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.

The Best Resources on HistoricSites.WordPress.com

Although it’s unclear if the blog I formerly managed will continue after the reorganization at the National Trust, I would encourage you to download and copy the many free resources that are available now while you have a chance.  My recommendations are:

African American Historic Place Demolished in Virginia, Despite Protests

The Masonic Lodge in Hobson, recently destroyed by the City of Suffolk, Virginia. In this 2002 photo, then-Suffolk Councilman E. Dana Dickens III is seen with Hobson resident Mary Ellen Hill, who was one of the two women arrested Monday on misdemeanor charges during an unsuccessful attempt to save the former Masonic Lodge building, seen behind them. Virginian-Pilot file photo.

A Masonic Lodge that was the centerpiece of Hobson, an early 20th century African American waterman’s community in Virginia, was recently demolished by the City of Suffolk, despite protests from the local community and standing in front of the bulldozers.  The 1950 Masonic Lodge served as a community meeting place, general store, school, philanthropic organization, and rallying point for political activism in the village of Hobson, which was recently placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register.  Only portions of downtown Suffolk are locally protected as historic districts.

According to the October 25, 2011 edition of the Virginian-Pilot:

In a last-ditch effort to save a historic building from the bulldozer Monday morning, two community activists placed themselves inside a circa-1912 former Masonic Lodge in the rural village of Hobson and pleaded with police to send a city wrecking crew away.  Instead, police arrested Continue reading →

Taking Social Media to the Next Level of Engagement

Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, are now recognized as important tools in every communications strategy.  But these seem to only add to our workload, not reduce it, because there still is a need to maintain websites and mail newsletters to reach our traditional audiences and supporters.  And if you’re working with social media, how do you know it’s making a difference and really engaging your audience?  Who wants to go to the trouble of tweeting and posting if no one is listening? It’s going to take a bit more work to get to the next level, but it may be worth it.  Some of it is easy to adopt and just a matter of practice, others require learning a little technical jargon.  Here are a couple approaches:

1.  Use social media to show you are listening.  Remember, social media is supposed to be a two-way dialogue (that’s the “social” part), so respond to comments (even if it’s just a, “Thanks for your comment.  We’re glad you had a great time at the event.”).    On Facebook and blogs, that’s very easy (most have a “reply” feature for comments) but on Twitter Continue reading →

Anthea M. Hartig moves from National Trust to California Historical Society

Anthea Hartig, the new executive director of the California Historical Society

Dr. Anthea M. Hartig, most recently the director of the Western Regional Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has been appointed as the executive director of the California Historical Society (CHS).  Hartig is one of the nation’s leaders in public history and historic preservation (just a few months ago she was named, “California Preservationist of the Year”), making this a big gain for CHS and a major loss for the National Trust.

“We have truly found the right chief executive for the 21st Century,” CHS Board President Thomas R. Owens offered, “Anthea’s deep and varied experience as an historian and non-profit leader is the perfect fit for making this venerable organization relevant and successful.”

“As a third-generation Californian, Continue reading →

Benchmark Your Museum’s Performance–Free!

Wondering how your museum or historic site is performing compared to others?  Is your admission fee to high or too low?  Is your membership retention rate better than average?  Do similar organizations have the same size staff?  Do you need credible data to make your case for your museum’s needs to your board, members, or city council?

Sample benchmarking chart in PowerPoint.

It’s nearly impossible to find these answers unless you buy an industry-wide survey (usually years out of date) or are part of an informal network committed to sharing data.  But help has come, and it’s free (mostly).  The American Association of Museums has moved and expanded its Museum Financial Information survey to a secure online tool, Museum Benchmarking Online (MBO) (www.aam-us.org/MBO).  MBO is a quick, easy way to support your cause and helps AAM better advocate for museums and historic sites across the nation.

Go to www.aam-us.org/MBO for details, including a list of the Continue reading →

Barbara Carson, Museum Leader, Passed Away

Long-time museum leader and scholar of the material culture of the Chesapeake region, Barbara G. Carson died on Friday, October 21. She suffered bravely from milofibrosis for more than twenty years and seldom complained. Her many contributions to the field included Ambitious Appetites: Dining, Behavior, and Patterns of Consumption in Federal Washington (one of best around and now hard to find), essays in the Journal of Museum Education (which continue to be reprinted), a training video for AASLH on learning from objects (a very early effort to provide training to the field using the new VHS technology), and consultation to such nationally significant sites as Gunston Hall and the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg. She was also an active teacher and speaker, starting at Continue reading →

EngagingPlaces.net Launched

EngagingPlaces.net is about making places that delight the eye and mind.  Ideas, opinions, interviews, best and future practices will be continually presented through regular blog posts.  It’s a continuation of HistoricSites.Wordpress.com, but now independent of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Regular readers of HistoricSites.WordPress.com already know that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is undergoing tremendous change. Since the arrival of Stephanie Meeks as the president of the National Trust in July 2010, the organization has been working intensely to rebrand and reform itself in a time of declining support and stretched resources. The process has prompted Stephanie to make changes large and small over the past year, but the most dramatic ones occurred in September 2011. She eliminated four of the six regional offices, shifted the magazine from bi-monthly to quarterly issues, laid off five people at Lyndhurst (including the director), and cut half the positions in the Historic Sites department. She is also focusing the National Trust’s work on national rather than statewide or local issues; pursuing historic preservation in a new way by hiring people outside the field of historic preservation and historic sites; emphasizing earned income (one of the new positions in the Historic Sites department will be a Director of Business Development, so look for this posting); and making the National Trust Historic Sites more self-sufficient and independent. I suspect that much of this will be revealed publicly in the coming months through PreservationNation.org and Preservation magazine, and more subtly through its job listings. They’ve provided me with a generous severance package and great flexibility in my remaining days to assist with my transition, so I’m using this opportunity to start my own consulting business, Engaging Places, LLC.  The past few years I’ve received increasing requests for assessments, planning, and strategy implementation but I’ve had to turn them down because my priorities were focused on National Trust Historic Sites.  I now have the ability to provide greater assistance to the field as well as devote more time to research, writing, and teaching on the intersection between historic preservation and community engagement, which I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

My ten years at the National Trust have sharpened and intensified my knowledge of historic sites of all kinds—house museums, commercial districts, neighborhoods—and I intend to continue to pursue that interest in various ways, including writing and consulting (and thanks to Jim Vaughan, I’ll be working with him on a project for Indiana Landmarks). I plan to continue to serve on the board of the American Association for State and Local History and as a volunteer with Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation, Ltd.  But with the changes occurring at the National Trust, I’m not sure what the future holds for HistoricSites.WordPress.com.  Managing that blog was something I particularly enjoyed because it shared best and future practices among those who worked at or with historic sites.  It continues to grow and now averages 6,000 views monthly.  I didn’t want to see that end, hence this new blog:  EngagingPlaces.WordPress.com (and you can also use EngagingPlaces.net; it will automatically redirect you to the right spot).  So if this topic interests you, visit regularly or better yet, subscribe and you’ll be conveniently notified of the latest post by email (and no, I won’t sell or give away these email addresses).