On Wednesday October 12, 2011 the White Gloves Gang once again visited the Fells Point Preservation Society (FPPS) at1726 Thames Street,Baltimore. No stranger to the FPPS, the Gang made its first visit back in 2005. For a moment now let us go back in time to when Destiny’s Child was still together, Batman Begins was playing at the box office and the FPPS had just called upon the White Gloves Gang to help them move their new collection. Some might …
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On the morning of October 12, eight volunteers arrived the Historical Society—and former almshouse—of Baltimore County to volunteer as part of the White Gloves Gang. Administrator Adam Youssi headed up the gang and started our day off with a tour of the 19th century building. It was fascinating to see the former quarters of the inmates, and the furniture and other items in the collection, but the greatest surprise of our tour was an intact nuclear fallout shelter in the …
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What are the differences between an internship and a volunteer position? What is a good internship? A good intern? These were just a few of the questions discussed in this panel with Dr. Petra Chu, Seton Hall University, Antonia Moser, Newark Museum, myself Pam Schwartz, student at Seton Hall University, and Pam Veenbaas, Smithsonian Institution. Presenting four different perspectives from the point of view of an educator, an internship supervisor, a student and an internship coordinator, the panel discussed how …
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Find out how MAP and CAP can help small and mid-sized museums of all disciplines achieve standards and best practices and attain excellence in operations. Learn how your peers have used MAP and CAP to help their museums become more relevant and sustainable, improve operations, improve collections stewardship, increase funding, and prepare for Accreditation. This session covered how to use the programs to meet broader institutional goals including sustainability, a clearer understanding of the museum’s audience and their needs, improved …
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My latest adventure: Baltimore, Maryland. I had only been to Baltimore once, for a short day trip prior to this visit. This time, I was there with a classmate in graduate school, who is also interested in working in museums. We were only able to volunteer and participate on day one due to our work and school schedules but MAAM certainly gave me more than what I expected. As a student, the MAAM conference was far less daunting than some …
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On Tuesday morning I wandered into the session on the role of interpretation in the master plan of a historic site. I knew little about the two huge 19th Century stone sites—the Fort Monroe Authority on Virginia’s coast and Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. I learned each has its own unique challenges. Eastern State is a stabilized ruin, a huge structure that was abandoned in 1971. The museum had to choose what stories to tell and then decide which cells …
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For me, the test of a good conference is what sessions do I find myself thinking about on the bus ride home. I had a quite a lot to think about on the way home from Baltimore! On Monday morning, I attended the off-site session on developing historic walking tours in Fells Point. I know from experience that creating a walking tour that engages the public can be challenging since it is often difficult to establish a coherent story that …
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The use of video as a marketing tool has been utilized by museums for decades. However, due to the explosion of social media and advances in technology, video has become a much larger element in online content strategies. In this presentation, the discussion centered on how video for social media can be used for specific purposes across social networks including: Fundraising/Friend-Raising Exhibit and Event Promotion Brand Awareness The presenters also showed examples of video produced by museums, discussed distribution options, …
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During the last few years, cultural institutions have been required to do more with less—cutting back seems to be the order of the day. However, there are creative and collaborative strategies that may allow museums to create spaces of inspiration for individuals and communities—while on a budget. Adapting resources such as new media, creating traveling displays, and forming new alliances with organizations that share common values, in order to reach audiences help organizations survive and expand during difficult economic times. …
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First, Nina Simon’s radical, post-Post Modern, Weil lecture challenged MAAM 2011 attendees to re-think everything they thought they already re-thought. Just when you thought it was safe to start a blog and social media-ify your museum, Simon advocated putting all those Web 2.0 concepts into practice not on the web, but in real life. Thus Simon’s museum embraces a new identity of art-museum-as-community-center, attracting locals to such radical partcipatory activities as sitting on sofas and doing jigsaw puzzles. For the …
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