Having tried to reach Byron A. Johnson privately but unsuccessfully,allow
me to make a couple of comments on the net regarding the issue of training.
I don't think that it will be much help to inform trustees about suggested
credentials or areas of expertise, particularly in the case of larger museums.
The fact that boards often hire people without museum training (on occasion
deliberately so), preferring instead those with business or corporate
or political experience suggests that not only have professional agencies like
AAM done a poor job in promoting the concept of professional preparation,
but also that museum training programs are not focusing on the skills that
are now in demand.  How can we say that we are training people to become
directors if, for example, we do not insist that they take introductory
accounting?  The issue is symbolic of many of the difficulties that
museums are experiencing, and, given the situation on Capital Hill at
this very moment, will soon experience in spades.
Chuck Watkins
The Appalachian Cultural Museum
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