Museum Services Webinars

History in the Shadows: Incorporating Dark Tourism at Historic Sites
January 17, 2025
Museums around the country embrace the Halloween season by tapping into the growing phenomenon of dark tourism to captivate and educate visitors. The John Jay French Museum in Beaumont, Texas embraced the allure of spooky season by partnering with a paranormal investigation team to delve into unexplained occurrences surrounding the historic house museum. Together, they hosted an October event that revealed their findings to the community. Museum staff discuss this innovative program, how it aligns with the museum’s mission, and logistics of planning. Additionally, the staff share other hosted programs related to Dark Tourism. This webinar is perfect for those curious about integrating Halloween’s spooky charm into museum programming while balancing sensitive historical narratives with community engagement and tourism development.
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Scouting the Scouts: Creating Quality Scout Badge Programs
November 7, 2024
Kayte Ricketts, Education Coordinator at Bell County Museum in Belton, Texas, shared how her museum successfully incorporates scout programming. She discussed how these programs not only increase museum visitorship but also provide meaningful educational opportunities for the community. Kayte shared about the variety of badges scouts can earn, and how to effectively market this new programming to reach local scout groups. This webinar is perfect for museum programmers looking to build partnerships with local scout organizations and hoping to create dynamic, badge-based learning experiences. 
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Cemetery Tours: Engaging Community Through Tales Tombstones Tell
October 29, 2024
Sara Phalen, Director of the West Chicago and Warrenville City Museums in Illinois, shares how her two museums successfully engage the community through their yearly cemetery tours, which are now considered part of the community's Halloween season traditions. Sara describes tour logistics, engagement strategies, and how to continue engagement beyond the tour. 
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Museum Store Magic: Harnessing A Strategic Asset for Your Institution
October 9, 2024
Museum stores are more than just a place to purchase souvenirs, they’re a vital extension of your museum’s mission, offering unique opportunities to deepen visitor engagement and grow earned revenue. Join Melody Cabán, founder of Melody Cabán Consulting, for an insightful presentation on how to create impactful and engaging museum stores that not only resonate with visitors but also support your museum’s financial health. Melody demonstrates how to align your store’s product offerings with your museum’s mission and explores strategies for boosting revenue without compromising your museum’s goals. Attendees will gain insights on optimizing operations for efficiency and profitability and understand how to utilize data to drive decision-making and maximize store success.
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Oral History Best Practices and Resources
September 24, 2024
In this instructional webinar, oral historian and archivist Steven Sielaff presents a comprehensive suite of resources related to best practices from the three institutions he represents: Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History, the Texas Oral History Association, and the Oral History Association. This session serves as an introductory guide, covering the basics and foundational principles of oral history. Steven also discusses current trends shaping the profession and shares insights from his ongoing efforts to identify and preserve oral history collections across Texas. This webinar is designed to provide both newcomers and experienced practitioners with essential knowledge to excel in the field of oral history. 
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Mastering the Art of Oral History Projects: From Planning to Execution
September 19, 2024
Seasoned oral historians Mary Closmann Kahle and Jason J. Rivas present how they weave best practices into their oral history collection process. Both presenters will share their strategies for every stage of the oral history journey, from preparing and interviewing to transcribing and archiving. 
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Stopping Stones: Honoring Enslaved Ancestors at Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth, Texas
August 21, 2024
In 2023, Log Cabin Village honored the lives of two individuals enslaved at the Port Sullivan Plantation Home that today serves as the Village’s main entrance and museum store. During this webinar, Village staff Rena Lawrence and Shae Nawoj, will share the research that led to the installation of two memorial Stopping Stones and the ways such efforts can be used to tell the stories of our enslaved ancestors in a meaningful and relevant way. 
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Collections Insurance 101
August 14, 2024
This insightful webinar explores the critical role of insurance in protecting museum collections. Led by industry experts, Noni Tompkins and Joy Simpson, this session delves into the complexities of museum collections insurance, covering key topics such as evaluating your coverage needs, types of valuation, insurance for loans and exhibitions, and key factors that impact pricing. Whatever your role at your institution, this webinar offers essential knowledge to ensure the safeguarding of cultural treasures for future generations. 
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Celebrating Texas Archaeology Month - Enhancing Museum Programs and Community Engagement
July 30, 2024
Every October the Texas Historical Commission celebrates Texas Archeology Month (TAM.) The goal of Texas Archeology Month is to promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of Texas' rich archeological heritage among Texans of all ages and backgrounds. THC archeologist, Virginia Moore, shares how museums incorporate archeology into their education programming and how they can host TAM events for their communities. 
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Methods of Historical Research for Museum Education Programming
July 25, 2024
Sometimes, historical research is a daunting task. A seasoned museum educator breaks down the process of historical research, focusing on the methods and resources needed to research, analyze, and interpret historical events and time periods. Mia Rook-Leeser, demonstrates the tools to develop research, assess reliability, and work with primary and secondary sources.
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STEAM for History Sites: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Public Programming at Historic Sites
July 18, 2024
STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) serves as an effective learning framework to broaden interpretation and create unique opportunities for public programming at museums and historic sites. This webinar features a series of practical steps to plan and implement STEAM programs with an emphasis on community partnerships and audience engagement. 
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"Do You Live Here?" Historic Building Interpretation for Elementary School Students
June 18, 2024
Using Gibbs Farm in St. Paul, Minnesota as a case study, this webinar delves into the strategies behind crafting and executing compelling field trip programming. Museum Director, Sammy Nelson, along with Youth Programs Manager, Janie Bender, share their methodology, classroom management strategies, and logistic plans for hosting school age field trips at this eight-acre living history site that interprets 19^th century life in Minnesota. 
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Building Community Engagement through Collections Exhibitions
November 14, 2023
A museum’s collections storage area may be imagined as a dark, mysterious place where artifacts collect dust—but in the right hands, it is full of potential exhibits that will build community trust by share important local stories. Hear first-hand how the Museum of South Texas History increased their visitation and community engagement through rotating low-cost exhibits pulled from their collection. Melissa Peña shares how she mounted one new exhibit every month for a year, as well as the dos and don’ts she learned along the way.
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Translation in Museums: Tips and Tricks to Get it Right!
September 21, 2023
So, you want Spanish-speakers to feel welcome in your museum and you have decided to start offering translations. But how do you go about it? Learn from a professional translator about how the translation process works, the different services offered by translation providers, and the most common timing and pricing for translation projects. You'll also learn tips and tricks on how to find good translators and talk about the benefits/downsides of working with individuals vs. translation agencies. Lastly, you’ll learn how to prepare before a translation project begins, what sort of decisions you’ll need to make, and what questions to ask your translation provider to ensure the best possible results!
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Interpretive Planning for Historic Sites
August 15, 2023
All historic sites, both large and small, can benefit from creating formalized interpretive plans, whether written in-house or by outside consultants. Learn the key elements of an interpretive plan, how to express your site’s mission, what background information to include, how to best engage your site’s stakeholders, and what programming and operations issues to consider. Presenters Lisa E. Worley and Hal Simon-Hassell also share their approaches to research, community engagement, and writing and provide resources and practical tips.
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What is this stuff...? Navigating Educational Standards Alignment
July 19, 2023
TEKS, Common Core, Content Area Standards, etc. They go by many names, but the purpose of these educational standards is the same: to provide a common set of educational goals for both teachers and students. These standards are the driving force behind what teachers and other educational institutes cover both inside and outside of the classroom. Where do non-traditional educational institutes fit into standards? How should these be incorporated into resources created by museums, historic sites, zoos, aquariums, and galleries? Amanda Lanum, educator interpreter at the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site, discusses how to find and understand educational standards, best practices for utilizing educational standards (especially when using multiple disciplines), and the importance of using educational standards in both creating and marketing your programs and lessons.
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Elegant Authenticity: Implementing and Interpreting Historic Landscaping
March 1, 2023
Historic landscaping can draw visitors into the past through its beautiful and artistic nature. Properly researched and interpreted historic landscaping can be a powerful tool to keep up the well-maintained appearance and historical viewshed of your historic site, display your commitment to detailed historic accuracy, and give visitors a more accurate impression of the past. Historic landscaping can be difficult to research, implement, and maintain, leaving museum professionals unsure where to begin. Laura Fisher and Nicole Shadle’s research and experience at their sites have allowed them to recognize the benefits and challenges to preserving this aspect of history. They share their years of experience to present an introduction to period landscaping in the Victorian Era and leave listeners with a model for how to research, implement, and interpret their own historic landscaping.
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Social Media Best Practices for the History-Focused Organization
February 22, 2023
Do you find it hard to bridge the world of history and heritage tourism with social media? Having a rough time translating the Texas Revolution into Facebook likes? This session will focus on social media best practice for museums and anyone else trying to discuss the past through the lens of Facebook and Instagram. Danielle Brissette and Cait Johnson will share how to successfully use your online presence to build long-lasting relationships with your core audiences, which can increase visitation and revenue and strengthen your brand identity. In this webinar, you'll learn concrete strategies for improving your institution's social media presence, including easily upgrading your graphic design, ideas for the types of posts that succeed with history-oriented audiences, and a resource list aimed at low-cost, easy-to-use tools for heritage professionals and volunteers.
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Throwing Flames (Safely): Building Safety Programs at Living History Sites
Thursday, January 26, 2023
It may not be the first thing you think of when you consider living history interpretation, but safety is an essential and often overlooked element of living history interpretation. Aaron Shuman is the Museum Experience Coordinator at the National Museum of the Pacific War, and the living history programs at his site include elements like the M2-2 Flamethrower and M3 Stuart Tank that easily make the case for a stalwart safety program. In this webinar, Aaron applies lessons he has learned at both the National Museum of the Pacific War and serving in the United States Air Force to discuss both the importance of having a safety program and how to develop one that is tailored to your site—even if you don’t have a flamethrower.
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Can Organizations Center Community in Their Volunteer Strategies?
November 15, 2022
History organizations have a long tradition of volunteer involvement in their work. This presentation provides a practice-based illustration of the possibilities for centering community needs in your volunteer strategies, particularly how that strategy can speak to racial equity work. Emily Dobish and Maria Islas-Lopez from History Colorado guide participants to consider these questions:
- Who are the volunteers that are contributing to the work in your organizations?
- Who is included? Who is excluded?
- What is the relationship between volunteerism and community engagement, particularly racial equity work?
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Preserving History, One Voice at a Time
October 25, 2022
Oral histories preserve the voices and experiences of the past, and gathering these valuable histories is both a science and an art. If you're new to collecting oral histories and are unsure where to start, Sara Wilson of the Oral History Program at the University of North Texas shares best practices for before, during, and after the recording of an oral history. Whether your interest in oral histories is personal or professional, you'll learn practical steps to guide you through the process.
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Going the Distance: Delivering Accessible Programming through Distance Learning
August 25, 2022
How can your museum build a distance learning program? In this free webinar, educators from the National Museum of the Pacific War dive into the lesson plans, technology, collaborations, and platforms they have utilized to make their program a success. They share the challenges they faced, how they overcame them, and the benefit this program has had on the museum. Additionally, they provide insight into how incorporating pre-produced videos, green screens, and props have changed the game.
