The Mutual Concerns of Air and Space Museums Conference is a unique, international meeting starting today in Washington. It focuses specifically on the needs of the air and space museum community and features three days of panel discussions and concurrent sessions. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, this conference serves both large and small museums, conference sessions cover relevant topics, like fundraising, preparing the next generation of museum staff, planning and executing unique educational activities, archiving collections, and exhibiting. Information about the meeting is here, and the agenda is below.
2014 Agenda
FRIDAY, APRIL 11
3:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Conference Registration
5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Marketplace and Opening Reception/Networking (light hors d’oeuvres)
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Welcome
News from the Field
This is your opportunity to give a three-minute update on what’s going on at your museum. When the bell rings, you’re done. If you would like to give an update, please email nasmmutualconcerns@si.edu by April 9 with your name, museum and the topic you’ll discuss.
SATURDAY, APRIL 12
Registration, Marketplace, and all sessions at the Marriott Crystal Gateway
6:45 – 8:00 a.m.
Marketplace and Breakfast Breakfast provided
8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Plenary Session:
Recovering Aircraft from Extreme Environments – RAF Museum Dornier 17 Recovery Project Update
Speakers:
Ian Thirsk, Head of Collections Division, Royal Air Force Museum
Chair:
Stephen Quick, Director General, Canada Aviation and Space Museum
This session carries on from the Royal Air Force Museum’s 2013 Mutual Concerns presentation and will bring delegates up to date with the Museum’s Dornier 17 recovery project. The session will highlight the lessons learned during and after the aircraft’s successful recovery from the Dover Straits in June 2013, focusing on the practical challenges and the on-going conservation program, plus the options for future exhibition of this important artifact.
9:30 – 9:50 a.m.
Break
9:50 – 11:20 a.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Let’s Get Social! Using Social Media to Reach, Engage with, and Expand Your Audiences
Speakers:
Sarah Banks, Manager of Online Engagement, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Elissa Frankle, Social Media Strategist and Community Manager, US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Victoria Portway, Chair, Web & New Media Division, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Chair:
Cathleen Lewis, Museum Curator, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
This session will relate how the National Air and Space Museum and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum have incorporated social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc., in their efforts to reach and engage with their audiences, as well as attract new audiences. Members of the Web and New Media Department at the National Air and Space Museum and the Marketing Department of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will explain various approaches and strategies for employing social media for education, programs, exhibitions and special activities, and how to scale these for any size museum.
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Beyond Tours
Speakers:
Beverly Clevenger, Chief Curiosity Officer, Curiosity Unlimited Consulting
Karen Hinton, Director of Development, Planes of Fame Air Museum
Chair:
Troy Thrash, President and CEO, Air Zoo
According to AAM Roundtable Reports, “the potential for museum educators to make significant and enduring contributions to the future of American museums has never been greater.” In response to this challenge, the presenters of this session will explain how to transition from being a museum that offers informal tours to one that offers educational programming. Participants will learn how to build museum programming from the ground up and strategies that can be used immediately to attract schools, teachers, students, and a new community of learners. The session will be interactive and will demonstrate effective instructional strategies, present examples from case studies, and encourage inquiry and sharing of stories to address the needs of the participants. Developed specifically for small museums, this session can nevertheless be valuable for larger museums.
11:20 – 11:50 p.m
Break
11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Preparing for a New Arrival
Speakers:
Richard Beckerman, Museum Consultant, Museum Consulting Services
Shawn Dorsch, Museum Board President, Carolinas Aviation Museum
Scott Marchand, Director of Collections and Aircraft Restoration, Pima Air & Space Museum
Chair:
Stephen Ryan, Director, Freeman Ryan Design
Air and space museums of all sizes are excited about receiving prominent new collections and artifacts. For small museums, a significant acquisition can change their future entirely. For large museums, it can enhance their marketing potential and attract larger audiences. But how should museums prepare for that carpe diem moment? This session will present how a small museum pursued an Airbus A320, a large museum planned for a B-36, and another large museum shifted its display of a space shuttle.
Participants will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of seeking important new collection items, how to pursue a special collection or artifact, who should be involved in such a pursuit, and how to grapple with the fact that we don’t always get exactly what we want. The presenters will examine funding issues concerning the display, conservation, and transportation of aircraft that often do not fly anymore. They will also discuss how to plan where to place large objects in the museum and how to create a display that attracts paying visitors, while enticing them to come back. Last but not least, the panelists will discuss what an iconic artifact can do for the future of a museum, making all this effort worthwhile.
