Notes from the Board

Governance

Submitted by Jim Hakala

David Ebitz led an excellent review and report on the self-evaluation completed by Board members this summer. This evaluation will be ongoing, with the focus on Board performance and responsibilities, and potential additions to the Strategic Plan.  Erik Holland continues to compile information for the Policies and Procedures manual.  A recommendation was made to the Board to consider having only two major meetings each year – the August Annual Planning Retreat and the AAM Annual Meeting MER Board Meeting.  The November and February meetings will be held as conference call meetings only.

Program

Submitted by Scott Winterrowd

The “Encouraging Creativity” program held August 9^, 2006, at the National Building Museum was a success. Monica Smith set up the discussion with lively presentations by Kristin Daley, Buffalo Museum of Science and author of “Taking Care of Your Creativity” in the Journal of Museum Education “Encouraging Creativity” issue, Wendy Blackwell, Director of Education, The National Children’s Museum, Washington, DC Brenda Cowen, Principal, Director of Education and Interpretation, and Eric O’Toole, Principal, Design Director, Exhibit A Design Group, Inc., Brooklyn, NY. There were around 50 in attendance.

The meeting location and speaker are set for the annual MER Members reception and talk for AAM 2006. The program will be on Saturday, April 29 at 5:30- 7:00 p.m. at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston. The speaker will be Gail Anderson who will connect the Journal of Museum Education, spring issue topic, "Museums of Relevance," to her recent publication Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift. 

EdCom has endorsed the MER session proposal for AAM 2006 submitted by Erik Holland and Gretchen Adams titled, "Who Cares? Being Relevant to Less Frequent or Reluctant Visitors." 

Sarita Rodriguez is repeating the 2005 MER AAM program as a TAM (Texas Association of Museums) half-day workshop for educators in April 2006 The workshop has been advertised in the TAM annual conference program as developed by MER.

Susan Marcus and Lynn McRainey of the Chicago Historical Society have met to begin planning a MER/CHS program that will focus on the Field Trip issue of the Journal. The afternoon workshop may feature a stellar speaker, panel, and breakout sessions. Susan and Lynn will promote the event to teachers as well as museum educators.

MER/Edcom Task Force

Submitted by Jim Hakala

Annual Meeting News:

MER will be co-hosting the opening evening event at AAM with EdCom on Thursday, April 27^th, from 6 - 9 pm at the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum. This event will also include the presentations of EdCom’s Awards for Excellence.  Nominations for EdCom's Awards for Excellence are due January 15, 2006.  Due to space limitations, the Marketplace of Ideas will not be held this year. 

Those interested in attending the AAM meeting should also note that applications for the EdCom Annual Meeting Fellowship are due January 2, 2006. 

The Boards of MER and EdCom will join for an informal lunch on Friday, April 28^th, 2005. This has been a tradition for the last number of years.

Make plans to attend the EdCom sponsored workshop Engaging our Visitors in Dialogue: Training our Interpreters. This interactive workshop will explore techniques for training volunteer and paid interpreters to initiate message-based conversations that personalize the visitor experience and increase the educational value of the visit. With interpretive specialist and author of the Interpreters Training Manual for Museums, Mary Kay Cunningham, participants will explore how current research on learning theory and conversations in museums has inspired innovation in the recruitment and training of interpreters at museums with both living and non-living collections. Through group discussion and hands-on activities, participants will have the opportunity to apply ideas to their own site, and will leave with materials to guide them in ongoing development of site-specific training exercises. The Peabody Essex will be the host site and Vas Prabhu (EdCom Excellence in Practice Award Winner) and Ray Williams will be additional presenters.

Publications

Submitted by Carol Brown

Monica Smith’s first issue as editor of the Journal of Museum Education, “Encouraging Creativity,” has been published and distributed to members. 

The Committee recommends entering into an agreement to co-publishing the Journal of Museum Education with Left Coast Publications.  Negotiations are currently underway.

The upcoming issue of the Journal of Museum Education, “Field Trips,” will be guest edited by Lynn McRainey.  Proposed future themes for the Journal include

• Professional relevance - the definition and role of the museum educator
• Curriculum theory and museum education

Membership

Submitted by Gretchen Adams