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Pulling it All Together: Citywide Museum Events
April 7, 2022
Since 1998, the Austin Museum Partnership (AMP) has coordinated Austin Museum Day, an annual community event which offers free admission and special programs at museums across greater Austin. Thousands of visitors flock to the city's cultural institutions to take advantage of this special day. AMP board members Kaitlin Lloyd-Leva and Pamela R. Owen share how the group plans this annual event, how it has evolved over the years, and tips for making an event like this successful in your own community
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Forging New Paths: Artwork at Work at Historic Sites
March 29, 2022
Much as we might wish it to be otherwise, not everyone thinks they are the history museum or historic site "type." Art—whether it be a collaboration or residency or a retrospective exhibition—can create new avenues for visitor attendance and engagement. Learn how the Neill-Cochran House Museum has developed an active calendar of exhibitions and art fairs that draw diverse crowds as well as support Austin's vibrant artist community.
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Beyond the Dinosaur Hall: Welcoming Young Children and Their Grown-Ups into Your Museum
October 7, 2021
Children belong in any museum. This--to some--bold claim is one that presenter Sarah Erdman has been making for years. In this webinar she explores how that can be true for your institution, using research and methods from the upcoming book Welcoming Young Children into Museums: A Practical Guide. The focus is on basic, cost-conscious, ways to make your mission, collection, space, and programs accessible to families and young children, even if your museum has not historically been considered "child friendly," and the benefits for everyone involved.
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Engaging STEM Topics Through Interactivity
June 22, 2021
Explore planning processes used to create high- or low-tech interactive components that incorporate STEM-based ideas into history exhibits. Using examples drawn from TxDOT's work on historic bridges in Texas, this webinar discusses readily-available tools and techniques for both digital and tactile interactives, including low-cost solutions for creating and presenting interactive content to the public. 
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Becoming a Habitat for Teachers: Designing Educator Workshops with STEM in Mind
June 15, 2021
Explore how to create engaging and useful teacher programs and resources that can be used at your site and online. Learn how to build connections with teacher audiences that will make them feel at home at your site, and how to design and execute multidisciplinary educator workshops of several different formats. Using examples on Biology and Environment, practice program planning skills on how to integrate STEM content into teacher programs at history-based sites.
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Constructive a Narrative: Writing About STEM for a Specific Audience
June 8, 2021
Dive into best practices in writing for accessibility, readability, and voice. Learn how to use these strategies in onsite and online applications including exhibition text, lesson plans, and website text to incorporate STEM topics into history exhibits. Using road construction techniques particular to Texas as an example, practice different methods for clear and concise writing for your institution's primary audience.
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Children's Museums in a Pandemic: Reflecting on the Past Year
March 30, 2021
After one year of navigating the pandemic, Jennifer Rehkamp and Andrea Welsch reflect on the impact the pandemic has had on the children’s museum community. Children’s museums are institutions created purposely to encourage playful learning through hands-on exploration. As the gravity of the pandemic became known, and the impact the pandemic was having on children became more apparent, children’s museum professionals began adapting and experimenting with innovative ways to continue engaging with children and caregivers in their communities. This webinar also considers the arch of these innovative approaches over the past year and contemplates what this means for the entire museum community in the future.
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If You Build It They Will Come: Incorporating STEM Topics into School Programs at History Museums
March 23, 2021 
Learn how to create engaging educational activities for student audiences, and how these programs will benefit both the students and your site. Explore different programming types and interpretation techniques, and learn how to implement them both at your site and as outreach into the classroom. Using resources on Biology and Environment, discover program planning skills that can be applied at your own site to connect history with STEM to create well-rounded, multidisciplinary programs sought out by schools.
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Writing About Science for a History Museum Audience (When You're Not a Scientist)
March 9, 2021
Discover how interpretive writing techniques can be a powerful tool in making technical topics accessible to visitors of any age. Using examples from historical bridge building and renovation, this workshop discusses the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to storytelling and gives concrete examples of how history-based sites can easily incorporate STEM into exhibits.
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Let's Meet Halfway: Authentic Community Engagement for Local Museums
January 13, 2021
Is your local museum struggling to build rapport with all members of your community? Are you seeking to improve your community engagement strategy? In this webinar, consultant Valerie Wade discusses practical solutions for community engagement challenges, particularly for smaller or volunteer-led institutions and organizations. It is more important than ever to develop meaningful relationships between museums and communities they serve, and this webinar will give you some tools to do so.
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Multi-tool Museum Programming: Adaptable Activities for Varied Audiences
September 21, 2020
“Too many programs, not enough time!” is a challenge for museum staffs of all sizes and configurations. One solution is to develop a collection of programs and activity structures which can be adapted to a variety of content, audiences and program formats. Education staff from Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens education demonstrate and showcase several collection-based, visitor-centered activities and explain how they can be modified for different ages, levels of expertise, and for digital and in-person delivery.
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Making the Most of Math Connections at Museums and Historic Sites
June 25, 2020
The MathHappens Foundation shares some ways they have worked with museums in central Texas to connect mathematics to museum exhibits and historic settings, particularly focusing on how they relate to Texas history. Authentic math connections can be made throughout a museum’s permanent collection, including trains, jails, cannons, almanacs, maps, speeches, survey tools, pioneer life, historic buildings, lighthouses, ships, quilts, nature trails, and wildlife exhibits.
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Heritage Tourism and Museums: Collaborating for Success
June 9, 2020
What is heritage tourism? Who are heritage tourists and how can your museum reach them? This discussion will focus on these questions, why they should be central to your museum’s mission and outreach efforts, and why they are more important than ever in the wake of COVID-19. Sarah Page, Heritage Tourism Program Coordinator for the THC, explores ways to collaborate locally and regionally to improve the visitor experience at your museum and in your community as a whole. She also discusses the importance of interpretation and how to make your museum stand out as a heritage tourism destination.
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Museums and Millennials: Tips for Successful Engagement
April 29, 2020
Does your museum struggle to entice and engage a millennial audience? Uncover why millennials choose to patronize certain museums, what events they like to attend, and how museums can engage this coveted generation long after the events have ended. Jackie Spainhour, author of Museums and Millennials: Engaging the Coveted Patron Generation, provides practical takeaways and examples of programs that have successfully attracted a millennial audience. She also discusses the four areas to focus on when marketing to millennials: affordability, uniqueness, relevance, and accessibility (AURA) and considers ways to engage with millennials in the wake of COVID-19.
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Bringing Objects & Artifacts to Life
February 27, 2020
Getting your audience interested in objects can be difficult! Museums Unbound brings you their favorite tools to help interpret objects and artifacts. From discovering new aspects of the same old artifact to getting a whole classroom talking about what’s in front of them, these tools are easy to use in galleries, at cultural sites, with artwork, or in the midst of ancient ruins. Presenters Jodi Larson and Hannah Kellogg talk about how to get up close and personal with objects, how to look at your museum’s collections in new and non-traditional ways, and how to use the artifacts in your museum to tell a story and create a social experience.
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Museum Relevance: Exhibitions for Social Justice
January 23, 2020
Elena Gonzales discusses how museums can reach the whole population, rather than a dwindling half of it, how museums can develop more honest and functional relationships with communities that typically have not visited, and what curatorial strategies and tactics are most effective when museums want to build empathy, long lasting memories, and inspiration for visitors. She shares examples of institutions that are embracing opportunities to become more relevant by doing work within the galleries to more equitably distribute risks and rewards in society.
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Neurodiversity in Museums: Crafting Community for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
January 15, 2020
Museum professional and autism mom Jackie Spainhour provides insight into how museums of all sizes and scopes can adapt their facilities and programming to suit the needs of children on the autism spectrum. Jackie shares tangible steps that any museum can take, resources for best practices in engaging children on the autism spectrum, and discusses how and why museums should prioritize these efforts.
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Se Habla Español: Strategy and Implementation for Bilingual Resources at Museums
October 2, 2019
This webinar examines how to evaluate your organization’s needs regarding bilingual (English-Spanish) resources and options for implementation. Museum consultant María del Carmen Barrios-Giordano discusses Latin American, Latino, and Hispanic communities in the United States, attitudes towards Spanish language use, and what constitutes good translated text. Become more comfortable recognizing and discussing the needs of Spanish-speaking audiences with colleagues, and understand the range of opportunities to welcome Spanish speakers at museums.
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Podcasting 101 for Museums and Historic Sites
April 24, 2019
How can history organizations and sites use podcasting to connect with audiences, educate, and build super fans? In this webinar, Hannah Hethmon, a consultant and producer specializing in podcasting for cultural nonprofits covers the A-Z of podcasts.
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Bringing History to the Classroom: Outreach for Museums
March 20, 2018
Preferably, all the schools in your area would be able to visit your museum, but how do you serve those who cannot? How about creating a traveling trunk? Roseann Bacha-Garza, of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s CHAPS Program, discusses her own department’s experience in creating a traveling trunk including how they integrated TEKS into the project.
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Advocacy In Action
October 10, 2017
Hear from museum colleagues who have effectively employed advocacy in their work and thus were successful on two fronts: solving an issue that needed solving, and increasing the museum’s visibility as a community entity.
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Museum Metamorphosis: Building the Case for Change
August 3, 2017
We know museums do good work and are critical to communities. But how do we carry that message to others? Learn the importance of clearly articulating your case, how to draft key and consistent messages to articulate the need for change with different audiences, and develop techniques to better reach a desired audience.
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Teaching Teachers: How to Plan and Facilitate Teacher Workshops at Your Museum
March 20, 2017
Educators from The Old Jail Art Center, Dallas Heritage Village, and the Petroleum Museum share tips and strategies for engaging with teachers at your museum.
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Just a Millennial Girl Living in a Museum World: Succeeding as a Young Museum Leader
March 4, 2021
Have you ever been the youngest person at the table AND also been the one in charge? Many young leaders are not trained to address the challenges that come with managing across generations. In this webinar, millennial museum director Madeleine Calcote explores patterns of how different generations work, highlight some of the best aspects of varied generational approaches, and share examples from her own career. Whether managing up, down, or sideways, participants will learn strategies for success when working with any generation: passion, vision, perseverance, patience, and decisiveness.
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Becoming a Better Leader: Building Practices & Capacity to Care for Yourself & Your Team
September 5, 2019
In the museum profession, leaders don't always have to be managers. Over the course of a career, we can build capacity within ourselves to become a great leader. What exactly does that look like? Whether you're an established manager, just beginning your museum career, or are a mid-career professional, you'll gain some new insights from Michelle Mileham into how to care for yourself and your team, building skills to help you lead.
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Ages and Stages of a Museum Career
June 27, 2019
Museum careers are rarely neat and linear. Someone just starting out may be fresh out of school, making a mid-career transition or nearing retirement. Similarly, the most senior person on staff may also be one of the youngest. Recognizing where you are in your career, and what needs you have at that stage, will help you stay motivated and feeling successful in your work. Being aware of these "ages and stages" will also let you support colleagues by meeting them where they are. Sarah Erdman, editor of The Care and Keeping of Museum Professionals, shares big ideas and concrete strategies, along with ideas that you can implement right away.
