Michigan Museums Association MMA Blog

The Power of Collaboration: How Partnerships Strengthen Michigan’s Museum and Arts Community

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 17:22:09 GMT

I am by nature a collaborative person, so when Melissa told me that was the theme of this month’s MMA Review, I was all about it. Collaboration for MMA mostly comes in the form of serving as leadership for other organizations that do similar work to support the museum or arts and culture communities. I am currently on the boards of the UP Arts and Culture Alliance and the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan. Aside from investing in the success of the goals and activities of those organizations, which is really the core purpose of these partnerships, there are three other things that I think the collaborations have offered.

The first is resources. It is a rare meeting for any of these organizations that I don’t learn something that helps me do my job better, or helps MMA serve museums better. Just last week at the UP Arts and Culture Alliance meeting I got templates for two documents I’ve been working on and saw a board engagement activity that will help move a conversation we are also having at MMA.

While resources are a crucial aspect of collaboration, it's the relationships we build that truly enable those resources to be utilized effectively. I meet a lot of people that I’d be comfortable sending an email to, but I think it takes more consistent engagement to develop the kind of colleague relationships that I can really lean on. I barely knew Larry Wagenaar at the Historical Society of Michigan when I started at MMA, and our two organizations didn’t have a great connection at the time. But after serving on the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan board with him, I truly consider him a friend and someone I can call for help or perspective. We regularly talk about what we are working on and look for opportunities for our organizations to support each other’s work. And that is just one example of many of the relationships I’ve been able to develop with colleagues throughout the state because of our work together.

But I think the greatest benefit for these collaborations has been about opportunity. Because we are already sharing resources and have developed relationships, when an idea or need presents itself, we can spring into action. As part of the Board of the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan I met and worked with Debbie Mikula from the Michigan Library Association. One of the first things I did after I heard about the IMLS “reduction” on Saturday was send her an email. For those who may not be aware, this cut had the potential to significantly impact funding for libraries, museums, and archives. This week, MMA was part of the Joint Statement on IMLS from Michigan Libraries, Museums, and Archives released by the MLA, and we will continue to work together as the situation evolves. Would Debbie and I have connected if we didn’t already know each other? Probably. But it was so much easier to have the needed conversations because we did.

There is so much more to say about how collaboration has benefited the Michigan Museums Association and increased our capacity to serve the Michigan museum community. In the end, collaboration isn’t just about sharing resources, building relationships, or seizing opportunities, though these are certainly valuable outcomes. It’s about creating a network of mutual support that strengthens our collective impact. By working together, we multiply our effectiveness and expand our capacity to make meaningful change, not just within our organizations, but across the communities we serve. As I reflect on my own experiences, I’m reminded that the greatest successes come not from individual effort, but from the shared vision and strength we find in collaboration. It’s this spirit of cooperation that truly drives progress in the museum and cultural sectors, and it’s a mindset I’m proud to continue fostering through my work with MMA and beyond.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Building a Charismatic Organization: Creating Community and Engagement in Michigan’s Museums

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:37:44 GMT

I attended a conference shortly after I had become the Executive Director of the Michigan Museums Association (MMA) and attended a session focusing on being a “Charismatic Organization.” At the time, MMA was floundering. Our membership had been dropping, programming was limited, and we were really struggling to find some traction. But, that session, and the book it was anchored on, got me excited. It helped me better understand how to build an organization that embraced community building. I shared the idea with the board and recruited some volunteers and off we went.

One of the things I remember the most about the session is the idea that everyone who engages with the organization is part of it, and that everyone who wants to can be given the opportunity to participate in the organization’s work. The sample organization in the session was Kid’s Food Basket in Grand Rapids, which provides food for children to take home on weekends and breaks when their households may not have enough to feed everyone. The director talked about how they used volunteers to significantly increase their capacity, and that they worked hard to find meaningful ways to involve anyone who was interested. The example that I remember most was how they had (and still do have) people decorate the bags they use to pack the food. It’s a super easy (and fun!) activity and makes the food being distributed even more special. But that is just one of many ways to help and be part of their work. And, that is the point. They worked hard to understand how people wanted to be involved and provided as many ways as they could.

It's probably been a half-dozen years since I last looked at the book, but a quick Google search helped me find a refresher, and I am delighted to see that I think MMA is following most of their principles or at least trying to. Our goal is to provide as many ways as possible for people to be involved. Off the top of my head, here is a list of all the things people can do right now to be part of the Michigan museum community through MMA:

Submit a conference session proposal.
Nominate someone for an award for leadership.
Become a member of the Michigan Museums Association.
Propose a half-day workshop for the conference.
Nominate someone who is an advocate for the Michigan museum community for an award.
Become a Museum Partner or Corporate Partner with the Michigan Museums Association
Attend an online program, or several.
Attend Arts and Culture Advocacy Day.
Nominate an organization for a community engagement award.
Contact your elected officials to amplify the efforts of MMA staff and others in advocating for Michigan museums and the people who work in them.
Donate to MMA or MMA’s endowment.
Submit the name of a colleague to receive recognition as a colleague champion.
Consider including MMA in estate planning.
Share MMA social media posts.

And, that doesn’t even include things we offer other times of the year including joining a member community, attending and volunteering at the conference, attending mixers, and participating in the scholarship and year-end appeals.

What, you might ask, is the point of all of this? Am I asking for money AGAIN? Well even though I am never not asking for money, my point here is about action. Our intent is to build and sustain a community of people working and volunteering in Michigan’s museums. We are trying to provide a wide range of ways you can be part of something bigger than just your job or your museum. We are trying to help you learn from, connect with, and inspire and be inspired by others. We are doing what we can to provide opportunities, whether to join them is up to you.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Finding Strength in Advocacy: Using Your Voice Amidst the Chaos

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 17:48:18 GMT

January is always a busy time for our state and federal government, and this year is no exception. And let’s be honest—there is a lot going on. I sometimes get overwhelmed by politics and the constant drama. I find it challenging to navigate through the rhetoric and posturing to understand what is really going on, and even more so to understand how I can have an impact, if any. I am easily discouraged and extremely cynical.

And yet, I still send emails to my legislators. I still read about new legislation proposed and passed. And, I still travel to advocacy days in Washington, D.C. and Lansing. In fact, the more chaotic or frustrating the landscape is, the more determined I get. Even when I have zero expectations of impact, I keep at it. “But Lisa,” you might say, “you just said you are discouraged and pessimistic. Why don’t you just throw up your hands and walk away?” Because I am really, really stubborn. And, because I know that it is my right and also my responsibility to participate in the process, even if sometimes I feel covered in slime afterward.

I was just talking to someone the other day about meetings I’ve attended with legislators who I don’t agree with. I shared a story of the time I visited the offices of the Michigan legislator who introduced bills to defund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Ok, so the meeting was not with the actual legislator, but it was with the staff member who likely wrote the language for the bill. So same difference.

I was dreading the meeting, but once I was there, I suddenly felt energized. As I calmly talked through the different “asks” of the meeting, including support of the Institute for Museum Library Services (IMLS) which is basically a sibling of the NEA and NEH, I felt a clear sense of purpose, and I shockingly felt empowered. Not to actually bring about change with that particular office— again, see deeply cynical above—but about having a voice and sharing it. As I shared how museums in that legislator’s district benefitted from public funding, including IMLS, NEA, NEH, it felt good. It felt good to talk about the work of Michigan’s museums and the impact they have in their communities. It felt good to tell stories of experiences at museums that had real meaning. And, it felt good to look them in the eye and make clear that their efforts to defund these entities would have a very real impact on their constituents. Apparently, even when feeling powerless, it still feels good to say words out loud that articulate what I think is important, especially to someone who didn’t appear to value that.

It is this experience, and this story, that I think of most when I feel discouraged and overwhelmed. I might not like the direction we are headed, and I might not think I can bring about significant change, but by golly I can use my voice and make sure the people who are representing me understand my perspective. And that feels important too.

Speaking of having a voice, there are two chances for members of the Michigan museums community to share theirs next month. A delegation from Michigan will be attending Museums Advocacy Day next month on February 24 and 25th. We will visit every Michigan office and ask for support for IMLS (and NEA and NEH) and incentives for charitable deductions for museum donations. You can participate by sending emails to your legislators that week that amplify our asks and give specific examples of how their actions impact your work and museum. Watch the MMA Weekly for more information about how to do that. The second chance is to attend Arts and Culture Advocacy Day in Lansing on February 27. For that event, you will connect with others involved in arts and culture organizations in Michigan and have meetings with your legislators or their staff (which I often prefer). Again, watch the MMA Weekly about how to participate.

Discouraged or empowered, it’s good to use your voice when it comes to advocacy!

The Future is Now

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 17:49:25 GMT

I am still smiling from my experience at the annual conference last month in Kalamazoo! It was so wonderful to see everyone and get to spend time together (in person!) talking about the important work of museums. I am already looking forward to next year’s conference, which will be in the Greater Lansing area October 13–15. The tentative theme of the conference (we might still wordsmith a tad) is “The Future is Now,” and I wanted to share a little more about that.

As I headed downstate to do site visits to select the location for the 2025 conference, I recalled that at the 2015 conference we asked people what changes the field would see by 2025. During our site visits we saw a lot of manifestation of the innovation in the field that had been developing for the last decade or so. It was a lightbulb moment for me to see how so many things that were “coming” in 2015 have now arrived.

Thinking about that gave me pause to consider not just change, but the pace of change. Yes, the future we envisioned (or never saw coming) in 2015 is here, but so is the future we envisioned yesterday. It feels like the speed of change is accelerating and happening almost before we see it coming.

Thinking about the idea of the future made me wonder what other conversations we might have around it. I have some thoughts, and I hope you will think about it too and consider being part of the conversation next year.

If you are interested in being part of the 2025 conference, we will have three planning teams (programs, events, and activities) that will meet January through May. We will also invite people to submit proposals for concurrent sessions, conversation stations, and Pecha Kucha-like presentations this coming winter and we expect to have the conference fully planned and open for early-bird registration by summer.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Navigating Changing Landscapes—Literally

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:14:29 GMT

Melissa, Natalie, and I had a chance to visit Kalamazoo earlier this month to do some final site visits to get ready for the conference. As I was driving into town, I suddenly remembered the origin story for this year's theme—road construction!

Our first visit to Kalamazoo was last year, when we were selecting the location for the 2024 conference. When we were there, it seemed like everyone was talking about the streets of downtown and the project to redirect traffic through the commercial district. The project is taking several one-way thoroughfares and turning them back into two-way streets. The goal is to slow down traffic and allow for more space for bicycles and pedestrians. It is very exciting, but the result is a literal changing landscape that our colleagues in Kalamazoo were having to adjust to and navigate on a regular basis.

As the topic came up again and again, it reminded me of how I was feeling at the time—that so many things were changing. We were still readjusting after pandemic disruptions, and it seems like so many shifts have happened in the past several years—generational leadership, technology development, public expectations, supply chains... Within the museum community, there has been massive turnover and changing investment. Just like the Kalamazoo folks, we have been adjusting and navigating all of our own changing landscapes. It seemed destined to be our theme.

Since then, we have selected keynote speakers, concurrent sessions, museum cafe topics, and Pecha Kucha presenters—all of which are tied in some way to how we are getting around in this transitioning world. I am looking forward to learning about many strategies and experiences related to work, and hearing different perspective on how people are approaching it. It's going to be a great conference.

