Small Museum Association

Session Descriptions

As of November 22, 2005

Sunday, February 26th

Trip: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is America's fastest growing microbrewery and is garnering national attention for their unique ales. Located in Milton, Del., the brewery is housed in a historic cannery warehouse and produces year-round and seasonal beers. Dogfish Head is crafting a Dutch-style beer to help celebrate Lewes, Delaware's 375th anniversary in 2006. For more information on the site, visit www.dogfish.com

Workshops from 1-4 pm

Effective Communication Begins with You presented by Larry Petcovic
Basic techniques for effective communications will be developed for each participant based on individual Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator. The Meyers-Briggs Indicator examination is included in the fee and will be completed during the first part of this workshop. This session is limited to the first thirty participants.

Grantwriting 101 presented by Linda Norris and Mary Alexander
Qualifications: No experience with grant writing and an idea for a project to be funded. Outcomes: This hands-on workshop will provide you with experience drafting a grant application. Topics to be addressed are: 1) Describing the need; 2) Outlining your project and how it will use the requested support for staff, funds and resources; 3) How will you know when you can call your project a success? 4) Basic budgeting for the math-challenged.

Grantwriting 202 presented by Rose Colby and Mary Alexander
Qualifications: Experience with grant writing and fundraising projects and an idea for a project for which you're seeking funds. Outcomes: This workshop will help you 1) Develop a diversified fundraising plan including major gifts, grants, sponsorships, and in-kind donations; 2) Involve organized groups of volunteers as fundraising leaders; 3) Identify effective, low cost methods for bringing in new dollars.

Volunteers: Where to Find Them and How to Keep Them presented by Glen Stubbolo
To many of us, our volunteers are truly the “heart” of our organization, critical to bringing our mission to life. But where can we find them and how do we keep them? This workshop will challenge your previous way of thinking and encourage you to view the role of volunteers and where to find them in new ways. Among other topics, practical ideas are presented on how to:

Craft your message
Find the right volunteers for your organization
Create meaningful recognition events
Retain your volunteers
When you can – and should- discharge a volunteer

Chock full of lively conversation, hands-on interaction and great handouts.

Building Your Docent Program on a Strong Foundation presented by Julie Bryan and Heidi Campbell-Shoaf
Building your docent program on a strong foundation is essential to a successful program. This three hour workshop will cover the process of creating a thematic tour, producing a thorough docent notebook and addressing issues of accuracy.

Monday, February 27th

9:00 am –10:00 am

Keynote: “Small Boats Turn Faster Than Big Ships” presented by Katie Boardman
Katie will share some of her observations in working with interpretation and education in museums and historic sites of many sizes. We'll explore how smaller organizations can sometimes navigate and accommodate audience needs, organizational challenges, diverse viewpoints and creative opportunities with more agility and in more effective ways than can their larger cousins.

10:45am-11:45 am

College Collaborations: Increasing Work Capacity through Student Assistance presented by Stephanie Burak (advanced)
College students from several areas of study have unique skills and training that can be helpful to small museums. This session outlines how to plan a successful collaboration with colleagues and college students, which can take the form of an internship program, work study opportunity, or volunteer experience.

Child’s Play: The Effect of Revolution on the Colonial Household presented by Maureen Leach (n&b)
Using an 18th century historic house museum as a setting, this program presents practical suggestions on making a historical era come to life for the elementary school summer camper. Highlights include ways to make the connection between the historic event and its day-to-day impact on children and families using clothing, food, period crafts, and literature.

Mission and Vision: Ingredients for a Capital Campaign presented by Jeffrey C. Cannon (advanced)
Museums of all sizes constantly exhaust resources in an attempt to resolve the conflicts that arise when collection management, public programming, increasing visitor services, and museum operations overlap and share space in their facilities. Increasingly museums are including libraries, hosting events and serving as adjunct k-12 educational facilities, to only name a few of the new functions and space needs. New and distinct space for these activities is not always possible. We must look at alternative notions of space and place in order to achieve the increasing requirements for flexibility and adaptability. This session addresses the necessities of clarifying the Mission and Vision, in relation to space and place, for a Capital Campaign and highlights a recent example.

Historic Structures: Cleaning and Maintenance of Exteriors presented by Erik Anderson (n & b)
This presentation will focus on cleaning materials and techniques that maximize the life of the historic structure. In addition, a systematic plan for outdoor maintenance will be described. A checklist of preservation/conservation concerns requiring inspection on a regular basis will be provided as a handout.

