I’ve spent some time recently browsing conference offerings and have found the breadth and depth of topics offered almost overwhelming.  The Organization of American Historians and the National Council on Public History will hold their annual meeting April 18-22 in Milwaukee.  How I wish I could attend!  The sessions offered cover a wide spectrum of interconnected topics and such interesting events as a walking tour of downtown Milwaukee with a workshop on the creation of a local history nonprofit; a workshop introduction to large scale digitization projects; and a session on how historic sites and schools can work together. There are working groups that are sure to be inspirational – envisioning the future of public history education and imagining the future of public interfaces to cultural heritage collections are just two of them.

A week after the conference in Milwaukee, the American Association of Museums will offer its Annual Conference April 29-May 2 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and I will be in attendance.  Looking over the sessions offered I feel the same sense of excitement – awesome topics and speakers!  One of the first that caught my eye is entitled “A Walk in the Park – the Promise and Reality of Augmented Reality.”  This is a subject that our local historic preservation commission has been toying with and I look forward to what I can learn to share with my colleagues.  Another session that intrigues me is called “Engagement Tools for Building Creative Communities, Placemaking and Partnerships.”   I hope this session will inspire me to think broadly about partnerships between historical organizations and museums, community main streets, and members of the community.  While session titles range from descriptive to amusing, all the sessions are sure to be informative.

In the Fall, the Association of Midwest Museums will hold their conference in September, and the Iowa Museum Association will hold their Annual Meeting and Conference October 21-23 in Iowa City.  The IMA’s theme for 2012 is “Leading Through Innovation,” and the speaker committee has already begun to plan sessions that will inspire and motivate attendees.

If a conference isn’t your preferred method of learning, don’t forget the IMA’s annual workshop series.  The IMA Standing Professional Committees bring a variety of topics to IMA members each year, at a cost that cannot be beat.  These small group workshops offer a chance to not only learn but to network and really get to know colleagues on a personal level.

As I said – no excuses!  Get your three R’s in whatever format you prefer, but make time to get them.  Listening to others and learning from others offers new perspectives, fresh ideas, and an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others instead of by repeating those mistakes in your organization or community.  Sharing and discussing with colleagues offers a chance to think through big picture puzzles – a much needed opportunity when so many find themselves bogged down in daily minutia and unable to tackle those big ideas.  Make time for life-long learning this year – it will recharge your batteries, reinvigorate your efforts, and leave you refreshed.

Access and visibility vs privacy and security – these are concerns all museums have to ultimately address, but let’s focus for a moment on accessibility and visibility.  Think about your audience in concentric circles, widening out from your museum.  The inner circle is your community.  How does your community access the museum?  If you have a regular open hours clearly posted they can walk in and see the exhibits and attend events.  The next circle out may represent the entire state, and the one after that the nation.  Think about HOW you communicate with the world past your city limits and WHAT you communicate about your museum.

The National Portal project addresses something that many museums are not communicating and have no means to communicate – what is in their collection.  Exhibits and events can be publicized, websites are a “must” in order to communicate who we are and what we do…but the “what we have” is seldom addressed in a public way.  The National Portal fills that need in a very exciting way – by providing one system that allows searches across many collections.    This increased accessibility and visibility may lead to exciting new “finds” as objects and documents hidden in collections for decades come to light.  The Portal is providing a way for registered users to comment on museum collections – imagine the information that may be collected about an object, photograph or document.  The Portal provides a way for curators to connect with objects that may enhance an upcoming exhibit – an object they would not have known about before.  And the heritage traveler could search the Portal for objects of interest and travel to museums and historic sites they would never have found otherwise.

It’s a fascinating project – check it out at www.americanheritage.com

“They” might be different for each organization.  Perhaps visitation numbers are down – why aren’t they flocking to see the new exhibit or participate in the latest
activity?  Perhaps the budget has been cut further – why don’t they understand how much you’re already doing with so little?  Perhaps you are struggling to raise funds from community donors – don’t they know why this organization is important and needs their support?  And so on.  No matter who “they” are for your organization, pause and reflect on how YOU have communicated your organization’s mission, activities, and accomplishments with THEM.

Consistent, effective communication is a critical step in raising awareness of your organization’s relevance.

Relevance is critical to sustainability.

Organizations that are relevant in their community reach out to many constituencies.  They adapt, they innovate, they assume leadership roles, they communicate – and by these efforts their organization adapts, innovates and leads in the community, state and nation.  An organization is relevant and meaningful to those constituencies that it serves – and it regularly identifies and reaches out to new constituencies with new programs, exhibits, and events communicated through multiple formats.

As difficult as it is, take a step back from your organization.  Try to look at it with the eyes of a visitor or a newcomer to your community.  Ask yourself some tough questions – why does this organization matter?  What does this organization do that no other organization does?  How does this organization fill a need in the community, state or nation?  Who does this organization serve?  How and to whom does this organization communicate its role?

Identify why your organization is currently relevant and to whom and then adapt, innovate, lead and communicate –  expand your organization’s relevance to multiple constituencies and you will build a relevant and sustainable organization.

This reminds us again of the key role that museums play in our communities and challenges all museum workers, volunteers, and board members to rise to fulfill that role.   Museums have an opportunity to fill a wide range of community needs with unique cultural events and diverse learning opportunities.  What is your museum doing to enhance your community?  How is your museum critical to the quality of life in your community?  If you can’t easily answer that question, it may be time for reflection and planning in order to meet the challenge of truly performing as a community anchor institution.

