Learn How the Museum Assessment Program Can Help Your Site

The Museum Assessment Program is one of those program that’s been a major benefit to the field for decades, but unless you’ve participated, it’s a mystery.  You may have heard how it can transform an organization, move it to the next level of development, or solve a vexing situation.  It sounds dramatic, but I’ve seen it happen at both large and small museums who have gone through the process.

So how does this happen?  You can find out at a free webinar about MAP on Thursday, November 10 at 3pm Eastern Standard Time presented by the American Association of Museums and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  Registration isn’t required but Continue reading →

Best Practices for Community Engagement and Interpretation Available

For your convenience, I’ve pulled together in one page the various standards and best practices for community engagement, public education, and historical interpretation at historic places and by historical organizations, including scholarship, curriculum development, visitor research, and staff training, as well as the broad range of public programs presented by historic sites, from tours and exhibits to publications and the Internet.  You’ll find “Best Practices” as a topic on the navigation bar on EngagingPlaces.net.

These resources can be used to: Continue reading →

Is an Organizational Hybrid for Non-Profits and For-Profits on the Horizon?

In my work with historic sites, financially sustainability is one of the major challenges, and many are seeking advice from business leaders to increase their earned income.  It’s often an awkward situation because business owners don’t share the same values for preservation and history, and non-profits are uncomfortable with the risks associated with entrepreneurship.  Much time is spent explaining and defending various practices, and making decisions is incredibly slow.  But there may be an answer.  This month’s issue of the Harvard Business Review predicts that the growing desire to meld non-profit mission and for-profit entrepreneurship will create a new form of organizational structure:  the for-benefit enterprise.

For-benefits are a new class of organization.  Like non-profits, they can pursue a wide range of social missions.  Like for-profits, they can generate a broad range of products and services that improve quality of life for consumers, create jobs, and contribute to the economy.  Combining social and commercial ends is not new–think of hospitals, universities, arts organizations, Goodwill.  But the for-benefit model does much more than that.  It redefines fiduciary duty, governance, ownership, and stakeholder relationships in fundamental ways.

Author Heerad Sabeti calls this a fourth sector of the economy, distinct from government, non-profits, and commercial businesses, with the following characteristics: Continue reading →

November launches the Seminar for Historical Administration

The Seminar for Historical Administration (SHA) takes over Indianapolis every November as staff from historic sites and history museums gather to discuss and resolve the big issues, such as:

  • Why is it that so many Americans find history, for the most part, boring and irrelevant?
  • How can we be more creative in using authentic objects to involve people in exploring the past?
  • Should we focus our interpretation on the past, or should we find ways to make history useful to present-day concerns?
  • What roles should do museums and sites play in our communities?

They’ll be exploring these topics through readings, field trips, and lectures from national leaders, and a revised curriculum that increasingly focused on leadership not just management.  The participants often come out transformed by the experience and the effects last throughout their careers, with such positive results that some organizations are using it as mid-career training for their staff members (a pat on the back to the Homestead Museum and Indiana Historical Society!).  John Durel coordinates the program and will be regularly writing about their experiences on the Developing History Leaders at SHA blog.

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 →