Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving

Short post this week due to the holiday, but here's the New York Times' review of the re-opening of the National Museum of American History. I apologize for the focus on the Smithsonian over the last couple of weeks, but the re-opening of this museum is certainly a big deal. Perhaps next week I'll try to shift my focus to smaller-scale museums to balance things out.

Friday, November 14, 2008

NEMA 2008

I've just returned from the 2008 New England Museum Association Conference and as with last year, it was a rewarding and interesting experience.

I thought the sessions were generally well presented and worthwhile. One of the real strengths of NEMA, though, is the networking that happens on the coffee breaks and at the after-hours drinks. It was great to run into some of my colleagues from various museums and meet other people that have connections to these institutions in some way.

This post is a little vanilla and I apologize for that. However, given that anyone from the conference could conceivably read what I write, I'll confess that I've chosen to steer clear of a more critical analysis. However, if it's honest, constructive criticism you're looking for, be sure to check out CT Museum Quest, a site written by a guy who decided to visit all 400+ of Connecticut's museums! He presented in the last session I attended, on Friday morning and his candid assessments of how museums are serving their visitors are worth checking out.