Author Archives: Max van Balgooy

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About Max van Balgooy

President of Engaging Places LLC, a design and strategy firm that connects people to historic places.

From Standards to Spectrums: Why Museum Practice Is Better Understood as a Matrix

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One of the things I keep returning to in my teaching and consulting is how much museum work actually lives along a spectrum—not in binary terms of success or failure, right or wrong, compliant or noncompliant.

This is one of the persistent challenges of working with professional standards. Standards are essential. They articulate shared values, define public trust, and help the field hold itself accountable. But by their nature, standards can imply an all-or-nothing logic: either you are doing the thing or you are not. And if you are not, that’s a problem.

Museum management, of course, is far more complex.

Museums and historic sites operate with widely varying levels of capacity, expertise, staffing, governance maturity, and external pressure. Boards change. Funding fluctuates. Crises intervene. Even within a single organization, some areas of work may be highly developed while others lag behind—not because of neglect or incompetence, but because of constrained resources and competing priorities.

Over time, I’ve become interested in how we might better describe and normalize that reality for the field—without lowering expectations or abandoning standards altogether.

Why a Matrix (Not a Scorecard)

In different contexts, I’ve heard similar tools described as rubrics, spectrums, continuums, or maturity models. In my own work, I’ve settled on calling this a matrix, for a very specific reason: it allows us to look across multiple areas of practice at once.

Once you do that, patterns start to emerge.

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When Oversight Becomes Bullying: Lessons from the Smithsonian

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In December 2025, the White House sent a letter to the Smithsonian Institution requesting extensive documentation related to exhibitions, educational materials, internal processes, and collections. The request followed an earlier directive tied to an executive order and was framed as part of federal oversight.

In principle, this kind of oversight is not only appropriate—it is necessary. The President and senior staff have a responsibility to ensure that federally-funded institutions are operating effectively and that public resources are protected from waste, fraud, or abuse. Museums, like any other organizations that receive public funds or tax exemptions, should expect scrutiny and be prepared to demonstrate sound management and professional standards.

What concerns me is not the idea of oversight, but the scale, scope, and apparent purpose of this particular request. From a museum management and governance perspective, much of what is being asked for would require significant staff time to assemble, while providing little information that would actually inform decisions about efficiency, risk, misuse of funds, or as they phrased it, “Americanism.”

Excerpt from August 12, 2025 letter from White House to Smithsonian.

As someone who has worked with museum boards, executive directors, and city councils for more than three decades, I see troubling patterns here—patterns I have seen before, much closer to home.

First, I’ll share my open letter to Vince Haley, Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, then I’ll relate this to museums and historic sites.

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What Emerging Museum Managers Are Learning—and Why It Matters to the Field

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Discussing current management issues in museums.

Graduate students recently finishing an introductory course in museum management with me at George Washington University offered useful insights to the field. Their end-of-semester reflections reveal where emerging professionals are gaining traction, where they’re still uncertain, and what this means for museums and nonprofits navigating an increasingly complex landscape.

What’s clicking

A clear shift is underway in how new professionals understand museums. Rather than seeing them as a set of departments or activities, students are beginning to read museums as systems: mission, governance, finances, staffing, and programs working together—or, sometimes, at cross-purposes. Core documents like budgets, Form 990s, strategic plans, and bylaws are no longer viewed as bureaucratic paperwork, but as evidence of priorities, capacity, and risk.

Equally important, many students are learning that management is less about finding the “right” answer and more about making defensible decisions with imperfect information. That realization—often uncomfortable—is a sign of professional formation. They are also becoming more fluent in professional communication: writing memos for decision-makers, structuring findings, and using standards as tools rather than checklists.

Where the strain shows

The productive strain is familiar to anyone who has worked in museums. Students struggled most when ideals collided with constraints—especially around finances, staffing, and governance. They felt the tension between mission-driven aspirations and organizational realities. That’s not a weakness; it’s the work.

