Chez Sez - Blog post about COSI

Chez Sez

When I was recruited to come to COSI in 2006, there was a widely held opinion that the large, 320,000 square foot facility was a significant liability for the organization.

Now I won’t say that the cost of operating the facility isn’t without its stress—although an upcoming investment in our HVAC system we hope will save us over $100,000/year and reduce our carbon footprint. But, if you take the approach that the this huge place is an asset, then you look differently as to how you do business.

Our shift to a “center of science” model rather than a standalone science center is starting to bear fruit in more ways than partners “moving in” to live and integrate with us. It also means trying to be a community hub. Well last Friday, we certainly felt that way!

It was our Family Friday Night last Friday and boy did we feel like a community center for Columbus. From 5:00-9:00 we probably had 3,000 or more people active in numerous ways enjoying their evening.

We had our general public and members coming for the last days of Lost Egypt, a large gathering of people from the Linden community (bringing the entertainment of the Linden McKinley band right into our atrium!) resulting from work among a number of organizations with us to celebrate Science Technology Engineering and Math education, 300 or so family members from the Buckeye Ranch, a wedding rehearsal, and our own volunteer annual event with roughly 300 people.

Many of the families were being introduced to COSI for the first time—how great. With all the various groups going one way or another the energy level was present all evening—particularly when the band was playing It felt good. It felt right.

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