ExhibiTricks: A Museum/Exhibit/Design Blog: 05/01/2022

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

JOT@Exhibits Videos on YouTube!

I'm off to the ECSITE Conference in Germany this week, so I thought I'd give a shout-out to my latest video project on YouTube, called JOT@Exhibits, which is short for "Just One Thing about Exhibits."

I hope you'll check out the first batch of JOT@Exhibits videos in the series on the POW! YouTube Channel. There's a nice range of ideas and each video is short -- around 10 minutes.

If you'd like to record your own JOT@Exhibits video with me, please contact me with your ideas!

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Paul Orselli writes the posts on ExhibiTricks. Paul likes to combine interesting people, ideas, and materials to make exhibits (and entire museums!) with his company POW! (Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc.) Let's work on a project together!

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Just Put the Salary Range in the Ad!

Much has been written (here and here, for example) about the importance of including salary ranges in job ads.

So allow me to share some good news on that front. The Museum Association of New York (MANY) has announced that starting June 1, 2022, salary ranges will be required for all job ads on their website. (In recognition of MANY's efforts on behalf of museum workers, POW! is proud to sponsor the MANY Job Board through June 2023.)

"I am so pleased that we now require salary ranges on our job board," said MANY Executive Director Erika Sanger. "I have had to walk away from a long interview process because salary negotiations started way below a living wage. I hope this change will help museums and museum professionals advance equity in our field."

MANY joins a long list of national and regional museum organizations, including AASLH, ASTC, ACM, NEMA, MAAM, and AMM, who have chosen to support museum workers by promoting wage transparency.

Conspicuously absent from organizations supporting museum workers in this way is the American Alliance of Museums. Why not send AAM's President & CEO, Laura Lott, a short email (lauralott@gmail.com) asking why AAM still resists simply requiring that salary ranges be included for all positions on the AAM Job Board?

Better yet, help support the work of the National Emerging Museum Professionals Network (NEMPN) and sign their petition to get AAM to #ShowTheSalary.

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Museum/Exhibit/Design Tool: TerraSlate Waterproof Paper

Life (and Exhibit Development!) is often a series of compromises -- choices between two ends of the spectrum.

While working on a Historical Museum project, our team was faced with how best to display facsimiles of 19th Century receipts. We wanted visitors to be able to pick up and read the information (such as the costs of grocery items and canal boat supplies) without the installation becoming too fussy.

Since the receipts were installed as part of a historic Tavern setting, we wanted the objects and exhibits to feel more integrated into the space, so there was no heavy lamination or tethering of packets of papers to tables.

The "in-between" exhibit tool choice we made was to color laser print scans of the receipts onto waterproof and rip-proof TerraSlate paper. The final outputs are durable, and they will be straightforward for the client to reprint in the future, as needed. (Examples of some of the final receipts are pictured at the top of this post.)

Check out the TerraSlate website for more info about the range of products they sell.

What are some of your favorite "in-between" exhibit tools? Let us know in the "Comments" section below!

Monday, May 9, 2022

Back on the Museum Conference Circuit!

Since 2019, Museum Conferences have been a little different.

Fortunately, in-person conferences are coming back and I'm hoping to see old friends and meet new colleagues out on the road!

I'll be attending InterActivity in St. Louis put on by the Association of Children's Museums from May 16 to 18.

I'll also be in Heilbronn, Germany, for the ECSITE Conference, convened by the European Network of Science Centres & Museums from June 2 to 4.

If you are at either conference, please say hello! (We might even take a picture like the one at the top of this post from a past conference in Pittsburgh!)