Posts
Career Management
A Conversation with Kathleen McLean
Kathleen McLean is the recipient of the 2018 AAM Distinguished Service to Museums Award, which recognizes an individual’s excellence and contributions to the museum field for at least 20 …
A Conversation with Hallie Winter
Hallie Winter, curator at the Osage Nation Museum in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, is the recipient of the 2018 Nancy Hanks Memorial Award for Professional Excellence, which honors a museum …
Speaking as a Listener
Throughout the Annual Meeting, I became curious about how we, as museum professionals, share our learning experiences with each other. I found that my favorite speakers were master …
Sketchnote-taking: Suggestions from Shaelyn
When I was packing to head to Phoenix for AAM2018, I stuffed my suitcase full of dresses to be ready for the Arizona heat, jackets to be ready for the convention-center air conditioning, …
Finding Ways to Respect the Past (But not the way you think)
How many of us have found ourselves the new person on a museum staff? We join a program or department in a historic site, museum, garden or zoo. We're new. Everyone else isn't. In contrast …
Take time to reflect on the AAM Annual Meeting
Museum workers often fulfill singular positions in their institutions. The annual American Alliance of Museums (AAM) conference is one chance to meet up with global peers. These …
Name Badge Faces *OUT* (& Other Conference Suggestions…) Beatty ‘s Maxim #5
This post was originally published on Medium, March 20, 2018. Republished here with permission. The past decade or so, I have marked the true beginning of spring not with the flowers …
What’s the Best Path to a Top Museum Job? We Analyzed the Training of 100 Curators to Find Out
These days, it feels like you can't swing a canvas tote without hitting a newly credentialed curator. As art institutions expand and biennials proliferate, the population of curators has …
Receiving the Nancy Hanks award (and what the heck is professional development, anyway)
Emily Graslie is Chief Curiosity Correspondent for The Field Museum in Chicago, and the host, creator, and writer for its educational YouTube series, The Brain Scoop @ehmee Around this time …
Leadership, and Why You Need a SWOT Analysis (and a Personal Board of Directors)
Recently, I was poking around on LinkedIn, and found a couple of short posts that caught my attention. One was How to Do a SWOT Analysis on Yourself (and Why You Need One) by speaker, …
Strategizing Me: Making a Personal Career Plan Effective leaders create mission statements to shape their museum careers.
The one thing that can be said universally about people who work in the museum profession is that they’re here by choice. Nobody really twisted anybody’s arm to work among beautiful objects …