Those of you coming to the conference will encounter our theme inspiration yourselves, because that downtown landscape is still under construction. But you'll make your way through the detours and roadblocks, just as we have been in our museum work.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Build Stronger Connections with MMA Member Communities

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 12:58:35 GMT

It’s renewal and recruiting time for MMA Member Communities, which means I’m having lots of conversations about building relationships. The Member Community program is intended to help members connect with each other around a professional development goal by sharing with and learning from each other. Of course, the learning part is a priority, but even more important to us in this program is the “each other” part. Member Communities are about the work we do, but also the colleagues we have relationships with.

We spend a lot of time during conference planning creating times and spaces so participants can meet and talk with each other. We know that one of the most important parts of that event is the connections that are created and renewed there each year. I completely understand that. Many times throughout my career, I have had sets of “conference friends” who I only saw once a year at whatever conference we were regularly attending. And, while I felt a strong connection to these colleagues, a bond can only go so deep when you only see each other for a few hours once a year.

My colleague relationships have been much stronger when I’ve served on projects, boards, or committees with people. It is easier to get to know someone’s work style, talents, and personality when you see them regularly, and those types of encounters build trust and connection. Even decades later, it is nothing for me to send a text or email to many of these colleagues with a question or to ask advice.

Those are the types of colleague relationships we are trying to create time and space for with the MMA Member Communities. We want you to be able to engage and connect with colleagues from throughout the state in a deeper way than at the conference. We want you to get to know each other’s work and expertise through ongoing exposure to each other. And, we want you to build trust and connection.

There are currently five member communities available to join and a process for creating even more. I hope you consider being part of one of these groups to connect with your colleagues on a higher level.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Join the Conversation: Sign Up for 2025 MMA Member Communities!

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 12:43:24 GMT

Sign-Ups for 2025 Member Communities are now open! MMA Member communities are groups of MMA members that meet virtually on a regular basis around a professional development topic. All members are invited to join one or more of the member communities based on your interests, professional development needs, and job responsibilities. Member communities are a wonderful way to network and connect with colleagues, share ideas, troubleshoot, brainstorm, and learn new skills to add to your professional toolkit.

We currently have five member communities: Productivity and Time Management, Historic House Museums, Membership and Development, Exhibit Professionals, and Volunteer-Led Museums.

The Productivity and Time Management member community is open to any member interested in learning about and sharing resources to increase productivity and maximize time management skills. This group welcomes all perspectives in regard to productivity and time management skill building.

The Historic House Museums member community is open to any member who works in any capacity at a historic house museum. With a unique work environment, this group focuses on sharing ideas, resources, and experiences to help each other with issues and topics unique to historic house museums. Members working in roles in any aspect of running a historic house museum are invited to join, as topics are all inclusive.

The Membership and Development member community is open to anyone who has a role in membership and/or development at their institutions. Whether it is your primary role or just one of many, members are invited to join in on the discussion to share resources, ask for advice, share tools and feedback, and discuss new ideas or trends within the field.

The Exhibit Professionals member community is specifically for members whose primary role is in exhibition development and/or design. To join this group, exhibits must be your primary work focus. Members of this group come together to share knowledge relating to design, accessibility, interpretation, and visitor experience to create the foundation for high-quality exhibitions at their institutions. Their focus is to learn from each other, support each other, and discuss emerging topics and trends in exhibit work.

The Volunteer-Led Museums member community is specifically designed for members who maintain and operate museums led by volunteers. Topics discussed in this group focus on the roles and responsibilities that are often handled by trained museum staff in bigger museums that are critical to the success of all-volunteer museums with fewer resources and less training. Discussions focus on idea and resource sharing, troubleshooting and brainstorming, and sharing decisions or providing updates on projects in which they seek peer feedback.

Click here to learn more about the member communities and to read each group's purpose statement.

All groups use Basecamp to connect and communicate and have monthly check-ins via Zoom that focus on a new topic each month. Recruitment and planning meetings are taking place August-October, and the monthly check-ins will run November-May. There will be opportunities to learn more about the member communities and to meet some current members at the annual conference in Kalamazoo this October. There will also be the opportunity to start new member communities on topics not currently represented—keep an eye out for updates on how to start that process in the near future.

The only requirements for joining a member community are that you must be a current MMA member, and you must commit to attending the monthly Zoom meetings at the scheduled time as often as possible. Participation is the key to success in a member community!

To join an MMA Community, please complete this form by October 31, 2024. We hope you will consider joining a member community for the 2025 season!

On the Road Again

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:16:33 GMT

2023 is off to a great start for the Michigan Museums Association, and for the first time in several years, I am back to having a more robust travel schedule. I had a trip to Grand Rapids, Flint, and Lansing at the end of January, and it is great to be back on the road again.

However, it is interesting how my travel has changed since the pandemic. In 2019, the last year I had a “typical” travel schedule, I felt a lot of pressure on my trips to initiate relationships and participate in meetings because I felt like I couldn’t do those things well from Northern Michigan. But, because we can do so much virtually, neither of those things felt that important this time around.

This has made me consider the opportunities travel provides:

Real-life Presence: The MMA staff spends several hours together each week via Zoom, but I got to spend time in-person with both Claire and Yitzack during my trip and it was wonderful to just BE with them more than two-dimensionally. I felt the same about having long dinners, and even walking down the sidewalk with others. It was wonderful to just be in the presence of members of the Michigan museum community in real life.

Deep engagement: The MMA Strategic Planning team has met for MANY hours working through the process, but we got more done in the three hours we met last month than we had in most of the hours on Zoom combined. It was easier to think, respond, and engage sitting around a table and looking at each other, rather than staring at our flat screens. We can engage on Zoom, but deep engagement, especially around discussion and decision making, seems better in person.

Perspective: I spend long hours at my desk each week, so getting away from that space, but still being in work mode was really helpful. I listened to work-related podcasts on the long car rides, and then was able to spend a whole morning processing some of the ideas I had as a result. I appreciated the chance to step away from the day-to-day and reflect in a way I couldn’t at my desk.

There are many more things I appreciate about my work travel, but those three have really given me something to think about. It makes me wonder how we can consider those elements in planning ALL in-person activities for MMA. Now, that we can get the basics done virtually, how can we be present, have deep engagement, and get perspective when we come together?

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Gratitude

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 17:19:28 GMT

As you’ve now read, MMA is going to say goodbye to Claire Johnston in her current role. To say we are sad is an understatement. As you obviously know, she is very good at her job. She has brought thoughtfulness and class to everything she’s done.

I was an MMA Board member when Claire joined that group in 2010. One of my first memories of Claire on the board was her asking a question about how MMA was serving small museums. She has been an advocate for them, and all MMA members, every since. As Vice President for Programs, Claire did so much, but I especially remember her efforts on the 2014 conference, which was very frustrating at times.

I was thrilled to pieces when she applied to be the Membership Assistant in 2017. She has done much in that role including establishing a process for engaging lapsed members and implementing several membership level transitions. I don’t think the back-end management of the membership program was Claire’s favorite part of her job, but I know that engaging with members was, and she leaves that program in wonderful shape. We shifted Claire's role to also include communications in 2018, and that has been a game changer for MMA. She grew the communications program, which did not exist as an actual program when she took it on, to a robust set of communications tools and systems that not only “share the news”, but also connect the Michigan museum community with resources and expertise to help their museums thrive. She has set a high bar for whoever comes next.

I know I can speak for Yitzack and the MMA Board of Directors when I say that though we will miss all that Claire did in her “job” at MMA, we will miss all that she is as a colleague, co-worker, and friend even more. She has made our lives better and our work easier for having been part of MMA, and we wish only the best for her.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Wishes

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:59:01 GMT

I always look forward to the end of the year. I appreciate the chance to look back on the successes of the year, and I’m glad to feel the relief that challenging projects are over! Once I’ve properly processed and found closure for the past twelve months, I reward myself by thinking about all the hopes and dreams I have for the coming year.

My 2023 wish list for MMA is for a wonderful awards celebration in May, a fabulous conference in October, many hours engaging with the Michigan museum community, sharing lots of great information and resources to help people in their museum work, and the chance to talk to people about the value of museums. I also wouldn’t mind solid revenue numbers, lots of staff and board bonding, and really good time management on my end, so I can enjoy all of the above.

This got me thinking about my wish list for the Michigan museums community. My wishes for you are a more stable and predictable year, being valued by the people you serve and sustained by your community, connections to the information you need and the people who can support you, and many moments when you feel a sense of success in your mission.

Congratulations on making it to the end of 2022! May the New Year bring you all of my wishes for you and time to spend with the Michigan Museums Association!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Gratitude

Wed, 16 Nov 2022 16:02:49 GMT

I know that it’s a cliché to talk about gratitude in November, but I’m doing it anyway. There is just so much to appreciate right now that I have to talk about it. Here is my short list:

The conference – it was wonderful to be together again. Thank you to everyone who made it possible, including all those who were able to attend! I can’t wait for next year in Flint.

The anniversary – We just spent a year learning about and sharing the history of the Michigan Museums Association. I thought I knew a lot already, but nope. I learned so much more. So many people have made it possible for MMA to have #50YearsTogether!

Museum people - I will never not love museum people. The work you are doing makes your community and people’s lives better. Museums are about connecting – people to stories, stories to artifacts, experiences to understanding. Museums make the kind of connections we need in the world today. Museum people are the ones that make that happen. You are superheroes!

The MMA community – The Michigan Museums Association board, members, partners, staff and supporters are amazing. They come together to help each other and the rest of the Michigan museum community. They are about the whole, not the individual. They are generous. They are smart. They are awesome.

Thank you for your work, your generosity, and for being part of the Michigan museum community. I am grateful for you!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Anniversary

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 17:46:38 GMT

This MMA Review marks the final activity in a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Michigan Museums Association (MMA). By my count, we have shared parts of MMA history in 12 editions of the MMA Review and in 56 social media posts. We raised $13,500 for the endowment. We had two parties—including one that had a plaid parade(!)—and spent part of the conference reflecting on #50YearsTogether.

There were many people who participated in all of the above, but two in particular were instrumental. MMA Board Member Michelle McClellan served as the historian for the anniversary and explored and analyzed boxes and boxes of archival materials to extrapolate the timeline and narrative of MMA. The volume of her effort was only surpassed by the work of MMA Membership and Communications Coordinator Claire Johnston who crafted the MMA Review sections and dug deep for social media content. I have appreciated the chance to work with them on this project for a year, and I will miss our conversations about whatever nugget had been discovered since we last met. We didn’t end up doing everything we wanted for the anniversary, but it still feels like we had a worthy commemoration.

One of my favorite parts of this anniversary year was hearing from others about MMA. People have shared photos of colleagues, copies of newsletters, and stories of conferences all over the state. It has been fun to see how others have experienced what MMA offered over the years and the friendships that have been formed.

However, as part of MMA leadership, I have been especially inspired by the ebbs and flows of the work of the organization and in appreciating the sheer volume of hours and levels of commitment people have given to MMA. I feel strongly that what we do at MMA is important. It is important to support those of you working and volunteering in museums, and it’s important that the Michigan museum community has a place to come together. It’s important that museums have a collective voice to the rest of the state.