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Creating a Community of Museum Colleagues
June 5, 2019
Felice Cleveland and Natalie Svacina co-founded the Houston Museum Education Roundtable. This presentation provides an overview of how Houston-based museum educators interested in quality educational practices built a community by meeting regularly throughout the year in the spirit of sharing and collaboration. Hear more about how this initiative came together by hosting a series of program at rotating institutions on a variety of topics, selectively chosen leadership, and staying flexible and responsive to the needs of the group. Learn some tools and tips to start a similar group in your community.
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Collections Insurance 101
August 14, 2024
This insightful webinar explores the critical role of insurance in protecting museum collections. Led by industry experts, Noni Tompkins and Joy Simpson, this session delves into the complexities of museum collections insurance, covering key topics such as evaluating your coverage needs, types of valuation, insurance for loans and exhibitions, and key factors that impact pricing. Whatever your role at your institution, this webinar offers essential knowledge to ensure the safeguarding of cultural treasures for future generations. 
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Practical Preservation: Applied Approaches to Collections Care
August 22, 2023
Caretakers of cultural heritage collections are often intimidated by “best practices.” Every collecting institution wants to do their best for every object in their collection. It would be great if they all could have fancy electronic compactor shelving units and completely processed collections. However, it has become obvious that most institutions do not have the funds for high-tech HVAC systems or the staff time to develop comprehensive preservation plans, nor do all of their collection material warrant the absolute "best" treatment. With limited staff, time, and money often the norm, how do organizations find ways to implement preservation practices that are feasible and sustainable? How can collections care be made practical and approachable to organizations of all sizes? This webinar explores those concepts, focusing on presenter Samantha Forsko's publication, Practical Approaches to Collections Care.
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Understanding and Upgrading Your Collection Preservation Environment
June 7, 2022
Maintaining or improving your museum’s HVAC is critical to preserving your collection and mitigating potential emergencies. Ideally, museum staff work closely with their facility colleagues to maintain safe environments, and act as advocates in long-term planning for upgrades with leadership and funders. Engineer Jimmy Hensel presents the basics of HVAC systems and environmental controls and describe how engineers identify both problems and solutions. Next, John Stevenson sharse tools for staff to advocate for facility upgrades. Grant options and the role that owners’ representatives play in managing mechanical upgrades and renovations are also discussed.
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OSHA 101: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Your Museum
May 17, 2022
Hear a general overview of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and how their regulations may impact your facility. OSHA consultant Glenn Abdelnoor discusses who is covered under OSHA statutes, employer obligations, federal requirements common to museums and historic sites, documentation, and commonly encountered physical hazards. He also provides resources for help, including the OSHA Onsite Consultation Program (OSHCON).
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Basic Object Photography on a Budget
July 22, 2021
What basic equipment and materials are needed for photographing collections, and how can you make the most of your setup? Despite expectations for museums to maintain an online presence, many small institutions don't have a wide-range of images available to promote their collections. Object photography may seem daunting and expensive--and hiring professional photographers may not be feasible--but creating good digital images can be achieved on a modest budget. The William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive team has been photographing objects in partner institutions and in private collectors’ homes for several years, encountering unpredictable and unfavorable photography conditions. They offer insights on how to take better pictures, reviewing simple setups that can be used in a variety of spaces. They also share checklists and strategies for various object types that they've developed.
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Improving Collections Care with the CAP Program
June 3, 2021
Are you looking to improve your museum’s collections care but don’t know where to begin? Do you have a long list of things you’d like to accomplish but struggle with limited staff and resources? The Foundation for Advancement in Conservation’s (FAIC) Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program can help small and mid-sized museums by providing a road map to help you distinguish your critical needs from less important tasks. Learn more about the CAP program and how turning to outside consultants for an assessment might benefit your museum (even if you already know what needs to be done). Tiffani Emig from FAIC is joined by CAP grant recipients Sara-Jayne Parsons from The Art Galleries at TCU and Crystal Stanley from the Lehnis Railroad Museum & Visitor Center in Brownsville.
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The Inside Scoop on Inventories
March 17, 2021
Join collections professionals to learn how The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza utilized an IMLS grant to tackle a daunting multi-year inventory project as well as some of the issues and challenges they faced along the way. Learn what data they collected, how they navigated a complete change in procedures mid-project, and what the next steps are now that the project is complete. Lindsey Richardson and Stephanie Allen-Givens share how this project increased staff awareness of how they allocate resources, made them more willing to engage in deaccession activities, and allowed them to leverage collections data for use in other museum initiatives.
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Organizational Practices: A Digital Repository's Perspective
April 22, 2020
Examine collection organization and preservation from the perspective of The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository for cultural heritage and historic materials from across the state of Texas. Jake Mangum and Marcia McIntosh focus on how knowing one’s organizational scope, mission, and collection goals can help shape their materials management. Learn useful collection organizational techniques as well as methods and resources for digitization and metadata creation.
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Appraising and Insuring Historical Treasures
March 3, 2020
Appraiser Barbara Blades-Lines and insurance agent Joy Simpson address the benefits of documenting and insuring historic treasures. Learn about the importance of selecting the right appraiser, appraisal reports and associated expenses, approaches to valuation, and how collectors can follow market trends. The webinar concludes with a discussion about how appraisals relate to your insurance coverage and best practices in communicating with your insurance agent.
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Collections Management Policies 101
October 16, 2019
Developing or updating your institution's Collections Management Policy (CMP) can be a daunting task, especially for staff at small and mid-sized museums. Where do you begin? What resources are available? What information should be included in a CMP? In this webinar, Mikaela Young from the Bell County Museum discusses the basics of a Collections Management Policy and offers a step-by-step guide for creating or updating a CMP. She also shares tips and tricks from the Bell County Museum's recent Collections Management Policy revision.
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Environmental Monitoring for Museums: The Basics
September 19, 2019
One challenge that all museums face is maintaining a good environment for their objects. Poor control over temperature, relative humidity, and light levels in storage and exhibit spaces can have detrimental effects on everything in the collection. This webinar explores the basics of how the museum environment can impact collections, as well as how to go about engaging in an environmental monitoring program. Stephanie Allen-Givens takes a look at different types of monitoring equipment, some easy ways you can combat various environment-related issues, and discuss available resources to help you get started.
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Insurance Basics for Historical Collections
August 22, 2019
When operating within a modest budget, it is crucial to understand what types of insurance are the most beneficial and necessary to your organization. In this webinar, Joy Simpson from Higganbotham describes the various coverages available to you and how they function when there is a claim. Joy also discusses current trends in insurance and some best practices in avoiding claims by implementing risk management.
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Better Safe than Sorry: Understanding Hazards Found in Collections
August 21, 2018
Museum collections are filled with ordinary objects that contain health and safety hazards for museum staff and volunteers. During this webinar, we explore how you can identify these objects and work safely around them.
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Textile Conservation
September 13, 2017
Do you have quilts, costumes or embroidered samplers in your collection? Learn about methods for storage, handling and display that will extend the lifespans of these fragile but vulnerable materials.
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Caring for Photographs
August 9, 2017
Photographs are some of the most useful artifacts in our collection as well as some of the most vulnerable. Learn how to identify a few common types of historic photographs so that you can utilize appropriate storage systems, storage materials, and exhibit practices.
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Caring for Books and Paper
July 12, 2017
Books and paper are some of the most common artifacts found in museums. Learn about the mechanisms of deterioration for paper objects and how to house and handle them safely.
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Critters and Slime: Dealing with Biological Agents of Deterioration
June 14, 2017
Insects, rodents and mold are all sources of quick and catastrophic damage to museum collections. In this webinar, Rebecca Elder of Rebecca Elder Cultural Heritage Preservation explores how to prevent pest infestations and what to do when, despite the best prevention efforts, your collections are invaded.
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Controlling The Preservation Environment: The Most Important Thing You Can Do For Your Collection
March 8, 2017
The environment affects every single object in your collections. This webinar examines the effects of temperature, relative humidity and light on collections, investigates ways to monitor the environment, and provides quick, low-cost tips on reducing environmental damage.
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Collections Protection
February 23, 2017
A good offense is the best defense! The Texas Historical Commission’s own Chief Curator Laura DeNormandie virtually walks you through basic preventative measures you can use to safeguard your artifacts.
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Active Shooter Preparedness
July 12, 2023
This training webinar was created by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to enhance awareness of, and response to, an active shooter incident. Preparing employees for a potential active shooter incident is an integral component of an organization’s incident response planning. Because active shooter incidents are unpredictable and evolve quickly, preparing for and knowing what to do in an active shooter situation can be the difference between life and death. Every second counts. This webinar covers recognition (understanding the threat), prevention (recognize, report, and intervene), and preparedness (plan for a response).
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Developing a Facility Security Plan
March 21, 2023
A Facility Security Plan is a critical component of an effective security program for your museum or site. In this free webinar, Bryan Gray, a Supervisory Protective Security Advisor (PSA) with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), provides an overview on developing a plan to protect your personnel, physical assets, and information. He also shares resources and guidelines to help you create a plan tailored to the needs of your organization.
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Throwing Flames (Safely): Building Safety Programs at Living History Sites
Thursday, January 26, 2023
It may not be the first thing you think of when you consider living history interpretation, but safety is an essential and often overlooked element of living history interpretation. Aaron Shuman is the Museum Experience Coordinator at the National Museum of the Pacific War, and the living history programs at his site include elements like the M2-2 Flamethrower and M3 Stuart Tank that easily make the case for a stalwart safety program. In this webinar, Aaron applies lessons he has learned at both the National Museum of the Pacific War and serving in the United States Air Force to discuss both the importance of having a safety program and how to develop one that is tailored to your site—even if you don’t have a flamethrower.
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Leveraging Federal Resources to Improve Museum Security and Resilience
December 8, 2022
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical infrastructure. Lee Otten, CISA's Protective Security Advisor (PSA) for Central Texas, provides a brief overview of the various no-cost resources available to assist with improving security and resilience at your museum or organization. CISA's free resources, analyses, and tools are available to help build and maintain cyber, communications, and physical security and resilience.
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Weathering the Storm: 2022 Hurricane Preparations for Cultural Institutions
May 26, 2022
As the 2022 Gulf Coast hurricane begins, it’s time for cultural institutions to review their plans for preparation and response. Dan Reilly, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at National Weather Service Houston/Galveston, discusses the hurricane season forecast and how to prepare for the wind, rain, flooding, and tornadoes that are associated with Gulf Coast hurricanes. Rebecca Kennedy, Collections Care Specialist with Curae Collections Care LLC, provides important details on how to conduct a risk assessment prior to a hurricane. Rik Chapman, Spokesperson for the American Red Cross, discusses how the Red Cross evaluates a site before deploying to that location. 
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Disaster Response: Insurance Claims and Collections Recovery
June 23, 2021
This webinar discusses plans that can help an historical site or museum respond to a disaster, presenting an overview of best practices for working with an insurance claims adjuster and suggestions for recovery of collection materials. Learn practical tips and standard guidelines so that your organization can respond to a disaster including filing insurance claims, addressing claim mitigation, and caring for damaged buildings and collections.