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Connecting the Community: Crowdsourcing History
Speakers:
Jenny Cousins, Project Leader, American Air Museum in Britain
Jude Richter, Social Media Community Manager and Historian, US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Chair:
Seth Margolis, Director of Education Programs, The Museum of Flight
If, as Thomas Carlyle noted, history is the new poetry, crowdsourcing is the new jazz—-an accessible and personal approach to conducting historical research. Current technology for crowdsourcing historical projects can create a corps of researchers that are force multipliers for museums. This session explores two unique programs, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Remember Me? Project, which is an online global effort to identify photos of children displaced after the Holocaust, and the American Air Museum’s Roger Freeman Collection, an upcoming ‘virtual museum’ that encourages individuals to add their own information or to research any photograph that captures their imagination.
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Lunch
Lunch on your own
2:30 – 4:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Practical Digital Photography in the Museum Environment
Speakers:
Jon Barrett, Volunteer, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Carl Bobrow, Museum Specialist, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Eric Long, Senior Photographer, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Benjamin Sullivan, Photographer/CIS/IRM, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
James Walker, Volunteer, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Chair:
Ken Rahaim, Still Image Digitization Program Officer, Smithsonian Institution
Quality images of museum objects are important to all institutions and are imperative for collections management, research, restoration, and conservation. They are also an important resource for publication purposes, public relations, fund raising, and website material. This session, presented as a discussion and workshop, will demonstrate that basic photographic equipment and some easily obtainable skills are all you need for producing such images.
Collections staff, contractors, and volunteers will discuss and demonstrate digital photography techniques and methods for processing images for many applications. The session will commence with a short introductory talk, describing the requirements and good practices for successful image capture. It will then shift to four individual hands-on demonstration workstations covering large object imaging, small and medium size object imaging, lighting and post-production work, and copy stand photographic techniques. An array of topics will be considered throughout the presentation, including instruction on file formats, file size, processing of RAW verus JPEG files, metadata, and color management. Participants will depart with a foundation for ensuring consistent results in their image work.
Participants are encouraged to bring their cameras with them.
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So What’s Your Story? Integrating Marketing and Development through Storytelling
Speakers:
Jason Fish, Wings over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
Sherri Heintz Kerr, Marketing Director, Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
David Kerr, Chief Operating Officer, Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
Chair:
Richard Beckerman, Museum Consultant, Museum Consulting Services
This session will show you how to capture the attention and hearts of guests, members, and donors by conducting a needs assessment that leads to integrating all marketing and development activities while containing costs. In part one, the National Atomic Testing Museum will present a visitor-centric needs assessment for digital media—a key storytelling component—and how it is planning to use mobile and tablet devices to streamline exhibit graphics and marketing materials. For part two, the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum presents how it developed a consistent, branded narrative that has increased attendance, membership, and funding without additional staff. An integration toolkit, budget line checklist, and other take-home resources will help you make the most of your brand, budget and staff.
4:00 – 4:15 p.m.
Break
4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
Plenary Session:
What Do We Do Between Mutual Concerns: How Can an Association Best Serve The Community
Speakers:
Jeffrey Cannon, Museum Consultant
Dan Hagedorn, Curator and Director of Collections, The Museum of Flight
Benjamin Kristy, Aviation Curator, National Museum of the Marine Corps
Allan Palmer, Executive Director and CEO, Atomic Testing Museum
Kate Simmons, Director of Programs and Administration, Heritage Flight Museum
Joshua Stoff, Curator, Cradle of Aviation Museum
Chair:
Christopher Terry, Board Member, National Aviation Museum Society
For more than two decades, the Mutual Concerns conference has brought together the leading professionals from our industry to share ideas, techniques, and inspiration. Why should the camaraderie and open communication end with closure of the final session? Many in the aviation and space museum community have called for an organization where peers can openly discuss challenges, seek information, share best practices, and be a venue to privately discuss wants and disposals of aircraft and artifacts. Such an organization would be a bridge between Mutual Concerns conferences.
There is a movement afoot to create such an Aviation & Space Museum Association that can serve as a source for information, ideas, documents and best practices. As a group we possess a wealth of knowledge and experience that, through informal networking, can only improve the professionalism of those in the field, or new to it. Such an association could offer support, discussion, assistance, and friendship without fear of repercussions or political motives. This session will discuss what such an association can bring to the greater air and space museum community. The session attendees will be active participants in helping to define the scope and end products from such an association.
5:30 p.m.
