I read an interesting Harvard Business Publishing blog by Don Pallotta, a leading expert in nonprofit innovation, focused around how so many not for profits do not invest in advertising. Besides the obvious lack of funding for such endeavors, I wonder why there is not more advertising in the nonprofit world? Do nonprofits eschew advertising as below their virtuous purposes? Do we think our intrinsic value is so great that we don't have a need for advertising? Is it simply a lack of money? Is it that people drawn to careers in the nonprofit world are not business-savvy enough to focus on marketing and advertising the same way an entrepreneur might? And, my final question, are we shooting ourselves in the collective 'foot' by not focusing more on spreading the word about all that we are and all that we offer????
- Heather
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Top 10 Reasons to Love a VAM Council Meeting
10. The beautiful venues that are kind enough to host.
9. The lively discussion.
8. The lively debate.
7. The lunch (today's brownies were especially succulent)
6. The "tangents"
5. Discussions over how best to help our members.
4. Pig pens.
3. Innovative ideas that will bear fruit and help many in our field!
2. Tea and scones
and the #1 reason to love a VAM Council meeting? Knowing they'll blog about it afterward!
Thanks everyone for allowing me to join in today - I enjoyed talking with you!
- Heather
9. The lively discussion.
8. The lively debate.
7. The lunch (today's brownies were especially succulent)
6. The "tangents"
5. Discussions over how best to help our members.
4. Pig pens.
3. Innovative ideas that will bear fruit and help many in our field!
2. Tea and scones
and the #1 reason to love a VAM Council meeting? Knowing they'll blog about it afterward!
Thanks everyone for allowing me to join in today - I enjoyed talking with you!
- Heather
Friday, May 1, 2009
VAM is Extending May Day for the Whole Month!
In honor of May Day, VAM urges all museums to review their disaster plans in the month of May. We also encourage anyone who is a member of a MEST group (Museum Emergency Support Team), anyone who is interested in serving on VAM's Emergency Response Team, and anyone who just wants to learn more about emergency salvage and recovery, to come to one of our special workshops in May:
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Bleeding a Turnip
In the VAM office we tend to get the phone calls and emails early when news breaks about layoffs in the museum world. The news is always unwelcome, and sometimes heartbreaking, and we do what we can to help. But no words have affected me like the following from the recent press coverage of the loss of 5 positions at the Taubman Museum of Art:
“(Board President John) Williamson said the staff cuts and other adjustments would save about $370,000 annually. He said there is no plan to cut services or programs.”
In the rush to reassure the community that nothing will change, what other message does it send? How can you cut five positions out of 33 with absolutely no effect on programs and services? I do not have all of the details of the Taubman situation and perhaps this was an overstatement or misquote; but we all know that in general it is possible only if the remaining staff absorb the duties of the fired staff. This is what museums routinely do in this situation. It is not the fault of the museum director; as my mother used to say “you can’t get blood out of a turnip” and the work still needs to be done.
But what the general public reads into that statement is “they must have had a lot of extra people they didn’t really need.” This is a great disservice to all museum staff who work hard and are proud of what they do. It also exacerbates the stress of those staff who remain and must now find extra hours in the day to do someone else’s job in addition to their own. If the work doesn’t suffer, then surely one’s health and family life will. Something has got to give.
The Virginia Association of Museums has been asked by the American Association of Museums to participate in a multi-phase planning process for the reinvention of the Accreditation Program. The results will help determine how AAM can best go about comprehensively reinventing the accreditation program into something that is more effective, efficient, valuable, and relevant to the field. I would like to see some guidelines on human resource management addressed in the new accreditation standards. What would you like to see?
We want to hear from you what you feel are the issues before the museum industry and how they relate to accreditation. Please feel free to write me at mcarlock@vamuseums.org. VAM’s Council members will also be gathering input at the VAM booth during the annual conference in Virginia Beach March 22-24.
It is a remarkable step that AAM is taking to re-engineer the accreditation process and requirements based on input from the field. It is now our obligation to provide that input.
“(Board President John) Williamson said the staff cuts and other adjustments would save about $370,000 annually. He said there is no plan to cut services or programs.”
In the rush to reassure the community that nothing will change, what other message does it send? How can you cut five positions out of 33 with absolutely no effect on programs and services? I do not have all of the details of the Taubman situation and perhaps this was an overstatement or misquote; but we all know that in general it is possible only if the remaining staff absorb the duties of the fired staff. This is what museums routinely do in this situation. It is not the fault of the museum director; as my mother used to say “you can’t get blood out of a turnip” and the work still needs to be done.
But what the general public reads into that statement is “they must have had a lot of extra people they didn’t really need.” This is a great disservice to all museum staff who work hard and are proud of what they do. It also exacerbates the stress of those staff who remain and must now find extra hours in the day to do someone else’s job in addition to their own. If the work doesn’t suffer, then surely one’s health and family life will. Something has got to give.
The Virginia Association of Museums has been asked by the American Association of Museums to participate in a multi-phase planning process for the reinvention of the Accreditation Program. The results will help determine how AAM can best go about comprehensively reinventing the accreditation program into something that is more effective, efficient, valuable, and relevant to the field. I would like to see some guidelines on human resource management addressed in the new accreditation standards. What would you like to see?
We want to hear from you what you feel are the issues before the museum industry and how they relate to accreditation. Please feel free to write me at mcarlock@vamuseums.org. VAM’s Council members will also be gathering input at the VAM booth during the annual conference in Virginia Beach March 22-24.
It is a remarkable step that AAM is taking to re-engineer the accreditation process and requirements based on input from the field. It is now our obligation to provide that input.
Friday, March 6, 2009
What Museum Stores Need to Know about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008
If your museum has a gift shop, you need to know something about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
Read the Act here.
Read more about how it may affect you.
If you have any comments about how this has affected your museum's gift shop, or advice for other museums on this issue, we'd love to hear from you!
Read the Act here.
Read more about how it may affect you.
If you have any comments about how this has affected your museum's gift shop, or advice for other museums on this issue, we'd love to hear from you!
Friday, February 13, 2009
VAM Wants to Hear from You
We urge you and your staff to take a moment and use this space to share in our online conversation about how you are surviving and coping in today's economic climate. This conversation will help all of us communicate more effectively with funders, lawmakers and the media. The museum field is full of smart, creative people, so sharing our thoughts on survival can help us all - plus, by sharing your challenges, you may find others who share your challenge and can help, and VAM can learn more about the needs of the museum community we serve so that we may better meet your needs through our programming. The AAM is offering a two-day,four part webinar, Straight Talk: Museums Rising to the Financial Challenge , March 18-19. Each 90-minute session will focus on a crucial issue confronting us all: retrenchment, fundraising, managing human resources and communications strategies.
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