----------
> From: Byron Johnson <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Museum News (was STILL  (a small rant))
> Date: Sunday, June 29, 1997 12:05 AM
>
> It seems like most of the print expended in the field is either for
"glossy"
> showpiece articles or the umpteenth thousandth article on label writing
and
> the importance of including in-ter-pre-tation in exhibits. When is the
last
> time anyone saw articles on developing a business plan for a museum,
> advertising strategies, shopping for a fund raising consultant (not
WRITTEN
> by a consulting firm), analysis of visitor stats, a regular website
> development column, etc.
>
> Of course, I am still looking for that biennial AAM salary survey and
> minimum professional standards recommendations the ALA created eons ago .
. .

Byron, right on!

The folks at the AAM office are, I'm sure, quite interested in this
exchange and maybe we can hope enough of the association's governing board
are interested in the subject that they'll get the drift.  It's the board,
and the CEO, who need to think through editorial policy and content, I
assume.  Where IS that salary survey anyway?

Shopping for consultants -- not just for fundraising but for strategic
planning as well -- is a worthy subject.  There are some frauds out there.


And AVISO on-line weekly?   What a splendid idea!  Even our little Dogpatch
Dispatch, a country weekly, is on-line with daily "news" updates five days
a week, and the service is free.

Finally, it is indeed the people who make the museum work well.  By that I
mean the people on the staff -- their enthusiasm, expertise,
professionalism, interaction with the public -- and the people who secure
the funding, meaning the volunteers and the donors.  A truly effective
consultant will work to create a commonality between these two groups.

We're responsible, each in our own ways, for the business of the museum.
Budgets must be balanced, personnel retained, maintenance carried out.  If
anyone suggests an expansion project is going to give a big boost to
admissions fees and this is what's needed to put a museum in the black,
that person ought to be working for Disney World, not a museum, in my
humble opinion.  An expansion program for a museum must be based entirely
on its worth, not its market appeal.