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A History Podcast Wins Big—And Offers Clues for Museums’ Future

Apple Podcasts recently named The Rest is History its Podcast of the Year, and in a December 4 interview on In Conversation from Apple News, hosts Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland reflected on why history is resonating so strongly today. Sandbrook argues that despite assumptions, young people are deeply interested in the past—provided it is presented through compelling stories and vivid characters. Academic historians, he suggests, sometimes struggle to reach broad audiences because they avoid narrative. For Sandbrook, stories of the Second World War, Greek myth, the Trojan War, and Rome endure because they are foundational to human identity.

Holland adds that today’s students confront unprecedented content pressures, but unlike earlier generations, they are no longer limited to school as the sole venue for learning. The internet has created a lifelong landscape for historical discovery—“an enormous seam of gold,” as he describes it.

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New Guide: Writing Professional Memos for Museum Work

Over the years, I’ve noticed something consistent in my museum management courses: graduate students are well-prepared to write academic papers, but many struggle when asked to write professional memos—the format that museum directors, CEOs, and board members actually read.

This isn’t a flaw in their abilities; it’s a mismatch between what universities traditionally teach and what museums need. Academic writing is designed to demonstrate thinking. Managerial writing is designed to support decisions.

In the museum field, we write memos all the time—to recommend actions, summarize findings, or prepare leaders for decisions. That’s why many of the assignments in my courses require students to write to a real audience: a museum director, board chair, or CEO. Students practice being clear, concise, and actionable—skills that will serve them throughout their careers.

At recent professional conferences, I’ve also heard colleagues say that emerging professionals often struggle with executive communication. They know their subject matter, but don’t always know how to structure recommendations for decision-makers. Supervisors want to help, but explaining “how to write a memo” can be surprisingly difficult without concrete models.

For years, I’ve used the FranklinCovey Style Guide for Business and Technical Communication as the foundation (available free online). It offers excellent standards and a managerial memo structure that aligns beautifully with museum leadership needs.

Still, many students found it challenging because executive writing feels so different from college writing. So I created a new two-page memo about memos: “Writing Professional Memos in Managerial Format” (available as a free download at the end).

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Eight Ways to Engage Visitors at Museums and Historic Sites

Move beyond what we tell visitors to what they actually do—and discover how eight types of experiences can deepen learning and meaning.

When we think about interpretation in museums and historic sites, we often focus on what we want to say—the stories, facts, and insights that bring history to life. But what if we focused instead on what visitors do?

That simple shift—from content to experience—changes how we design tours, exhibitions, and programs. It encourages us to move beyond “telling” and toward engaging, offering visitors a range of ways to learn, reflect, and connect.

Recently, I’ve been revisiting an idea from educational research called the Eight Learning Events Model, developed at the University of Liège in Belgium. It identifies eight ways people learn: receiving, imitating, practicing, experimenting, exploring, creating, debating, and reflecting. Although the language in their articles is academic (and a bit European in tone), the concept translates beautifully into the world of museums. With a little adaptation, I’ve reimagined these eight learning events as the “Eight Ways to Engage Visitors.”

A Spectrum of Engagement

At one end of the spectrum, visitors receive information. They listen, read, or watch as museums provide structure and context—through a guided tour, an introductory panel, or a short video.

The next few experiences—observing, practicing, and experimenting—invite more active participation. Visitors watch a demonstration, try out a skill, or test how something works. These steps increase a visitor’s sense of agency. The museum moves from telling to showing to inviting.

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When “Accuracy” Means Ideology: A Closer Look at the Heritage Foundation’s Historic Sites Guide

The Heritage Foundation’s new The Heritage Guide to Historic Sites: Rediscovering America’s Heritage promises to help Americans find “accurate” and “unbiased” history at presidential homes and national landmarks. Presented as a travel and education tool for the nation’s 250th anniversary, the site grades historic places from A to C for “accuracy” and “ideological bias.”

At first glance, it looks like a public service. But a closer look reveals that even when Heritage cites “evidence,” its historical reasoning exposes deep methodological and ideological flaws.

