Who Are the Game Changers?

Who do you think are *game changers* in the museum biz right now? These are folks who not only mixing up the way museums interpret collections and connect with the public, but they're also the ones figuring out how to sustain new ways of doing business.

Nominations?

A New Economic Model for Museums?

Andrew Taylor’s blog post, Rethinking Arts Economies and Arts Exchange, introduces Stolen Chair Theatre's new initiative to support new works. Instead of grants and traditional subscriptions, they propose a community support system modeled on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

Like the CSA model, Stolen Chair hopes to build a membership community, a "CST", which would provide 'seed' money for the company's development process and then reap a year's worth of theatrical harvests. The organization has received a grant to create the model as part of The Field's Economic Revitalization for Performing Artists (ERPA) initiative.

Writes Taylor, “Is unprofitable theater (or other arts endeavor) a charity, a community resource, an entitlement, a labor of love, or some combination thereof? Whatever we choose as our cluster of definitions, it will be helpful to align our business models and our resource strategies accordingly.”

New York State Museums in Conversation Conference: Call for Participation

What Inspires You? is the theme for the 2010 Upstate History Alliance/MANY conference, scheduled for April 11-13, at the Albany Marriott, Wolf Road in Albany.

We all take inspiration from many ­ sometimes unlikely ­ sources. In continuing the conversation format of last year's conference (the largest gathering of museum professionals in NY State), UHA and MANY seek discussion proposals that focus on what inspires you about the work of others, be they museums, libraries, nature centers or parks, small or big businesses. What have you seen that's been so great, so innovative, so enterprising, so adaptable, and so fun that you want to talk about it with your colleagues?

We welcome proposals from a wide range of institutions and practitioners, within and outside the museum community, to encourage lively discussions that offer new perspectives on our work and create new connections to each other.

Submitting a Proposal
The deadline for submitting a proposal is November 2, 2009. Proposals must be submitted electronically, as an email attachment to stephanie@upstatehistory.org
Visit www.upstatehistory.org/services/conferences/conference.html to download the proposal form and for more information. The program committee will review proposals and decisions will be made by the mid November.

Questions?
If you have any questions or are looking for assistance with developing a proposal, contact UHA Program Coordinator Stephanie Lehner at 800.895.1648 or MANY Director Anne Ackerson at 518.273.3400 or info@manyonline.org

2010 Museums in Conversation Theme: What Say You?

MANY and our conference partner, the Upstate History Alliance, are planning our 2010 Museums in Conversation Conference for April 11-13, at the Albany Marriott (site of the 2008 conference).

We're kicking around theme ideas and we need your help. Should the conference theme be practical or aspirational....or both? Will a conference about leveraging resources bring folks out in droves in these tough times?

Tell us what you think.

MANY Director Wins 6-Word Novel Contest!

MANY Director Anne Ackerson just received word that she is the co-winner of the 6-Word Novel Contest, sponsored by Blue Avocado, the online resource for nonprofits. The news was announced here and a box of avocados is on its way to Troy.

Anne's winning entry was chosen from more than 200 flash-fiction novels. Hers: My secret discovered. Plane ticket purchased.

Judge Janis Lane-Ewart , Executive Director, KFAI Radio Without Borders, Minneapolis, Minnesota, noted this novel's "ability to capture my imagination, sense of escapism, and mystery."

Get ready, MANY readers -- Blue Avocado is sponsoring a 6-Word Mission Statement Contest this fall!!

Photo: White Books by Vicki's Pics

Just 8 Days Left....

...to email us your entry about what inspires you about museums!

That's right, we're looking for your wordles, haikus, photos, videos and you need to get them to us by July 31st.

Amazon gift certificates will go to four lucky, lucky people!!!

AND, your inspirations will help us here at MANY frame our strategic plans for the coming five years.

We've been posting entries on the homepage of our website. Oh, yeah, we'll do that for yours, too.

Photo: magnetic poetry by surrealmuse

Root Causes - Real Solutions

On Monday, the Albany Times Union published commentary from MANY regarding the legislation stipulating that collections cannot use proceeds from deaccession to pay operating or capital debt. You can find it here.

The legislation does not address the very real issues of how museums should generate revenue. That is not its purpose. Once using proceeds is taken off the table as a revenue generating option, it leaves us to really focus on addressing the creation of safety nets that can stablize museum operations and help these important institutions to flourish.

Among the solutions cited in the commentary are:

• A revolving loan fund that strapped museums could tap into to buy time to restructure and figure out their next steps.
• A check-off box on the state personal income tax that gives residents the opportunity to make a contribution to an arts fund. (That legislation is pending.)
• Access to the state's health insurance program and aggregated energy purchasing to help lower two big chunks of operating costs.
• Comprehensive board and leadership training.
• Let's also look at the state's current grant reimbursement system, which can keep nonprofits waiting months or years to receive project funding, forcing them to borrow funds and take on added debt.

These are just a few potential solutions -- all of them are achievable and any one of them would go a long way to helping institutions steward their educational and collecting missions.