Critter Corralling or Quick Tips on Keeping the Critters Out of the Collections presented by Wendy Jessup (a)
Twenty years after being introduced as a viable method to reduce pesticide use in museums, Integrated Pest Management sometimes seems like a daunting task requiring lots of staff time and resources – especially for small museums. This short session will provide tips for keeping the critters out and the collections intact that without breaking your budget or causing staff overload or meltdown.

1:00 -2:00 pm

Caring for Outdoor Exhibits presented by James Leech and Peter Lesher (n&b)
This session will cover the inspection of placement, treatment, preventive care and maintenance upkeep on large outdoor exhibits.

Saying No: Effective Collections Policies presented by Stephen Patrick (advanced)
Your ability to control eager potential donors is only as good as your policies. Effective documents make the difference! Find out how to start strategizing your collections policies.

Building a Case for Do-It-Yourself Exhibits presented by Ruth Ellen Miller and Matthew Miller (Advanced)
Great cases, perfect lighting, and micro-climates are easier (and cheaper) than you think!

No Child Left Behind presented by Brent Rudmann and Dr. Steven Hardy (advanced)
New legislation regarding "No Child Left Behind" has resulted in teachers focusing more upon directing students to material that will help them to pass a series of tests, as opposed to achieving a wider learning experience. In some areas, how well the entire class performs on these tests might result in changes in a teacher's employment status and pay. Even in this restrictive environment, a small museum can still attract educators to their facility for programming opportunities, but it may take some flexibility!

The Forgotten Visitor presented by Kathy Simon (advanced)
How would a tour group of special needs visitors respond to your museum? Museum education programs tend to cater to children, adults, campers, and school groups. Find out how to best meet the needs of these forgotten visitors before they arrive.

2:30 – 3:30 pm

Living History in a Small Museum Setting presented by Elyssa Ford (n&b)
This session will look at living history in a different way by taking an idea from an art museum’s education program and turning it into a living history technique in a history museum.

Target Marketing presented by Scott Thomas (a)
This session will focus on partnering with complementary business and community organizations in order to attract mutual customers.

Improving Museum Operations: Incremental Standards for the Small Museum presented by Karla Nicholson (advanced)
A new AASLH project will develop a step-by step program that enables small museums to work toward excellence one operational area at a time, in order to achieve improvement in professional standards. This session will provide information about how organizations can contribute to the program development.

Building a Comprehensive Docent Program presented by Julie Bryan (n&b)
Having a strong docent program is essential for all small museums. This workshop discusses the five components of building a comprehensive docent program and how to implement them. This session is designed for either museums with an existing docent program or museums looking to develop a new one.

Museum Liability presented by Hurst Hessey (a)
This session will discuss various aspects of museum liability: how to avoid it, how to insure against it, what measures to institute to prevent it, what cannot be insured, and the duty of care owed to donors.

3:30-4:30 pm

Young Professional Roundtable presented by Julia Bissel and Brad Scriber, representatives of the Young Non-Profit Professionals Network, New York and Washington DC
Join your peers for a discussion of challenges facing younger employees in the museum workplace and strategies to overcome them. Whether you are trying to build experience in your first job or you are developing your role as a young executive director, come share your insights. Facilitated by leaders of the New York City and Washington, DC chapters of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, this roundtable will provide a chance to share experiences and discuss solutions.

What Can SMA Do For You? hosted by Mary Wagner, Cape Henlopen State Park and Claudia Leister, Delaware State Museums, both Board Members of the Small Museum Association
Want to learn more about the opportunities awaiting members at the Annual Conference, Summer Conference, and the SMA web site? Come prepared to share ideas on how SMA can better serve their membership. This is great session for first timers at the SMA Annual Conference, or a time for the veterans to mentor others.

Rentals hosted by Pam Williams, City of Bowie Museums and SMA Board Member
Is your site available for rentals? For better or for worse? Are you now richer or poorer?
Join a round table discussion on the ins, outs, debits and credits of historic site rentals.

Increasing Attendance: Quality vs. Quantity hosted by Tiffany Davis
Need more visitors? Looking for a different quality visitor? Join a lively peer discussion aimed at sharing methods for getting those people through the door.

Partnerships for Progress hosted by John Verrill
This group discussion will explore ways of collaborating with other museums, non-profits, chambers of commerce, and other organizations to help produce successful events, programs, exhibits, fundraisers or promotional activities. John Verrill, a participant in many successful collaborative efforts, will lead the discussion and offer some examples of successful partnerships.