He recommends that every organization begin by writing an internal case statement – a history of the organization, mission, vision, etc. – because the information you gather for the internal case statement will form the basis for all your publications.  DeWitt says it is the most important marketing and fundraising resource your organization can produce – a foundational document that brings everything together in one resource so you have a consistent message in your marketing and fundraising materials.  The internal case statement enables your development team to do their job efficiently, everyone on the same page, and no one having to go searching for basic information about your organization – it is all there in the internal case statement.

Using information contained in the internal case statement, DeWitt says that every publication and communication should have as its ultimate goal influencing positive movement by the organization’s target audience toward better understanding, appreciation and support of the organization.

Two things strike me – how many museums have done any research in identifying their target audience and how many have a marketing plan?

It seems to me that many non-profits are more re-active than pro-active.   They react to needs – building repairs, lack of volunteers, lack of money for programs – when they should be pro-active in developing long range and strategic plans, foundational documents, and marketing plans based on target audience research so when these “needs” arise they have a plan to address the situation.

How can IMA help members become more pro-active?  Suggestions welcome!

We now find ourselves at a crossroad.  The individuals who established and sustained these community organizations are aging out of community responsibilities and into retirement.  While they may not wish to cut back on their community volunteer work, health and mobility issues have forced them to take a step back.  As they retire from their volunteer efforts, openings are created for others to step up and fill those gaps.  Unfortunately, because that core group was so dedicated to their local history organization they never reached out to involve anyone new.  Now, when they need new board members, new volunteers, younger members of the community to become involved, they find that everyone is busy with other service obligations, other responsibilities, and have no vested interest in the success of the local history museum or historical society.

So the question comes – how can we get younger people interested in our organization?

And the answer is – ask them.  Visit the schools, speak to service groups, spread the word that they are needed.  Make them welcome.  Be open to changing the way it has “always” been done to new ways of doing things.  Acknowledge that the exhibits can change, buildings can change, procedures can change, and people can change.  Focus on the fact that the organization has a purpose that is bigger than any one individual or group of individuals and reach out to the community for help in not only sustaining the organization but building on what has been done to ensure that the organization has a bright, productive, and meaningful future.  Invite participation, collaboration, innovation and growth.

The National Trust’s publication “Board Development for Nonprofit Preservation Organizations” by Marc Smiley, says  “The strength of the nonprofit board of directors is an amazing and sometimes indefinable thing.  It illustrates perfectly the concept of synergy; when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  When a diverse group of committed individuals come together to improve their community, their collective resources become a potent force for action.”

One of the key points for me is that “collective resource” – when the board comes together and discusses or debates an issue to arrive at the best solution for the organization.  The viewpoints and life experiences brought to any discussion by a diverse board are part of the board’s strength.  Without a diverse board made up of strong people, one or two viewpoints are apt to dominate and that can significantly diminish every aspect of the organization, including its appeal to other board members and its prospects for long term survival.

Board development needs to be recognized as a crucial part of planning for the success of an organization.  Board members must be recruited for what they can bring to the organization and should be thoroughly briefed on the responsibilities of sitting on the Board before they have accepted or declined the position.  One of the Board’s most important roles is strategic planning – setting the course for the future of the organization.  The Board has a crucial role to play and finding the right mix of people to be part of that requires thoughtful planning and preparation.

The types Falk identifies are Explorers, Facilitators, Rechargers, Experience Seekers and Professional/Hobbyists.  Each of us overlaps into various types depending on why we visit a particular museum on a particular day.  This is where front line workers and hospitality training become so important to the visitor experience.  Ask your visitors what they want to see or do that day!  Ask what brought them to the museum – if they want a guided tour or want to explore on their own.  Ask if they have visited before or if they would like a map.  Point out the restrooms, the gift shop, and other amenities so they are comfortable in your space – no matter what type of museum experience they want, everyone wants to be comfortable.    Imagine if you were a stranger to your museum – who would greet you and help you feel comfortable in the museum space?  Would that front line person help you feel welcome or not?  How many museums invest in annual hospitality training for staff?  Would the reception area you walk into appear well-organized, clean, and inviting?  There are many elements to the visitor experience – perhaps we cannot control all of them, but let’s do our best with those we can control.

Once we identify our audience and their expectations we will more clearly understand what they want from their museum experience and that will assist us in formulating goals and a long term plan for success.  Falk and Dierking indicate that understanding the desired experience is just one step in the process – as museums we need to take that further and enhance the experience so “meaningful goal-driven
learning takes place.”  They also stress that museums have to be realistic – we may only have a few hours to make an impact on our visitors – so the more clearly we can define our goals for every aspect of the visitor experience, the more successful we will be.

As I think about identifying a museum’s audience, I am also thinking about public relations and marketing – if, for example, one has a small local historical society and no one visits, I think we have to look at how the mission of that museum is being communicated (or not) to the community.  Have we, as stewards of that museum
collection or building, done the best we can to communicate why our museum is
important or special?  Have we found ways to involve a wide cross-section of the community in the museum; have we reached out to service groups to talk about the museum’s mission and goals; have we partnered with area educators to bring history to students of all ages; and more, more, more!   Or, as is sometimes
the case, has a small group of incredibly dedicated volunteers cared for the
museum and collection for the past many years (or decades) and given the
community the impression that the museum is “theirs” and new ideas are not
particularly welcome.

As we take a hard look at who our audience is and what they need in a fulfilling museum experience I think we also have to take a hard look at who we are and how open we are to new ideas and changing how things are done, what is exhibited, and how we fit into our community.

I’m moving on with my reading, from “The Museum Experience” to “Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience” in which John H. Falk defines the broad types of visitors and what they are looking for in a museum visit – I can see applications for this already!