Dear ICOM Members, The Youth Group discussion I have found to be very interesting. I would like to offer a suggestion; Make the term Young Professionals into Young Museum Professionals. This would not infringe on any age sensitive issues ;-) Someone who joins the Museum Profession at a later age is still a Young Museum Professional (YMP). Maybe, membership to the YMP group can be limited, to 5 years or so. This way the YMP group doesn't become too grey and it will, hopefully, be a great resource of fresh ideas for ICOM. Just a thought, Roeland Roeland Stulemeijer Art Care Conservation and Collection Specialist [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Naomi Grattan" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 10:46 PM Subject: Re: Youth Groups etc > Hello! > > I have been reading this discussion with much interest, for three reasons. > First, I am one of those 'young professionals' -- I'm 28 and work for the > Cdn Museums Association as editor of our publication MUSE and am > responsible > for much of our communications. Second, it seemed to me (though apologies > if > I'm wrong on this) that there weren't any of 'us' involved in this > discussion. And third, there are a number of 'us' in our offices, and we > have been discussing getting some sort of young professionals committee up > and running for Canada. A lot of our initial discussion has centred around > the issue of defining what qualifies as a 'young professional' and we > struggled with all the same issues that have come up here. > > Our conclusion was that 'young professional' was a good place to start > (and > Claudia Polley nicely clarified the distinction between this and student > in > her post). However, in the end, we felt it was better to move to 'new > professionals' to include those coming into the field who have many of the > same issues that us 'young professionals' face. We also felt that it > wasn't > constructive to bother with defining an age range. > > Just thought you'd be interested to know how a group of 'us' feels about > this in Canada. So what next? How do we move this forward? > > Naomi > > > > Naomi Grattan > Director of Communications/Directrice des communications > Canadian Museums Association/Association des musees canadiens > Tel./Tel.: (613) 567-0099 x223; Fax/Telec.: (613) 233-5438 > 400-280 rue Metcalfe St., Ottawa ON, K2P 1R7 > [log in to unmask] > www.museums.ca > > -----Original Message----- > From: International Council of Museums Discussion List > [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Claudia Polley > Sent: August 10, 2005 9:19 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Youth Groups etc > > > > All, > > So many good ideas are voiced here it's daunting to add anything. > However, > I think a critical clarification should be made. In Mario's initial > email > he > refers to young people as "youth", which then was re-interpreted by > several > respondents as "students". And then a couple of wiser heads used the > term > "young professionals". I believe we must have some good definition of > this > group we all know ICOM is leaving out of its communications and activity > loop. > To my way of thinking "young professionals" is the intent if not the > exact > description necessary. > > Perhaps wiser heads with a greater grasp of language could assist here. > We > are not talking about student involvement for the most part here...that > is > already addressed by many national committees whether well done or not. > We > need to act to have our younger colleagues become excited and involved in > this > organization that purports to serve the world. As Per Rekdal says, those > active in ICOM are greying a bit (if not a lot like myself), and our > future > depends on those who will actively shape this organization for today and > the > future...not the past. > > So, let's get on with it. The technology exists where we all talk to one > another via Skype and other internet-based communications. Visual and > audio > links are easy to be had. And information is the key here, as Ms. > Cockett > so > rightfully points out. Even some of us elders want more direct > information > and involvement. Why not find a way to make it so? > > It's time. > > Claudia Polley > Arts Associates LLC > Washington DC & Caino, Italy > > > In a message dated 8/10/2005 9:04:34 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > Hi, > > I've only recently joined this list, I joined ICOM/ICOM-UK last year and > have some thoughts regarding this issue. I feel the main issues (for me > at > least) has been around poor communication/marketing of ICOM itself and > its > events. I haven't been to any ICOM events even though I am an active > member > of a number of UK-based museums organisations, and my workplace will > support national travel to events (though rarely international). > > I joined two committees when I signed up to ICOM but no-one has ever > communicated to me what I need to do to be active on them. > > I think that the ICOM magazines are visually quite dull, mainly black and > white (maybe with a single colour), the ICOM news has an incredibly small > typeface making it difficult to read (I have no visual impairment). There > are no other mailings or extra information included with them. They do > not > make me want to read them. > > I just looked through my last ICOM-UK magazine and there is nothing about > up-and-coming events. Details of the meetings listed in ICOM news are > very > brief, just the title/theme but no further information - obviously we can > email to find out but the communication is bad as nothing grabs you and > makes you think 'oh, that sounds interesting' etc. > > The websites of ICOM and ICOM-UK are not up to the visual quality or > intuitive accessible structure of other organisations - the new ICOM > website does look like it might be a very significant improvement > visually > and structurally this may help. The events page of ICOM-UK currently > lists > events from 2003, the calendar page of ICOM does not make it immediately > clear what each event. > > I use the websites/magazines of a number of Museum organisations > regularly > to find out all sorts of information. I think the main issue is that when > compared to other organisations (in the UK - Museums Association, Museum > Documentation Association, Regional MLA's etc...) ICOM simply does not > compete well in the fields of communication or marketing. I always seem > to > know, with minimal effort what the UK organisations are up to (via > emails, > websites, publications sent to me at home, and to my workplace) and I > have > gone to meetings, taken part in panels/committees etc. I feel I learn > more > about what is going on internationally in museums from UK Museums > publications and UK newspapers. > > I also wonder about your definition of 'youth' as under 40? I'm 30 and I > don't think I am young any more, certainly too old to join anything > labelled 'youth-organisation'. To me (and marketing organisations) the > youth age group is 16-25. > > Aside from the free entry to every museum I have tried using it in - a > very > considerable benefit I admit - I have felt that ICOM has not added > anything > to my knowledge of museums/ the museum world. I hope this can change. > > Rachel Cockett > Birmingham, UK > > > > **************************************************************************** > ** > ******************* > The information contained within this e-mail (and any attachment) sent by > Birmingham City Council is confidential and may be legally privileged. It > is > intended only for the named recipient or entity to whom it is addressed. > If > you are not the intended recipient please accept our apologies and notify > the > sender immediately, or telephone +(44) 121 464 4444 Unauthorised access, > use, > disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted and may be unlawful. Any > e-mail including its content may be monitored and used by Birmingham City > Council > for reasons of security and for monitoring internal compliance with the > office policy on staff use. E-mail blocking software may also be used. 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