The work of MMA is important, but it can also sometimes be a tad overwhelming. We are a HUGE state, and MMA is tiny. There is SO MUCH to be done. But, after spending twelve months learning about all the people who gave so much of themselves to MMA over the years, I am recharged and motivated to keep my head down and continue the work. There will be more highs and low ahead, but it is the work we do together that will get us through the next 50 years!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Finding Our People

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 14:22:09 GMT

I attended the American Association for State and Local History conference this month. In addition to making and renewing lots of connections and getting a good sense of what is happening in the history museum world, it gave me a chance to reflect upon the parts of a conference that are most meaningful to me.

I appreciated the “content” of the conference and all of the concrete information that I learned. It gave me things I can apply to my work to be more impactful (I hope). But, as I think back to all the moments of the conference, it is the conversations and discussions I had outside of the formal sessions that had the most impact. These ranged from talks with different people and groups about the status of museum “work”—including pay equity, training, mentoring, and leadership—to chuckles in the corridors or hallways as someone made a museum or history crack about what we were experiencing.

As I think back on all of those moments, I can see a common thread. I felt a sense of connection, belonging, and understanding with other people. It was a space where I could get into the weeds about something few people in my “real” life could relate to or share a laugh about something that again, is only funny to a small niche of people. We shared a point of reference, either in museums or history, and that jump started or renewed our relationship. I don’t mean that I felt completely at ease and never had a moment of loneliness or insecurity. There were plenty of those. But there were far more interactions that affirmed my passion and interest in the work of museums and in history. I felt validated about what I care about in a way that hardly ever happens in real life. I was with my people.

I hope that MMA is a place where the Michigan museum community can “find their people.” Yes, we want to help everyone find resources and learn skills to help you in your work, but just as important is that we help you find the others in Michigan who get your museum jokes. We want you to find your people too!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

The Fog - Revisited

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 17:46:08 GMT

Two years ago, I wrote here about how experiencing the pandemic reminded me of driving through the fog. I knew I was moving, but I had no clue what anything looked like more than a few feet ahead of me. I talked about anticipating the part of driving through the fog when it would lift and I’d be able to see enough to start to figure out where I was. THAT is how I am feeling right now. I can see where I am going, but I’m not sure where I am yet.

In many ways, August of 2022 has looked much like August of 2019. The staff has been talking about the conference incessantly, members are checking in with us about their registrations and membership status, and we’ve started thinking about upcoming projects like the year-end appeal and Museums Advocacy Day. This is all pretty normal and consistent with other years.

But yet, almost nothing feels familiar. Conference planning feels like we are starting from scratch, we are encountering decreased capacity, and almost everything we are doing is costing more or taking longer, or both. Does this sound familiar? It certainly seems like many people are having a similar experience.

The good news is that the fog IS lifting and we CAN see where we are going more clearly. Sure, we might be driving more slowly and not know exactly where we are, but at least we can see the traffic around us and the road signs along the way. It’s frustrating to still be unsure of where we are, but we are still going, and that is the most important thing!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Slow Growth

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 19:30:51 GMT

When my kids were growing up, we used to mark their height on the doorframe with a sharpie, usually on birthdays. It was always fun to see how they had grown. Sometimes there wasn't a huge change in height, and other times it was a big jump. I was really bad at guessing ahead of time and was usually way under. I was just too close to see the change over time.

Last week, I gave our annual "Services to the Field" presentation to the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. Because of COVID, it had been over four years since I'd last reported during a meeting. To prepare, I had Claire Johnston, MMA's Membership & Communications Coordinator, put together some statistics that showed change since then. Yowsa. We are MUCH taller than we were in 2018.

Since that time, our membership has grown 36% and so has our Facebook engagement. Our membership revenue has grown by 46%! In April of 2018, when I last did our report, Claire had only been part of the MMA staff for a year and was still just a Membership Assistant. She has now been on staff for over five years with increased responsibility, and that impact is obvious from the above statistics.

One of strategies for MMA over the years, except for during COVID of course, has been slow, incremental growth. We tweak things that are stable, lean in to things that are working, and set aside things that don't seem to have traction. I feel like I often say that we focus on the low hanging fruit. That can be frustrating because it often means it takes a very long time for a new idea to be implemented in a robust way. But, when we step back for a minute and take some measurements, it's easier to see the progress.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Check out the full set of slides from the MACC presentation.

Scholarships

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 14:08:15 GMT

One of my favorite things about the Michigan Museums Association is how generous everyone is. This week, we launched our campaign for scholarships to attend the fall conference. So, I’ve been looking at numbers and statistics and the names of past recipients. Did you know that MMA members have provided 71 scholarships over the past six years? That’s amazing to me!

I just looked back at the list of our first scholarship recipients in 2016. We created the program that year because we were worried that people would not be able to attend the more-expensive joint conference with the American Association for State and Local History. We were able to send 18 people to that conference and at least half would not have been able to attend at all without the scholarship.

Looking at the names made me smile. Quite a few recipients from that year are very engaged MMA members that I see regularly. One is now serving on the MMA Board of Directors, and another is currently helping plan this year’s conference. Clearly, that investment has paid off!

Another list that makes me smile, is the donor list. It is usually a wide range of people from all types and sizes of museums, and for many different amounts. One year a donor gave us $3.86. I have no idea what that was about, but I was thrilled to get it. Scholarship donations usually bring in more and different donors than what we typically see with the year-end appeal (the fundraiser that helps fund MMA operations), and I’m good with that. There is no better indication of the strength of the Michigan museum community than seeing the number of people who want to help a colleague or a total stranger!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Together

Thu, 26 May 2022 17:33:00 GMT

We are a little more than halfway through our year of celebrating #50YearsTogether for MMA. After spending much of the first half focused on the 50 years part and then having our first gathering in 30 months a few weeks ago, I have been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be together.

Service to the Michigan museum community is the heart and soul of the Michigan Museums Association, but it is the coming together part that fuels our fire. We’ve seen that over the past several years with the move to online programs. We saw that earlier this month with the Anniversary and Awards Celebration event. And, we’ve seen it time and time again over the past 50 years, starting with that founding group who got together to form a new organization.

Amazing things happen when the Michigan museums community comes together. Sometimes, it is just an individual feeling of community and belonging that comes from being in the same room with dozens (or hundreds) of other people who are committed to the work of museums. Sometimes, it is a personal moment of insight or inspiration that projects a person forward in the way they can approach their job or career. Sometimes two people or a group of people make a connection that leads to collaboration. And, sometimes, there is a spark that leads to a movement.

I am so grateful to be getting back to the work of bringing the Michigan museum community together in real life(!), but also to take some time during the rest of our anniversary to reflect upon what that means.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Awards

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 15:40:46 GMT

I have been thinking a lot about celebrating again lately. I taught the Project Management for History Professionals course for the American Association for State and Local History this winter, and the last concept we covered was the idea of celebrating the conclusion of a project. You may recall that I struggle with this step, and apparently others do as well. We had some great conversations about why this is an important thing to do for a project, but also why we don’t do it enough.

It turns out that celebration is important for a lot of things. I have been reading the book Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg. He really leans on the power of celebration in adding a new activity to your life. He talks a little about this in this video “C'mon, you gotta celebrate!” (about halfway down the page). Celebrating is not just nice — it’s science too!

And, speaking of celebrations, we are going to have a big one on May 12! There is so much to honor including 50 years of MMA, the Peninsulas Prize recipients for leadership and DEAI work, and the President’s Award for service. We will also acknowledge five people who have been significant donors to MMA, a dozen MMA members who have been appreciated by their colleagues, and 35 people who completed the full 2021 Leadership Series. That’s a lot of celebrating! I can’t wait.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Growth

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 13:07:25 GMT

I remember when my kids were little; I got really good at anticipating a growth spurt. They would often seem to be putting on weight, then they would get super cranky, and the next thing I knew, their pants were too short! I am sure someone has studied organizational change enough to be able to list the indicators for organizations, but it is only now that I can see how MMA has been building up to a growth spurt in the same way that my kids did.

I have been with MMA for ten years this summer, and we have been growing in small increments ever since then. First, I was VERY part-time. Then, I was half-time. At that point, we were able to add a quarter-time position (Claire) which then grew to half-time. Once Claire's position settled, my time started to grow again, and now I am three-quarters time, which is where I’d like to be a little bit longer.

Before 2020, our programs and services were growing as well. The conference was more robust each year and we started the Meet and Eat program that kept growing. When COVID hit we moved to Zoom and have now developed a program of online offerings including MMA member communities. We’ve been getting wider and wider for ten years!

But lately, we’ve been a little cranky. Or perhaps more accurately, stressed out. Both Claire and I have far more items on our to do list than time. It doesn’t feel sustainable or good. Hence the cranky.

And now here comes the fun part – a growth spurt! The MMA board of directors approved a new position for MMA earlier this month, and we have already gotten many applications from wonderful candidates. It will be a big change to go from a team of two to a team of three, but we are SO EXCITED. Our strategy for the new position will follow the slow growth pattern as well. It will start at quarter-time and grow as our capacity (and revenue) increases. We know how that works, and we can’t wait to make it happen.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Advocacy: The Long Game

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 18:50:48 GMT

At my first Museums Advocacy Day in 2013, one of the presentations painted the big picture of what we were trying to achieve. They shared stories of groups that were focused on bringing about change, especially in Federal legislation. They talked about how daunting the goal was at the beginning but how a little at a time the group strategically chipped away at it until they found success. I have in my notes that the goal of Museums Advocacy Day was to “move the needle from nice to have to need to have.”

In thinking about that goal today, my initial response was that the needle hasn’t moved at all and it still feels like a daunting challenge to get more investment in museums. But, then I thought about how museums were included in the various pandemic relief packages. I don’t think we can say that museums are considered a core need for communities, but the fact that we were considered worth saving says something. And actually, I think it says a lot. This year marks the tenth time I am participating in Museums Advocacy Day, and I honestly can never remember thinking, “Wow, we are really making a difference” at any particular time. But clearly, we HAVE moved the needle.

On the state level, the development of the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan is one of the most exciting things I’ve done so far in my career. It is exciting to be joining with others in the state to help move the needle for arts and cultural organizations in Lansing. That seems quite daunting as well, but I know if we keep at it, the needle will move there too.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Followship is Under-rated

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 16:45:34 GMT

Leadership is an important focus of MMA, but today let’s take a moment to consider the importance of followship too.

Dictionary.com defines the action of following as, “to go or come after; move behind in the same direction.” Followship is not the same as that. Followship, according to that same source is, “the practice of doing what other people suggest, rather than taking the lead”. I think the most notable part of this is the second half — rather than taking the lead. To me, the idea of followship is realizing that an idea you have or an action you want to take is shared by someone else and then making the choice to go along with them, instead of going a different direction on your own.

At first glance, this idea doesn’t seem that significant, or even hard. The world is full of followers. For some, following can be harder than leading. Our culture is so oriented to individualism and individualization, we are used to doing our own thing. Followship requires us to let go, at least a little, of having everything exactly how we want it. It requires that we go along with something, even if we know we could do it better. That is hard!

As we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of MMA, we are learning and talking a lot about the leadership of the organization. Followship has been critical for MMA as well. For every person who stepped up to lead, there were many more who may or may not have agreed with the direction or focus, but came along anyway. I think about all the times the organization has faltered or stalled, and I am sure there were many who were frustrated during those times. They didn’t give up and they didn’t start over somewhere else. They stuck with it and supported those who were leading by being followers. And it is those people, and their ability to let someone else lead, that has made what we do possible. Today, I celebrate the current and past followship of the Michigan Museums Association. Thank you to all of you!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Celebration

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 14:35:28 GMT

How do you celebrate the successful completion of a project?” That was a question from my career coach earlier this month that stopped me in my tracks. We were discussing how I tend to take on two new projects to replace one that is ending. In my head, the issue was that my enthusiasm for good endeavors was greater than my capacity. But in that question, my coach helped me see that at least part of the issue was lack of closure. And indeed, one of the hardest parts of a project for me is completing and filing the final report. And because I dislike that stage, I tend to want to jump right to the next thing.

