Thursday, February 28, 2013

Session Preview: Engaging Your Audience with Social Media


Social media continues to grow in its importance to our organizations. Everyone is on Facebook, and many are on Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. And those are but a few of the many platforms available.  How do you prioritize which outlets to use, who manages social media at your museum, how often should you post, and how does this interact with traditional media? So many questions.

VAM has some answers, from a seasoned museum/tourism communications team at the session “Engaging Your Audience with Social Media.” And as you might expect from communications and marketing professionals, the team is seeking your input to design a session that meets your needs. Visit their Facebook page, “VAM Engaging Your Audience with Social Media” and after you register, please respond to the survey about this session to further assess your needs.

Social media is a dynamic field, full of constant changes and surprises. With some preparation and the right resources, you can capably represent your museum in this exciting dimension of communications. See you at the Homestead!

Suzanne Hall  
Chief Communications Officer
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
200 N. Boulevard / Richmond, VA 23220-4007
T 804.204.2704 / F 804.204.2707 / M 804.839.3488
email: suzanne.hall@vmfa.museum

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Viewpoints on the VAM Conference: Michael Remorenko of MuseumRails


I have had the pleasure of working with Margo and her staff as a Resource Hall exhibitor at the VAM conferences for over 15 years, both as Design 3 and, more recently as MuseumRails. The experience has always been first rate, whether times were good for the museum profession, or we were suffering through some of our slower years. The Resource Hall has always been an excellent opportunity for us to connect with our professional friends, and current and potential clients. We have been awarded several contracts, and enjoyed a number of sales that can be directly tied back to introductions and conversations that first took place in the Resource Hall during the VAM conference.

Further, among my professional acquaintances, VAM is consistently cited as THE best of the regional museum conferences. The programs and speakers are consistently excellent. Further, the staff goes out of its way to accommodate the exhibitors and, importantly, to create opportunities and encourage conference attendees to visit the Resource Hall vendors and see what we have to offer. For anyone trying to reach Virginia (and increasingly, regional) museum professionals, I don't know of a better, more accommodating opportunity than the VAM Conference Resource Hall.



Best,
Michael

Michael Remorenko

MuseumRails
Michael@MuseumRails.com
www.MuseumRails.com


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Viewpoints on the VAM Conference: Glavé & Holmes' Steven Blashfield


Somewhere after January 1st every year I start to really think about the upcoming VAM Conference as I start to look ahead. It is really a nice kick off, coming in the early part of the year. In the past few years, I have been a speaker, a vendor and a sponsor, continuing the support of VAM by my firm, Glave & Holmes Architecture, now for more than two decades. So, the leading up to the annual conference is also a good bit of work. But, its good work, and work that culminates in a fun and engaging three day event, which I truly look forward to each March. Over the last three years, my work has taken me to numerous conferences, including AAM, SEMC, AASLH, and state museum association conferences in Tennessee and South Carolina. I can easily say that from what I have experienced Margo, Jennifer and their team run one of the best conference experiences in which I have participated. Last year, I laughed heartily as the guest speaker at the Leadership Program joked about taking clandestine photos with his colleagues of each wearing General Patton’s helmet, in the back room. In Portsmouth, I was inspired by the global warming exhibit in the Courthouse Gallery, but then I think I almost threw out my shoulder in the pitching machine at the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. I have learned some very interesting stories, been amazed by the masterful effort put in by our Virginia museum professionals, and made some good friends. 
The Hermitage Museum and Gardens

I always come out of the three day event with a few museums I just have to visit. This past year’s conference led me into the Federal Reserve Museum in Richmond, Gatsby’s Tavern and the Apothecary Museum in Alexandria, the James Monroe Museum in Fredericksburg, and to ultimately become a Trustee at the Hermitage Museum & Gardens in Norfolk. It’s kind of like a tractor beam how they pull you in.



Interestingly enough, my connection to the Hermitage Museum started several years ago, at my first VAM conference, held in Richmond. The Museum Director, Melanie Mathewes, stopped by my booth in the Exhibit Hall, and noting my last name proceeded to tell me how they had a collection of work by one of my distant relatives, an accomplished muralist named Edwin Howland Blashfield. She proceeded to pull her head curator over, who exclaimed, “It’s like meeting a celebrity.” Nothing like stroking the ego a little. But, also at the same time funny how curator’s get wrapped up in their work. For a painter who kicked off his career by painting a ceiling in one of the buildings of the famous 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, a seminal point in history for architect’s like me, has paintings in museums coast to coast, and completed murals in numerous State Capitols and the Library of Congress, Blashfield is remarkably unknown. So, to find someone who already knew this distant history of my own ancestors and was excited about it … well what can I say. But, it’s also why I have gravitated to museums in my profession; they are all such wonderful opportunities for discovery. I can’t wait to see what new things I will discover this year.

(Photos are Edwin Howland Blashfield and his Evangeline, and the Hermitage Museum & Gardens – Norfolk – both are courtesy of the Hermitage Museum & Gardens)

Steven Blashfield, AIA, LEED AP
Cultural Studio Director 

elevating the human spirit …

2101 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23223
t: (804) 649-9303
f: (804) 343-3378

Friday, February 1, 2013

VAM Circuit Riders Visit the Old Coast Guard Station Museum in Virginia Beach



“For foot candles, it’s a little high for paper, but not that bad.” – Jeanne Niccolls
If you know what the quote above means, then maybe your job has something to do with care and conservation of your museum’s collections. VAM staff members were privileged to accompany our Circuit Rider team of a curator (Jeanne Niccolls) and an archivist (Bradley Wiles) to the Old Coast Guard Station Museum (OCGSM) in Virginia Beach for their one-day mini needs assessment of the collections and storage areas. It was fascinating to see the process, and to hear about the challenges faced by those who are charged with the stewardship of museum collections.
While every collecting institution has its challenges, those at the OCGSM are unique indeed. I had this thought as I looked out from the collections storage area, enjoying the million-dollar view of the Atlantic Ocean, with its wisps of salty foam being blown around by humid ocean breezes. Humidity, variations in heat/cold, sunlight, salt, and sand- not to mention threats posed by tropical storms and hurricanes - are all part of the environment where the collections of the Old Coast Guard Station Museum are held. Theirs is quite a challenge indeed. As we walked through the museum and the collections area, I overheard museum staff (Director Kathryn Fisher, Registrar Leslie Small, and Educator Darcy Nelson were in attendance for the visit) and Circuit Riders discussing the following issues, to name just a few:
  • Lighting and pest control
  • Budget issues when different entities own the building vs. the collections that the building houses
  • Accessibility of collections for monitoring purposes
  • Collections insurance
The visit made me wonder – “Where do you begin?” with collections management. Apparently my question was not unique. Said Kathryn Fisher, director of the OCGSM, “I didn’t know where to start…. All I could see were the brambles, regardless of there being a forest beyond.” Well, one of the things that Kathryn started with was welcoming a visit from VAM’s Circuit Riders. After the visit, the VAM Circuit Riders provide participating museums with a detailed report that outlines recommendations for collections priorities and indicates simple - usually inexpensive - actions that can be taken immediately or in the next couple of years, and occasionally long term plans/suggestions that may require budget planning.

Find out more about Circuit Riders as well as the Old Coast Guard Station Museum in the upcoming Spring edition of the VAM Voice member newsmagazine. Interested in applying for a Circuit Rider visit? Find out more online at www.vamuseums.org