Posted November 17th, 2009 by Rob Stein. Filed under Musings, Technology, Uncategorized
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 2009 Museum Computer Network Conference in Portland, OR. While Portland was rainy and cold all week, I found the conference to be both engaging and thought provoking. While the sessions were great, the thing that keeps me coming back for more is the community.
Community – the culture of this gathering – is where the real diffusion and impact occur. Although the speakers and panelists were great and a good trigger for conversation, the value really took hold in the hallways over coffee or in some of Portland’s great pubs over a beer.
In thinking about this next post on transparency, it struck me that the same is true about our own museums as well. The culture of our institution – the hallway and cafe conversations that happen between colleagues – is where much of the success and innovation will come from.
At the MCN conference we heard some great conversations about strategy and innovation. But I think all would realize, the harder part of strategy is finding a way for it to take hold and become REAL.
As a final salvo offering reasons why your museum should adopt open and transparent practices around institutional performance, let’s talk a bit more about the impact this choice can have on the culture of your museum.
If you’re just joining the conversation, here are links to parts 1 and 2 of this series. (Part 1 – Walking the Talk) (Part 2 – Reasons for Transparency) Please join the conversation in the comments and tell us what you think! A little virtual water cooler would help us all.
Reasons For Transparency: Impact on Institutional Culture
“The organizations that will be truly successful in this environment are those that have integrated Transparency as part of their organizational culture and not just their communications strategy. To the extent that the two are inter-related, the communications strategist has a substantial role to play here.”
-Mark Hannah, “Transparency as a Principle not a Tactic”, PBS.org, January 7, 2009
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