Further discussion identified that I don’t even have ideas for how to celebrate most of my projects. To me, the uber-extravert, a celebration must include other people. But I work alone and somehow a screen celebration just doesn’t do it for me. My coach pointed out that an effective closure celebration just needs to be different, not necessarily with others. We decided that to celebrate finally finishing the report for the 2021 conference, the last thing I need to do for that project, I will go to my wonderful local coffee shop and catch up on my professional reading. I’ll still be working, just doing something I enjoy and don’t often feel like I have time for. It’s a win, win.

That got me wondering what other tasks or completions I put off because I don’t want to do them? Or what are things that I like to do but that fall to the bottom of the priority list because other things are more pressing? As a result, I shredded a stack of papers (so satisfying) to celebrate completing the MMA bookkeeping for November (so tedious). Now, I can’t wait for December to end so I can reorganize a drawer in the file cabinet!

I am guessing that I will still take on more work than I should, but I am also enjoying coming up with ways to bask in the moment of completion when I wrap something up. What are some ways that you mark the end of a job well done?

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

On Conferences and Tourism

Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:35:51 GMT

Those of you that follow MMA on social media probably saw that earlier this month I attended the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Detroit. I was involved in the planning, but I had never been to a gathering of this group before. It was a great experience, and I came away with many thoughts about all of you.

Stories of museums and culture and creativity were peppered throughout the conference. The Monroe County Museum System won an award. A promo for the U.S. Travel Conference that will be held in Grand Rapids next summer features museums and arts and culture front and center. Several MMA member institutions were highly visible as sponsors or participants. If I had kept track, I think almost every presentation had a reference to a museum at least once.

But despite the clear relationship between museums and the tourism industry, it doesn’t seem to be something that gets talked about much. I spent most of the conference thinking about how MMA could advocate for museums within the tourism industry. I have spent just as much time since thinking about what the museum community can learn and gain from the tourism industry. Let’s start talking more about this, shall we? I think there is much to be gained for both groups.

In the meantime, I CAN’T WAIT to start gathering again at MMA. We are doing great things online now and that will not end, but there is just something so special about being in the same room with people as they learn and connect together. I am excited to feel that Michigan museum energy again in 2022!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Conference Gratitude

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 12:52:29 GMT

I’ve learned a lot about many things over the past 19 months, but something that I knew already, and was reinforced many times, over is that Michigan Museums Association people are generous and creative and ambitious and persistent. And in no other way were those things more visible than in our 2021 virtual conference.

I was not excited about the idea of a virtual conference. To me, the whole point of a conference is to be together. In person. I even wrote about that in this very publication several years ago, long before the pandemic. However, in early 2021, when it seemed clear that we could not reasonably plan for an in-person conference for the year, it was obviously the best path forward. And while it did not feel as satisfying as an in-person event, there was much about it that did feel like we were connecting and coming together to me. It did feel like we had a successful conference that met our goals and kept our values. It was a great conference.

There were MANY people that made the success of the conference possible. First and foremost was the MMA Board of Directors. Conversations about the 2021 conference began in the summer of 2020, when we decided to end our contract with our planned venue. The board met monthly and considered every concern and risk. It was a painful decision to have to move to a virtual conference, but they were thoughtful and serious and decided what they felt was best.

Another group of people who were critical to the success of the conference were the many volunteers. Members of the programs and events teams, the speakers and session presenters, the individual volunteers who helped with the sessions, and the various people we talked to over the course of the seven months of planning. So many people generously offered their creativity and experience and wisdom at many points along the way.

A person who clearly deserves her own shout-out is Claire Johnston, MMA Membership and Communications Coordinator. This was one of the most challenging MMA projects that we have had, and her sense of humor and calm demeanor helped carry the project through many stressful moments.

But the most important people who ensured the success of the conference were the participants. Many, many people invested their time and focus into being “present” at the conference even though we were apart. Participants carved out space, physically and mentally, to make the conference time feel different. They used the engagement features as part of the conference platform to connect with other participants. Moreover, they leaned-in to sharing, listening, learning and talking about leadership, social justice, and museums.

Much about MMA has changed during the pandemic, but one thing that has remained the same is the determination of the Michigan museum community to come together as best we can to share and learn and support and inspire each other. Thanks for all of that!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Value of COSMA

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 13:30:03 GMT

Happy State Museum Association Day everyone! What? You didn’t know there was a State Museum Association Day? There is! Today is a day to think about your state museum association (MMA, of course) and the ways that we serve the museum community in Michigan. I hope it doesn’t take you very long to think of at least one way, and I REALLY hope you can think of many ways. We are trying!

State Museum Association Day is the brain child of the Coalition for State Museum Associations (COSMA), a group that is near and dear to my heart. The organization is only a few years old and still coming into its own, but it has already become a critical support for the Michigan Museums Association and me.

Just like MMA works to help you access resources and come together with other museum people in Michigan, COSMA helps me learn things I need to know for my work and connects me with other state museum association people. COSMA hosts webinars with experts in things like fundraising, advocacy, DEAI, and member engagement.

The most important thing that COSMA has done for me, though, is to help me get to know others working in state museum associations. Because of COSMA, I have a community of people I can look to for help, support and inspiration. They are the first people I turn to when I have something new to learn, a hard decision to make, or something to celebrate. It’s good to have a community that “gets” your work. COSMA is that to me.

So what are you doing to celebrate State Museum Association Day? After work, I am going to make myself a COSMApolitan (get it?) and then make a donation to the Coalition of State Museum Associations in gratitude for all they do for me and my favorite state museum association!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Pros and Cons of Remote Conferencing

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:49:57 GMT

I am attending a virtual conference for state museum associations this week in the midst of efforts to finalize OUR conference sessions and activities. It is both fun and maddening. But mostly I am getting some good insight into what our online conference might be like for you. Here are my thoughts about what was missing, and what wasn’t:

There were a few things missing from my conference experience:

Escape – I am sitting at the desk I sit at every day, surrounded by my calendars and to do lists. I have cleared my surfaces, but it is impossible to ignore that I am in the same place I usually am.
Adventure – To me, going to a conference means a road trip, sometimes with others, and navigating new places. I had zero problems making my way up the stairs to my office, and had no problem finding a place to sit.
Hugs – There were a lot of smiles and emojis on my screen, but no hugs or handshakes, which made me sad.

On the other hand, some of my favorite parts of a conference still happened:

Connection – I met new people and got to spend a lot of time with people I already knew. It was fun to have the time for longer engagement and I did get to know people better, even through a screen. Honestly, this surprised me the most of all.
Learning – I learned so much! There were several formal presentations, and it almost felt like they were sitting across the table from me. I felt a closer connection and paid attention better. It was also easier to take notes and to look things up on the Google if I wanted more information.
Inspiration – Sometimes the Zoom feels a little flat to me so I had pretty low expectations. But because of the above, and because I was hearing from people doing the same work that I am, it was really exciting and I ended my experience feeling re-energized and inspired.
Retreat – I really wanted to be able to experience this conference, so I did my best to create a space for it. I cleared my schedule and emptied off my desk. I even bought a case of my favorite La Croix water to drink. I did do a little of my regular work, but I tried to limit that to break times. To help me pay attention, I worked on a knitting project that gave my fingers something to do so I could keep my brain focused. Obviously, it wasn’t a “real” break from the usual, but I do feel like I was “away” a little.

Tomorrow it will be back to the usual for me, but I am surprisingly re-energized and refreshed. I am also feeling optimistic that the 2021 Virtual MMA Conference will be the same for you. I hope to “see” you there!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Glancing at 2020 in the Rearview Mirror

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 18:47:31 GMT

We are excited for the chance to share the 2020 MMA Annual Report in this issue of the MMA Review. We have been building toward having a “real” annual report to share for many years. It started as a verbal presentation about the year so far at the annual fall business meeting, and then became a set of infographics shared at the conference. A few years ago we shifted to sharing infographics for the whole year in January, and now this version includes more detail. I expect that the format will continue to evolve over time until we settle into a report that we think works best. We want our members and supporters to have a good sense of what we accomplish each year with the help of so many donors and volunteers.

Putting together my section for the report meant I had to go back and look at my calendar for the year and my notes for all of our projects and activities. You’d think that 2020 would be burned into my memory, but it was actually just the opposite. Most of the year is just a blur to me, and the farther we move from it, the smaller it all seems. Unlike watching my children grow up, I have no desire to hold on to memories from a year that was so stressful and challenging for so many.

On the other hand, I appreciate all that I am taking with me from that time. If life is a road trip, the museum-mobile is filled with the colleagues I had a chance to connect with for the first time or repeatedly during the year via Zoom. The trunk is filled with boxes of new skills and the results of many experiments that have helped us build our online programs into something that is now a permanent part of MMA. Tied to the roof are bins of strategies and plans that the board was able to focus on even as their own organizations were in crisis.

I am not sure I have ever been quite as happy to watch something disappear down the horizon as I am the year 2020, but I will be forever grateful for the way the Michigan museum community and MMA came together.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Processing

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:16:22 GMT

I have been talking to lots of different members about their ideas for conference session proposals, which is very exciting. There are lots of great session topic ideas going around and I know it’s going to be a great conference. But most of the conversations I’ve been having started with something else besides big ideas about the future. Many conversations began with sharing the stress and often trauma of what people have gone through since last March.

It seems like now that there is a light at the end of the tunnel or, more accurately, that we seem to be coming out of the tunnel, people are ready to start to articulate more about how hard this past year+ has been. It is hard to hear, but it is so important.

I think I have mentioned before that I have been seeing a therapist for several years. I have struggled with anxiety and depression for much of my adult life, especially when my kids were little and when my mom was sick with Alzheimer’s. When my daughter left for college in 2017, I had a really hard time. I had tried therapy before, but either I couldn’t afford it or the therapist wasn’t a good match. Fortunately, a few different things came together at that time and I was able to connect with someone who could help. Now, I feel better than I have in decades.

I am not sure why I shared that except to put it out there that if you are struggling with managing your feelings and experiences as we come out of the crisis (or at anytime), it is OK to seek help. And honestly, I highly recommend it if you can. We can’t provide mental health services at MMA, but we can be a place for you to find people who will listen to your story. We are going to try and focus on the future at the conference, but we will also provide space to come together and grieve what has been lost. And we still don’t know exactly what the crisis has meant for the Michigan museum community in the long run, but we will still help each other figure it out.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

It’s Going to be a Great Conference

Tue, 25 May 2021 18:40:02 GMT

By now, you have heard that the 2021 conference will be online. I’m not going to lie, I was not excited about the idea of an online conference. I am sick of being at my desk all the time and I want to SEE people. I have been literally counting the days until it is over and I can get back to planning the fun kind of conference.

The more we get into planning though, the more I am excited about figuring out the neat ways we can make this a great experience. Since this is such a change from an in-person conference, it’s fun to have a chance to try new things. I can’t imagine that I will ever feel like a virtual conference is a substitute for being together in person, but there are so many things about it that are new or different or, dare I say, better? It’s going to be a great conference!

