Forum One

MARCH 30, 2023

Forum One’s recent design work with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) Simmons Talks series was a dream come true: an opportunity to put passion behind a design that I believe in and honor the work of others who inspire me. Endowed by Dr. Ruth J.

Arts 79

Arts Artist Museum History 79

Connection Cafe

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

The following post was originally published on the Center for the Future of Museums blog. On Wednesday, August 8, over 300 museum professionals joined CFM director Elizabeth Merritt and Seema Rao, principal of Brilliant Idea Studio , to explore self-care in the museum workplace. But effort and efficacy are not the same.

Museum 21

Museum Culture Professional Training 21

Museum 2.0

JUNE 1, 2010

This is the first installment of a book discussion about Ray Oldenburg’s book The Great Good Place. You can join the conversation in the blog comments, or on the Museum 2.0 Facebook discussion board here. While the talk may encompass serious topics, the attitude is light and the conversation is not structured or overly guided.

Place 41

Place Discussion Culture Museum 41

Saleforce Nonprofit

AUGUST 20, 2021

The same historical and cultural structures that have held back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in so many aspects of our lives are also mirrored in much of the nonprofit sector. This can include incentive structures, remembering DEI in programming, speakers, professional development, etc. By: Yolanda F. and several countries.

Strategy 82

Strategy Fundraising Philanthropy Nonprofit 82

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

This August/September, I am "rerunning" popular Museum 2.0 Originally posted in April of 2011, just before I hung up my consulting hat for my current job at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. I''ve spent much of the past three years on the road giving workshops and talks about audience participation in museums.

Museum 45

Museum Question Participatory Evaluation 45

Achieve

AUGUST 25, 2023

Try using this language on your Ways to Give page or planned giving microsite—here’s an example from the National Museum of Wildlife Art. This makes them relatively easy asks once you’ve built a relationship, introduced your planned giving program, and discussed the impact that planned gifts can have on your mission.

Gift 52

Gift Team Fund Donor 52

Museum 2.0

MAY 11, 2010

While it hasn't happened here in awhile, a new Museum 2.0 book club will be starting in two weeks to read and discuss The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg. Oldenburg celebrates places that are less structured, less designed, less facilitated, and less content-rich than most museums want to be.

Museum 25

Museum Place Library Discussion 25

Museum 2.0

MAY 3, 2010

Last week, I attended Structure Lab , a half-day workshop on legal and financial structures for ventures for social good. The Structure Lab is set up as a "game" in which you explore cards in various categories (values, assets, financing, etc.) I collected some tools to use in planning and discussing a new business.

Structure 31

Structure Model Social Profit 31

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 28, 2009

What role does “promoting human happiness” play in the mission statements and actions of museums? That’s the question I’m pondering thanks to Jane McGonigal and the Center for the Future of Museums (CFM). Earlier today, the CFM offered a free webcast of Jane McGonigal’s talk on gaming, happiness, and museums.

Museum 21

Museum Game Structure South America 21

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 28, 2019

Last week, I talked a bit about the structural issues inherent in our systems and how they may play a part in our access issues. Museums, like all professional fields, are spaces policed by unwritten norms and regulated by our credentialing systems. First, as a field, we need to have these discussions. Wait, what?

Accessibility 30

Accessibility Museum Classes Stats 30

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 2, 2013

George Scheer is the director and co-founder of Elsewhere Collective, a fascinating "living museum" in a former thrift store in Greensboro, NC. In this post, George grapples with the challenges of balancing the care for a museum collection with that of contemporary artists-in-residence who are constantly reinterpreting it.

Artist 49

Artist Museum Proposal Participatory 49

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Who is the lead singer, guitarist, bass, and drums. Here’s how that translates to team facilitation: Facilitator Lead: The person who is facilitating the discussion or exercise. The lead will call on the other facilitators during the discussion to add their subject matter expertise or co-facilitate.