Tuesday, February 28th

8:15 am

Breakfast with Mary Alexander -- Maryland Museum Mavens Meet
Mary Alexander, Director, Maryland Historical Trust Museum Assistance Program will describe the new grant program guidelines in the state of Maryland. Ms. Alexander will update participants on legislative events of interest. Bring to this informal conversation your concerns about museum matters. What's happening to your school tour attendance now that No Child Left Behind legislation is in effect? What are your strategies for attracting audiences (both real and imagined)? How have you attracted the attention of your local legislators? With your comments, the conversation promises to be lively.

8:45 am –9:30 am

Plenary Topic: “Size Doesn’t Matter: It’s How You Think” presented by Dr. Schroeder Cherry
A small museum can have a big impact on its audience. This session will address how IMLS supports small museums and present examples of successful small museums with big impact.

9:30 – 10:30 am

Bringing the Humanities to New Audiences: NEH Initiatives for Small Museums presented by Karen S. Mittelman and Bonnie Curtain (advanced)
This session will feature several NEH initiatives of special interest to smaller museums Grants are available in various categories to help museums to develop projects in consultation with humanities scholars. Experienced NEH program officers will outline the Endowment’s review process and explain the types of projects that NEH hopes to encourage from smaller museums. This session is intended to de-mystify the NEH application process, and to invite small museum professionals to imagine new humanities-based programs for their institutions.

Managing Reaction: Responding to a Crisis presented by Courtney Wilson (n&b)
This is a participatory presentation and discussion outlining the most critical considerations facing a leader in the first 48 hours following a crisis.

Increase Your Visibility by Working with Your Partners presented by Ned Blair and Karen O’Neill (n&b)
This session will describe how to effectively work with your area CVB/TA and travel writers to increase your venue visitation.

From Idea to Exhibit presented by Linda Norris (n &b)
In this session, participants will learn a simple, stepped process that can be used to develop engaging history exhibits. We’ll talk about asking the right questions, developing the big idea, writing an exhibit script, selecting objects, reproducing images, and conducting evaluation. The goal is to provide participants with the tools to move beyond merely displaying objects to exhibits that reach current and new audiences at small museums and historical societies. Handouts will include examples of all planning tools used in the process.

To Ebay or Not to Ebay presented by Cathy A. Shufelt (n&b)
This session will present the perils and positives of online artifact purchasing.

10:45 am – 11:45 am

Visual Messages: Attracting an Audience presented by Deb Wool (advanced)
Communicating in today’s world is about the success of visual messages. This session offers techniques to create ‘large museum’ visual looks using small museum tools and budgets. The goal is to stimulate attendees with visual messaging possibilities using simple rules and tricks that small museum staff can use to create exhibit panels, posters, ads and flyers.

Cleaning Historic Interiors presented by Beth Miller (n&b)
This session will provide museum staff with a basic road map for implementation of professional housekeeping in their own museums. The lecture will review non-invasive housekeeping methods for a variety of materials. The lecture will also outline the basics steps required to create an effective housekeeping plan and explain the plan's importance. The speaker will share personal anecdotes of her experiences during a large scale renovation project.

Bringing the Next Generation into History Centers presented by Ellen Show (n&b)
While our local history centers are of interest to historians, genealogists, and out of town visitors looking for a nostalgic return to their “roots,” it is time to include a look beyond the past and into the future. What will become of the local history if we don't consider the future of our centers? One way of expanding horizons is to bring young people into the planning process. Working with students is a way to bring new, young, creative ideas into the process that benefits both the student and the Center.

Creating Effective Customer Service presented by Renee Seiden (n&b)
What is good customer service? How can you provide it? Learn from the secrets of the hospitality industry’s best practices from an insider of the industry.

Easements: Their Use in the Small Museum Context presented by Paul Edmondson (a)
This session will address the use of conservation and historic preservation easements as a way to protect the historic character and environmental setting of small museum properties, and will discuss the pros and cons of giving an easement on your structure, as well as how to deal with them if you already have one on your building. Paul Edmondson, general counsel at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will share that organization's experience in using easements to protect the National Trust's historic sites, and also as the holder of 100 easements on other historic properties across the country. Mr. Edmondson will also discuss current controversies regarding easement programs in the media and in Congress, and address legislative and policy changes in this area.

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