One of the things that is REALLY different about this conference, is that it’s up to you to decide how you will experience it. At MMA, we spend as much time thinking about how we come together, as about what to focus on when we do. We pay attention to spaces and flow and possible distractions, and try to make your experience focused and seamless. For the online conference, you are the one who will control your space and focus and distractions. I hope that you will take on that role and try to carve out the space you need this fall to BE together with the rest of us. We will do our best to help you, but in the end, you will make the choice about how engaged you are.

Here are some of the things I AM excited about:

More Focus. Every MMA conference has a theme, but most of the time it is either just a holding place for a graphic identity or an idea that is threaded throughout the program and not necessarily dominant. Because of the short planning time and the opportunity to cover any topic we want during our regular online programs, we decided that this year we would really HAVE a theme. So all of the speakers and sessions will focus on What’s Next and looking forward. Within that theme we will look at three specific areas – what is coming in leadership, social justice and Michigan museums. I have already started having conversations in the different member communities about what they think is next and I can see the wheels start turning. I think we are going to have some great discussions and perspectives as we contemplate where we are heading. It feels good to think about moving forward, doesn’t it?

More Access. We work hard to make the MMA conferences as accessible as possible, but time, distance, and money are always a barrier. This year, no travel time is needed and we shortened the conference so participants will only need to carve out about 24 hours. Obviously, distance won’t be a factor because the conference is literally at your desk. Finally, because we don’t have to pay for food and AV equipment and all of the other things we need at an in-person conference, the registration rate will be minimal. Because registration is minimal, our wonderful scholarship fund will cover more people, so cost should not be a barrier either. I hope this means that we break new records for participation and have people joining us from all over the state. Fingers crossed.

New Ideas. I have been SO impressed with how Michigan museum people have met the challenge of meeting mission in a different way during the pandemic. The museum community took some very big lemons and made so many different kinds of delicious lemonade. I am excited to see how MMA members do the same with the virtual opportunity. We can’t have concurrent sessions in meeting spaces together, but we can still have lots of different choices for how to learn from each other. In a conference room, we were limited by that space, but online we can go anywhere. I am excited to see how people apply their creativity to session proposals. I hope we will see our typical formal presentation, discussion, and hands-on formats for sessions, but what else can be done with a camera? Tours? Live interviews? Demonstrations? Dance Party? I don’t know! That’s up to you. (The Call for Session Proposals will be out in June, FYI).

Again, there are definitely some things about an online conference that can’t be the same and aren’t better than an in-person conference. Honestly, it’s sort of like comparing apples to oranges. It’s hard to really come together when we are all sitting at our own desks. The dynamics of speakers and conversations are, well, flat online in a way they aren’t in person. I could go on. I have a list. And I suspect that by the time the conference comes around we will be so used to our reemergence after the pandemic that me might have a moment of asking, “why are we doing this virtually, again?” Actually, I’m sure of it, and it may already be happening. It is what it is, and this too shall pass. Next year we will confer in person, but for now, this will be helpful, inspiring and fun in a different way.

I’ve found that the deeper we get into putting together this virtual experience, the easier it is to let go of trying to replace the regular conference, and the more excited I am about seeing what we can do better this way. I can’t wait to “see” you all and talk about What’s Next. It’s going to be a great conference!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Next Best Step

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 15:04:53 GMT

April is usually an intense time of year for me on all fronts – A busy time for me at work, for kids in school, for the house and yard, for my spouse at work, and with many family birthdays. Except for last year, when April merged into the flatness that was the COVID shutdown, I have to go back at least a decade, and maybe several more, to find an April calendar that wasn’t a wall of items.

Of course, this year there are several more layers added on top of the usual because of COVID. Everything listed above is still going on, but COVID adds at least one more layer of complexity, and several to this week in particular. It’s exhausting and overwhelming, but I know it’s not just me. Almost every Zoom meeting I’ve attended for weeks started with a general acknowledgement of exhaustion by all.

Times like this are especially challenging for me, and I think many of you, because I take decisions seriously. Some might say that I am an over-thinker, and not in a good way. However, I like my goal-oriented analytical tendencies and see it as a super- power that helps me be the person I want to be and get things done. I will concede, that it can occasionally get in my way and the constant scrutiny can actually slow me down and wear me out. I have been working for a while to be more mindful and to learn new skills to help me have more balance in my approach to making decisions. COVID has been very helpful in that department.

The uncertainty of these times has helped me let go of thinking too far into the future about what I need to do now. One of the mantras I have been repeating, sometimes every 15 minutes it seems, is “What is the next step?” I learned that from David Allen in his book Getting Things Done. The book offers a very specific process for productivity and many tools, but what resonated with me the most was the permission not to think through every little thing. Know what you want to do, identify what you need to do next to work to get there, and then do it. You don’t have to worry about the step after that, because as long as you know where you are going, that will be clear when you get there.

Apparently, I need lots of reminding, because I recently discovered another productivity expert and her process that has reinforced that message. Lisa Woodruff’s Sunday Basket system, which I heard about in the MMA Productivity and Time Management member community, is based on the idea that you focus on what is right in front of you and give yourself permission to set many things aside and figure them out later.

The two different approaches still embrace goal setting and planning, which are both central values for me, but they cut out the part where you try to see into the future and think about things you can’t really know about. It has been such a relief to let go processes that didn’t seem to take me anywhere.

I have really been languishing through this month. At work and at home, I am starting to experience what I think of as the After Times with more commitments and a return to activities that have been set aside for many months. I am also still very much experiencing the uncertainty and frequent changes of the pandemic crisis, as well as the awareness that my personal behavior can have an enormous impact on the lives of others. These are all things that can transform my analytical super-power into kryptonite, and so I have been leaning heaving into the next step.

I share my April challenges right now not to get sympathy, but because I think many of us are struggling in the same way. It is very exciting and wonderful that we seem to be moving out of the crisis. At the same time, this current transitional stage might be the hardest yet. We can set goals, or they are being set for us, but it’s not at all clear how we are going to be able to achieve them.

If we revisit my fog analogy from last year, I think it is clear that the fog is lifting. We can see the sun shining up there somewhere, and we can see far enough ahead to see exit signs as they approach instead of when we are right on top of them. We still can’t see much beyond that. And we may not be able to tell how close we are to our destination or even what it will look like when we get there. At least we can see a little, and that is all we need right now. What is the next step? That’s all we need to worry about. We are moving forward and we know where we are headed. It is OK not to know exactly when or how we will get there.

Safe travels on this crazy journey. I can’t wait to be with you again soon!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Changing Minds

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 14:25:05 GMT

There is an idea in my head, a little glimmer of revelation - I think that we are in a crisis of imagination. When this first occurred to me, I was surprised, but then things started to fall into place. Before this idea, I had been thinking about changing people’s minds. Actually, I had been TALKING about changing people’s minds. Over the course of only a few days, I had conversations about how the role of museums as education organizations has changed, how to get people to wear masks and get vaccines, approaches to racial equity, and how to get my sixteen-year-old son to explore an interest in anything besides video games. I didn’t see the connection between them at first, but in all the conversations we landed on the idea that to change someone’s mind they needed to see what that change meant. We could talk and talk and talk about facts, or values, or steps all we wanted, but ultimately what is most effective is helping people imagine what that change might look like, in a good way.

This epiphany reminded me of a story I heard at my first Museums Advocacy Day. I was at the session for first-timers, and the presenters were trying to help me understand that advocacy is a long-game. That we were going for change over time, not immediate results. The story they told was about marriage equity for the LGBTQ community. The story I remember is that a group of people in the LGBTQ community were hitting a wall in terms of the legal movement toward gay marriage. After a number of legal losses, they were trying to figure out how to move the issue forward. They decided that one of the problems was that most people “didn’t know” anyone who was LGBTQ. Of course, this was not accurate, but was a common perception at the time. This group decided that if people “saw” members of the LGBTQ community, and especially in stable committed relationships, they would be more likely to support the idea of legal marriage. As a result, the group started working to include LGBTQ people in television shows and movies. Long story short, they did, and over time majority sentiment shifted significantly and gay marriage is now legal. I’ve simplified the issues significantly, but the point is that there has been big change, but over a long time.

The point of the advocacy story is that it takes a long time to bring about change, but the idea that has stuck with me is that people need to see it to believe in it. That reminded me of a project I worked on when I was doing freelance work before my job here at MMA. I was the project manager for the Cheboygan Area Public Library for hosting the Museum on Main Street exhibit Key Ingredients. The library was using the program to show off new public spaces after a major renovation, so we did a year’s worth of programs leading up to the exhibit and started planning even earlier than that. On the planning team was a smart, creative, and insightful woman who worked for one of the partner organizations. She had initially seen information about the project and suggested the library apply to host, so she was invested and involved in the project from the beginning. I loved working with her and we had a wonderful time coming up with all kinds of programs in the lead up. Every time we talked about the actual exhibit though, the brainstorming slowed to a trickle and I felt like I was the only one with any ideas or even enthusiasm sometimes, which was frustrating. Regardless, we had a fun year and then the exhibit arrived and we set it all up. As we were gazing upon panels with photos and text and some artifacts in cases here and there, my partner exclaimed something like, “This is so nice! I just couldn’t picture it in my head.” I was stunned. What? We have been talking about this exhibit for almost two years and she had never really understood what it would look like? How did I not realize that?

So where am I going here? After pondering these examples and ideas, I landed on imagination. Sometimes, people can use their imagination to see things in a different way, but sometimes people cannot. Maybe some people just can’t imagine how museum visitors are the actualization of their efforts to be good stewards of artifacts in the collection. Maybe so many people in my town can’t imagine that wearing a mask and staying away from people can save lives and speed up the end of a global pandemic. Maybe some people can’t imagine a world where we build equity into our society instead of maintaining systemic racism. And maybe my son can’t imagine that taking a walk outside will fire up the same (or more) neurons than when he is running around virtual worlds.

This new thought has given me a lot to chew on. How does the idea of helping people develop their imagination come into play when I want people to change their minds? Thinking about change this way makes me feel more hopeful and it feels concrete. Something I CAN do. At the same time, though, I have another little glimmer of revelation, and that is my own lack of imagination. I have a sneaky suspicion that as I consider more deeply how I imagine a world without systemic racism, that I will discover that I too do not know what that would look like. Maybe my lack of action or my sense of helplessness is about my own lack of imagination. I think I have some work to do.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Equity

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 14:39:28 GMT

At the month’s program for the MMA 2021 Leadership Series, Katena Cain from Nonprofit Network shared a slide of people and bikes to illustrate the difference between equality and equity. The people shown included a person with a mobility impairment who used a wheelchair, someone who was tall, a seemingly typically sized person, and a small child. In the first image, all four had the exact same bike. As you can imagine, that did not work well for the person with the mobility impairment, the tall person, and the small child. In the second image, each person had a type of bike that seemed better suited to them.

The slide reminded me of another set of images I’ve seen showing the difference between equality and equity. In the equality image, several people of different heights were standing by a fence on crates that were all the same size. The tallest person could easily see over the fence and everyone else less so depending on their height. The shortest person could not see over at all. In the second image, the same people were standing next to the same fence, but the crates were all different sizes to bring everyone’s height to the same level. Everyone could see over the fence.

The first time I saw the fence comparison, it really resonated with me. I am relatively short, so I am familiar with the sensation of not being able to see over something. But the simplicity of the illustration doling out the same solution for a problem experienced by multiple people really hit home and I have thought of that image often.