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Disaster Planning: Obtaining Insurance and Managing Risk
June 16, 2021
This webinar discusses how to plan for the risk of disaster that faces every historical site and museum. It introduces the Texas Collections Emergency Resource Alliance (TX-CERA) and presents an overview of general disaster preparedness considerations. Learn practical tips to assess risk and standard guidelines in emergency planning to implement within their organizations. Finally, the presenters explain the insurance placement process and walk attendees through types of coverage available as well as best practices for selecting limits and deductibles that are appropriate for the organization.
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Museums Beyond Reopening: Thriving in Your New Normal
May 27, 2020
In the midst of a pandemic that will likely impact our lives for the next 18-36 months, how will your museum continue to do business? Will you survive or thrive? The day after reopening is the first day of your new normal. This discussion will focus on planning in times of uncertainty, developing a toolbox to keep your museum agile and resilient, and thinking entrepreneurially to grow in your mission. Ellen Cone-Busch, Director of Historic Sites at the THC, looks at how to modify your operations to meet the challenges the pandemic has brought, build new revenue streams, and use this time of change to make your museum stronger.
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COVID-19 Resources for Texas Museums
April 7, 2020
Museums, like all nonprofits in the arts and humanities, are feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic in their daily operations as well as in their fundraising efforts. Organizations are grappling with what programming options to offer, while struggling to keep their members and donors engaged. Eric Lupfer, Anjali Zutshi, and Laura Casey share about programming and funding opportunities, resources, and assistance available to guide museums in recalibrating their efforts so they can come out strong as they pursue their mission. The presenters also discuss the CARES Act and how the provisions therein can assist museum.
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Responding to Hurricane Harvey
September 28, 2017
Was your institution affected by Hurricane Harvey? Are you curious about resources available to the museum community after a major disaster? Rebecca Elder of the National Heritage Responders and Lori Foley of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force discuss emergency response.
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Don’t Panic: Responding to Your Emergency
May 17, 2017
Sudden emergencies can affect any collection. Rebecca Elder of Rebecca Elder Cultural Heritage Preservation examines the emergency response and salvage process and discusses resources that are available to help you when the worst happens so that you can recover.
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Hurricanes, Tornadoes and Earthquakes, Oh My: Creating Your Emergency Plan
April 19, 2017
One of the most basic steps for protecting your collection is creating an emergency plan. This webinar will start by assessing threats to your collection, and then introduce a simple, free tool for creating an emergency plan that will leave you ready when the worst happens.
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Translation in Museums: Tips and Tricks to Get it Right!
September 21, 2023
So, you want Spanish-speakers to feel welcome in your museum and you have decided to start offering translations. But how do you go about it? Learn from a professional translator about how the translation process works, the different services offered by translation providers, and the most common timing and pricing for translation projects. You'll also learn tips and tricks on how to find good translators and talk about the benefits/downsides of working with individuals vs. translation agencies. Lastly, you’ll learn how to prepare before a translation project begins, what sort of decisions you’ll need to make, and what questions to ask your translation provider to ensure the best possible results!
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Can Organizations Center Community in Their Volunteer Strategies?
November 15, 2022
History organizations have a long tradition of volunteer involvement in their work. This presentation provides a practice-based illustration of the possibilities for centering community needs in your volunteer strategies, particularly how that strategy can speak to racial equity work. Emily Dobish and Maria Islas-Lopez from History Colorado guide participants to consider these questions:
- Who are the volunteers that are contributing to the work in your organizations?
- Who is included? Who is excluded?
- What is the relationship between volunteerism and community engagement, particularly racial equity work?
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Tackling Nostalgia: The Creation of "Sit Down to Take a Stand"
August 2, 2022
In 2021, the Dr Pepper Museum opened "Sit Down to Take a Stand," an exhibition that examines the civil rights lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960s and challenges the nostalgic viewpoint of soda fountains and lunch counters. Hear from Joy Summar-Smith, Associate Director of the Dr Pepper Museum, as she walks attendees through the Museum’s development process of the exhibition including working with the Museum’s advisory committee, primary document research, and oral history gathering in partnership with Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History.
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Does Your Board Reflect Your Story and Your Audience?
August 25, 2021
As we in the nonprofit world work on board development, we deal with charges of “political correctness” on the one hand, and “tokenism” on the other. Given the current charged environment, it is even more important to make sure that our leadership – specifically our boards – reflect the people our organization is committed to serving. While this might sound easy, especially for organizations with very specific geographic or mission focus, it is easier said than done. And more so when the organization’s mission lends itself to differing points of view. This webinar offers some thoughts and ideas on what organizations need to be thinking of as they deal with board development and building appropriate representation within their leadership.
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How Diversity Fuels Group Emotional Intelligence
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Moving from Theory to Practice: Doing the Work of DEAI
May 20, 2021
As museums continue to move toward becoming more equitable institutions, DEAI (diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion) must be intentionally, clearly, and practically interwoven with an organization’s strategic plans, policies, and practices. And, organizations must change their actions - not just their words. In this webinar, Dina Bailey supports participants in taking steps to move from agreement in theory to authenticity in practice.
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Exploring Social Justice on a Limited Budget
May 13, 2021
This webinar is framed through a social justice lens and lays the groundwork for an understanding of what social justice and equity are, why they are important to museums, and how they relate to conversations around racism and museum sustainability. It explores how museums can recontextualize exhibits to open discussions around social justice and provides examples of museums that have done this successfully. These examples are be affordable solutions with high impact and low cost, acknowledging that many museums do not have the resources to reinstall their exhibits at the moment, but there are ways they can address social justice within the context of the exhibits they already have on view.
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Inclusive Museum Leadership
May 6, 2021
The museum field is experiencing a critical gaze that is both “of the moment” and long overdue. Museums were built as colonial enterprises and are slow to awaken to the harm caused by their actions which are not limited to the capturing and keeping of Indigenous ancestors, the exclusion and erasure of Black voices, bodies, and creativity, and the positioning of white power in the C-suite and board rooms. Collective rooms of action are heavy with museum educators, millennials and younger, and the disenfranchised; these rooms of action rarely see museum directors in the mix. This webinar examines this disconnect and offer practical insights from Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko's own journey toward inclusive practice. 
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Let's Meet Halfway: Authentic Community Engagement for Local Museums
January 13, 2021
Is your local museum struggling to build rapport with all members of your community? Are you seeking to improve your community engagement strategy? In this webinar, consultant Valerie Wade discusses practical solutions for community engagement challenges, particularly for smaller or volunteer-led institutions and organizations. It is more important than ever to develop meaningful relationships between museums and communities they serve, and this webinar will give you some tools to do so.
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Thinking Through Culture: Six Practical Steps to Addressing Race in Museums
October 21, 2020
In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and the widespread demands for social and political change it inaugurated, museums, alongside other institutions, are facing increased scrutiny to better represent the diversity of the United States, to take a stand on police brutality, and to better connect with underserved sections of the public. Yet despite the groundswell of optimism about change, there are myriad structural reasons why museums will struggle to adapt to recent demands. While many innovative and experimental practices are being implemented in cultural institutions across the country, many museums continue to grapple with deeply entrenched forms of knowledge and organizational models that reflect long legacies of colonialism and racism. Presenter Aaron Ambroso shares six concrete steps that museums can take to address these legacies of race. It poses the questions: What kind of expertise and experience is relevant in the museum? What kind of relationship should museums have with their surrounding communities? How should we think about collections? Considering both large, encyclopedic museums as well smaller local museums, this webinar outlines paths for these institutions to help heal our divides.
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Museum Relevance: Exhibitions for Social Justice
January 23, 2020
Elena Gonzales discusses how museums can reach the whole population, rather than a dwindling half of it, how museums can develop more honest and functional relationships with communities that typically have not visited, and what curatorial strategies and tactics are most effective when museums want to build empathy, long lasting memories, and inspiration for visitors. She shares examples of institutions that are embracing opportunities to become more relevant by doing work within the galleries to more equitably distribute risks and rewards in society.
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Neurodiversity in Museums: Crafting Community for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
January 15, 2020
Museum professional and autism mom Jackie Spainhour provides insight into how museums of all sizes and scopes can adapt their facilities and programming to suit the needs of children on the autism spectrum. Jackie shares tangible steps that any museum can take, resources for best practices in engaging children on the autism spectrum, and discusses how and why museums should prioritize these efforts.
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Se Habla Español: Strategy and Implementation for Bilingual Resources at Museums
October 2, 2019
This webinar examines how to evaluate your organization’s needs regarding bilingual (English-Spanish) resources and options for implementation. Museum consultant María del Carmen Barrios-Giordano discusses Latin American, Latino, and Hispanic communities in the United States, attitudes towards Spanish language use, and what constitutes good translated text. Become more comfortable recognizing and discussing the needs of Spanish-speaking audiences with colleagues, and understand the range of opportunities to welcome Spanish speakers at museums.
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Creating a Culture of Civility in the Era of #MeToo & Time’s Up
May 3, 2018
Imagine a work environment where all communications and interactions were conducted in a civil and respectful manner. Co-workers and customers would be treated respectfully on a consistent basis. There would be no place for harassment, discrimination, bullying, workplace violence, unethical actions, or other disrespectful and potentially illegal behaviors. Instead of this idealized picture, studies and polls indicate that workplaces are a reflection of society at-large and that incivility is a serious problem that is getting worse. During this webinar, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Joe Bontke offers a solution to edit and make your own.
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Advocacy In Action
October 10, 2017
Hear from museum colleagues who have effectively employed advocacy in their work and thus were successful on two fronts: solving an issue that needed solving, and increasing the museum’s visibility as a community entity.
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Museum Metamorphosis: Building the Case for Change
August 3, 2017
We know museums do good work and are critical to communities. But how do we carry that message to others? Learn the importance of clearly articulating your case, how to draft key and consistent messages to articulate the need for change with different audiences, and develop techniques to better reach a desired audience.
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Building Community Engagement through Collections Exhibitions
November 14, 2023
A museum’s collections storage area may be imagined as a dark, mysterious place where artifacts collect dust—but in the right hands, it is full of potential exhibits that will build community trust by share important local stories. Hear first-hand how the Museum of South Texas History increased their visitation and community engagement through rotating low-cost exhibits pulled from their collection. Melissa Peña shares how she mounted one new exhibit every month for a year, as well as the dos and don’ts she learned along the way.
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Translation in Museums: Tips and Tricks to Get it Right!
September 21, 2023
So, you want Spanish-speakers to feel welcome in your museum and you have decided to start offering translations. But how do you go about it? Learn from a professional translator about how the translation process works, the different services offered by translation providers, and the most common timing and pricing for translation projects. You'll also learn tips and tricks on how to find good translators and talk about the benefits/downsides of working with individuals vs. translation agencies. Lastly, you’ll learn how to prepare before a translation project begins, what sort of decisions you’ll need to make, and what questions to ask your translation provider to ensure the best possible results!
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Interpretive Planning for Historic Sites
August 15, 2023
All historic sites, both large and small, can benefit from creating formalized interpretive plans, whether written in-house or by outside consultants. Learn the key elements of an interpretive plan, how to express your site’s mission, what background information to include, how to best engage your site’s stakeholders, and what programming and operations issues to consider. Presenters Lisa E. Worley and Hal Simon-Hassell also share their approaches to research, community engagement, and writing and provide resources and practical tips.
