The More, the Merrier

About a decade ago, former NEMA Membership Manager Leslie Howard pulled me aside at a Portsmouth NH museum professionals happy hour. She said, “See that girl over there? She’s worried about making a living in museum work and I pointed you out to her. I told her that you have a million jobs, but it works!” I laughed and agreed. I’m eternally grateful that I was able to stay in this field by doing so and I am sure many of you have the same story. That said, I am also extremely grateful that all of my “many hats” belong to one organization these days! I imagine the NEMA staff are happy not to have to change my conference name tag all the time, as well.

My current role is Collections and Outreach Manager at Lexington Historical Society. As such, I am responsible for the Society’s exhibits, communications, and collections management programs. While there are definitely some skill sets that do not translate between these areas, I’ve found more overlap and complementary elements than I expected. For example, my knowledge of our collections has been very helpful for social media expansion and depth. It’s National Cat Day? Oh, I remember a photo we have of a cat! Let me pull it from PastPerfect and post it.

The same precept applies for promoting events at the Historical Society. I can easily pull collections images that are a good match for the type of event we’re hosting and use them effectively in the publicity for the event.

When it comes to projects that span all areas under my purview, it’s much easier to coordinate deadlines and tasks when I am responsible for 50% or more of the interdepartmental tasks. Photos snapped on my phone of our historic houses or an intriguing object in collections provide simple but interesting social media content. Marketing initiatives that are executed in exhibit or interpretative spaces are written with the same voice and to the same standards. Exhibit press releases write themselves!

Skills from outside the museum world have been very helpful in my work as well. My exhibit installation skill set benefits greatly from proficiency in picture hanging, interior design, and light construction from years of decorating dorm rooms, apartments, and houses. Years of being a social media junkie have helped me think about post placement, social demographics, and which platforms are right for my organization. Through over a decade in the museum field, I’ve found that a healthy balance between technological knowledge and old-fashioned interpersonal skills has been invaluable. One foot in the 18th century; one foot in the 21st.

It may be a personal preference, but I’ve also found having a variety of tasks keeps my day to day work exciting. This week alone, I have moved exhibit cases, hung a marketing banner, installed an exhibit in a pharmacy storefront, supervised contractors installing compact shelving,and written multiple press releases and social media posts. Here’s to many more years of many hats!