Oklahoma Museums Association will be hosting the Museum Essentials Webinar Series by the American Association of Museums

In an effort to begin providing e-learning opportunities, the Oklahoma Museums Association will be hosting the Museum Essentials Webinar Series by the American Association of Museums from July-November.  OMA will host this webinar series in an informal and casual setting in the OMA office, with the exception of the September 23 webinar which will be hosted at the Best Western Hotel and Convention Center in Lawton, due to the OMA annual fall conference.  The OMA office is located inside Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52^nd Street, OKC, OK 73111.

The cost of attending the webinar in the OMA office will be $5 per session for OMA members and $10 per session for non-members.  Space is limited to the first 10 participants to register.  To register for one or more webinars in the OMA office, please contact Stacy O’Daniel at 405.424.7757 or by email at sodaniel@okmuseums.org.  For the OMA hosted webinars, registration is required and closes 10 days prior to the webinar.

If you are unable to join us in the OMA office, OMA encourages you to register directly with the American Association of Museum for the webinars at http://www.aam-us.org/getinvolved/learn/webinarindex.cfm. and view them from your own computer.  Please consult the AAM website for prices and registration.

Webinar Schedule – Additional details on series will be posted as they become available
The AAM webinar series is in collaboration with the Museum Assessment Program and AAM Standing Professional Committees (SPCs)

The Webinar Moderators are Greg Stevens, Assistant Director for Professional Development, American Association of Museums and Jonathan Finkelstein, Founder and Executive Producer, LearningTimes.

 

Strategic Thinking and Planning in Today's Economic Climate
July 1, 2009
1:00-2:30 p.m. (Central)
In collaboration with the AAM Museum Management Committee (MMC) 
Led by John Durel, Organizational Consultant and Leadership Coach Durel Consulting Partners/Qm2, Baltimore, MD
As museums strive to remain financially viable through cost reductions and shifting resources to maximize revenue in the short term, they should also do things now to strengthen their sustainability over the long term. Rather than just getting through this economic downturn, museums should use it as an opportunity to build a stronger organization with greater capacity to remain viable in the future. Drawing on proven organizational concepts from the business sector, John Durel will discuss four essential elements of long term sustainability. The stronger the organization is in each element, the more likely it will emerge even stronger as it responds to challenges that come its way.

Collections Conundrums
July 15, 2009

1:00-2:30 p.m. (Central)
Led by Jeanne Benas, Registrar, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Rebecca A. Buck*, Deputy Director for Collection Services, Newark Museum and Jean Gilmore*, Registrar, Brandywine River Museum
*Co-authors of the AAM-published best-sellers New Museum Registration Methods (1998); On the Road Again: Developing and Managing Traveling Exhibitions (2003) and Collection Conundrums: Solving Collections Management Mysteries (2007).
Museum registrars, collections managers and curators: Join experienced colleagues in a practical review of collection issues made more difficult by dwindling resources, energy and time. Come armed with your toughest collection conundrums and your best efforts to “stump the experts.”

Planning for Exemplary Visitor Experiences
September 9, 2009
1:00-2:30 p.m. (Central)
In collaboration with the AAM Committee on Education (EdCom)
Led by Marcella Wells, President, Wells Resources, Inc., Ft. Collins, CO  
Join this 90-minute exploration of the interpretive planning process as it relates to visitor experiences, educational opportunities, and interpretation in informal learning institutions. Interpretive planning specialist Marcella Wells will address the critical components of an interpretive plan and engage participants in online interaction about their specific questions related to visitor experience planning in their institution. After participating in this webinar, attendees will be better able to:

• Articulate the rationale for visitor experience planning
• Describe a basic visitor experience/interpretive planning process in terms of questions to be addressed and logical format
• Set specific goals for planning in their home institution 

Audience Research and Evaluation: Why it Matters Now More Than Ever
September 23, 2009

1:00-2:30 p.m. (Central)
Presented in collaboration with the AAM Committee on Research and Evaluation (CARE)
Led By Christine Reich, Manager of Informal Education Research and Evaluation, Museum of Science and Steven Yalowitz, Senior Research Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation
This webinar will provide an overview of essential planning for audience research in your institution, and practical tips and tools for implementing effective research and evaluation of your (real and virtual) audiences. Explore the landscape of essential components for evaluation planning, including an examination of institutional mission, vision and purpose and articulation of goals for any research or evaluation study. “Drilldown” into the process components of a research program emphasizing practical tips for thinking and acting strategically about audience research.

HR Basics: Evaluating and Coaching Employees
October 21, 2009

1:00-2:30 p.m. (Central)
In collaboration with the AAM Museum Management Committee (MMC)
Led by Ellen Corradini, Director of Human Resources, The Corning Museum of Glass and Charlotte Montgomery, Director of Resource Allocation, Illinois State Museum
Writing performance evaluations and coaching employees through performance problems are among the most challenging aspects of any manager’s job. It becomes even more challenging as our budgets shrink and we have to do more with less. But ignoring or not properly addressing personnel problems can be costly to your museum. This 90-minute webinar will give supervisors and managers valuable information about legal and other aspects of the performance evaluation process, coaching and terminating employees. They will also learn about self assessment tools in the evaluation process and will gain an appreciation for this new way of conducting performance evaluations.

Project Management Basics
November 4, 2009

1:00-2:30 p.m. (Central)
In collaboration with the AAM Museum Management Committee (MMC)
Led by Myriam Springuel, President, Springuel Consulting, Sarasota, FL
Where are we? Where do we want to get to? How will we get there? What does “success” look like? These are among the many questions museum professionals ask when managing projects and the people that make them happen. Learn the basics of project management in this lively and practical workshop.