Some Thoughts on Partnerships
Partnerships are often human relationships scaffolding financial ones. The stakes can often be high, like a staff-position. And the level of discomfort can be equally high, because partnerships require organizations to relinquish control. What are some tips on navigating partnerships? Overall, transparency is a means of allowing both parties to understand and mitigate risk while …
Fun is Serious Work
Hiroshi Ishii of MIT Media Lab gave the 2019 Keynote for Museums and the Web. My reflections on his speech have been split into two blog posts (this week and next). The first is outward-facing and the second will be about our own work. — Hiroshi Ishii seems like fun. I spent an hour, an …
Technology and Decolonization
Museums feel like they have always been here, like the sky and the seas. But, while the sun has always come up, museums are not a natural phenomenon. They are much more recent, younger than many countries. Museums have their foundations in the Enlightenment and colonialism, two interrelated historic situations. Museums grow from the European …
#OMA2019 Recap : Boards, Front of House, and Conversation Burnout
The Ohio Museums Association had its 2019 conference in Akron this week. I was at the conference as a board member of OMA, eager to hear what we can do for our constituents. This week in Akron I was reminded of the phrase: All politics is local. Ohio is populous state, classically purple in elections, …
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#MW19 Reflections: Data and Diversity and Field Death
Before I go into my notes from Museums and the Web Boston, I want to thank the home committee who was seriously on their game. Everyone around the area was so welcoming and giving with their time and ideas. They created such a wonderful vibe. In looking through my notes and reflecting on my conversations …
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Colonialism is Dead, Long Live Colonialism
This thought-piece is one of the posts I post to medium about twice a month. Consider subscribing to my medium feed to get more posts like this. I am a colonial artifact, my very existence a result of the conjoining of British greed and Indian aspiration. Anyone reading this in the US or Canada also …
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Year-End Review: Thinking about Your Use of Time
The year is winding down. Many organizations are near the halfway point of their fiscal year. This is the right time to take stock on your work and processes. You have time to improve processes for the second half of the year. Where should you start when you take stock? You might start with the …
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Starting your DEAI path
Recently, I was asked how to start on the path to understanding the issues of Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion. These are complex issues that take years to grapple with, and even then, you may never truly understand them. Since I have been asked this question often, I wanted to put down some big-picture ideas. …
#MCN2018 Recap
Most years, on my plane back from MCN, I am furiously typing up notes from sessions. This year, I was volunteer co-chair and Human-Centered Design SIG co-chair. As a result, I was ever-present but not always there when it came to sessions. However, I had a better sense of what people felt about what they …
Simple Steps to Increase Equity: Considering Gender Pronouns
A human brain is basically a pattern-deciphering machine. People make millions of judgments daily, mostly unconsciously. Their brains match all new inputs against all the data that resides in their brains. When the first white flake falls from the sky, they don’t consciously match this information against all the memories in the brain. But, unconsciously, …
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