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Tribal Collaboration, Sovereignty, and Methodology: An Ndee (Apache) Perspective
June 29, 2023
The evolution of the disciplines of anthropology and archaeology in the U.S. is ongoing. Current collaborative projects are challenging past methods and practices to be more comprehensive and to emphasize Tribal wants, interests, and overall goals. However, many of the legacies of early interpretations and understandings of Indigenous cultures in the U.S. remain. Understanding Federal Indian Law, what terms like “sovereignty” mean to Tribal Nations, and how Tribes are asserting their own forms of sovereignty in cultural heritage resource management leads to better understandings of Indigenous pasts, present, and futures.
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Consultation and Collaboration: A Starting Point for Museums and Indigenous Tribes

Collaboration Between Museums and Indigenous Partners
June 22, 2023
The Houston Museum of Natural Science opened the new Hall of the Americas in September 2022 after extensive collaborative work with an Indigenous Advisory Group composed of artists, teachers, and educators from Canada to Guatemala. This is a long-term relationship that extends beyond the preparations to open the new hall. Meeting and collaborating virtually, the Indigenous Advisory Group provided advice on which objects, narratives, images, and digital media would be displayed as well as any and all concepts and ideas included in the Hall. The Group also edited all text panels and labels. The review process succeeded in bringing everyone involved into a true partnership, ensuring that the Hall itself has an authentic Indigenous voice proclaiming the very important message: WE ARE STILL HERE.
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Consultation and Collaboration: A Starting Point for Museums and Indigenous Tribes

Elegant Authenticity: Implementing and Interpreting Historic Landscaping
March 1, 2023
Historic landscaping can draw visitors into the past through its beautiful and artistic nature. Properly researched and interpreted historic landscaping can be a powerful tool to keep up the well-maintained appearance and historical viewshed of your historic site, display your commitment to detailed historic accuracy, and give visitors a more accurate impression of the past. Historic landscaping can be difficult to research, implement, and maintain, leaving museum professionals unsure where to begin. Laura Fisher and Nicole Shadle’s research and experience at their sites have allowed them to recognize the benefits and challenges to preserving this aspect of history. They share their years of experience to present an introduction to period landscaping in the Victorian Era and leave listeners with a model for how to research, implement, and interpret their own historic landscaping.
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Tackling Nostalgia: The Creation of "Sit Down to Take a Stand"
August 2, 2022
In 2021, the Dr Pepper Museum opened "Sit Down to Take a Stand," an exhibition that examines the civil rights lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960s and challenges the nostalgic viewpoint of soda fountains and lunch counters. Hear from Joy Summar-Smith, Associate Director of the Dr Pepper Museum, as she walks attendees through the Museum’s development process of the exhibition including working with the Museum’s advisory committee, primary document research, and oral history gathering in partnership with Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History.
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Forging New Paths: Artwork at Work at Historic Sites
March 29, 2022
Much as we might wish it to be otherwise, not everyone thinks they are the history museum or historic site "type." Art—whether it be a collaboration or residency or a retrospective exhibition—can create new avenues for visitor attendance and engagement. Learn how the Neill-Cochran House Museum has developed an active calendar of exhibitions and art fairs that draw diverse crowds as well as support Austin's vibrant artist community.
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Engaging STEM Topics Through Interactivity
June 22, 2021
Explore planning processes used to create high- or low-tech interactive components that incorporate STEM-based ideas into history exhibits. Using examples drawn from TxDOT's work on historic bridges in Texas, this webinar discusses readily-available tools and techniques for both digital and tactile interactives, including low-cost solutions for creating and presenting interactive content to the public. 
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Constructive a Narrative: Writing About STEM for a Specific Audience
June 8, 2021
Dive into best practices in writing for accessibility, readability, and voice. Learn how to use these strategies in onsite and online applications including exhibition text, lesson plans, and website text to incorporate STEM topics into history exhibits. Using road construction techniques particular to Texas as an example, practice different methods for clear and concise writing for your institution's primary audience.
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Exploring Social Justice on a Limited Budget
May 13, 2021
This webinar is framed through a social justice lens and lays the groundwork for an understanding of what social justice and equity are, why they are important to museums, and how they relate to conversations around racism and museum sustainability. It explores how museums can recontextualize exhibits to open discussions around social justice and provides examples of museums that have done this successfully. These examples are be affordable solutions with high impact and low cost, acknowledging that many museums do not have the resources to reinstall their exhibits at the moment, but there are ways they can address social justice within the context of the exhibits they already have on view.
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Countless Facets of Texas: The General Land Office Map Collection
April 15, 2021
The Texas General Land Office is the oldest state agency in Texas, having been founded in 1836 and opening the following year. The Archives & Records program oversees the care and exhibition of over 45,000 maps and 3.5 million documents that tell the story of Texas’ public lands, from early Spanish exploration to present-day natural resources. In this talk, maps collection curator Brandice Nelson showcases some of the most significant and unique historical treasures in the collection, discusses the extensive work that goes into interpreting the map collection for a modern audience, and details what considerations are taken when putting on a map exhibit.
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Using Visual Storytelling to Add Science to History Exhibits
April 6, 2021
Explore impactful use of digital images and video as a tool to discuss STEM in history exhibits. Learn how to use graphics, images, and video as storytelling techniques to create meaningful digital content. Using examples from Texas transportation history, this webinar shares examples across multiple platforms and provides tools for participants to implement methods both onsite and online.
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Writing About Science for a History Museum Audience (When You're Not a Scientist)
March 9, 2021
Discover how interpretive writing techniques can be a powerful tool in making technical topics accessible to visitors of any age. Using examples from historical bridge building and renovation, this workshop discusses the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to storytelling and gives concrete examples of how history-based sites can easily incorporate STEM into exhibits.
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Affordable and Transportable: Creating and Circulating Compact Traveling Exhibits
October 6, 2020
Many museums and cultural institutions are interested in developing high-quality, compact, and affordable traveling exhibitions from their own collections and archives. Exhibitions of this scale allow an organization to reach a broader audience within Texas communities while raising awareness of the organization itself and its unique resources. This session offers practical guidance for developing highly-accessible traveling exhibitions including tips on interpretation, design/fabrication, promotion, scheduling, crating/shipping, insurance, and maintenance/repair. Presenter Melissa Huber also discusses the benefits of developing exhibitions that accommodate non-traditional venues, such as libraries and schools, and how venues can utilize these exhibitions to enhance their existing programs.
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Creating Exhibits in Response to Current Events
October 1, 2020
More and more, museums are looking for practical ways to quickly respond to current events in their communities. When Hurricane Harvey hit along the coast, most people in Texas knew someone personally affected. The Bullock Texas State History Museum wanted to keep the momentum of support going past fleeting news accounts, and draw visitors into history as it was happening. Partnering with Texas Monthly, the museum team created an exhibition in about 8 weeks with a minimal budget for a small, but very visible space. The resulting project helped the team understand that they had the resources and motivation to respond to significant events in a thoughtful and relevant way for visitors, while preparing the exhibition in a way that made it easy to travel. This session lays the groundwork for taking a concept from development to implementation while looking at internal policies that allow and encourage an institution to be flexible and responsive to current events; approaching stakeholders with the expertise and resources to assist; helping staff prioritize on-going responsibilities in order to take on a quick project; and open discussion about mission and response in order to contribute in a meaningful way to community need.
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Make You Look: How to Select Visuals that Will Keep Visitors Engaged with Your Exhibits
August 20, 2020
We often focus closely on the words in an exhibit to the exclusion of other elements, forgetting that exhibits are an inherently visual medium. If your visual components—photos, graphics, maps, etc.—aren't compelling, you aren't reaching as many visitors as you could. We discuss how you can use high-quality images and visuals to maintain audience interest, and give you guidelines for selecting the right type of visual in a given situation. Then we' do a deep dive into photography and explore what makes a photograph "exhibit worthy." Finally, we wrap up by reviewing the dos and don'ts of font selection and panel composition.
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Well, That Was Awkward: Interpreting Difficult Stories in Your Exhibits
August 13, 2020
We all have those difficult stories in our collections: stories of oppression, injustice, discord, and disgrace that are uncomfortable to remember and discuss in private, let alone in a public space. That doesn't make them any less important to tell, though. In fact, your exhibits can become a place where people feel more comfortable exploring these tough topics. We explore exactly what makes these stories so difficult for people to grapple with and accept, and review various writing and exhibit design techniques you can use to help your visitors better engage with these challenging topics. 
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Give 'Em Something to Talk About: Strategies for Engaging and Provoking Exhibit Audiences
August 6, 2020
We discuss how you can make your exhibits more engaging and thought-provoking to visitors, focusing on how the tone and voice of your labels signal to visitors early on about how to engage with your exhibits. We also look at specific techniques for writing more active, engaging labels that get visitors thinking and talking more about the stories your exhibits tell.
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Building A Collaborative Online Archive: A Case Study
August 5, 2020
Learn the basics to consider when creating an online collection or archive, as well as various ways of collaborating and partnering with other institutions--including the benefits of collaborating with an already established digital archive. Providing an online home for a variety of file formats and metadata schema presents routine challenges in digitization, data uniformity, and object description that require successful cooperation and good communication among partner institutions and private individuals. The William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive (Hill Archive) is a hybrid digital database that documents the lives, work, and products of Texas artisans and artists through 1900. Since 2013, the Hill Archive has been working with private and public institutions as well as individual collectors to digitize objects and archival material from their collections. Also included are examples of lessons learned in partnering, along with tips and tricks for digitization and collaborative success.
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Make Them Care, Part 2: How to Create More Memorable and Compelling Exhibits through Interpretation
July 30, 2020
Building on the previous week's webinar, this time we explored ways you can build on an interpretive theme to create a conceptual framework for your entire exhibit. With a special emphasis on hierarchy and repetition, we discussed techniques to make your exhibits clearer, easier to follow, and most importantly, more memorable for your visitors.
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Make Them Care, Part 1: How to Create More Memorable and Compelling Exhibits through Interpretation
July 23, 2020
We begin by reviewing the many places you can search for local, regional, and statewide history resources. Then we introduce the basics of interpretation: what is it, why it's effective, and how to make your exhibits more relevant to visitors using concepts like themes and universals. Finally, we wrap up the session by introducing Sam Ham's three-step process for theme writing. Participants will leave this webinar with an understanding of how to reach your visitors more effectively through the written word. Next week we'll discuss how to build on a theme to create an entire interpretive exhibit.
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Museum Relevance: Exhibitions for Social Justice
January 23, 2020
Elena Gonzales discusses how museums can reach the whole population, rather than a dwindling half of it, how museums can develop more honest and functional relationships with communities that typically have not visited, and what curatorial strategies and tactics are most effective when museums want to build empathy, long lasting memories, and inspiration for visitors. She shares examples of institutions that are embracing opportunities to become more relevant by doing work within the galleries to more equitably distribute risks and rewards in society.
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Incorporating Transportation History Into Exhibits
December 5, 2019
Are you considering researching and incorporating transportation history into your museum exhibits? Learn about the many resources available from The Texas Department of Transportation and other sources, as well as how to access them, and best practices for utilizing them your exhibits. Using examples from exhibits across the state, this webinar focuses on strategies for using these resources to tell local stories that support your community's history.
