In with the 'New'

At a recent museum conference, a provocative keynote speaker brought up some interesting ideas about museums creating sparks and making 'liquid' connections with visitors.   Other sessions focused on innovation ("innovation is arguing, not brainstorming")...and there was a lot of buzz about igniting collective curiosity and how the word 'curate,' which used to be pretty museum exclusive, is now everywhere.   And, museums are embracing participation at every level, realizing some keys to success lie in not only listening well, but giving up some of the control we are all accustomed to.   It's healthy for our profession and it keeps us vibrant.   Keep that in mind when your staff tries to shape your programs and exhibits from start to scratch.   That is just not business as usual any longer, and it means you need to listen better, opening your doors to the endless possibilities that go along with ideas generated thru innovation, creating your own definition of what 'curate' means for you.

Getting Personal

Recently I observed a program at a wonderful historic site.   The program leader definitely knew her facts and had a nice way of sharing information.   Her depth of historical knowledge was immediately evident, as was her passion for the topic - both key elements in an effective presentation and ones that would gain her high marks.   But, one strategy she used constantly in the presentation was distracting.  It was information about herself.   "My family is from _____; My grandparents did this ________;
My grandmother thought ___________;  My community would ____________."  Don't get me wrong.  I strongly believe that personalizing is a great way to get a group or audience excited about a topic.   But it was too much personal information and it took away from the rich detail and strong content of the stories she was trying to convey.  
So, as you think about the programs you share with the public, be sure your presentations are balanced, your content is strong and your personal anecdotes relevant, yet carefully selected and edited.   After all, in most cases our visitors don't come to our sites to learn about us as individuals, they come to learn about our sites and our collections and the rich tapestry of stories that both contain.  A sprinkle of personal information is welcome, an overdose of it is not.

Defining Communication

Communication is different today than yesterday, different from last week, last month, last year, and drastically different from five or even ten years ago.   Social media clearly makes the concept clear in showing us that there is more than one way of knowing about something and clearly more than one way of communicating it.
As I work with museums large and small to strengthen educational programs and offerings or assist museums in being stronger and more relevant members of their communities, I stress the importance of communication.  But I've noticed that this can be confusing for staff and board alike, especially those places with various generations represented.   Everyone is working on getting the museum message out, but often there is little or no direct communication with one another.    By communication I mean 'talking' or 'meeting' face to face.   We have so many communication tools available to us we are drowning under their weight.  Office mates are learning about each other's comings and goings on Twitter & Facebook...we are all busy and we are all trying to keep up with the latest way to reach our audiences, but we can't forget the power of being 'on the same page' as our colleagues - having coffee, having lunch, sitting down for a few minutes of face to face conversation  - you will be reminded of the importance of body language, ideas and real human contact - try it!

Spring Means Field Trips

It's spring and that means field trips.  So here is a bit of feedback from a 6th grader from a recent field trip to a large Boston area museum:
"Why can't they do something different?  The tour guide started off telling us everything we couldn't do in the museum, so most of us wanted to leave after hearing 'no, no, no...' The lady talked the whole time, but didn't ask us any questions.  The galleries were SO crowded with other kids from other schools that we couldn't even hear or see that well.   The best part of the day was when our teacher told us about the largest ancient statue to arrive at the museum and how they had to remove the skylights in the roof to lower the statue into the gallery...now that was cool!"
What a missed opportunity.   Don't get me wrong, there are many, many cultural sites with innovative school tours and programs that get high marks for content, learning, and presentation.  Clearly this isn't one of them.   So, if this is what your site is offering to school groups - the standard docent led talking tour for students - think about inviting some 6th graders to give you feedback and ideas.  I know there are lots of kids out there who would be happy to do so - and, they would think it was cool!

New Year - New You

The start of the new year is a great time to take inventory of your program offerings and really think about what is working for your site and your visitors.   Before you just plow ahead with business as usual, set aside some time to review the feedback you received from evaluations conducted over the past year, and, to accompany this, make a simple 4-square grid and do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities) analysis of your programs and offerings.   What works?   What doesn't?  Why?  Perhaps it is time to put some programs to rest and try some new ideas, or, perhaps you can leverage an existing program and tweak it slightly for a different audience.   Use these tools and this data to inform your planning for the coming year.   You might just surprise yourself, as it is always wise to look back as you look ahead - we just don't always make the time to do so.