End of Saturday Sessions
There are no formal events for the evening, but there is an optional activity (additional cost listed below).
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Optional Segway Tour of National Mall and surrounding area
Join us on an hour and a half evening tour that departs from the National Museum of American History and highlights various sites on the National Mall, as well as near-by memorials, Tidal Basin, Capitol, and surrounding area.
$45 per person optional, additional cost. Travel to the tour will be by Metro.
Find out more at Smithsonian Tours by Segway
SUNDAY, APRIL 13
Marketplace and all sessions at the Marriott Crystal Gateway
6:45 – 8:00 a.m.
Marketplace and Breakfast
Breakfast provided
8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Collaborate to Increase Your Museum’s Capacity to Serve Girls in STEM
Speakers:
Julia Cannell, Public Programs Manager, The Museum of Flight
Tam O’Shaughnessy, Cofounder and Chair, Board of Directors, Sally Ride Science
Maxine Scheer, President, Scheer Intelligence LLC
Chair:
Karen Peterson, CEO and Co-Principal Investigator, EdLab Group and the National Girls Collaborative Project
Collaboration is the key for leveraging resources and strengthening air and space museums’ capacities to encourage the participation of girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This session is a call to action and will introduce recent research findings for planning effective programming that will be transformative in the lives of girls and young women. It will teach participants how to create, sustain, and leverage partnerships to increase museum capacity to provide STEM programming for girls. The presenters will introduce case studies from large and small aviation museums that used a proven model, tools, and resources developed by the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) and teach participants how to replicate these methods.
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Assessing the Assessment Programs
Speakers:
Bruce Bleakley, Museum Director, Frontiers of Flight Museum
Tiffany Davis, Collections Curator, College Park Aviation Museum
Amy Rogers, Administrator, 1940 Air Terminal Museum
Chair:
Megan Lickliter-Mundon, Project Developer, Freeman Ryan Design
Thinking about undertaking an assessment program? You might have done some research on the American Alliance of Museum’s MAP program, the StEPS program of the American Association of State and Local History, or the Conservation Assessment Program with Heritage Preservation. They all sound great, but what do they really entail? In this panel, three representatives of small to medium sized air and space museums that are currently going through the process will tell of securing board, staff, and volunteer buy-in, making small but significant changes to existing policy, and the benefits of internal strengthening. If participants are on the fence about beginning one of these programs, following the session they should feel better equipped to ‘pull the trigger’.
9:30 – 9:45 a.m.
Break
9:45 – 11:15 a.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
In Pursuit of the YoCo: The Elusive Prey of the Museum World
Speakers:
Amanda Ohlke, Adult Education Director, International Spy Museum
Julia Cannell, Public Programs Manager, The Museum of Flight
Chair:
Seth Margolis, Director of Education Programs, The Museum of Flight
As museums look to grow their impact, the young professional or Young Cosmopolitan (‘YoCo’) has been identified as a key target
demographic—yet this group has proven to be the great white whale of audiences. The International Spy Museum has experimented with a range of initiatives, while the Museum of Flight has recently introduced a nascent program in hopes of attracting this mysterious yet coveted crowd. This session will discuss the different strategies both museums employed and ask you to decide for yourself whether the YoCo is the legendary Moby Dick or the mythological kraken of the heritage industry.
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Reaching Beyond the Museum’s Walls – Videoconferencing Programs in Air and Space Museums
Speakers:
Matthew Gross, Visitor Services Coordinator, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Sarah Knights, Outreach Education Coordinator, The Museum of Flight
Elizabeth Anne Wilson, Discovery Station Program Manager and Electronic Outreach Coordinator, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Chair:
Doug Baldwin, Chief, Educational Initiatives, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Education outreach without the vans! Learn how to use new technologies to instantly connect with classrooms across the country. In this session, the presenters will walk participants through the development and implementation of videoconference programs. Beginning with an overview of program types and content, the session will also provide information about funding, equipment options, beta-testing, implementation, reach and impact, and lessons learned. Whether your museum is large or small, discover the potential for connecting with widespread and diverse audiences through videoconferencing!
11:15.a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch
Lunch on own
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Museum Mobile is Not Optional: Making the Best Choices, or How Not to be a Fuddy-Duddy
Speakers:
Allan Palmer, Executive Director and CEO, Atomic Testing Museum
Cia Romano, President, Interface Guru
Chair:
Victoria Portway, Chair, Web & New Media Division, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
It’s 2014, and museum visitors expect a mobile assist when visiting your collection. As a 2012 Oxford Journals study states, “Visitors using a mobile guide visited [a] museum longer and were attracted to and spent more time at exhibits where they could get information from the guide.” But we know mobile applications cost money, which museums usually do not have to spare. So, what should museums think about today when considering their mobile site?