The slide that Katena showed resonated with me in a different way and started a discussion that has continued in my own mind. Of course, it illustrated the same principal as the fence image in that giving everyone the same thing is not going to guarantee the same outcome. However, the use of bikes just hit me differently, because it was a more complex solution than the fence image. In the fence image, the solution for equity was to give everyone a different sized box. Besides the height, all the boxes were the same. In the bike image, the solution was really four different kinds of bikes. That is a much more complicated and challenging solution.

I am not the only person who saw that complexity, because an exhibit designer on the call brought up the issue of scope and capacity. Their comment concerned the very pragmatic problem of trying to create multiple processes and formats with limited resources. The idea of being able to create and provide four different bikes seems obvious, but the application is more challenging.

This is the third time I’ve written this column. I started it two weeks ago, shortly after the session by Katena, but I couldn’t figure out a conclusion. I started a different column, but came back to this because I was still thinking about it. Again, I couldn’t get to a finish. So, I spent some time this morning watching it snow and thinking about why I couldn’t finish. I didn’t have a conclusion because I wasn’t done thinking about it.

Discussions of equity are extremely challenging for a reason - equity is challenging. If it weren’t, we would not be having this conversation. I think the IDEA of equity can be easy, but actually achieving it is difficult. I can look at all the slides I want about different heights of boxes and different kinds of bikes, but that doesn’t mean I can look at my own life or work and clearly see the solution. Even if I can see the solution, it doesn’t mean that I know how I can make four different bikes using the resources I think I have.

It is time to do some real work, and learn more about building four different bikes.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

New Year, New Compass

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 14:40:31 GMT

Despite the pandemic crisis, the MMA Board of Directors was very busy in 2020 in a way that I believe will change our course and ensure the long term-sustainability and effectiveness of the organization. Most of what they did related to finances, but there is one other effort that gets me so excited!

A major goal for the organization, identified in our least strategic planning process, was the need to increase and diversify our funding sources so that we can have more infrastructure to support the Michigan museums community. You already know that we made some changes to the membership structure for this year, which will increase our capacity and membership revenue. You will hear more about a new long-term resource later this year, which was the second financial project. Both these changes are steps in the right direction for MMA and they will make so much possible moving forward.

The other effort of last year seems less glamorous, but to me it is the core focus of who we are and what we do, so is one of the most important decisions made by the MMA Board in decades, if not ever. In the fall of 2020, the MMA Board of Directors approved a set of goals and objectives related to the professional development we offer. The goals were developed after many hours of discussion by a small board team, and then approved by the full board after additional discussion.

I have been involved with MMA programming since 2010, and this is the first time during these ten years that MMA has made a commitment to any particular focus in terms of professional development. And honestly, I have not seen any documentation in MMA records to a previous commitment. Instead, the organization has worked towards a more general goal of providing what seemed needed.

I am all for being spontaneous and responsive to members, and this is something that we strive for, but not having any particular focus for our professional development efforts has felt like a burden to me. It is really saying that we will be all things to all people. This would be a challenge for any organization, but for one as small as we are, it caused a lot of inefficiencies and wasted resources.

I have long advocated the need to commit to what we are trying to do. If we know the path we would like to be on, we can set smaller goals and measurable outcomes. If we have set measurable goals, we can know if we have met them and if not, adjust accordingly. If we know what we are trying to do, we can ask the museum community to help us in our efforts.

The downside to committing to one direction is that we are committing to NOT go in another direction. That is frustrating to me because of course I want us to help anyone who needs us. But I also know that the reality is we can only do so much. If we focus on just a couple of areas at a time, we can do a better job there and hopefully be able to focus on something else later.

You can find more information about our professional development goals and objectives on the MMA website, and I would love to hear what you think of them. But in a nutshell, MMA commits to:

Foster, develop, and sustain leadership
Support and advance social justice in museums
Promote community-driven professional development goals

I believe that orienting all we do to commit to these three areas will give us a better compass as we continue to move forward and grow. They are still relatively vague goals, but the objectives and possible strategies we’ve identified will help us get started. I can’t wait to see where these goals take us, and I hope you join us on the journey.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Professional Development New Year's Resolutions

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 17:51:32 GMT

I always appreciate the chance for a fresh start at the beginning of the year, and to make some resolutions. My work-related resolutions this year include continuing to work on my productivity, make my office a space that feels calm and inspiring, and learn lots of new things.

In case you are thinking of some work resolutions this year too, I’ve put a little list together of some possible resolutions and how MMA can help with those.

Invest in relationships

MMA Member Communities help you develop ongoing relationships with colleagues related to professional development goals. Current groups focus on Productivity and Time Management; Historic House Museums; Upper Peninsula Museums; Diversity, Inclusion, Access and Equity; Exhibit Designers; and Disaster Preparedness. Other possible groups under discussion relate to development, all-volunteer museums, and users of Past Perfect collections software.

Take the Lead

Everyone can be a leader regardless of role or authority and MMA’s 2021 Leadership Series will help participants better understand their own leadership strengths and challenges. Register for the entire series or one session at a time. Scholarships are available and the deadline to apply is Thursday, January 7 at noon.

Solve Ongoing Issues

MMA Ask an Expert programs are designed to help museum staff and volunteers connect with experts in specific areas. Experts are selected based on member requests and emerging concerns.

Have More Conversations

MMA Colleague Chats provide the chance for members and other to talk about specific topics related to their work. The format is informal and follows the path taken by participants.

Be Inspired

Listening to colleagues talk about their work can often create a spark of creativity or inspiration, or can be a few moments of respite from the intensity of daily work. MI Museum Spotlights let MMA members share projects and lessons learned.

Stay on Top of Things

The MMA Weekly arrives in your inbox every Monday, and is full up new information, upcoming events, and other opportunities. Look for it to get all the latest news.

Take Some Time to Reflect

The MMA Review provides a monthly “look back” on what’s been happening at MMA and in the Michigan museum community. Designed to be a longer read, it provides the chance to take a break and see what’s been going on.

Invest in MMA

There are several ways that you can make MMA stronger. Besides participating in programs, members can serve as volunteers to do projects and plan programs and events. Two appeals each year (spring/summer and year-end) provide direct financial support to make our work possible.

Show Up

There WILL be an MMA conference in 2021, though it will likely look a little different. We will do our best to make it safe, convenient, and affordable. Although the realities of 2021 might make it a challenge to attend, try to do it anyway. We will have some scholarships to make it more affordable. We will choose a location that is relatively close to as many members as possible. And we will design it to accommodate social distancing and COVID-19 best practice, in case that is still needed. We will do what we can to make it possible, but you may have to work harder to find funding (MCACA mini-grant, anyone?), travel a ways, and make some accommodations. But it will be worth it, we promise. And won’t it be wonderful to SEE each other for real?!?

Find Expertise

MMA has a new Business Directory on the website, and we are excited to add our regular business members, as well as our new consultant and university members. Check out the directory when you need to find someone who really knows their stuff.

Explore

The MMA website is evolving to be a place to find broad and specific information. Many have visited the website for information about dealing with COVID-19, but we are also working on making it a resource for many areas of museum work. Pop over to explore, and feel free to provide feedback for what you’d like to see there.

Commit

The success of the Michigan Museums Association depends completely on the willingness of the Michigan museum community to participate. We have just listed eleven different ways that you can be part of it, but one of the most critical ways for you to ensure the impact of MMA is to join as a member. MMA memberships provide a regular stream of financial support to allow us to plan and commit to you. Your membership gives you the opportunity to commit to us.

I hope these have been helpful and have sparked some ideas for your resolutions, even if you don’t turn to MMA to help with them.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year!!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Catalyst (December MMA Review)

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 14:25:31 GMT

I’ve been thinking a lot about the word catalyst lately. The term was added to the MMA mission when it was revised as part of our most recent strategic plan, but I didn’t really give it much thought until this year. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of catalyst is “a substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed at a usually faster rate or under different conditions (as at a lower temperature) than otherwise possible” or “an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action.”

When the MMA board selected the term catalyst, they were looking for something to explain the role of the organization in making something happen for the Michigan museum community. The use of the word catalyst was a way to say that we are an agent of change, but not the change itself. It puts the role of the organization as one that supports movement, but is not the movement. The change or movement we seek is for museums to thrive. We can discuss what that means at another time, and especially what that means during a global pandemic, but it is the change we seek to support or bring about faster. And being a catalyst for that inspires us all.

What I have really come to appreciate this year is that a catalyst can only exist if there is something to catalyze. It has no meaning without the elements that do the actual changing. In a literal chemical reaction, I am not sure the elements involved have any choice in the matter. But, for an organization that seeks to be a catalyst, the elements have to choose to be part of the formula.

By all accounts, MMA has had a good year. Not to say it hasn't been a horrible year, which it definitely has been. But we have never had such a high level of contact with such a broad spectrum of the Michigan museum community. Honestly, we didn’t do anything radically different this year. We still focused on expertise, engagement and advocacy, just in a different format. Sure, that format was super accessible, but we have had other formats that were also free or local, and we have never had such a strong response proportionally. We are in the middle of a crisis, so many more people are seeking resources and connections, but the museum community has been in crisis before. Museums are in crisis on a regular basis, but people have not looked to MMA for help on the scale that happened this year.

So thank you, elements, for letting MMA be a catalyst in the Michigan museum community. Thank you for participating in Colleague Chats and attending other online programs. Thank you for calling or emailing with questions. Thank you for visiting the website for jobs or information. Thank you for joining member communities, and serving on volunteer teams. Without you, we wouldn’t be a catalyst.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Gratitude (November MMA Review)

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 18:13:42 GMT

‘Tis the season to express gratitude, and as hard as this year has been, I am finding my list longer and a little different than usual.

Generosity – I love the Mr. Rogers quote about when there is a crisis we should “look for the helpers.” I have been practicing that for a long time and with the pandemic, there are so many places I have seen them. The Michigan museum community is no exception. Right from the start, I saw examples of generosity from our colleagues. For some, like our COVID Crusader Award recipients last week, that meant raiding the collections supply closets to find extra gloves and masks to bring to local hospitals, making masks to share, or helping at food banks. For others, like the Colleague Champions, it was stepping up in a certain way to help the museum continue to serve the community even when closed or to support a co-worker who was struggling.

For me, there were three ways I got to “see the helpers” in action, and it was such a privilege. One example was the response to the call for help in Midland. I was concerned that the holiday weekend and COVID-19 would make it hard for people to be able to respond. Silly me. I should have known that a global pandemic is nothing when a museum person knows the clock is ticking to get items out of a high-humidity situation.

Other “helpers” I saw were all of the people who attended, and continue to attend, the Colleague Chat programs. I know that the primary motivation for most who join the Zoom calls is to see what everyone else is doing, but on those calls, people have been so quick to share what they know and resources they have found. I stopped counting the times that people told me that a Colleague Chat made a huge difference in helping them deal with the crisis.

Finally, there were several groups of MMA members who served on various teams this year, and they made all the difference in MMA’s ability to support the community. They helped figure out online programs (online programs team), hosted fun events (online events and awards teams), strategized about funding sources (revenue team), and made the hard decisions that had to be made (MMA Board of Directors).

As I pondered my gratitude for generosity related to the pandemic, I thought of so many other ways that the museum community is generous to and through MMA. I think that generosity is literally the glue that holds the Michigan Museums Association together.

