>I don't think this is exactly what David had in mind, but
>one thing that really bothers me is how museums in
>communities seem to compete with each other for everything
>from visitors to fundraising.  I realize that competition is
>a fact of life, but with a little communication, we could
>avoid putting on special events on the same day. And, horror
>of horrors, what might happen if museums actually
>collaborated on a project!?!?!?


I couldn't agree more.  Here we have had a Baltimore History Alliance for
almost 7 years now.  It is a collaboration of between 20-24 local history
museums (it changes every year around dues paying time)  and we have
collaborated on calendars, promotions, sharing mailing lists, education
symposium, a summer day camp, advertising and marketing, and
representation at community events, just to name a few projects.  I have
never thought it a very spectacular feat, but the more I learn about
other cities, the more I learn that this level of cooperation is not
necessarily the norm.  Not all projects are a success (the day camp was
particularly dreadful from an organizational stand point, but  the kids
had fun)  but we succeed more than we don't.  Sometimes the mest results
are achieved at our Marketing and/or Education roundtables when someone
perks up and asks "How do you guys handle..."  That kind of personal
sharing of information is priceless, and has yet to be equaled in quality
by internet chatting although Museum-L surpasses in quantity and breadth
of responses.



Matthew A. White
Director of Education and Internship Coordinator
Baltimore Museum of Industry
1415 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD 21230
(410)727-4808
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