At its June, 2014 meeting, the NEMA Board of Directors adopted a new mission statement for the organization. Where the prior mission had a somewhat narrow focus, the new mission was designed to be more expansive and aspirational, highlighting the key attribute of the NEMA community: its people.
The process of drafting the new mission statement goes back to last year, when the board appointed a mission statement task force to review the existing statement and determine whether a new one should be written. The task force created an initial draft of a new mission, which the full board critiqued during its spring retreat. The task force created the final draft based on the board’s comments and presented it for approval in June. Many thanks to board members Pilar Garro, Barbara Milligan, Dawn Salerno, and Doug Stark for their efforts on the task force.
The NEMA staff and board are excited about the new mission, which will guide our organization for the foreseeable future. We hope you’re excited to be part of the new mission too!
New Mission Statement
NEMA inspires and connects people engaged with the museum field, provides tools for innovative leadership, and empowers museums to sustain themselves as essential to their communities.
Prior Mission Statement
The mission of the New England Museum Association (NEMA) is to strengthen member museums and museums in the region. To achieve this mission NEMA fosters communication and ethical conduct; provides professional development; promotes excellence in museum operations; and encourages support for the museum community.
We are pleased to announce the first-ever NEMA Excellence Awards, honoring extraordinary effort and commitment to the New England museum community. Nominations for an Excellence Award – for yourself or someone you know – are due August 31. Award winners will be recognized at the NEMA Annual Meeting on November 21 at the Hyatt Cambridge. For more information, click here.
It’s almost that time again! NEMA Conference time, that is. Mark your calendar for November 19 – 21, when you’ll be joining us (you will, won’t you?) in Cambridge/Boston for our 96th annual event. The theme is “Picture of Health: Museums, Wellness, and Healthy Communities,” through which we’ll explore the intersection between the museum field and the health care field so prominent in the Boston area. But we’ll be talking about a lot more than health care in November. The conference will also feature 55+ sessions on general museum topics, issues, and case studies where you’ll pick up new skills, ideas, and inspirations for your own institution. For more information click here.
We’re proud and excited to announce that the Gowrie Group, a Connecticut-based insurance brokerage offering a comprehensive line of insurance throughout New England and the U.S., has become the Presenting Sponsor of the 2014 NEMA Conference in Boston/Cambridge. “We are very excited about the Gowrie Group’s presenting sponsorship of our conference,” said NEMA Executive Director Dan Yaeger. “Their leadership enables us to offer a robust program of events to our region’s museum community, which strengthens museums and their contribution to the culture and quality of life of communities throughout New England. We are very grateful for their support and look forward to working with them to produce the best conference possible.”
If you’d like to take a minute and thank the Gowrie Group for their participation, give them a call at 800-262-8911. For more information on their services, go to www.gowrie.com.
Create a masterpiece of your career. Attend NEMA’s Career Growth Studio, an overnight experience of inspiration, skill building, and self-awareness immediately following the conference in Cambridge. Whether you are just beginning your museum career or have years under your belt, the Career Growth Studio will give you what you need as you prepare for your next step in life. On Friday, November 21, we’ll start with a reception and dinner discussion. Then get ready for a full day on November 22, when we’ll discuss career management strategies, the keys to leadership, personal branding, networking prowess, lifestyle management, how to gain career momentum, and creating a career plan. The Career Growth Studio will continue throughout 2014/15 with quarterly web conversations to check in and see how you’re doing, plus a reunion at the 2015 NEMA conference. Cost to participate is just $250 for NEMA members and $300 for non-members; includes participation fee, materials, and meals. For more information contact Sarah Marcoux Franke, sarah.marcoux@nemanet.org.
Next issue of Museums Now: Museum Leadership
Contribute your though leadership to the museum field. Submit an article to New England Museums Now. Our next issue focuses on museum leadership in all its forms: executive, board, empowered staff, etc. Articles should be no more than 1,500 words (accompanied by photos/graphics if possible) and are due by September 30, 2014. For inquiries and submissions contact Heather A. Riggs at heather.riggs@nemanet.org.
