God bless you! I couldn't have said better in my wildest dreams!

Hervé Gagnon

Wayne and Mary a écrit:

> hi all
>
> And how about folks climbing onto boards of Historical Societies
> (many of which maintain museums) so they can tap into the
> dollars for a book they would like to have published?  We have had
> board members quit the board because they couldn't get their
> first time book, no less, a guarantee of publication BEFORE anyone
> had even seen anything that looked remotely like a book.
>
> Or how about the folks that join boards only so their house, or
> whatever will receive a free historic site marker from the Society?
> Or how about the folks that join with absolutely no intention of
> EVER doing any work, ever raising any money, hardly ever
> showing up at a board meeting, never give a penny to help
> maintain the museum, but still expect to be treated like some
> sort of God because "after all, I am a Board Member."
>
> I could go on, but you more than get the point I'm sure.
> A paid Curator sitting on the board is usually only the tip of
> a rather nasty iceberg.
>
> Most boards do not have enough people interested in being
> a member - so most boards jump at anyone who would like to
> be on it.  Many boards need to keep the numbers up because
> they will lose their affiliation with the State Historical Society
> if they don't - so in short, they cook the numbers.
>
> >From personal experience, I no longer believe the numbers
> presented to me about membership. If a Board Member tells me
> they have 14 on the Board, I know that in essence they have
> probably 6 or 7 active Board members that are there for more
> than self aggrandizement.
>
> If they tell me they have a general membership of 400, I now
> assume that less than 100 is more accurate.
>
> If I ask what the average age is of their volunteers and am told
> it is in the 60 range, I know this is a society/museum that has
> done little to encourage younger than 60's to find a reason to
> join.  I.E. the president has been the president since creation -
> the same goes for most of the other Board members too. New
> blood is not encouraged. New blood and younger blood is a
> threat.
>
> There are many good societies and great museums out there.
> There are also many, many bad ones. These are the ones that
> pay next to nothing - in fact are supremely proud of the fact that
> they have all volunteers running the show. For those of you looking
> for jobs in the museum field, I would suggest looking at the Board
> composition, make up of the volunteer list, the salary range etc
> before jumping in - it will save you a lot of frustration. It will
> save you quitting the job because you are not appreciated for what
> you are able to contribute.
>
> You can be sure too that if a paid Curator is on the Board, that is
> a board not doing its job. A paid Curator can sit in on meetings of
> the Board but should not have a vote.
>
> As a matter of fact, in many of these vest pocket museums I am
> talking about, a Curator is equivalent to janitor and the Board
> treats
> them as such.
>
> My two cents worth!
>
> regards
>
> Mary Haegele
> who has been on several Boards
> and is the member of a couple
> of Historical Societies
> www.joes.com/home/book_list
>
> On 19 Nov 98,, Hervé Gagnon delivered:
>
> > theoritical sense, the board's job is to supervise the director,
> whom in turn supervises all other employees. The board's functions
> are to
> implement policies, to allocate and raise funds, to do some p.r. on
> behalf
> of the museum and to exercise a general surveillance on spending. The
> director's job is to implement the board's policies, to reach the
> long-term goals set by the boards and to ensure the museum's
> professional
> functions. The curator's job is to exercise one of those functions.
> Confuse jobs and you'll end up with a lot of chiefs in the place...
>
> All in all, something to avoid at all cost.