenniger]

Vintage Wings issues golf shirts to all volunteers. They are sort of a rust orange, so we stand out in a crowd. As mentioned before visibility is important.

Mike

[K5DH]

I feel that uniforms of some kind present a good image to the museum-going public, no matter what kind of museum it is.

At VFM, members who are "on duty" around the Museum are encouraged to wear at least some form of VFM logo shirt, whether it be our "official" embroidered logo polo shirt (which also has our first name embroidered on it) or a VFM tee shirt. Most of us seem to wear the polo shirts. When we take the B-17 to an air show or other event, everyone on the air and ground crews wear a logo shirt of some kind. Although we don't have official name or ID badges, many of us have made our own, and there has been some low-level discussion about coming up with an official badge of some kind.

Around the hangars, mechanics and others who are engaged in "dirty duty" are free to wear whatever kind of shirt they care to ruin.

Cheers!

[Karpis]

I didn't have any problem wearing the blazer when I was at the NMUSAF. I had to chuckle, though at the number of people who asked "do you work here?".

[Airlift48]

We absolutely require it. All of our flight crew volunteers are required to wear the burgundy flightsuit. All patches are to be the same, a white crewneck t-shirt is to be worn under the flightsuit. Black boots are also required.

We believe that, because we represent the Berlin Airlift, we should try to reflect that kind of professionalism when we exhibit the "Spirit". So we demand it.

Now, it may seem a bother to many that we go that far, but since we implemented the Uniform Flight Suit Policy of 1998, we have recieved many many compliments by promoters and other groups about our appearance. We think that it requires a certain kind of volunteer to be dedicated enough to be what we term an "effective volunteer". Its about attitude. If you are dedicated enough, you'll be proud to wear the uniform. At lest that's our view. Kind of like the Boy Scouts. You either wear it, or you don't go. Besides, as I've mentioned before, by requiring all of our people to wear the burgundy suit, we can see them from across the ramp and catch them screwing off at a show while they should be working.


Now that only applies to our Flight Crew. Our general Volunteers do not have to wear it. Nor do our maintenance volunteers, although we used to require a blue jumpsuit for them.

[Matt Gunsch]

it depends on the job being done. If all they do is deal with the public and give tours, a pair of slacks and golf shirt is fine, but if I am turning wrenches, I will be in a old t shirt and jeans.

[jamesintucson]

At Pima the volunteers who's jobs involve direct contat with the visitors wear white shirts with the museum logo, tan pants or shorts, and a name tag. There are also blue jackets and hats they can wear if they want. The Volunteers who work out of view of the public just wear the name tag and what ever work type clothes they want. As others have said it is a visibility issue so that visitors can quickly figure out who to talk to if they have a question or a problem.

James

[Holedigger]

How about something classic (not classy)

[Jack Cook]

Can we get one of those for Eric Downing that's blue with red/white polka dots and says ""Don't Follow Me!"

[daveymac82c]

Hi Cindy,

at my museum (CMF) we generally don't use uniforms except for special events.

On an average day, the guys doing maintenance and restoration work wear what they need, while our office staff will wear nice cloths with a name tag. Our tour guides will also wear nice cloths and a name tag.

When we go to airshows, our pilots where a specific coloured golf-shirt, while the ground crew members wear another colour, and then our merchandise/booth volunteers wear another. It just allows us to easily identify who should be doing what, and how shouldn't be doing what.

I like the idea of vests, but I think our museum would need to change/grow a fair amount before we'd incorporate them into our operation. We don't have any docents in the hangar, we're just a small museum anyway, but when we join the ranks of the big boys we'll probably adopt vests.

Then again, we may never get to be that big, and I think that would be fine with us. Our museum has a great amount of charm and hands-on-ness. There is a sense of constant activity in our hangar as opposed to sterility I've seen at some museums.

Cr*p I think I dropped about 7 cents there... sorry!

Cheers,

David