If I Were a Museum Director....

Last week The New York Times asked experts in fields other than politics what they would do if they were President. The responses were varied and presented a different perspective than the traditional rhetoric we hear on TV. If you asked your family or friends, I'm sure you'd get a variety of responses as well.

This week I ask - What would you do if you were the director of a museum? Whether it's your museum or the dream museum you'd like to work for, send in your answers. I can't wait to see what you say!

Weekly Links: Aug 20-26

Still haven't managed to put up a post, but it's coming soon!

Archive.org has launched an archive of 3,000+ hours of 9/11 TV coverage. It's still hard for me to watch coverage. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Smithsonian Magazine is offering a free museum day across the country. Check out this list to see if there's a museum near you.

The National Media Museum created a platform video game to engage visitors in selecting objects for an exhibit. I don't know if anyone else has been keeping up with gaming in museums, but it's a particularly interesting topic to me.

Urban redevelopment is picking up across the country and St. Louis's Citygarden is an excellent example. Can museums fill similar roles in creating a sense of community?

Pop-up restaurants for museums can offer a great way to engage visitors outside of the traditional visit.

Weekly Links: Aug 13-19

Didn't get a chance to update with anything besides the weekly links this week, but I'll have something on employee orientations and benefits as well as a preview to my Blog Out Loud topic for my local Young Nonprofit Professional Network group.

Only one link this week on museums' emergency plans for WWIII.


Also, if you're looking for a job, be sure to use the #museumjob hashtag on Twitter and be sure to contribute, like @exhibitsmith, if you find jobs others might be interested in.

Weekly Links: Aug 6-12 (late!)

Sorry for the late post of the weekly links.

A street artist recreates real crime scenes to advertise joining the police force. Could museums recreate historic events to promote their institution?

Infographics are both visually pleasing and informational. It would be interesting to see museums adapt this style to exhibits.

The National Museum of American History blogged about collecting the history of digital photography, a new field that will impact museum professionals.

Museum Minute had a great post about visiting a museum with family, rather than as a museum professional. As a graduate assignment, I did something similar and have also had interesting experiences with my family in museums. It's a different experience to go to a museum with someone that you know well, rather than just observing from a distance.

This cool graphic on US Post Offices over time is really great and reminds me of a few museum exhibits I've seen. This graphic is so subtle, I've had to watch it a few times.

There's been a lot of talk about who volunteers in America and how they do it, but this graphic presents it so well.

The Netherlands Museum Association made a great case for the social impact of museums.

This New York Times op-ed is an interesting perspective on how education may change. How do museums fit in?

Taking the Museum Outside the Museum

In museum theory classes, you learn about the unique way visitors learn in museums. You also learn about the significant trust people place in museums over other sources of history, such as professors, books, even family members. If we assume that visitors are learning by making meaningful connections to other aspects of their life, then there are many places and people that use museum-style learning to effectively communicate their message. The following people and places are great examples of interesting information and programs similar to museums, but are apart from any sort of cultural institution.

Sarah Lohman

Four Pounds Flour

Sarah is someone I greatly admire for her unique perspective on history. Not only does she research historic recipes, but she recreates them so she and others can have a "taste of history." Though Sarah started in museums, which led her to her thesis, she has branched outside of the museum and that allows her to do very interesting things, like pub crawls. You can even hire her as a personal chef! Museums probably couldn't host pub crawls, but combining history with food and drinks is a great idea.

Jeffery Vinokur

Dancing Mad Scientist

Jeffery used his passion for both science and dance to create the "So You Think You Can Do Science Tour," a 45 minute show all about chemistry. Though his program is similar to that of science demos at many science and technology centers, Jeffery created a great business for himself, while sharing his energy and passion. Many science and technology centers couldn't (or even wouldn't) look for someone with a combined talent for science and dance. The thing to take away from this is to ask potential and current employees about their other talents and interests, you could discover something completely new that works for your museum.

David Briner
Genevieve Spencer

Similar to what the Massachusetts Historical Society is doing by tweeting the entries of John Quincy Adams's diaries, David Briner is tweeting the entries of his great-aunt's diaries. This is a great lesson for smaller history museums and historical societies who might not have access to the diaries of more famous individuals, like Adams. It's a great way to bring attention to your institution, while also sharing the treasures of your collection.

New York Nineteenth Century Society

The New York Nineteenth Century Society is composed of enthusiastic members inspired by the nineteenth century. Not only do these members participate to express their interest, but they also share their knowledge by offering events, lectures, etc, similar to a museum. A lesson for museums here is to tap into that energy and provide a forum for members of such organizations or start one themselves. A tip to the wise is to ensure that everyone is on the same page and dedicated to better understanding eras of history and not perpetuating myths and other ideas that have been proven false.

Weekly Links: July 30-Aug 5

I'm going to try to post some interesting links I find each week! So here we go:

The Museum Insight Blog asks "Why Bother with Young Adults?"

Citizen Science is pretty popular, but what about Citizen History?

The National Portrait Gallery in London is offering a five-sense visitor experience with music, cocktails, drawing, films and even perfume.

The National Portrait Gallery in DC is presenting "Portraits Alive." I think I saw another program like this somewhere, but it was a film. Has anyone seen a similar program?

The Brooklyn Museum is offering a "Choose Your Own Adventure" program where you use your phone to create a tour of the museum.

Look for more links next Friday!

Museum Consultant

I have just launched my consulting business! Please contact
me if you need any of these services. I can work remotely and also travel.

Here’s the website: https://sites.google.com/site/carolynnoeportfolio/home

Conference Tips

As I've been organizing myself after the AMM conference, I've also been looking at what other bloggers have to say about preparing for a conference and what to do post-conference. Below are a list of links to some tips & tricks to making the most of your conference experience:

Preparation:

• peoplegogy has a great post on preparing for a conference and some specific tips for those who are giving a presentation.
• edoocee has some practical tips for using technology to take notes and a few links for business cards.

Before, During and After:

• GetElastic has tips for preparation, things to do while at the event and post-conference tips.

Post-Conference Follow-up:

• Get-it-Done Guy has some great ideas for following up with people you meet at the conference.

If you're going to a conference soon (maybe the AASLH meeting in September?), these tips will be useful for making your trip effective and fun.