Join us in this session to examine the differences between so-called “mobile websites,” apps, and the best practices in responsive design (the site reshapes itself to the device). We will discuss how to identify your requirements for a mobile site, app, or guide, how to reduce risk and extend shelf-life, and how to work with vendors. This session will also help you evaluate which choices are best for your museum.
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How Far Do You Go with Your Aircraft? Aircraft Restoration and Preservation Standards of Museums
Speakers:
Richard Kowalczyk, Chief, Preservation and Restoration Shop, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Casey Simmons, Restoration Specialist, National Museum of the United States Air Force
Chad Wilcox, Aircraft Maintenance Technician, Eagles Mere Air Museum
Chair:
Elizabeth Garcia, Chief, Collections Division, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
This session will feature a round table discussion that explores aircraft restoration and preservation standards of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, the National Air and Space Museum, and the Eagles Mere Air Museum. The presenters representing these museums will discuss the following questions: What is a first rate restoration? What does “preservation” entail or not entail? Should museums share common standards? How do museum philosophies and missions affect museum aircraft restoration/preservation projects?
2:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Break
2:45 – 4:15 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Audience Research: Visitor Observations in the Museum of Flight
Speakers:
Peder Andreas Nelson, Exhibits Developer, The Museum of Flight
Chair:
Kirsten S. Büchner, Principal and Owner, Insight Evaluation Services
Based on experiences gained in a recent visitor study at the Museum of Flight, this session will describe recommended standards, techniques, and tools for conducting audience research projects in aviation museums. In 2013, the Museum of Flight’s Exhibits Department began conducting a series of visitor observation projects in six of its gallery spaces. The designated galleries ranged in size and exhibit content from the historical society-sized Boeing Red Barn to the vast Charles Simonyi Space Gallery. The goal of the project was to assess family groups’ behavior and formulate recommendations for exhibit remediation. The data collected proved extremely useful for refining and augmenting the exhibits, as well for improving the Museum’s cross-departmental master plan.
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Accessing Objects Big and Small: Utilizing Artifacts for Special Needs Audiences
Speakers:
Barbara Johnson Stemler, Museum Educator for Access Programs, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Cindy VandenBosch, Co-Chair, Museum Access Consortium
Chair:
Sheri Levinsky, Assistant Vice President of Education, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Making museums accessible for visitors with special needs should go beyond ADA compliance. Drawing from several years of experience with successful and growing accessibility programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, the presenters of this session will demonstrate best practices in the museum accessibility field. Presenters from both the Curatorial and Education teams will share cross-departmental approaches to sharing collections with visitors with special needs and explain the necessary logistical planning to provide unique and engaging programs that meet the needs of a wide range of visitors. Presenters will also share ideas for scaling resources both up and down to accommodate diverse budgets and staff constraints.
Participants will be exposed to a large variety of resources, ranging from models and verbal description techniques to visual supports and tactile line images, while learning how these can be applied to teaching complex issues and large artifacts, like those at many air and space museum collections.
4:15 p.m.
End of Sunday’s Sessions
There are no formal events for the evening, but there is an optional activity (additional cost listed below).
6:00 – 8:00p.m.
Optional Visit to the International Spy Museum
See the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed on display. Enjoy optional dinner on your own in Chinatown after the tour.
$16 per person optional, additional cost. Travel to this tour will be by Metro.
Find out more at the International Spy Museum
MONDAY, APRIL 14
All sessions at the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall
Complimentary shuttle provided at the beginning and end of day between the Marriott Crystal Gateway and the National Air and Space Museum.
7:00 a.m.
Buses depart the Marriott Crystal Gateway for the National Air and Space Museum
7:30 – 8:45 a.m. Breakfast and free time at the Museum
Breakfast provided
8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
Plenary Session:
Technical Study and Conservation of the “Bat Wing Ship” Horten H IX V3; Background, Challenges, Discoveries
Speakers:
Lauren Anne Horelick, Objects Conservator, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Russell Lee, Curator, Aeronautics Division, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Peter McElhinney, Conservation Fellow, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Anna Weiss, Conservation Fellow, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Chair:
Malcolm Collum, Chief of Conservation, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
This session will describe the unique collaboration between conservators and curators at the National Air and Space Museum to stabilize the “Bat Wing Ship” for transportation and final assembly. The presenters will describe the methodology for studying and caring for a plywood aircraft, thereby introducing a larger audience to the state-of-the-art research conducted on the Horten H IX V3. The discussion will cover the different methodologies that characterize the work of curators and conservators, regardless of museum size, and introduce the audience to overriding ethical considerations, which are relevant to all museums. The presenters will also describe the many shades of gray that exist between the traditions of full restoration and the philosophies of conservation that value the preservation of authentic materials.
