With the the release of Pokémon Go maney places have found players arriveing at there museumes and places of worship. I am wondering if any of your organization's had to deal with this, and what effect if any has it had.

I know that on the Illinois Railway Museums (IRM) facebook page people have been asking if the museum serves as a pokestop. I hope its not people should be alert and paying attention to their surroundings.

Youngstown Steel Heritage is. I wish it wasn't.

Niantic, the creator of Pokemon Go, has been actively removing Pokestops and gyms per request.

https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.c ... Gym-Issues

You would certainly hope they would. However if a citizen is willing to pay $10 admission to access a Pokemon gym, sounds like a rather good thing. Plus it'll get some of those pesky Pokemon out of your facility for free. Pokeballs and shotgun shells cost money.

People who never set foot in your museum are showing up, who might otherwise never come, and we're crying about it? I have not downloaded the game, but it seems to me this could be turned in your favor, some kind of treasure hunt etc.

Seriously. Absolutely.

Enjoy the free advertising/publicity.

Do what many libraries do: put up a sign about it.

It's a great opportunity to get people out into the world and experiencing things, even if it might seem a bit alien to people who don't play (including myself).

As long as people are safe, there is no harm.

How does one know if your site is a Pokéstops or gym?

Is there a master site one can visit to know or ask what sites are in the game before finding someone walking into a trolley, tripping over track or other things that could cause harm?

No one I am aware of in the museum is involved with this new craze. We all prefer working on things the old fashioned way! It would be nice to know if we are on their list before a visitor does something unfortunate.

Steve

I'm told the museum I volunteer at has a 'gym' but I haven't verified that. I'll find out tomorrow, and I'll ask if they're aware of new visitors as a result of Pokemon Go.

I suspect if you want to know if you have a stop or gym near you, you may need to download the game and/or watch what players do. If you need one removed, here is a link for their support:

https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/221968408
From what I have seen, they are trying to put these spots in public places of interest, tho I am sure there are some very poorly placed ones.

The Nevada State Railroad Museum at Boulder City hosts a gym... We also have several other sites along our line at Railroad Pass.

We found out because the son of a volunteer plays, and we invited him to survey our site... a young volunteer had offered to download the game if needed... so look to your younger members or their children..

So far there have been no issues, but we have discussed it at a safety meeting.

Randy

Find a teenager. They will know or find out soon enough. If you have a stop or gym and other features, offer a tour. Take players to the locations, but educate them in the process.

Several national parks/monuments in the DC area are doing this and relishing that new people and mostly young people are showing up and learning.

Bob

Colfax Railroad Museum is a gym. We've had a few new visitors because of it.

I am fairly sure Railroad Park in Deshler Ohio, and Tehachapi Loop are Pokemon gyms, as they are regularly visited by geeky grown men who wave phones and cameras around.

You would probably be surprised at the age of the people involved with this game. The original cartoon series and games were popular in the late 90s. My 30 year old son is hooked. The hot spots seem to be in and around Universities and coffee shops. The biggest group of Poke-nerds I've seen looked like they had an average age of 25. More like you would see at a Star Trek convention. Children playing Pokemon-Go need a good smart-phone with a generous data package, and an adult, as it requires wandering around in public places while staring at the screen.
If you want to see where hot spots are you can use this unofficial mapping site to scan and locate Pokemon near a selected area.

https://pokevision.com/

Increased activity seems to also be generated by the number of people using the app in a specific area.
Very unofficially joking around with some co-volunteers at the IRM we did not think this conducive to the Museum's mission.