From: tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch)
Subject: Re: Smithsonian
Followup-To: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 03:24:10 GMT

Followups set to r.a.s.misc.

cmiller@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Catherine Miller) writes:

>Does anyone know if the ST exhibit is still going on at the
>Smithsonian?  If so, how does one go about getting tickets?

Unless they've closed it in the past ten days (and I have it on pretty firm
authority that they haven't), it's still happening.

As for tickets and other general information, I'm reposting (w/o permission,
but I suspect and hope Matt Gertz isn't going to mind; if you do, Matt, feel
free to yell at me) bits of an article Matt Gertz wrote on the subject a few
months ago.  It was very handy.

Tim Lynch
=====================================================================
From: mwgertz+@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.fandom
Subject: A report on the Star Trek exhibit at the Smithsonian
Date: 15 Jun 92 19:10:44 GMT

[...]

THE EXHIBIT:
	Save your cash, and don't buy tickets in advance from the 
ticket outlets.  I got in line at about 9:15 AM Saturday morning.  
The line is on the south side of the Air and Space Museum.  When I 
got there, there were about a hundred people ahead of me.  
(Fashion tip: don't wear a black T-shirt outdoors in sunny, 85 
degree weather)  When the museum opened at 9:45, the line just 
breezed through, and by 10:00 I was on my way to the exhibit with 
my free tickets.  As I passed the ticket office later in the day, 
there was never any line that I could see.  However, it's still 
important to get there early.  Your tickets are stamped with a 
certain time; you must enter the exhibit within 15 minutes after 
that time or forfeit your turn.  By noon, they were passing out 
tickets for the 3:00 PM entrance time, and by 1 PM I believe the 
tickets for that day were gone.  This will all probably get worse 
as the tourist season hits its peak in July and August.
	I should mention that entrance to all of the museums is free,
although some of the museums have special exhibits, such as the 
IMAX theatre, which do cost money.  The Star Trek exhibit is free, 
however 
	You will be informed while in line that you have the option 
to rent an audio tour of the exhibit, which you listen to as you 
walk through the exhibit.  I *strongly* recommend that you rent 
it!  It's only $3.50 ($3.00 if you're a member of the Smithsonian 
Institute), and it really goes in depth into explaining the 
exhibit.  It's narrated by Shatner and Nimoy, and they do a very 
good job.  I thought I knew a great deal about Trek, but I learned 
some new things from the tape.  (Even Tim Lynch would learn some 
new things! 8^) 8^)  The tapes are in a tape recorder roughly the 
size and shape of a tricorder, which slings around your neck in 
the same manner (it's solid black, though -- you won't look like a
Trek geek) -- and you listen through headphones.  Mine was a 
trifle fast, and Shatner and Nimoy ended up sounding a bit like 
Alvin and Theodore 8^)
	The exhibit is on the second floor of the museum, on the 
eastern end.  You will not be allowed to line up to enter the 
exhibit until it is the time stamped on your ticket.  This means 
that people hang around the exhibit entrance a half-hour before 
their appointed time, blocking up things.  My advice:  get to the 
exhibit 15 minuted before your time, and stand along the wall near 
the line entrance.  That way, when the line opens for your time 
slot, you will notice it sooner than everyone else, and you will 
be able to get in line quicker.  The line is only to have your 
ticket taken -- once inside the exhibit, you're free to go 
anywhere you want.  If you have rented the tape, though, then 
you'll want to follow the right wall to keep your tape in sync 
with the exhibit.  If it's slow going, you can of course turn off 
the tape until you reach the next exhibit, then turn it on again.

[...]

	That wraps of the pertinent information on my trip to see the 
Star Trek exhibit in Washington.  I hope you've found the above 
information useful.  This report is copyrighted by Matt Gertz, 
1992.  Permission to print and transmit any or all of the complete 
paragraphs of this report is granted, provided that this copyright
information is included in its entirety.


-- 
Matt Gertz, mwgertz+@cs.cmu.edu
Dept. of ECE, The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
============================================================================

I strongly second Matt's suggestion about the audio tour.  Get it.  It's 
informative.  (I suggest, however, that you save yourself valuable time by
reading many of the exhibits *while* listening to the tour, rather than 
alternating.  If nothing else, it lets you tune out a bit when Shatner gets
too pompous.  :-) )     --TL
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current