10:20 – 11:35 a.m.
Concurrent Session:
Looking to the Skies: Connecting Museum Visitors to Astronomy
Speakers:
Sarah Knights, Outreach Education Coordinator, The Museum of Flight
Katie Nagy, Astronomy Education Program Manager, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Chair:
Andrew Johnston, Geographer, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Visitors of air and space museums often seek experiences that connect them to space voyages and exploration. The tools of astronomy can assist with that by helping visitors understand the sky, see how it changes over time, and by connecting them to places beyond Earth. In this session, we will describe how museums have utilized telescopes and public programs to enhance museum visitors’ experiences. We will explain how programs aimed at giving people an opportunity to interact with telescopes can take place in classrooms, observatory domes, and outdoor settings. We will also examine how planetarium programs can be used to describe the visible sky and encourage visitors to watch the sky after they leave the museum. This session is of special interest to museums with modest or large telescopes.
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Cataloging Your Way Book by Book
Speakers:
Dydia DeLyser, Board Member, Heritage Flight Museum
Karen Hinton, Director of Development Planes of Fame Air Museum
Polly Khater, Discovery Services Manager, Smithsonian Libraries
Chair:
Patricia Williams, Supervisory Archivist, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Do you have trouble saying “no” to donors who want to give you their books and magazines? Do you have boxes of these donations piling up under your displays? This session will describe how the Planes of Fame Air Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Library approach cataloging donated books and materials using both staff and volunteer resources. The Smithsonian Libraries has dedicated staff and funds that work year round to catalog and describe collection materials, while Planes of Fame Air Museum, with the help of volunteers, was able to catalog donated books that had accumulated over 56 years in just three days. Whether you have trained staff or no staff and limited funds, exploring these two different approaches will help your museum find a method that will work for enhancing your library.
11:35 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Free time, touring at the Museum, and break for lunch
Lunch on your own.
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Highlight Tours
You are welcome to tour the Museum on your own or sign up for one of the insider tours.
1:45 – 3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Living History: Adding a Dimension to Your Educational Programming
Speakers:
Bob Welch, Manager, Museum Education Programs, Frontiers of Flight Museum
Mychalene Giampaoli, Education Specialist, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Intelligence
Chair:
Bruce Bleakley, Museum Director, Frontiers of Flight Museum
Using “Living History” programs is wonderful way make aviation and space flight history and technology come alive for all ages. Depending on your resources you can uses highly-trained and motivated volunteers or paid actors who can present first-person accounts of their character’s adventures, whether as “Orville Wright,” “Amelia Earhart,” or as lesser known figures in aviation and space. Session participants will learn how a Living History program can enhance their educational curriculum and their efforts to engage the public, both onsite and as a part of outreach activities. The speakers will offer suggestions for the selection and training of volunteers and actors in addition to the use of costuming and props for more effective presentations. This presentation will be of use to all museums, but is scalable to smaller museum since it will feature some relatively low-cost way to enhance an organization’s educational offerings and outreach efforts.
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The Next Frontier: Educational Collaborations and the Space Shuttle Program
Speakers:
Michael Hulslander, Manager of Onsite Learning, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
Jennifer Kennedy, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
Christopher Mailander, Director of Exhibits, The Museum of Flight
Kenneth Phillips, Curator, Aerospace Science, California Science Center
Chair:
Laura Hansen, National Outreach Manager, Smithsonian’s Affiliations
The era of the space shuttle may have drawn to a close, but shuttles are finding new life in education at museums across the country. The retirement of the shuttle fleet presents unique educational and collaborative opportunities for a greater community of organizations to explore space history through STEM programs.
In this session, three museums will present case studies demonstrating unique exhibition and educational plans for the retired space shuttle fleet with the goal of sharing experiences and resources that would benefit other museums interested in using the space shuttle program in their educational offerings. California Science Center will discuss plans for the new facility that will house Endeavour and the immersive experiences intended to encourage creativity and innovation. The Museum of Flight will share the hands-on experience (not possible with decommissioned orbiters) that visitors have when they climb into the three-story full-body trainer at the museum. The National Air and Space Museum will talk about the installation and exhibition of Discovery at the Udvar-Hazy Center.