Another thing I am grateful for this year is resilience. Museums are a tricky business, and not for the faint of heart, in my opinion. Funding on a good day is a monumental challenge. In a crisis, it is a nightmare. Also challenging is stewarding a collection when you are working from home, serving visitors who cannot come to you, and managing volunteers who cannot be onsite. I am sure each of you can add several items to this list. However, we could also put together another list of all the ways people have tried to address these same challenges – shifting fundraisers online, hooking up computers so collections software can be used remotely, creating Facebook live tours and educational programs, and finding new things volunteers can do from home. It has been an amazing experience to see in action, and it is what makes me feel optimistic about the ability of museums to get through this crisis.

I am also grateful for advocacy. I have seen so many people advocating in one way or the other for the museum community. Some joined calls with state legislators this spring to share how the pandemic was impacting museums and how MCACA funding is so critical for many. Others sent emails to state and federal legislators about NEA, NEH and IMLS funding and asking for additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program. I have even seen people on Facebook promoting the fundraisers of other museums, or of Museum Store Sunday coming up.

Another way I have seen advocacy in action is through so many who have been very vocal about social justice and racial equity in museums. This is an area where museums and the museum community often fail, and is something that not everyone considers a priority or is comfortable talking about. But I have seen more push back and action this year than ever before and, for the first time in my career, I see signs that change may be more than cosmetic.

My final point of gratitude is for those who came before and what they have done to leave a strong foundation for those of us here now. For Michigan’s museums, that meant endowments or millages or investment accounts that could provide funding streams when earned revenue was not possible. It was volunteers and staff who had created a culture and mindset that meant a museum could respond quickly to new needs. And it was leadership who built strong relationships with the community so that new forms of support could be found.

One of the reasons that MMA is able to be so resilient and responsive right now is because generations of the museum community have worked tirelessly to build a strong organization. I love reading the minutes for MMA board meetings ten, twenty, thirty and forty years ago. All of them record conversations about how best to serve the Michigan museum community and what will help the organization grow. All of them include discussions about how to fund MMA and what will help the most in the long run. Because of all of these things, instead of having to hunker down or spend all of our time trying to figure out how to get to the next month when the crisis hit, we could invest in new technology and try new things to serve the community. Those that have served MMA in the past left a strong foundation, and when storms blew away the sides of the house, we stayed in the basement (and jumped on Zoom – lol).

There is so much more I could say about generosity, resilience, advocacy foundations, and especially gratitude. I hope you are able to see examples of all of these things in your museum and your life and I am thankful that we can see so many here at MMA.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Still Together (October MMA Review)

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 18:20:42 GMT

This is the first time in fourteen years that for me, fall has not meant being together with my museum friends and colleagues at the MMA conference. In fact, there have only been nine years since 1994 that I’ve missed it completely and I have been at every conference since 2007. I participated as an MMA member for several years, and then as an MMA Board member and part of the conference planning team another few. Since 2012, I have been MMA’s executive director. With each role, my involvement increased exponentially. For the past eight years there has been at least one month of intensity leading up to the event, followed by a glorious and energizing chance to see friends and friendly faces, and to meet new people and hear about amazing things happening in Michigan museums. The void this fall has been enormous.

I have no regrets that we cancelled this year’s conference. Since the board made the decision, I have watched many conferences online and talked with my state museum association colleagues about their experiences in hosting virtual gatherings. I have no doubt that, despite reduced capacity for all due to the crisis, the stellar MMA volunteers and Claire and I could have pulled it off - and it would have been a great conference! But I also know it would have taken all of our energies and we would have been able to do nothing else, which would have been awful. When I look back at what we have done since last March, it is pretty amazing. I have never spent so much time with members and the Michigan museums community. While we could have done a virtual conference, I’m really glad we didn’t because it meant we could do much more. Again, it was the right decision to make and we have served our community better because of it.

But agreeing with something doesn’t necessarily mean you are happy about it. And as almost anyone who has talked with or seen me in the past month will know, I am NOT happy about missing the conference. It has been a challenge to set my disappointment aside, and I have been surprised by how much I’ve struggled with motivation without it. Although I will continue to whine about not basking in the experience of being in the midst of so many people that I admire and respect, two recent experiences have reminded me that there is more than one definition of being together.

First of all, last week’s Annual Meeting via Zoom was amazing. I wasn’t sure how many people would attend. One state museum association colleague said they had seven people for the annual meeting they hosted online this year. I knew we would have at least 16 because board members, Claire, Yitzack and I all had to attend, but I wasn’t sure if anyone else would sign up. Imagine my delight, then, when we had 65 people on the call. Of course, it was not the same as being in a room together, but it was pretty fantastic to get to scroll through all the screens and see so many faces and names. Also neat and unexpected was the use of the chat function! People regularly made comments and showed their engagement in this way. So while it was a poor substitute for being together in person, it still felt together.

Another wonderful thing that has been happening this fall has been the awards. We decided to forgo the usual program this year to really focus on acknowledging the unique circumstances of 2020. And instead of just giving a few awards, we decided to honor as many people as possible. We won’t have the official celebration of the awardees until next month, but I got to notify the recipients last week and it was lovely. People have been so grateful and excited. It makes me grateful and excited and helped me see how connected we all are even when we are apart.

Both of those experiences helped me shake off my personal pity party and notice the other ways we have been coming together, despite not being together. I have had multiple volunteer teams helping me navigate this crazy year and those regular meetings have been wonderful. Our idea to form different member groups around professional development goals has started to take root, and it is great to see these groups connect with each other and form relationships. And reporting out at the Annual Meeting has helped me reflect on all that the MMA Board of Directors has accomplished this year. In addition to their regular bi-monthly meetings, strategic planning team meetings meant something going on every month for them. And even though all of their own organizations have been in crisis, we have been able to do so much to set MMA on a strong path forward. That’s a lot of togetherness for a group that didn’t actually get together.

I wish I could end this piece talking about the joyous reunion we will have on a certain date and in a certain place next year. I wish even more that I knew exactly what next year’s conference would look like. But alas, we are still driving through fog and I have no idea when or where we’ll be when it lifts. Until then, I will keep focusing on what we ARE able to do, and all the ways we are still together.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum Interpretive Hour

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 13:05:57 GMT

Submitted by: Megan Osetek, Kalamazoo Valley Museum

The advent of the pandemic brought about many challenges for museums. Few of these were universal; each museum had its own unique tribulations. However, a common issue that many small to midsize museums had to confront was digital initiatives. Now that visitors were not allowed onsite, museums had to figure out ways to connect with patrons. The obvious answer was digitally. However, many institutions were not equipped to pursue ambitious virtual exhibits and programs. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum, likewise, did not have a digital strategy already in place. Nevertheless, something had to be done.

As a result, the museum created a podcast entitled The Kalamazoo Valley Museum Interpretive Hour. This piece of digital adult programming has a core mission: “The Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s Interpretive Hour podcast provides engaging, thoughtful, quality, meaningful, and inclusive content on the field of interpretation to adult museum and park professionals, volunteers, goers, and students. It will do so through open conversation between moderators and professionals on various facets of the interpretive profession. The podcast will cement the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in the museum community as an interpretainment leader and enhance its outreach to diverse institutions and peoples.”

But how did the team come to this mission? What was the process?

Although it may seem daunting, any museum can and should create a podcast. This popular medium, which streams audio shows through different platforms and applications, is on the rise. According to 2020 stats provided by Discover Pods, a website dedicated to information on podcasts, 51% of Americans have listened to a podcast at least once in their life, and 32% of Americans have listened to a podcast within the past month. In the group of Americans who listen to podcasts, 82.4% of them listen to podcasts for more than 7 hours each week. That is a large demographic.

But with such a big demographic, an institution has to find its niche. After listening to Your Museum Needs a Podcast by Hannah Hethmon, interpreters Jacob Wolf and Gray Willson, as content creators, concluded that interpretation would be their niche. At that time, no podcasts explored such a topic; therefore, it seemed important to tackle. Megan Osetek, as Interpretation Manager, supervised the content, and interpreter Joshua Higginbotham, with his years of recording experience, became the audio engineer. But it took several months before the podcast launched in September. These months included a proposal to the Museum’s Director, episode re-recordings, approval from Marketing for design decisions, guest recordings, a delayed microphone order, and many more tribulations. Nonetheless, the team persevered and launched their first episode on September 16, 2020.

So now it is your museum’s turn. Our team recommends reading Hannah Hethmon’s book, Your Museum Needs a Podcast, and consulting several videos and other museum podcasts. Find your niche! And remember, it will not be easy, but the results will be rewarding and valuable, during and after the pandemic. To learn more, follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or the KVM website.

DiscoverPods. “Podcast Statistics and Figures 2020.” Accessed May 27, 2020. https://discoverpods.com/podcast-statistics/

Hethmon, Hannah. Your Museum Needs a Podcast: A Step-By-Step Guide to Podcasting on a Budget for Museums, History Organizations, and Cultural Nonprofits. 2018.

MMA Member generated content focuses on topics relevant to the Michigan museum community. If you would like to learn more or submit your own, please contact Claire Johnston.

Fog (September MMA Review)

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 15:38:27 GMT

I woke up to some serious fog this morning, and I realized as I was driving through it, that it felt familiar. I have been in a bit of a funk this week and sort of struggling to find an anchor. There is much in my family life that is different from usual this fall, so I’m a little disoriented and disappointed. At the same time, I am missing the conference. Normally, this time of the year I would be very busy and likely stressed, but anticipating being in the midst of a great gathering of MMA members and others. I would be inspired, see friends, and bask in the glory of this amazing community. Instead, I am spending time trying to choose online programs for the next few months and plan what we will be doing next year.

As you all know, though, planning is not the easiest task at this time. It’s difficult to even anticipate what is coming up more than about 5-6 weeks in advance. Spending time trying to guess the scenario a year from now is really just impossible. My head hurts with the effort.

So, when I was driving in the fog this morning, it seemed so familiar to the current situation because of COVID. I could see enough to move forward, but not enough to see what was ahead. I also had no clue how long I’d have to navigate in it. I could be driving in dense fog the whole time, the fog might be part of the whole drive but at least lighten up so I could see a little farther, it could go away completely, or all of the above at different times randomly. See what I mean?

Once I realized the analogy, I started to feel a little better. I thought about how even though it was foggy, I felt confident that I was safe to be driving in it. I wasn’t going very fast, but I was still moving along. I couldn’t see very far ahead, but I could see enough to have time to respond to anything unexpected that might appear. I would prefer NOT to drive in the fog, but I know I can do it.

I still don’t have a clue how to plan for next year. And I think we are all going to be doing a lot of guessing. However, I will remember one other thing about driving in the fog when I get discouraged; when I am IN the fog, it seems like there is nothing out there and there never will be. Nevertheless, as fog dissipates, it is usually replaced by sunshine, and even though there’s no way to really know when the fog will lift, if I just keep driving, it eventually will.

Hang in there.

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

MMA Membership: Better Together

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 15:24:00 GMT

The Michigan Museums Association is a membership organization. This means that we exist out of a desire for people within the Michigan museum community to come together in a formal and structured way. Above all, this is the most important aspect of our organization, and one that is central to what we do and why we do it. Members, who provide direct and sustained financial support, are both the why and how for MMA.