The 2014 National Comparative Museum Salary Study is just about complete. A collaboration between NEMA, the other regional associations, and the American Alliance of Museums, the study will present data from more than 700 institutions nationwide for more than 50 of the most common full-time professional museum positions. The report is intended to provide as many angles of comparison as possible, so the data is broken down, whenever possible, by institutional characteristics—region, discipline, governance, museum budget size, and location (urban/suburban/rural)—and individual demographics (i.e., the gender and education levels of the people in each position).
We will be sending an announcement to you later this summer when the Salary Study is available. Institutions that provided data will receive a free copy once it is published. It will also be for sale on the Alliance website for $60 for members of either NEMA or the Alliance and $100 for non-members.
Thank you to everyone who participated in NEMAppeal 2014. We had 101 donors and raised $6,643. This will allow us to offer 18 scholarships to community college students from diverse social, economic, racial, or ethnic backgrounds so that they can attend the 2014 NEMA conference. By introducing them to the wonderful world of museums that we all love, we hope they might be inspired to join us someday as colleagues.
NEMA wishes to take this opportunity to thank our Professional Affinity Group Chairs for an exceptional spring and summer workshop series. This year the PAG chairs planned and conducted twelve workshops! NEMA staff and PAG Chairs have received numerous compliments about the timeliness of the workshop topics. And NEMA would like to thank the many institutional members that graciously offered their facilities as sites for the workshops, bringing hundreds of museum professionals together for networking and professional development.
NEMA Executive Director Dan Yaeger recently completed a two-week New England road trip in which he facilitated a series of six leadership workshops entitled Essential Leadership: Investigating the Future of Museum Governance. The events were designed exclusively for museum executives and trustees. These roundtables will inform a NEMA white paper that will contribute to the national dialogue about museum leadership and strategic direction. The series was sponsored by U.S. Trust/Bank of America.
Congratulations to NEMA board member Barbara Milligan on her recent appointment as President & CEO of the Cape and Islands United Way. Formerly the Executive Director of Highfield Hall & Gardens, Barbara has been on the NEMA board since 2011 and has been active on the Finance Committee and most recently the mission statement task force. Unfortunately, she has had to resign her position on the board because of her new duties.
In her note of resignation, Barbara told the board, “Who knows, I might show up again someday in the museum world. Meanwhile, I will root you on and know that you are doing wonderful work for the museum community in New England and beyond. It has been an amazing honor to be part of this group. Thanks so much for the opportunity to serve.”
Sincere thanks to the chair of this year’s Nominating Committee, Cathy Saunders, Director of Education, Providence Children’s Museum. Cathy is currently working with other members of the NEMA board to solicit nominations for a new board member who will contribute to the range of the board’s skills and experience. The board slate will be emailed to the members later this summer, with a paper slate being sent to those members for whom NEMA does not have a current email address. The slate will be voted upon at the Annual Meeting on November 19 in Cambridge, MA.
NEMA member extraordinaire Marieke Van Damme is creating the Joyful Museums Project, an initiative to inspire positive workplace cultures in museums. Please take a few minutes to participate in her “Joyful Museums Survey” and help contribute to an important piece of thought leadership for the field. To take the survey, click here. To ask Marieke a question, email her at marieke.vandamme@gmail.com.
Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, NEMA Executive Director Dan Yaeger, and Jonathan Stevens, Senior Advisor & Director of Special Projects in the Office of Governor Lincoln D. Chafee
On May 13, NEMA organized its first "Museums Day" in Rhode Island. This event took an essential step toward building solid support for museums and culture in Rhode Island, and to ensuring that museums are recognized for the important work they do in our communities.
By the numbers, we had over 100 attendees, 6 sponsors, 3 speakers, 1 official proclamation, and 19 terrific displays highlighting area museums (and several requests for more). We were thrilled to welcome Jonathan Stevens from the office of Governor Lincoln Chafee, Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, and to see so many of Rhode Island's museums represented at the State House. Rhode Island Museums Day also generated buzz on social media, with thanks to all of NEMA's member organizations that promoted, retweeted, and shared information about the event.
Many thanks to all participants for your enthusiasm and contributions!
Thank you to our sponsors for their support:
Creative Arts Council at Brown University, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Preserve Rhode Island, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, and Roger Williams University