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Incorporating AR/VR Technology Within Your Museum: A Behind the Scenes Look
July 30, 2019
As institutions that serve the public, museums and heritage sites should consider the evolving trends of how society utilizes technology to interact with the world around them. Incorporating augmented, virtual, and mixed reality into the museum setting may seem intimidating and costly, but it doesn't have to be. In this webinar, Dani Marshall shares how the Museum of Texas Tech University assessed and adapted available technological resources to develop an interactive element for their exhibits.
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Selecting Strong Visuals for Exhibits
June 22, 2017
Choosing the right look for your exhibit can make the difference between leaving a lasting impression on your audience and missing the mark entirely. Learn how to select the best types of visuals for your exhibit, what makes a compelling photograph, which fonts to use (and which to avoid), and other principles for putting together visually appealing exhibits. This webinar is part of the WWI Centennial Series, and while examples from WWI are utilized, the information presented is applicable to everyone.
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Grappling with Difficult and Undertold Stories in Exhibits
June 15, 2017
Stories of heroism and victory often take center stage when interpreting war, but sometimes telling the whole story means presenting stories of loss and tragedy as well. Learn about techniques for presenting difficult stories and explore examples of how organizations around the world are presenting perspectives that often go overlooked. This webinar is part of the WWI Centennial Series, and while examples from WWI are utilized, the information presented is applicable to everyone.
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Implementing Good Storytelling in Your Exhibits
May 26, 2017
Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to connect people with each other and the past. Learn what is - and isn't - a story, define the characteristics of good storytelling, and explore how you can find stories in your collections and incorporate them into your exhibits. This webinar is part of the WWI Centennial Series, and while examples from WWI are utilized, the information presented is applicable to everyone.
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How to Keep All Those Donors Your Museum Worked So Hard to Get
Thursday, May 18, 2023
What are simple, actionable steps that you can take to boost donor retention at your museum? Join fundraising master trainer, Chad Barger, CFRE, for a discussion on the importance of donor retention and mapping your organization’s donor touchpoints. Attendees will leave the session with a greater understanding of what they can do to improve donor retention and the start of an improvement plan for their museum.
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Values-Based Fundraising
June 16, 2022
In the work of many nonprofits today, it has become very important to find and create alignment between the mission of the organization and the fundraising work that the organization does. Should an environmental organization seek and accept funds from a fracking company? Should an art museum or a cultural organization accept major grants from a corporation that makes it money from practices that are in conflict with the organization’s mission? Should a human services organization accept gifts from a business that uses practices that negatively impact the human condition? Presenter Anjali Zutshi shares some real life examples of nonprofits facing this dilemma, and shares her thoughts about the dynamics in each of these situations, and specific ethics-based recommendations that may help your nonprofit address this kind of a situation if faced with it. The session also offers some governance recommendations that boards can implement to create a framework for evaluating such situations as the governing body.
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Beyond the Bake Sale: Fundraising for Local History Organizations
May 4, 2022
Just because an organization is small, or volunteer-run, or located in a rural area, does not mean its leaders can’t professionalize their fundraising, establish effective processes, and build genuine relationships that will lead to the ultimate goal: people giving to people. Based on the book of the same name, this webinar offers ten fundraising to-do’s that can help heritage organizations move “beyond the bake sale” to secure the resources they need to continue caring for our shared history.
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Tending the Field for a Strong Harvest: Board Development for Nonprofits
January 21, 2021
This webinar focuses on the ever-critical and ever-present issue of board development for nonprofit organizations. A nonprofit is only as strong as its leadership, and it’s a very rare organization that has all of its board development issues addressed. Some boards are strong in governance, but not so much in fundraising. Others are very strategic when it comes to their programs, but perhaps not as much when it comes to supporting staff in implementation. Other boards struggle with the issue of diversity and appropriate representation. And then there is the issue of recruitment and succession planning. Presenter Anjali Zutshi shares her thoughts (with some real-life examples) about board development, specifically the issues of board recruitment and authentic board diversity, board roles and responsibilities, setting goals and expectations for board members, and empowering board members to fundraise.
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Friends in High Places: Navigating Friends Group Partnerships
December 8, 2020
"Should my organization have a Friends Group?" "How do I start a Friends Group?" "What are the benefits and challenges, and how do I avoid common pitfalls?" This webinar focuses on Friends Groups and nonprofits that support museums, parks, or cultural organizations that are publicly owned. Angela Reed discusses how to build a strong partnership framework and why that framework is important to both the Friends Group and the organization they support. This webinar will interest board members of nonprofits as well as staff who work with their Friends Group or supporting nonprofit, and for anyone considering forming a Friends Group.
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Follow-Up Blog Post with Q&A

Best Practices for the Nonprofit World
August 19, 2020
For many small and mid-sized nonprofits, knowing how to build and maintain the health of the organization, using current best practices and the very best management strategies, is critical and can mean life or death for the organization. Often, smaller organizations strapped for time, money, and effective leadership are not aware of these best practices and the rules and regulations governing nonprofits, which ultimately jeopardizes the health of those organizations. This webinar will focus on best practices on board governance, sound administration, financial management, board development, and fundraising. Presenter Anjali Zutshi will provide guidelines addressing each of these issues, which will help newer organizations build and strengthen their foundation and credibility and offer established nonprofits a refresher to regain momentum.
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Follow-Up Blog Post with Q&A

Grant Evaluation: Setting Goals and Measuring Impact
July 22, 2020
When writing funding proposals, you've likely encountered questions about the impact of your program or project – both the big picture and quantifiable data. Many granting entities and donors require organizations to provide information about evaluation as part of the request. They want to know how you will measure the impact and show the effectiveness of the program or project, and many times this information is critical to both building funding support and sustaining funding partnerships with donors. In this webinar, experienced fundraiser Anjali Zutshi shares the why and how of evaluation in a grant process. Learn about how to set goals at the beginning of the grant process (or even before that, during program development), how to measure the impact, both qualitative (big picture) as well as quantitative (specific numbers), of your programs or projects, and how to effectively present this to funders.
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A Case Study in Creating a Successful Case Statement
May 21, 2020
Fundraising is about building a compelling case for support for your organization--its mission, the programs you offer, and the projects that you implement to serve your constituency. This case is equal parts storytelling and facts and figures to support your narrative. While an engaging narrative is essential to building a case, it is important to ensure that as you present to a funder, you address the critical items that funders are looking for and that they will respond positively to. This is especially important now, with increased calls on funders’ purses in response to the COVID-19 crisis. In this webinar, experienced fundraiser Anjali Zutshi will provides guideline for developing a strong case statement, which will better position your organization's efforts to build financial support.
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COVID-19 Resources for Texas Museums
April 7, 2020
Museums, like all nonprofits in the arts and humanities, are feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic in their daily operations as well as in their fundraising efforts. Organizations are grappling with what programming options to offer, while struggling to keep their members and donors engaged. Eric Lupfer, Anjali Zutshi, and Laura Casey share about programming and funding opportunities, resources, and assistance available to guide museums in recalibrating their efforts so they can come out strong as they pursue their mission. The presenters also discuss the CARES Act and how the provisions therein can assist museum.
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Sealing the Deal: Making a Compelling Case for Funding with Private Foundations
February 11, 2020
Did you know that 90% of private foundations don’t have a website? Learn how to discover, locate, and approach potential funders while making a compelling case for funding. Dreanna Belden from UNT Libraries’ Portal to Texas History discusses resources for identifying potential funders, as well as strategies and best practices for approaching those funders. Learn how to craft your application for the greatest impact with concrete examples for a strong narrative that will connect with donors.
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How Do We Pay For It?: Grants and Grant Writing for Collections
October 18, 2017
By now, you probably have a long list of collections care projects you would like to accomplish, but you probably don’t have the resources you need to make them happen. Learn about potential funding sources and the grant writing process so that you can make your collections care dreams come true.
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Social Media Best Practices for the History-Focused Organization
February 22, 2023
Do you find it hard to bridge the world of history and heritage tourism with social media? Having a rough time translating the Texas Revolution into Facebook likes? This session will focus on social media best practice for museums and anyone else trying to discuss the past through the lens of Facebook and Instagram. Danielle Brissette and Cait Johnson will share how to successfully use your online presence to build long-lasting relationships with your core audiences, which can increase visitation and revenue and strengthen your brand identity. In this webinar, you'll learn concrete strategies for improving your institution's social media presence, including easily upgrading your graphic design, ideas for the types of posts that succeed with history-oriented audiences, and a resource list aimed at low-cost, easy-to-use tools for heritage professionals and volunteers.
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What's in a Name? Rebranding Your History Organization
April 27, 2022
Rebranding a historic house, museum, or site can be tricky. We are, after all, in the business of preserving history not changing it. Yet history professionals around the country are choosing to change their organizations’ names and logos, often in response to deeper changes that have taken place within the organization. This program discusses rebranding in a broad context, exploring common reasons for rebranding a historic site, and discusses the process sites across America have used, regardless of size and budget. Jane Eliasof draws on her own experiences as well as those of the 12 other history organizations she features in her book Rebranding: A Guide for Historic Houses, Museums, Sites, and Organizations.
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Pulling it All Together: Citywide Museum Events
April 7, 2022
Since 1998, the Austin Museum Partnership (AMP) has coordinated Austin Museum Day, an annual community event which offers free admission and special programs at museums across greater Austin. Thousands of visitors flock to the city's cultural institutions to take advantage of this special day. AMP board members Kaitlin Lloyd-Leva and Pamela R. Owen share how the group plans this annual event, how it has evolved over the years, and tips for making an event like this successful in your own community
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Preparation is Key: Getting Started with Media Relations and Crisis Management
September 29, 2021
For any business or organization, a relationship with local media is often necessary. Traditional TV news, while very valuable, isn't the only media channel you can use to promote your institution. There are many potential outlets for you to connect with when seeking media coverage – but which do you reach out to and have the best chance at gaining coverage? There's more than one answer. When representing your museum, the stakes are high and knowing the best way to approach media outlets can make it less intimidating. Participants will learn about building a basic media plan, preparing for unexpected events, and a few tips for on-camera interviews.
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Managing the Endless Social Media Cycle: Must-Haves and Strategies
November 10, 2020
You’ve got a social media presence for your museum. But you also have a job (or maybe jobs, plural) beyond social media—how are you supposed to juggle it all? In this webinar, we discuss which pieces of the social sphere are vital. Then we take a closer look at managing these must-haves, including making your social media accessible and how to moderate comments. Finally, we look at strategies for tackling some of the other elements, such as using scheduling tools and finding and crediting good photography. This webinar is for: people who already know the basic mechanics of how to post to at least one social media platform; “one-stop shop” social media managers who have little or no support from other writers, editors, photographers, or graphic designers; and people who cannot dedicate all of their working hours to maintaining social media but who still want to do it well in the time that’s available.
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How to Develop Effective Social Media Content to Engage Your Visitors
July 9, 2020
Is your museum effectively building visibility within your community and engaging potential visitors through social media? Learn strategies for developing partnerships with other organizations within your community to help build an audience who is passionate about the services and programs you provide. Justin Minsker, Historic Sites Communications Coordinator for the Texas Historical Commission, discusses best practices for successful outreach campaigns and strategies for promoting museum exhibits, activities, and programs through Facebook and Instagram. He also shares insights on how to develop and leverage digital messages, create compelling visual assets, and effectively target your campaigns to build an engaged online audience.