Reflection 124

Reflection NTEN Change Facilitation 124

Museum 2.0

APRIL 11, 2017

This is the sixth in a series of posts on the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History ( MAH )'s development of Abbott Square , a new creative community plaza in downtown Santa Cruz. John would run Abbott Square Market , a multi-vendor food and drink business, adjacent to the plaza, adjacent to the museum. Money is on the table.

Technique 29

Technique Museum Exercise Structure 29

Museum 2.0

MARCH 13, 2013

Visitor-contributed photos surround a collection piece in Carnegie Museum of Art's Oh Snap! so I was intrigued when I heard about a recent success from Jeffrey Inscho, Web and Digital Media Manager at Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. The museum selected and is featuring 13 works recently added to our photography collection.

Authoring 53

Authoring Open Experiment Museum 53

Bloomerang

APRIL 12, 2022

When my sister first started working with a nonprofit museum, she had a lot to learn about the fundraising process for the organization. The museum had notes saved in their donor management software about the seating preferences for their major donors and that particular donor preferred their regular seat toward the front. Bloomerang.

Software 102

Software Management Donor Guide 102

Nonprofits Source

JANUARY 23, 2023

The program is most helpful for organizations that have discussion-worthy causes and content centered around related topics that people are actively searching for online. Ad creation and keyword research: A Google Grants manager will structure your account properly and create ad campaigns that target valuable keywords.

Grant 52

Grant Google Management Guide 52

Museum 2.0

MARCH 28, 2012

At the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH), we've started experimenting with a "community first" approach to program development. Each small group spent fifteen minutes brainstorming the needs for that community, and then another fifteen discussing potential projects and collaborators that could help meet those needs.

Program 49

Program Community Design Museum 49

Forum One

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

This Black History Month, we reflect on the strategy work that our team does through our partnership with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture —much of which centers around expanding access. And for those who have, they quickly understand that the Museum has much more to offer than can be absorbed in a day.

History 73

History Accessibility Museum Award 73

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 18, 2014

I''ve mostly seen museums employ one of two methods for formal community advisors: Create special "spots" on the board of trustees for certain kinds of community representatives. CON: can feel disconnected from the primary governance of the museum or can feel like a second-class board overall. I struggle with both these options.

Community 39

Community Story Museum Map 39

Museum 2.0

JULY 10, 2018

The museum was in huge financial trouble. My expertise was on inviting strangers to participate in public settings like museums. The host has to decide to close the discussion. I remember the first staff meeting I ever ran. I had just started at the MAH as the new executive director. Everyone's eyes on me, expecting something.

Hosting 31

Hosting Arts Help Museum 31

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 19, 2016

We believe that partnerships build a stronger museum and a stronger community. Like most museums and nonprofits, we have a donor database. Instead of each staff member tracking their own community partners, we're building a shared database of all the partners who contribute time, money, and talent to the museum. SALESFORCE.

Collaboration 20

Collaboration Tools Build Organization 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 19, 2016

A few months ago, the MAH board and staff started discussing whether and how to create a formal policy for advocacy activities. Our museum has already had several requests to lend our support to bond measures that will be on the ballot in 2016. We wanted enough of a process to provide clarity and structure without too many hoops.

Policy 20

Policy Advocacy Create Museum 20

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 12, 2007

In it, John Harris provides a whirlwind tour through arcades, Ataris, and Nintendos, discussing the design principles and evolution of video games described as “open world” or “exploration." Wandering around, exploring, collecting experiences… sounds like a museum visit to me! In a museum, we're limited by the physical.

Museum 20

Museum Game Open Map 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 1, 2009

On Monday, I gave the keynote at the Museums in Conversation conference in Tarrytown, NY. I learned to cultivate creative greed while working on Operation Spy at the International Spy Museum, where I was lucky to be working on a project that was so new to us that we didn't have any pre-established models or structures for doing it.