Not everyone who is part of the Michigan museum community chooses to be an MMA member, and that’s OK. It’s sort of like public radio and television – a core group of people make it possible, but everyone has access to the results. We try to show the value of a membership in our actions, and work hard to be a welcoming and open community. Our hope is that over time those who are not members will choose to join us to help ensure that we can continue to serve others as well.

We have had many conversations about members over the past months. Before the pandemic hit, we had started discussions of how to restructure memberships to connect more directly with some groups within the Michigan museums community. We also hoped to provide vehicles for increased revenue. Our goal is for paid memberships to fund a full-time benefited staff position.

Once the pandemic arrived, our member discussions also focused on that. How could we support people in the Michigan museum community who were suddenly working from home? What could we do for those who were laid off or furloughed? We considered the membership renewal process and how that could be an additional burden in a time of crisis. As a result, we created online programs, a temporary COVID membership, and suspended the renewal notification process.

The pandemic isn’t over, and we might not understand the true impact for the Michigan museum community and our members for many more months, but we decided as the last quarter of the year approached that it was time to get back to some semblance of normal, and keep moving forward with our plans. As a result, we started to formulate long-term strategies for our online programs, we got caught up with membership renewals, and affirmed COVID memberships. We now know what kind of funding we have to wrap the year, and are well on our way to a new vision for online programs.

The most exciting member activity in the past several weeks, though, has been the approval of a new membership structure by the board. We will share more about what this will look like at the Annual Meeting (to be held via Zoom on October 23), but for the most part it tightens up some of the institutional memberships, and adds more options. Many members won’t see a change, but there will be more choices about how members can support MMA. We are excited to share the new plan with you.

We are grateful for the support of our members every day, but especially over the past several months. At time of crisis it is good to be with others. And even though we can’t come together in person in 2020, the Michigan museums community has certainly come together.

Mindset (August MMA Review)

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:52:56 GMT

I recently read an article about “fixed” versus “growth” mindsets, and it has me thinking about museums and COVID-19. A fixed mindset, according to Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., believes that abilities are fixed, but a growth mindset believes that abilities can be developed. I realized after reading the article, that the way that people and organizations are dealing with COVID-19 seems similar to the attributes to those mindsets.

I was so surprised when businesses and bars near where I live in Northern Michigan seemed to be unprepared for the Governor’s announcement that they could reopen this spring. The announcement came just a few days before the restrictions were lifted, and there was much scrambling to learn about and address reopening guidelines. I assumed that everyone had been spending the shutdown getting ready for when it was over but clearly at least some were not.

I made this assumption because of my experiences with Michigan museums last spring. Even before museums were closed I was getting phone calls from people asking what colleagues were thinking about in terms of dealing with COVID-19. The first time I heard a museum person bring up “reopening strategies” was literally the day after we were shut down, and the number of people planning for reopening grew each week. By the time museums were allowed to open, many Michigan museums knew just what they were going to do.

So clearly, there were different ways that businesses and organizations approached dealing with the shut down. It made me wonder if there was something in particular about museums that made their leadership and staff more likely to jump into preparing for reopening in a way that others didn’t. And then I read the mindset article and I had an “ah ha” moment. I think the difference between the museums I was hearing from and the businesses in Northern Michigan were about mindset.

The original definitions of the two mindsets related to abilities but I think it can also apply to how a person or organization functions. People and organizations with a fixed mindset seem to focus on how things “are” or “have always been” and those with a growth mindset tend to see “what is possible”. When COVID-19 hit, those with a fixed mindset waited to respond, maybe thinking they would hold out until everything went back to the way it was. People and organizations with a growth mindset, on the other hand, seemed to respond by thinking about what was possible despite all the changes.

I know that not all museums began preparing for reopening even when a date was in sight. It may just be that those organizations and staff with a growth mindset were the ones that sought information and opportunities to connect with others. But I also think that the museum community tends to attract people with a growth mindset, perhaps because the museum community attracts people who tend to be outliers in one way or another. Perhaps the field gathers those who look beyond what is set and stable, and push into other territory.

I remember when I started working in museums that I felt like I had found my people. All of my non-museum friends thought my interests in history and food stories were quirky. But with museum people, I found many who shared those interests and more. The MMA Member Happy Hour last month reminded me of that, when social conversation amongst my museum colleagues revealed much more in common than our work. So perhaps the experience of forging our own paths on a personal level has given many in our field the experience of looking past what is obvious to seek new experiences and people who are a better fit.

Or, as does tend to happen, I could just be biased. It wouldn’t be the first time I took attributes that I find positive in many museum people I know and apply them to the whole museum community incorrectly. As I type this I can think of so many ways that museums and museum people represent a resistance to change or a commitment to the status quo. I will admit that one of the things that made me want to work in museums was a perceived sense of consistency and stability in the field. But maybe mindset and comfort with change are not the same thing? Maybe people who are resistant to change still embrace it when it is part of a growth mindset.

I regularly encounter museum people who are so determined and focused on their purpose or mission that they persist beyond what most others would do. I see this in small museums with very little funding that take on bigger projects expecting that it will work out (and it often does). I see this in museums with a very narrow scope or collection that find a way to use that to address bigger ideas (and they do it well). And I see this in organizations that are trying to better represent and connect with people of color and despite not having success, they keep trying (as we all should be).

Maybe I am just showing a “tad” of a bias toward museums when I claim a growth mindset for the whole community. But I don’t think I’m wrong in thinking that many museums and their staff have been proactive in addressing the many trials of COVID-19. Maybe this is because museum people tend to have more of a growth mindset because we are “quirky” and need to think differently to find our people. Maybe museum people tend to have more of a growth mindset because we have more experiences seeing roadblocks as opportunity, rather than barriers. I obviously need to do more than read one article to really understand how fixed and growth mindsets work, and whether there is a tendency to one or the other in the museum community. But it is definitely something to think about, and makes me feel hopeful.

As we approach the fall and another set of new challenges related to the pandemic as it seems to drag on endlessly, I am feeling more discouraged. It’s harder to push past bad news and stay focused on the part where we get to the other side of this. But I know that growth mindset is what will help us all get through, field-wide or not. There are a lot of “cannots” right now and I think a few more to come. But staying focused on the “can” or at least “how to find the can” will get us farther that just stopping a waiting for the “cannots” to go away. Hang in there!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

A New Idea and Model for MMA? (July MMA Review)

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 14:21:58 GMT

Moving online has brought about many realizations for us at the Michigan Museums Association. One is that we don’t have to be together in person to help you connect with each other and resources. We can’t wait to be able to come together in real life again, and we are already making plans for how we will do that. In-person activities will always be the best way that MMA serves the Michigan museum community. But now we know that we can serve you online too and so we need a long-term online strategy for professional development. It’s been exciting to think about what that might look like and we got some ideas from the intense online engagement while museums were closed.

As you joined the various online programs throughout the spring and early summer, a new understanding was forming. We observed that there seemed to be three general goals you had when looking to connect with colleagues and information. Some people joined programs because they needed information about something they didn’t know much about. Another group of people had very focused and high level expertise in certain areas, and joined to hear from other colleagues with similar high levels of experience or knowledge. Finally, a third group joined programs because they were looking for a way to bring about change.

The three groups had a lot of similarities, but their needs are really served in different ways. Novices need to be connected with external expertise. Focused professionals want to be connected with other focused professionals. Do-ers need help setting common goals and organizing. At the same time, all three groups would be well served by building relationships and connecting on a regular basis.

These observations led to the idea of creating different types of professional development “communities” focusing on Learning, Practice, and Action. We talked about this idea internally with board members and MMA volunteers, and it seemed to resonate. Right now we are testing the idea with several groups that would fall into the different categories to see if we can develop structures that fit the varied needs, but can be applied to multiple different groups within each type. In other words, we are creating some templates that can be used with each type of group with different sets of members.

There are several things about this idea that are most exciting. One, it allows MMA to help members from all over the state and different institutions develop relationships. We know that MMA members love to get together, but if you’re not already connected, I think sometimes we might feel a little cliquey or intimidating. This new model would bring people together around professional development goals and would be a vehicle to connect and serve new people in a concrete way. Second, it could provide more focus to our programming. As we develop resources and opportunities for each community we can offer some of those as programs open to everyone and again, hopefully connect and serve new people who are looking for information.

We are still in the testing stage of this idea, but so far every step has been working well. If we continue to have successes, we hope to get a formal project ready for approval from the board this fall. In the meantime, feel free to ask many questions, offer resources or other similar models you are aware of, or start thinking about what type of professional development relationships and experiences you might be interested in. We’ll keep you posted!

Lisa Craig Brisson
Executive Director

Next Steps (June MMA Review)

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 19:56:50 GMT

I have mentioned here that I am a big fan of a plan. I think strategic planning is fun, and in a crisis the first thing I do is evaluate the situation and map out my plan. But of course there is no planning during COVID-19. As a result, I am now in month three of planlessness, with no end in sight. There are many ways this is wearing on me, but mostly I just find myself feeling discouraged and focusing on how much I don’t know. But something came to me as I was working on my current jigsaw puzzle. I had all the pieces laid out on the table and it looked like chaos. I looked around and noticed a fence, so I gathered all those pieces and started fitting them together and I was off and running. I didn’t plan how I would put the puzzle together. I noticed something familiar and took the first step.

I realized that I could apply my favorite jigsaw puzzle strategy to work as well. Yes, there is a lot I don’t know about how things will move forward over the next few months. However, I do know SOME things about where we are headed. I don’t have to know the whole plan, or even what the picture looks like. I just have to take the next step. Whew. My enthusiasm has returned.

There is another situation that I find overwhelming, and I’ve realized that focusing on the next step is helpful as well. As with many of you, I find myself questioning my life choices, especially about racism. I have long considered myself someone who is strongly in support of racial justice and equity. But when I look at how I live my life, I don’t actually see any action that would reflect that. I am afraid that I am actually one of the white moderates that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about, and that is a devastating realization.

In thinking more about my inaction, I keep coming back to planning. One of the reasons I like to have a plan is because I hate to make a mistake. I want to use the right words and talk to the right people and look purposeful and like I have my act together. I want to make people feel happy and empowered and I don’t want to say something that would do otherwise. So if I can plan everything, I can avoid all of the “wrong” things.

But planning can be a form of procrastination and avoidance too. When it comes to change, “working on it” doesn’t cut the mustard if there is no action. Clearly, there needs to be action. I need to be taking action. I don’t want to think of myself as in support of racial justice and equity. I want to BE anti-racist. I find myself feeling overwhelmed by my discomfort and insecurity. But my fear and self-centeredness is not a good reason for inaction, and I need to get past it.

To do this, I have been focusing on taking a next step every day. Sometimes a step has been to learn more. Sometimes it has been to reach out. And sometimes it has been to speak up. So far, none of the steps have been in my comfort zone, and I feel that several of them were likely not well done, but all of them have been a step, and all of them have been about action. I don’t know where I am going, and I don’t know what being anti-racist in my life really looks like, but I am going to keep taking steps until I do.

I don’t think MMA has shown a lot of action about being anti-racist either. There has been considerable talk about inclusion, equity, access and diversity on the inside, but that inside is very white and very little of that conversation has been evident on the outside. The action that has been visible has not resulted in a sustained culture change. Some of the personal steps I mentioned are related to MMA, and I know I am not alone in experiencing self-reflection and a raised awareness of the need to learn, listen and, most importantly, act. I hope that moving forward you will begin to see more action, and I will continue to work on the next steps to make that happen. Though I am aware that I need to be doing my own work, I am happy for company on the journey if you'd like to join me.