Julie: If I were your Executive Director, I would consider posting your RFQ regionally and nationally just to be certain that you generate sufficient qualified responses. Your post could indicate that you would prefer a California-based consultant, and your review of submissions could focus on those respondents initially. However, should you receive an insufficient response from qualified consultants in-state, having initially cast a wider net with your RFQ means that you could easily shift to considering responses received from further afield without having to re-issue your RFQ. I'm not aware of a Listserv or online discussion forum that is focused specifically on museum consultants. Most such forums are broader in focus (e.g. non-profit consultants), and would likely produce too many responses from consultants without the museum interpretive planning experience you're seeking. However, in addition to posting to the* ICOM Museum-L Listserv* used for your inquiry, I would also post on the *American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Museum Junction*: https://community.aam-us.org/ <https://community.aam-us.org/> . While both these forums are targeted at Museum Professionals, consultants who primarily serve museums frequently pay attention to these postings as well. Secondarily, you might explore with the following organizations whether a posting through their websites would be appropriate. These organizations don't appear to provide the same kind of broad "online community forums" available through ICOM or AAM, but might be amenable to your "creative" use of what they do offer: - *California Association of Museums* (www.calmuseums.org): While their community blog doesn't appear to host this kind of posting, you could inquire about the possibility. Another option through CAM might be making a "Job Directory" posting for a "Museum Interpretive Planning Consultant." While technically you're looking for independent consultants, not employee candidates, if allowed such a job posting might catch the eye of some consultants qualified in this field. - *American Association for State and Local History* (aaslh.org): Similarly, you could discuss the possibility of posting info about your RFQ in either their community blog, their job listings, or both. - *Museum Education Roundtable* (http://museumeducation.info/): As a leader in promoting professionalism in the field of museum education, the Museum Education Roundtable might be a group that museum interpretive planning consultants would continue to connect with. Again, a conversation with this organization might identify opportunities for posting of your RFQ that aren't immediately evident from their website. Finally, don't hesitate to do an online search for appropriate consultants, as well as inquire with colleagues at other museums for referrals. In addition to your posting of the RFQ, it is often these more focused personal searches and referrals that yield the strongest prospects. Happy hunting! Regards, *John* *John E. Coraor, Ph.D.* Founder & Chief Consultant Cultural Management Partners LLC P.O. Box 1294 Huntington, NY 11743 631-271-3909 [log in to unmask] www.CulturalManagementPartners.com On Tue, Jul 2, 2019 at 10:59 AM Julie Blood < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Good Morning, > > My Executive Director has asked me to get recommendations on what are the > best sites to post for an RFQ for an Interpretive Planning Consultant. Our > museum is in California, specifically in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley > and we'd like to keep our search to California, at least for now. > > Thanks, > Julie > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail > message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should > read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).