The Appearance of Evidence

The Heritage Foundation awards James Madison’s Montpelier in Virginia a C for historical accuracy, claiming the site shows a “notable lack of focus on James Madison” and that:

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Bold Ideas, Thin Evidence: Reading the Jenrette Report with Caution and Curiosity

The Jenrette Foundation’s State of American Historic Preservation Education (September 2025) lands like a wake-up call for our field. At more than 25 pages, it’s not just a summary of trends in preservation education—it’s a challenge to rethink what we mean by “historic preservation” altogether. Although the report focuses on universities and training programs, its insights are strikingly relevant for leaders at historic sites and house museums.

At its core, the report argues that historic preservation is due for a rebranding—not a new slogan, but a new mindset. “Preservation isn’t about old buildings,” the authors write, “it’s about shared futures.” That’s a phrase that will resonate with anyone who’s struggled to convince visitors, funders, or policymakers that historic sites matter. For years, preservationists have known that saving a place is just the start; what matters is how that place connects to people, stories, and community life. The Jenrette report gives that idea institutional weight, calling for preservation to be seen as a civic, cultural, and economic force—an engine for workforce development, sustainability, and belonging.

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From Julia Child to Lowriders: Interpreting History at the Smithsonian on the Eve of a Shutdown

Although the federal government shutdown has started, the Smithsonian museums will remain open at least through Monday, October 6. Despite the media’s attention on 12:01 am on October 1, shutdowns don’t happen immediately because stopping a huge bureaucracy takes time, plus each agency has to determine who will be furloughed and who is essential—that’s why air traffic controllers keep working at airports but not educators at museums. Secondly, agencies can use private funds to continue operating, which is why the Smithsonian can keep the doors open a few more days.

I was fortunate to visit the National Museum of American History on September 30 with my “Interpreting Historic Sites and House Museums” course at George Washington University. For a couple of hours, my students analyzed the interpretation in two exhibitions that included historic buildings: Food (featuring Julia Child’s kitchen) and Within These Walls (featuring the 1750s Ipswich House, the largest object in the collection). They did a terrific job uncovering topics and themes, discussing how women are represented, and the assessing the use of objects.

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Navigating Community Engagement in Museums in a Charged Political Climate

I attended a timely and thought-provoking session at this year’s AASLH Annual Meeting called Bridging Divides: Navigating Challenging Histories Through Community Engagement on September 13. It gathered five panelists—Angela O’Neal, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH; Rebecca Asmo, Ohio Humanities, Columbus, OH; Jason Crabill, Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, Lancaster, OH; Kaitlyn Donaldson, Lorain Historical Society, Lorain, OH; Doreen Uhas-Sauer, Rickenbacker Woods Foundation, Columbus, OH—who shared practical advice for how museums and historic sites can continue doing meaningful work in an era of heightened scrutiny, political pressure, and declining trust. I want to share my notes here, not as a verbatim report, but as highlights of ideas that struck me as especially useful for our field.

Protecting Institutions While Advancing Mission

The panel emphasized that today’s environment did not emerge overnight, so institutions can look to history and the humanities for guidance. Two watchwords were don’t obey in advance and don’t over-comply. When regulations restrict action—such as a requirement to remove feminine hygiene products from restrooms—organizations can comply while still serving their audiences by relocating them to staffed areas. Institutions should avoid inviting unnecessary trouble, ensuring content is evidence-based, factual, and defensible. Even the naming of grants matters: choose descriptive, straightforward titles rather than attention-grabbing language that might provoke critics.

Building Credibility Through Storytelling and Relationships

Telling concrete, factual stories is essential. Because American history is often taught as headlines rather than complex narratives, museums must provide depth while remaining accessible. Community review of working drafts helps ensure relevance and reduces backlash. Listening for common ground creates ownership and fosters support. In some cases, reframing exhibits as art rather than history opens doors to difficult conversations. Festivals, events, and everyday relationship-building are as important as the exhibits themselves.

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