Museum 20

Museum Conversation Columbus Local 20

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 12, 2009

The conventional wisdom on museum memberships is that they are "one size fits many" programs whose primary benefits are free entrance to the museum and insider access to exhibition openings. But what about all the other people who love your museum? Want to know how the Brooklyn Museum is answering this question?

Museum 24

Museum Audience Program Artist 24

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 6, 2008

It's an interesting discussion, but it's not what makes The 39 Clues and other projects like it worth studying. This problem is analagous to the repeat visit problem for museums. Museum visits, like book reading, can be an intense and wonderful experience. But is one museum visit enough to compel a second visit?

Museum 23

Museum Game Platform New York 23

Have Fun - Do Good

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006

Family structures around the world are changing, yet mothers are most often the parent who will stay at home with young children. Share your stories on motherhood with us, and discuss your ideas on better maternal healthcare worldwide. stories story museum women international

Museum 40

Museum International Story Music 40

Museum 2.0

MAY 31, 2011

Last week, at the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums in Houston, I was honored to chair a fabulous panel on empowering museum staff to take creative risks ( slides here ). Beck beautifully described her entry into museum work. What kind of support do you need to be confident about taking a risk in your work?

Denver 55

Denver Museum Oakland PowerPoint 55

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 4, 2010

It's rare that a participatory museum project is more than a one-shot affair. But next month, Britain Loves Wikipedia will commence--the third instance of a strange and fascinating collaborative project between museums and the Wikipedia community (Wikimedians). Some of these challenges were about mission fit.

Wikipedia 40

Wikipedia Arts Museum Images 40

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Audience segmentation and research has become a hot topic in museums, especially when it comes to crafting appealing offerings that are customized to different kinds of visitors. I sat down with Kristen Denner, Director of Membership and Annual Fund, to learn more about the program's development and the museum's goals for its future.

Interview 46

Interview Director Museum Arts 46

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 4, 2015

If people on the street are talking about X, the museum should be talking about X too. I used to work at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA. Our mandate was to be the museum of Silicon Valley--not of its material history, but its pulse of innovation. Other times, grounded in the museum's collection.

Content 20

Content San Jose Museum Miami 20

Museum 2.0

APRIL 25, 2011

I've spent much of the past three years on the road giving workshops and talks about audience participation in museums. I like to use half of any allotted time slot to talk and half for Q&A, so we usually have time to get into meaty discussions. The Museum 2.0 Feel free to add your own questions and answers in the comments!

Question 49

Question Participatory Museum Evaluation 49

Museum 2.0

MAY 19, 2016

For example, when we held community meetings about the development of a new creative town square next to our museum, a group of middle/upper-class moms talked about not feeling safe downtown. Create a structure that values peoples' participation. not feeling "welcome") or don't mention their safety concerns at all.

Build 35

Build Community Museum Participatory 35

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 6, 2014

One of the themes I’m going to discuss is the Art and Science of Engagement. Societal Change: Impact on society, policy discussions, and conversations that advance sustainable practices. The art part includes all the ways nonprofits and schools can engage and connect with alumni of their programs through social channels.

Social Media 108

Social Media Network Media Free 108

Museum 2.0

JUNE 22, 2009

My goals are two-fold: to develop a dynamic, creative, social platform for my community and to distribute its successful elements to other civic learning institutions (museums, libraries, community centers). And then at the end, when she asked how many of us could do this in our own museums, no hands went up. Maybe not. We loved it.

Action 31

Action Ideas St. Louis Museum 31

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 24, 2011

This post features an interview with Sarah Schultz, a museum staffer at one of the institutions Light profiled in the book (the Walker Art Center). It's easier to secure grants for community-based programming or exhibitions, but it's not easy to get funding for some of the core work that museums do. Some things move at different paces.

Arts 46

Arts Interview Teen Artist 46

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 25, 2009

If you are hoping for visitors to discuss their responses to questions with each other, or to share their answers with the institution, you can't end with the question; you need to provide several opportunities for questions and responses.

Design 31

Design Goal Difference Platform 31