And Pete, you are right on too!

They always say the squeaky wheel gets the oil, or something like that;
you don't have to sit back and be resigned to your "fate."  You've got to
analyze why things are as they are, then go out there and make sure your
director knows you are worth every penny for every raise he or she will
give you.

And another thing, some of in the actual "museum" side of the
organization do earn less than the development people and the special
events personnel.  I think that in major museums that's how the turkey is
roasted.  Or something like that.

O

Olivia S. Anastasiadis, Curator
Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace
18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard
Yorba Linda, CA  92886
(714) 993-5075; fax (714) 528-0544; e-mail:  [log in to unmask]

On Fri, 18 Jul 1997 08:59:42 -0500 Peter Stevenson
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
>At 04:31 PM 7/17/97 -0700, you wrote:
>>
>>Perhaps the sole reason NY is considered extremely expensive to live
>in
>>is because of the cost of renting an apartment.  However, I have
>friends
>>who have gotten incredibly lucky and rent 1 or 2 or 3 room apartments
>for
>>$500-$600.  In Manhattan, in the East Village.  There are great deals
>to
>>be found here, if you don't mind not living on the Upper East Side.
>>
>>Besides rent, though, NY is not expensive, relative to other cities I
>>have lived near/visited.  Food - a range of choices, a range of
>prices.
>>There are more "discount", cheap-o, 10-pairs-of-socks-for-one-dollar
>>stores here than possibly anywhere else in the U.S.  Finally, I'd
>rather
>>be poor in New York than rich in Idaho, or Indiana, or Iowa.
>>
>>Yeah, museum/non-profit salaries suck.  I know that many of these
>places
>>do not have the money to pay adequate salaries, and that's life.  If
>you
>>want to work in this kind of arena, you must accept this.  There's no
>>point in complaining about it.
>>
>>
>Dear New York Expert-On-Salaries-That-Suck-And-Life-As-It-Is,
>
>I can't understand why you take the position that salaries are bad,
>museums
>don't have the money, and we just have to accept it.  It isn't written
>in
>stone that museums/non-profits must pay poorly.  I would agree with a
>previous poster:  Instead of sitting back and taking what we are
>given,
>museum professionals should take a more active role in local and
>national
>debates on cultural institutions and raise awareness of the real value
>of
>our work.  Unionize?  Who knows? But I would welcome the chance to
>discuss it.
>
>And, lastly, I would rather live poor in Iowa than rich in New York.
>
>The views expressed are certainly my own.
>
>Peter B. Stevenson
>Exhibit Developer
>Field Museum/Chicago
>[log in to unmask]
>
>"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time."
>                                        --Steven Wright
>