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Social Media and Your Cultural Organization: Where to Start
March 24, 2020 
Justin Minsker, Historic Sites Communications Coordinator for the Texas Historical Commission leads participants in exploring the basics of social media in promoting their cultural organization. Learn about setting up pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Google My Business and establish simple goals for using social media and develop engaging posts that can build a loyal audience using limited resources. Just shares examples of top performing content and how to track successes for reporting to stakeholders.
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Engaging the Public Through Content Marketing
November 12, 2019
What is content marketing, and how it can be used as a tool to share information with the public in support of your institutional mission? Laura Cruzada from the Texas Department of Transportation and Kate Betz from the Bullock Texas State History Museum share examples of content marketing from their organizations and discuss strategies for balancing it with more traditional marketing techniques. Learn concrete steps that you can take to better engage your own community through free or low-cost local marketing efforts.
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Digital Strategy on a Budget
May 14, 2019
How does a cultural institution of modest means make decisions about what technology to use, and the most effective ways to implement it? Non-profit digital strategy consultant Koven J. Smith shares strategies for implementing technology effectively in cultural institutions. Learn frameworks for decision-making that will enable the development of technology strategies that are impactful, transformational, and efficient.
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Website Redos
July 25, 2018
Is your website outdated? Wondering how to give it a facelift? Texas Historical Commission’s webmaster Jared Porter shares some tips and answer your questions about updating your website.
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Social Media as Your Ally
April 25, 2018
In order for your organization to stay successful, you need to consider social media as your ally.  Through some useful tips and recommendations that will benefit your business, you’ll be able to navigate through basic platforms and maintain your presence online with ease.
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Big Marketing for Small Museums
February 20, 2018
Everyone wants to get the word out about their great museum but some can’t afford a dedicated marketing department. So what can you do to market your site on a small budget?  Mary Jane Connor, Director of Marketing at the Wisconsin Historical Society, shares some of her top tips for small museums with big marketing needs.
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Collections Insurance 101
August 14, 2024
This insightful webinar explores the critical role of insurance in protecting museum collections. Led by industry experts, Noni Tompkins and Joy Simpson, this session delves into the complexities of museum collections insurance, covering key topics such as evaluating your coverage needs, types of valuation, insurance for loans and exhibitions, and key factors that impact pricing. Whatever your role at your institution, this webinar offers essential knowledge to ensure the safeguarding of cultural treasures for future generations. 
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Active Shooter Preparedness
July 12, 2023
This training webinar was created by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to enhance awareness of, and response to, an active shooter incident. Preparing employees for a potential active shooter incident is an integral component of an organization’s incident response planning. Because active shooter incidents are unpredictable and evolve quickly, preparing for and knowing what to do in an active shooter situation can be the difference between life and death. Every second counts. This webinar covers recognition (understanding the threat), prevention (recognize, report, and intervene), and preparedness (plan for a response).
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Developing a Facility Security Plan
March 21, 2023
A Facility Security Plan is a critical component of an effective security program for your museum or site. In this free webinar, Bryan Gray, a Supervisory Protective Security Advisor (PSA) with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), provides an overview on developing a plan to protect your personnel, physical assets, and information. He also shares resources and guidelines to help you create a plan tailored to the needs of your organization.
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Throwing Flames (Safely): Building Safety Programs at Living History Sites
Thursday, January 26, 2023
It may not be the first thing you think of when you consider living history interpretation, but safety is an essential and often overlooked element of living history interpretation. Aaron Shuman is the Museum Experience Coordinator at the National Museum of the Pacific War, and the living history programs at his site include elements like the M2-2 Flamethrower and M3 Stuart Tank that easily make the case for a stalwart safety program. In this webinar, Aaron applies lessons he has learned at both the National Museum of the Pacific War and serving in the United States Air Force to discuss both the importance of having a safety program and how to develop one that is tailored to your site—even if you don’t have a flamethrower.
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Leveraging Federal Resources to Improve Museum Security and Resilience
December 8, 2022
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical infrastructure. Lee Otten, CISA's Protective Security Advisor (PSA) for Central Texas, provides a brief overview of the various no-cost resources available to assist with improving security and resilience at your museum or organization. CISA's free resources, analyses, and tools are available to help build and maintain cyber, communications, and physical security and resilience.
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Can Organizations Center Community in Their Volunteer Strategies?
November 15, 2022
History organizations have a long tradition of volunteer involvement in their work. This presentation provides a practice-based illustration of the possibilities for centering community needs in your volunteer strategies, particularly how that strategy can speak to racial equity work. Emily Dobish and Maria Islas-Lopez from History Colorado guide participants to consider these questions:
- Who are the volunteers that are contributing to the work in your organizations?
- Who is included? Who is excluded?
- What is the relationship between volunteerism and community engagement, particularly racial equity work?
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Understanding and Upgrading Your Collection Preservation Environment
June 7, 2022
Maintaining or improving your museum’s HVAC is critical to preserving your collection and mitigating potential emergencies. Ideally, museum staff work closely with their facility colleagues to maintain safe environments, and act as advocates in long-term planning for upgrades with leadership and funders. Engineer Jimmy Hensel presents the basics of HVAC systems and environmental controls and describe how engineers identify both problems and solutions. Next, John Stevenson shares tools for staff to advocate for facility upgrades. Grant options and the role that owners’ representatives play in managing mechanical upgrades and renovations are also discussed.
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OSHA 101: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Your Museum
May 17, 2022
Hear a general overview of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and how their regulations may impact your facility. OSHA consultant Glenn Abdelnoor discusses who is covered under OSHA statutes, employer obligations, federal requirements common to museums and historic sites, documentation, and commonly encountered physical hazards. He also provides resources for help, including the OSHA Onsite Consultation Program (OSHCON).
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OSHA Consultation Directory Map

What's in a Name? Rebranding Your History Organization
April 27, 2022
Rebranding a historic house, museum, or site can be tricky. We are, after all, in the business of preserving history not changing it. Yet history professionals around the country are choosing to change their organizations’ names and logos, often in response to deeper changes that have taken place within the organization. This program discusses rebranding in a broad context, exploring common reasons for rebranding a historic site, and discusses the process sites across America have used, regardless of size and budget. Jane Eliasof draws on her own experiences as well as those of the 12 other history organizations she features in her book Rebranding: A Guide for Historic Houses, Museums, Sites, and Organizations.
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From the Ground Up: Starting a Museum
April 20, 2022
Starting a museum is a daunting task. How do you decide when and where to start a museum? How do you create partnerships with communities and other institutions? How do you get people through the door? How do you present yourself for grants and find funding opportunities? In this webinar, the founders of the Houston Climate Justice Museum & Cultural Center discuss starting and running this new museum in Houston’s East End. They share their experience starting the museum from the ground up, together with its failures, experiments, and modest successes. In addition, they talk about the challenges that museums face when addressing complex contemporary events.
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Beyond the Dinosaur Hall: Welcoming Young Children and Their Grown-Ups into Your Museum
October 7, 2021
Children belong in any museum. This--to some--bold claim is one that presenter Sarah Erdman has been making for years. In this webinar she explores how that can be true for your institution, using research and methods from the upcoming book Welcoming Young Children into Museums: A Practical Guide. The focus is on basic, cost-conscious, ways to make your mission, collection, space, and programs accessible to families and young children, even if your museum has not historically been considered "child friendly," and the benefits for everyone involved.
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Preparation is Key: Getting Started with Media Relations and Crisis Management
September 29, 2021
For any business or organization, a relationship with local media is often necessary. Traditional TV news, while very valuable, isn't the only media channel you can use to promote your institution. There are many potential outlets for you to connect with when seeking media coverage – but which do you reach out to and have the best chance at gaining coverage? There's more than one answer. When representing your museum, the stakes are high and knowing the best way to approach media outlets can make it less intimidating. Participants will learn about building a basic media plan, preparing for unexpected events, and a few tips for on-camera interviews.
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Does Your Board Reflect Your Story and Your Audience?
August 25, 2021
As we in the nonprofit world work on board development, we deal with charges of “political correctness” on the one hand, and “tokenism” on the other. Given the current charged environment, it is even more important to make sure that our leadership – specifically our boards – reflect the people our organization is committed to serving. While this might sound easy, especially for organizations with very specific geographic or mission focus, it is easier said than done. And more so when the organization’s mission lends itself to differing points of view. This webinar offers some thoughts and ideas on what organizations need to be thinking of as they deal with board development and building appropriate representation within their leadership.
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How Diversity Fuels Group Emotional Intelligence
Board Matrix Samples

Putting it on Paper: Incorporating MOUs into Your Community Engagement Plan
April 22, 2021
Valerie Wade, Owner, Lynnfield Historical Consulting
A memorandum of understanding is often overlooked when institutions are collaborating on projects. In this webinar, consultant Valerie Wade covers the essential components of a memorandum of understanding and evaluates examples of MOUs. She explores how these documents can be used creatively to encourage community engagement and assess various partnerships over time.
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Children's Museums in a Pandemic: Reflecting on the Past Year
March 30, 2021
After one year of navigating the pandemic, Jennifer Rehkamp and Andrea Welsch reflect on the impact the pandemic has had on the children’s museum community. Children’s museums are institutions created purposely to encourage playful learning through hands-on exploration. As the gravity of the pandemic became known, and the impact the pandemic was having on children became more apparent, children’s museum professionals began adapting and experimenting with innovative ways to continue engaging with children and caregivers in their communities. This webinar also considers the arch of these innovative approaches over the past year and contemplates what this means for the entire museum community in the future.
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Colors of the Pandemic Video
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Tending the Field for a Strong Harvest: Board Development for Nonprofits
January 21, 2021
This webinar focuses on the ever-critical and ever-present issue of board development for nonprofit organizations. A nonprofit is only as strong as its leadership, and it’s a very rare organization that has all of its board development issues addressed. Some boards are strong in governance, but not so much in fundraising. Others are very strategic when it comes to their programs, but perhaps not as much when it comes to supporting staff in implementation. Other boards struggle with the issue of diversity and appropriate representation. And then there is the issue of recruitment and succession planning. Presenter Anjali Zutshi shares her thoughts (with some real-life examples) about board development, specifically the issues of board recruitment and authentic board diversity, board roles and responsibilities, setting goals and expectations for board members, and empowering board members to fundraise.
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Can You Weather the Storm? Tips on Budgeting, KPIs, and Reviewing Financial Statements
December 15, 2020
As everyone in the museum field can attest, the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially hard on the arts and culture sector. Although budgeting and reviewing financials can be the most dreaded part of being a non-profit leader or board member, it is vital to an organization’s financial health and sustainability and a key fiduciary duty of the board. Nicole Riley of PKF Texas shares budgeting dos and don’ts, as well as key points of interest while reviewing your organization’s financial statements and developing key performance indicators (KPI)s.
