Contest will pick one to live in Chicago's science museum for a month

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is picking one person to spend an entire month living (and sleeping) inside the museum. Perks include "a prize of $10,000, a package of tech gadgets, and new knowledge and experiences that may just transform you."

• [folkclarinet]

  Will the real Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler please stand up? :)

• [lewis stoole]

  if only cory doctorow could live, eat and sleep for a month in disney world, what a wonderful birthday present that would be.

• [dross1260]

  As long as I can alternate between the coal mine and the u-boat, I’m in!

• [lasttide]

  Can you sleep in the recovered German U-boat? Live on the astronaut food? Set loose a thousand baby chicks and chase them around?

  I seriously love that museum. I went there very regularly as a kid and visited again a few years ago when I was back in Chicago (primarily to see the U-boat/Enigma exhibit and the robotics section).

• [S2]

  I’d spend my month digging around for the time machine (there’s got to be one in there somewhere ;-); then I’d go back to ’66 and re-live my first trip into the coal mine — Best. Day. Ever.

  [At least, I think it was '66...maybe someone knows? That same day, we went to see Fiddler performed by Zero Mostel. A fire broke out in an alley adjacent to the (open) stage door; bits of smoke drifted into the theater and the audience got a tad restless. The train station scene was playing, and without breaking the dialog Mostel worked in an ad lib to the house that everything was OK. Magical....]

• [kip w]

  One of my favorite museums on earth. I used to dream of going there, and the dreams were nothing compared to the real thing.

  But a note of caution is in order. Chicago’s most famous dick has been involved in a theatrical production there, so there are stiffs here and there, and there’s been an airplane crash, and things are kind of ugly (and have tiny little hands). So go, have fun, but keep your eyes and ears open.

• [Notary Sojac]

  What a great, great place. As a free-range kid growing up in Chicago I used to go there four or five times a year back in the late ’60s. (admission was free every day back then)

  The images that still stick in my mind are not the well known coal mine, U-505 and the baby chicks:

  - The mathematics exhibit (probably not there any more), a huge room full of wonderful mechanical displays illustrating math concepts.

  - Craig Breedlove’s “Spirit of America” jet car. As perfect an example of early ’60′s space age streamlining as has ever been.

  - The horizontally and vertically sliced human bodies, preserved in formaldehyde like so many pages of a book, which were tucked away, unlabeled, on a stairway landing. My kid brother still remembers being grossed out by this (I made a point of showing him how they could not possibly be plastic models).

  - Steampunkers would have loved the two or three rooms full of cases containing 19th and early 20th century mechanical devices, showing the evolution of typewriters, telephones, sewing machines, woodworking tools….. Not much glitz, not much sponsorship potential, I have to guess that all that stuff is in storage by now.

  And to save the best for last, the Most.Awesome.Model.Train.Layout.Ever.

• [Halloween Jack]

  Damnit, why didn’t they do this when I was thirteen?

• [ackpht]

  If I could sit in the Spitfire…

• [Notary Sojac]

  I don’t believe there is a geek in America that wouldn’t love the MSI. Lisa, how about getting someone from their exhibits staff to guestblog here?

• [Spookyland]

  The Field has a long tradition of sleepovers – I have done a few myself – but this is really something unusual. There are some very old corners of this institution to find.

• [Anonymous]

  Aw, man. Does anyone know if Canadians are “legally allowed to receive compensation for services in the United States”? Because this sounds /awesome/.

  • [freshacconci]

    I think as long as they provide the proper documents you should be able to get a Visa to work in the US for 30 days.

• [Xopher]

  That museum was one of my favorite places to visit growing up. While I haven’t been there for years, this would be absolutely wonderful.

• [Anonymous]

  While this looks like fun at first, I do notice you will *NOT* be allowed out – it is essentially incarceration for the period (*)

  (*) if you want to keep the prize.

• [chixon]

  I was seriously considering submitting an entry. But when I started reading the interview, I only got as far as the first line. They are looking for someone outgoing. And that restriction alone disqualifies me.

• [SteveKiwi]

  Is it wrong of me to wish I could abandon my family for a month?

  • [princessalex]

    Heck — I’d wanna take my family with me! My two boys (okay, three, if you’re counting my husband) would LOVE this!

• [Anonymous]

  They are predisposed to pick an energetic pretty nerdy girl in her 20s. She should be somewhat smart, but not too bookish. After all, this is a PR job at frankly barely-adequate wages. (yes $10G for a month translates to $120G a year, but the one month is the only thing on offer, and there is no other life during that time)

  Also, all those of us who would love the opportunity, barely notice the time, and stay there for free are not sufficiently ‘social’ for their purposes. Those outgoing enough for the job will chafe under a lonely lockdown. It’s mean, really. It would be better to hire a team: one of each.

  Lock the blogger in, and book the social butterfly solid. The writer can seed the talker’s speeches FTW.

• [surrealestate]

  The museum is one of my favorite places, loved it while growing up, and is also the sole surviving building from the World’s Columbian Exposition (It was actually the Fine Arts Building).

  I would live there for a month provided I got keys to look at all the stuff they aren’t displaying.

  • [chgoliz]

    Just to make you jealous, surrealestate: I *have* been back in (many of) the storage areas. Awesome doesn’t even begin to describe it. There’s at least one of everything back there. It’s like the Library of Congress, but for artifacts instead of books.