Community Engagement & Impact

Telling Tales: A Conversation with Andy Goodman

By John Strand

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2012 edition of the Museum magazine. As critical cogs in America’s educational infrastructure, museums tell the story of the country’s heritages-historic, cultural, …
Getting Personal: Making a Collection-Community Connection

By Joelle Seligson

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2012 edition of the Museum magazine. Everyone can relate to a dog. That was the philosophy underlying the National Postal Museum’s campaign on Owney the Postal Dog, the mangy mutt …
How a Cookbook Can Help Your Museum Engage with Food

By Elizabeth Merritt

I hope you’re planning to join us for the free Feeding the Spirit webinar, Friday, Feb. 17, 1:45-5 p.m. (ET). To help you plan your discussions before, during or after the webcast (as well as your menu for your potluck) we’ve assembled the …
Food: A Recipe for Successful Museums

By Elizabeth Merritt

I hope you’re planning to get together with colleagues to share “Feeding the Spirit: Museums, Food & Community,” CFM’s free webinar on Feb. 17, and explore food literacy, values-based food service and community building. If you’re …
Museum Food Services: Serving up our Missions and Eating our Words

By Elizabeth Merritt

What do visitors eat, when they come to your museum, and what messages do they take away from the experience? We’ve devoted many posts on this blog, over the past year, to celebrating how museums can help their communities improve their …
It’s Up 2 You!

By Elizabeth Merritt

The best way to get your message out is through whatever format your audience is already attuned to. This is not always (big shock) a 200 word exhibit text panel. The most effective medium might be video, a blog, a game, or a graphic …
The Virtual Classroom: A Conversation with Sal Khan

By Elizabeth Merritt

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2012 edition of the Museum magazine. As part of AAM’s ongoing exploration of the role museums will play in the future of America education, the Center for the Future of …
Feeding the Spirit Symposium: A Fresh Frame of Reference for Museums-Community-Food

By Elizabeth Merritt

This guest post is by David R. Curry, a member of the CFM Council. As someone who has refined a set of strategies to survive symposiums and conferences (which all too often seem like they could be half as long and twice as substantive) I …
SmartSteps at the Senator John Heinz History Center

By Elizabeth Merritt

Today’s guest post is from Lisa Dundon, manager of multimedia communications at the Senator John Heinz History Center. Lisa introduces a new video showcasing the History Center’s SmartSteps exhibit, demonstrating yet another way museums …
Connecting with Nature and Staying Fit at Lincoln Park Zoo

By Elizabeth Merritt

As Let’s Move! Museums & Gardens continues to roll out, the campaign has engendered some interesting discussions about potential tensions between a museum’s mission and health related activities. Nutrition and exercise may be a natural …