3:00 – 3:15 p.m.
Break
3:15 – 4:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions:
Fundraising Today
Speakers:
Carol Green, Director of Development, Pacific Aviation Museum- Pearl Harbor
Andrew Watt, President and CEO, Association of Fundraising Professionals
Chair:
Laura Gleason, Director of Leadership Giving, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
As the economy continues to inch its way to recovery, many museums are still trying to figure out what it means to raise funds in the climate that has emerged. Social media is gaining prominence as the Millennials participate in more social causes, while older generations are more comfortable with traditional fundraising methods. What’s a fundraiser to do?
In this session, participants will hear from the President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals to get an overview of current fundraising practices, find out which methods are currently enjoying success, hear about where the field is going, and discover what it all means for their museums. Participants will also learn about which skills are required to be a successful fundraiser in today’s economy. The Director of Development for the Pacific Aviation Museum will recount experiences at her museum and discuss plans for funding their museum’s future growth.
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Warplanes to Siberia: The Story of Lend-Lease via the Alaska-Siberia Air Route (ALSIB)
Speakers:
Jeff Geer, President and Chairman, BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation
Alexey Krivalov, Advisor to the General Director, Russian Aviation Co., Ltd
Jim Meinert, Executive Director, The History Museum
Tracy Spaight, Director of Special Projects, Wargaming.net
Chair:
Allan Snowie, Board Member, BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation
Seeking a safe passage to fly a bi-plane to Alaska, an all-but-forgotten air route originating in Great Falls, Montana was re-discovered and its story has evolved into a project of international scale. In the summer of 2013, the BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation successfully flew the first leg of this route to Fairbanks as part of a flight-recreation and film documentary Warplanes to Siberia. Few people have ever heard of the Lend-Lease Air Route (otherwise known as the Northern Route and the Alaska-Siberia Air Route) or know of the key role it played during the Second World War. A vital support network for the Soviet Union in which nearly 8,000 military aircraft were delivered, it was one of the great logistical efforts of the 20th century; yet, seventy years later, this little-known chapter of history remains a mystery.
The story of Warplanes to Siberia is significant in that it tells of the mutual concerns and cooperation of three great nations —Russia, the United States, and Canada—not only then, but now. Find out how a small group of dedicated business, education, and aviation professionals, working with leading historians, has managed to gain such global recognition. Panelists include representatives from the BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation, Russian Aviation Co., Ltd, Heritage Flight Museum, and The History Museum. “… museums are there to protect and preserve items with the hope that someday they will tell a story that will inspire and educate people.” - Jim Meinert. An entire untapped and forgotten archive, across three nations, lies waiting to be discovered.
4:30 p.m.
Sessions Conclude
4:30 – 4:45 p.m.
Critiques, door prize drawings, and closing remarks
TUESDAY, APRIL 15 OPTIONAL FIELD TRIPS
Annapolis, MD Day Trip
9:30 a.m.
Shuttle departs from the Marriott Crystal Gateway
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Tour College Park Aviation Museum and College Park Airport
College Park Airport is the world’s oldest continually operating airport. It was founded in 1909 when Wilbur Wright gave flight instruction to the first military aviators. The museum’s collection highlights the history of early aviation at the College Park Airport.
Find out more about the College Park Aviation Museum.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch in Annapolis, Maryland
Sample Maryland blue crab or other local favorites with this provided lunch.
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Tour of the United States Naval Academy
USNA Tour highlights include Lejeune Hall, Bancroft Hall, Tecumseh Court, Herndon Monument, Main Chapel (when open) and Crypt of John Paul Jones, Revolutionary War hero. Find out more about the US Naval Academy.
Free time in the USNA museum featuring the history of sea power and development of the US Navy. Find out more about the USNA Museum.
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Free time in downtown Annapolis
5:00 p.m.
Shuttle arrives at the Marriott Crystal Gateway
This field trip fee is $80. This fee includes
Admission to all venues
Lunch in Annapolis
Roundtrip transportation from the Marriott Crystal Gateway
— OR —
9:30 a.m.
Tour of Smithsonian’s Office of Exhibit’s Central
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Guided behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian’s Office of Exhibit’s Central. Find out more at Smithsonian Office of Exhibits Central.
The field trip fee is $35. This fee includes
Behind-the-scenes tour of the facility
Roundtrip transportation from the Marriott Crystal Gateway
