(Online Course) Self-Care For Mission-Driven Professionals
Mission-driven professionals are not in it for the money. They place their desire to fulfill the mission over themselves. Doing mission-driven work can be gratifying. But, this work is also incredibly draining. The rewards can be minimal both emotionally and financially. With these challenges, the mission-driven professional finds themselves feeling empty and exhausted. Self-care is …
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Looking into the Well-Reported Statistic about Museums, Starbucks & McDonalds (Data)
A well-reported statistic compares the number of museums to Starbucks and McDonalds. There are 1.5 times more museums in the country than the caffeine and fries purveyors. A friend Michelle Epps got me thinking about what this statistic. (You might know Michelle from her tireless work on the Emerging Museum Professional network). In looking at …
Fostering Empathy by Acknowledging Credit
Art Museum Teaching recently posted an article about empathy in the workplace. As always, Mike Murawski’s post was thoughtful and thorough. In reflecting on the article, I wanted to think further about the situations when empathy is lacking in the workplace. What is Empathy? Empathy is the ability to understand other’s feelings and act …
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Connecting Experience and Research
Research is the fuel in the engine of the museum’s output. Like a car, which is basically inert without a driver, the museum only fulfills its full mission when drawing visitors. Visitors are now a scarce commodity. Drawing more visitors requires considering our offerings and the way those offerings come to fruition. This does mean …
What Museums Can Learn from the Black Panther
Taken from the Marvel Comic Books, the Black Panther is a movie about a fictional African nation that cloaks its advanced civilization as a form of self-preservation. The king of the nation has superhuman strength thanks to serious sumptuary success. The Black Panther’s trail to bring a bad guy to justice starts some even worse …
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Vistor-Centered Interpretation
There is a symphonic aspect to exhibition and museum gallery planning. Many ideas come together to create something coherent and ideally pleasing to the audience. Just as some music is appealing to only a few, and others hit the charts, some exhibitions and museum spaces work for more rarified audiences. That said, museums can …
Employee Engagement: Cultural Silos and Personal Ladders
Trends come and go in business. You might hear one person say in a meeting, “It’s all about stories.” And then all of a sudden every article in business journals and blogs are about stories. Breaking silos is a particularly fashionable phrase current. Silos Silos dot the countryside in much of the US. These tall …
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The Future of the Art Museum: The Alternative Possibilities
I was struck by this response to a previous post of mine. I wasn’t the only one. It had 40 likes and 18 retweets. I want loud art museums. I want social art museums. I want playful art museums. I want art museums that rip me from my bubble world & throw me into …
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Addressing Inadvertent Bias in Language
Words matter. Actions matter too, don’t forget. But, words can be harbingers of actions. They are certainly bellwethers of the inner mind. Words belie deep secrets. Words are the ultimate tells. Most imperative, however, words are not static. Their meaning, their usage, their connotations fluctuate. The transmutation of meaning can feel imperceptible for people, like …
The Strengths of Museums: What We Can Learn From Each Other
Last week, I had a wonderful amount of feedback on my post. I had compared two fairly different types of museums, Art and Science Museums, to see what they can learn from each other. Often, museums silo their practices within their own specialty. By looking over the wall at the successes of others, the whole …
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