Sign Up For The Exhibit Doctor

The Exhibit Doctor has an antidote to the economic "doom and gloom" in the museum world.

We'll send you exhibit resources you can put to use right away (including directions to make an interactive exhibit every month!) 12 times a year to help you stretch your exhibit development resources.

It's a great deal, so head on over to The Exhibit Doctor info page to find out how to sign up!

"The goal is to create an exceptional moment in people's lives."

Muscle Up! is a short film by Aaron Stapley and Sarah Castelblanco that serves as a real inspiration for museum folks singing the recession blues. The title quote of this posting comes from one of the businesspeople interviewed in Muscle Up!

As reflected by the film's title, the film covers the many ways that creative folks can build the "institutional strength" to push past all the bad economic news and put into action ways to work smarter and to really create a unique niche for themselves.

While the people interviewed for the film are all small business/entrepreneurial types, every bit of what they have to say is relevant for anyone who works with, or for, museums. So give Muscle Up! a look and load up on great ideas to help your museum create those exceptional moments.



Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Free Updates" link on the right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like movies!)

Museums Matter

Given the constant drumbeat of dire news, it seems important to take a deep breath and think about how important museums continue to be in the lives of so many people.

I really enjoyed this short film, "Spark" that was created by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, and produced in association with the American Association of Museums, and I hope you do too.

Post-Conference Musings

As the AAM and ACM conferences pack up their tents and roll out of Philadelphia, I'm thinking about the types of conversations that happen (or don't happen) at professional museum conferences.

It would be interesting to think of ways to: 1) Capture the types of meaty conversations that happen in hallways, restaurants, and bars outside of the confines of formal sessions. Or perhaps make sessions a little more conversational. 2) Give people a (anonymous?) forum to comment on conference topics and happenings in a truthful and professional way without feeling like they were committing professional suicide.

Suggestions and ideas welcome in the Comments Section below.

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Free Updates" link on the right side of the blog.

The Culture of Playwork Session at ACM

I'm currently in Philadelphia for the ACM and AAM museum conferences. Definitely one of my favorite sessions at the ACM conference was "The Culture of Playwork from the U.K. to the U.S."

Four presenters, Joan Almon, Penny Wilson, Erin Baker, and Rachel Grob each spoke eloquently about the value of play in the lives of children and adults, as well as the emerging profession of "Playwork."

I really want to think some more about all the meaty issues introduced during this session before I write some more about it, but in the meantime I hope you will visit the websites of the presenters' respective organizations: U.S. Alliance for Childhood, Play Association Tower Hamlets, KaBOOM!, and The Child Development Institute.

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Free Updates" link on the right side of the blog.

The Exhibit Doctor

In these tricky economic times, museum staff and independent designers really need to find new ways to stretch their exhibit development dollars and discover fresh exhibit resources. That’s why I’m proud and pleased to launch The Exhibit Doctor® during the ACM and AAM museum conferences in Philadelphia this week.

Several times a week I receive informal calls or emails from colleagues asking for suggestions regarding exhibit technology, or for solutions to exhibit problems that have them stumped. Folks are always grateful for my ideas, so I thought The Exhibit Doctor® would be a great way to formally help out my fellow exhibit designers and museum colleagues.

What do you get when you sign up for your annual Exhibit Doctor membership?

• The “Monthly Checkup” A digital newsletter crammed with dozens of descriptions and reviews of interesting new exhibit tools and resources that is emailed directly to you 12 times a year. These are all practical exhibit resources that you’ll be able to put to use right away.

• The “Exhibit of the Month” In addition to “The Monthly Checkup” we’ll also send you directions each month to construct a simple interactive exhibit component that will “freshen up” your museum galleries or provide ideas for future exhibition projects.

Click here to download an abbreviated example of The “Monthly Checkup” as well as a sample “Exhibit of the Month”

• Six “Mini Consultations” Sometimes you just need a quick answer to a thorny exhibit question. That’s what these “mini consultations” are for. Contact us with your exhibit issues, up to six times during the course of your Exhibit Doctor membership year, and we’ll provide a useful solution or point you to a trusted resource --- fast!

You get all these budget-stretching and time-saving exhibit resources for an annual fee of just $499. That's less than the cost of just one day of exhibit consultation! If you’re really looking to economize, you can sign up for just “The Monthly Checkup” (No “Exhibit of the Month” or “Mini Consultations”) for the low annual fee of $199.

The Exhibit Doctor® program will begin soon, so just click here to be notified when registration begins!