To John Shand:

        Though I read the Museum News with great interest, I agree that it is
difficult to maintain a "news" schedule in a quarterly magazine that must
have lots of lead time before coming off the press.  I wonder if AVISO,
with its more frequent schedule and down-dressed format, couldn't provide
updates on such matters as the Baltimore fiasco.

        Your article-in-preparation, about overly optimistic visitation/revenue
forecasts and how boards may be using rose-colored glasses in projecting
expenditures, could lead to a broadening in scope.  Solid museum leaders
often get hurt in the process of a board's reacting to financial stresses.

        An eminently successful fundraiser and museologist, Dr. Rupert Cutler, was
ousted as director of Roanoke's Explore Park not long ago, and a career
motel general manager is now its new director.

        In Norfolk Va., David Guernsey (who was responsible for Savannah's "Ships
of the Sea" track record) is leaving as director of Nauticus after only 18
months.  Guernsey had vigorously pursued new programs and opportunities to
bring Nauticus out of the red, and just as they were coming on-stream, the
city took it over
and its consultant called for yet one more re-invention of the Nauticus
program.

        Another writer mentioned the difficulties at the Valentine in
Richmond, now being run in effect by a consulting firm.

        Are the expectations of museum boards/governing bodies often so high that
no skilled professional can meet them?  If so, how did these expectations
arise?  Are they coming from the growing number of ex-CPAs, ex-government
executives, ex-administrators, ex-fundraisers, who call themselves
consultants and who obtain their clientele from the non-profits in the
knowledge industry, museums included?  Just where does that generic jack of
all trades consultant "fit" in the museum field?

Ross Weeks
Tazewell VA