ENCOURAGING COLLABORATIONS, PROVIDING PARTNER SERVICES (2009-2014)

I served as the Administrator for the 37-member museum Greater Baltimore History Alliance, a partnership that allowed the member museums -- many with very small budgets -- to collaborate on marketing and tourism opportunities, as well as to advance their professional knowledge.

 

I worked with the Board of Directors, made up of the member museums' Executive Directors, at monthly meetings, where we discussed challenges and opportunities the members were facing. Many partnerships arose from these meetings, as they provided face time for all to hear what their colleagues at other museums were planning. We worked with Visit Baltimore to ensure that our members were receiving comparable coverage to the larger art museums in the city and collaborated on projects with the Maryland Heritage Coordinating Council, the Civil War Sesquicentennial Planning Committee, and the War of 1812 Bicentennial Celebration.

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I provided a variety of marketing services to the members of the Alliance, via a print brochure, website, email list, Facebook page, and co-op ad opportunities. I amplified the messaging of each museum and developed a communal calendar of events, so the community could see at a glance what was going on at all history museums in town. We also maintained a reciprocal membership program for partner museums, which allowed members of one museum to visit other member museums for free.

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I also developed professional education programs so member museums could access low-cost training opportunities for their staff and volunteers. I held monthly roundtable meetings for curators, marketers, and educators that included sharing best practices or hearing a speaker. Each was held at a different member museum, so we could tour their exhibits and learn from each other. Although these sessions were available to members for free, I often opened them up to the larger museum community in Maryland at a higher price, thereby providing additional revenue to the organization, which ran on a lean budget.

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