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Friends in High Places: Navigating Friends Group Partnerships
December 8, 2020
"Should my organization have a Friends Group?" "How do I start a Friends Group?" "What are the benefits and challenges, and how do I avoid common pitfalls?" This webinar focuses on Friends Groups and nonprofits that support museums, parks, or cultural organizations that are publicly owned. Angela Reed discusses how to build a strong partnership framework and why that framework is important to both the Friends Group and the organization they support. This webinar will interest board members of nonprofits as well as staff who work with their Friends Group or supporting nonprofit, and for anyone considering forming a Friends Group.
Recording
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Follow-Up Blog Post with Q&A

Together in the Sandbox: Board and Staff Relationships
September 16, 2020
This webinar focuses on the relationship between nonprofit boards and staff in three different situations: a traditional nonprofit with staff, a public agency, and an all-volunteer board. Presenters Anjali Zutshi and Angela Reed share thoughts and real-life examples about the dynamics in each of these situations, along with specific governance recommendations that will help an organization accomplish its mission effectively in any of these situations. They also talk about the do’s and don’ts to keep in mind for both boards and staff in these situations, and offer recommendations on practices and procedures that will ensure that the relationship between board and staff are productive and consistently in support of the organization’s mission.
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Follow-up Blog Post with Q&A

Best Practices for the Nonprofit World
August 19, 2020
For many small and mid-sized nonprofits, knowing how to build and maintain the health of the organization, using current best practices and the very best management strategies, is critical and can mean life or death for the organization. Often, smaller organizations strapped for time, money, and effective leadership are not aware of these best practices and the rules and regulations governing nonprofits, which ultimately jeopardizes the health of those organizations. This webinar will focus on best practices on board governance, sound administration, financial management, board development, and fundraising. Presenter Anjali Zutshi will provide guidelines addressing each of these issues, which will help newer organizations build and strengthen their foundation and credibility and offer established nonprofits a refresher to regain momentum.
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Building A Collaborative Online Archive: A Case Study
August 5, 2020
Learn the basics to consider when creating an online collection or archive, as well as various ways of collaborating and partnering with other institutions--including the benefits of collaborating with an already established digital archive. Providing an online home for a variety of file formats and metadata schema presents routine challenges in digitization, data uniformity, and object description that require successful cooperation and good communication among partner institutions and private individuals. The William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive (Hill Archive) is a hybrid digital database that documents the lives, work, and products of Texas artisans and artists through 1900. Since 2013, the Hill Archive has been working with private and public institutions as well as individual collectors to digitize objects and archival material from their collections. Also included are examples of lessons learned in partnering, along with tips and tricks for digitization and collaborative success.
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Heritage Tourism and Museums: Collaborating for Success
June 9, 2020
What is heritage tourism? Who are heritage tourists and how can your museum reach them? This discussion will focus on these questions, why they should be central to your museum’s mission and outreach efforts, and why they are more important than ever in the wake of COVID-19. Sarah Page, Heritage Tourism Program Coordinator for the THC, explores ways to collaborate locally and regionally to improve the visitor experience at your museum and in your community as a whole. She also discusses the importance of interpretation and how to make your museum stand out as a heritage tourism destination.
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Museums Beyond Reopening: Thriving in Your New Normal
May 27, 2020
In the midst of a pandemic that will likely impact our lives for the next 18-36 months, how will your museum continue to do business? Will you survive or thrive? The day after reopening is the first day of your new normal. This discussion will focus on planning in times of uncertainty, developing a toolbox to keep your museum agile and resilient, and thinking entrepreneurially to grow in your mission. Ellen Cone-Busch, Director of Historic Sites at the THC, looks at how to modify your operations to meet the challenges the pandemic has brought, build new revenue streams, and use this time of change to make your museum stronger.
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COVID-19 Resources for Texas Museums
April 7, 2020
Museums, like all nonprofits in the arts and humanities, are feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic in their daily operations as well as in their fundraising efforts. Organizations are grappling with what programming options to offer, while struggling to keep their members and donors engaged. Eric Lupfer, Anjali Zutshi, and Laura Casey share about programming and funding opportunities, resources, and assistance available to guide museums in recalibrating their efforts so they can come out strong as they pursue their mission. The presenters also discuss the CARES Act and how the provisions therein can assist museum.
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Appraising and Insuring Historical Treasures
March 3, 2020
Appraiser Barbara Blades-Lines and insurance agent Joy Simpson address the benefits of documenting and insuring historic treasures. Learn about the importance of selecting the right appraiser, appraisal reports and associated expenses, approaches to valuation, and how collectors can follow market trends. The webinar concludes with a discussion about how appraisals relate to your insurance coverage and best practices in communicating with your insurance agent.
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Becoming a Better Leader: Building Practices & Capacity to Care for Yourself & Your Team
September 5, 2019
In the museum profession, leaders don't always have to be managers. Over the course of a career, we can build capacity within ourselves to become a great leader. What exactly does that look like? Whether you're an established manager, just beginning your museum career, or are a mid-career professional, you'll gain some new insights from Michelle Mileham into how to care for yourself and your team, building skills to help you lead.
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Insurance Basics for Historical Collections
August 22, 2019
When operating within a modest budget, it is crucial to understand what types of insurance are the most beneficial and necessary to your organization. In this webinar, Joy Simpson from Higganbotham describes the various coverages available to you and how they function when there is a claim. Joy also discusses current trends in insurance and some best practices in avoiding claims by implementing risk management.
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Making Your Case with Parent Organizations
June 7, 2018
Many museums and historic sites fall under the governance of county, city or universities. Representatives from organizations governed by these entities present challenges they have faced and the tools they utilized to solve these challenges.
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Creating a Culture of Civility in the Era of #MeToo & Time’s Up
May 3, 2018
Imagine a work environment where all communications and interactions were conducted in a civil and respectful manner. Co-workers and customers would be treated respectfully on a consistent basis. There would be no place for harassment, discrimination, bullying, workplace violence, unethical actions, or other disrespectful and potentially illegal behaviors. Instead of this idealized picture, studies and polls indicate that workplaces are a reflection of society at-large and that incivility is a serious problem that is getting worse. During this webinar, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Joe Bontke offers a solution to edit and make your own.
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Active Shooter Training for Museums
February 2, 2018
This training program, led by Sergeant Jose Chavarria of the Texas Department of Public Safety, is designed to teach you, as a museum staff, volunteer or board member, to take direct responsibility for your personal safety and security in the museum and beyond. It stresses awareness, preparation, and rehearsal; the keys to safety. Learn how, with proper mindset and the necessary tools, to be better equipped to react with purpose and to maximize your chance of survival if involved in an active shooter situation.
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Museum Metamorphosis: Building the Case for Change
August 3, 2017
We know museums do good work and are critical to communities. But how do we carry that message to others? Learn the importance of clearly articulating your case, how to draft key and consistent messages to articulate the need for change with different audiences, and develop techniques to better reach a desired audience.
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Social Media Best Practices for the History-Focused Organization
February 22, 2023
Do you find it hard to bridge the world of history and heritage tourism with social media? Having a rough time translating the Texas Revolution into Facebook likes? This session will focus on social media best practice for museums and anyone else trying to discuss the past through the lens of Facebook and Instagram. Danielle Brissette and Cait Johnson will share how to successfully use your online presence to build long-lasting relationships with your core audiences, which can increase visitation and revenue and strengthen your brand identity. In this webinar, you'll learn concrete strategies for improving your institution's social media presence, including easily upgrading your graphic design, ideas for the types of posts that succeed with history-oriented audiences, and a resource list aimed at low-cost, easy-to-use tools for heritage professionals and volunteers.
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Leveraging Federal Resources to Improve Museum Security and Resilience
December 8, 2022
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical infrastructure. Lee Otten, CISA's Protective Security Advisor (PSA) for Central Texas, provides a brief overview of the various no-cost resources available to assist with improving security and resilience at your museum or organization. CISA's free resources, analyses, and tools are available to help build and maintain cyber, communications, and physical security and resilience.
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Going the Distance: Delivering Accessible Programming through Distance Learning
August 25, 2022
How can your museum build a distance learning program? In this free webinar, educators from the National Museum of the Pacific War dive into the lesson plans, technology, collaborations, and platforms they have utilized to make their program a success. They share the challenges they faced, how they overcame them, and the benefit this program has had on the museum. Additionally, they provide insight into how incorporating pre-produced videos, green screens, and props have changed the game.
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Preserving History through Podcasting
June 23, 2022
Podcasts have become another avenue in which museums can share stories or collections to a wider audience. The Museum of South Texas History (MOSTHistory) launched Stories from the Rio Grande to share stories that are not featured in the museum’s galleries, due to space or limited scholarly research. In this webinar, Pamela Morales de Hendricks, the communications officer for MOSTHistory, will share how the museum established a platform for local community members and historians to share ideas, history, stories, and collections.
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Basic Object Photography on a Budget
July 22, 2021
What basic equipment and materials are needed for photographing collections, and how can you make the most of your setup? Despite expectations for museums to maintain an online presence, many small institutions don't have a wide-range of images available to promote their collections. Object photography may seem daunting and expensive--and hiring professional photographers may not be feasible--but creating good digital images can be achieved on a modest budget. The William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive team has been photographing objects in partner institutions and in private collectors’ homes for several years, encountering unpredictable and unfavorable photography conditions. They offer insights on how to take better pictures, reviewing simple setups that can be used in a variety of spaces. They also share checklists and strategies for various object types that they've developed.
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Engaging STEM Topics Through Interactivity
June 22, 2021
Explore planning processes used to create high- or low-tech interactive components that incorporate STEM-based ideas into history exhibits. Using examples drawn from TxDOT's work on historic bridges in Texas, this webinar discusses readily-available tools and techniques for both digital and tactile interactives, including low-cost solutions for creating and presenting interactive content to the public. 
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Using Visual Storytelling to Add Science to History Exhibits
April 6, 2021
Explore impactful use of digital images and video as a tool to discuss STEM in history exhibits. Learn how to use graphics, images, and video as storytelling techniques to create meaningful digital content. Using examples from Texas transportation history, this webinar shares examples across multiple platforms and provides tools for participants to implement methods both onsite and online.
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Incorporating AR/VR Technology Within Your Museum: A Behind the Scenes Look
July 30, 2019
As institutions that serve the public, museums and heritage sites should consider the evolving trends of how society utilizes technology to interact with the world around them. Incorporating augmented, virtual, and mixed reality into the museum setting may seem intimidating and costly, but it doesn't have to be. In this webinar, Dani Marshall shares how the Museum of Texas Tech University assessed and adapted available technological resources to develop an interactive element for their exhibits.
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Digital Strategy on a Budget
May 14, 2019
How does a cultural institution of modest means make decisions about what technology to use, and the most effective ways to implement it? Non-profit digital strategy consultant Koven J. Smith shares strategies for implementing technology effectively in cultural institutions. Learn frameworks for decision-making that will enable the development of technology strategies that are impactful, transformational, and efficient.
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Podcasting 101 for Museums and Historic Sites
April 24, 2019
How can history organizations and sites use podcasting to connect with audiences, educate, and build super fans? In this webinar, Hannah Hethmon, a consultant and producer specializing in podcasting for cultural nonprofits covers the A-Z of podcasts.
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Website Redos
July 25, 2018
Is your website outdated? Wondering how to give it a facelift? Texas Historical Commission’s webmaster Jared Porter shares some tips and answer your questions about updating your website.
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