T Hank You to Our 2017 Endowment Contributors
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SEMC Annual Report 2017 Southeastern Museums Conference 2 From the President In my first year as SEMC President, I have been honored to serve such an amazing organization with such tremendous colleagues from around the Southeast. Although Hurricane Irma caused me to miss the annual meeting in New Orleans, I have heard rave reviews. Many thanks to Executive Director Susan Perry, the SEMC Council, Past President David Butler (who stepped into my shoes), the Program Committee, and all of the sponsors, presenters, and conference participants for making it one of SEMC’s best attended and most successful conferences on record. I hope all of you who attended the conference left inspired and invigorated. SEMC also made progress this year on numerous strategic initiatives, from more intentionally developing the annual conference program to serve members at all levels of their careers to updating our website and branding platforms. Perhaps most importantly, we launched a Leadership Institute initiative. Based on the success and outcomes of SEMC’s JIMI program, other national surveys, and an initial feasibility study, it is clear there is a need for high level, SEMC Legacy Reception, Annual Meeting, 2017, New Orleans 3 affordable leadership training focused on small- to and landing the year in the black, SEMC is the mid-sized institutions. The SEMC Council decided only regional museum organization with an to pursue an IMLS grant, recently submitted, endowment, and that endowment continued to to plan and pilot such a Leadership Institute. prosper this year. Currently at a fund balance Partnering with us is the Association of African of $476,192, proceeds help to ensure SEMC’s American Museums, and planning participants financial sustainability and provide opportunities include many recognized experts. The aim is to for strengthening service to members. equip a new generation of museum leaders with outward-looking skills and stratagems to increase All in all, it’s been a terrific year. A special their effectiveness as leaders and their ability to thanks to Executive Director Susan Perry for her create a productive and inclusive environment leadership and dedication. And a big thanks to within the museum and among the museum’s all of you for being a part of SEMC and making board. We will continue to pursue funding to make it such a great organization! this exciting initiative a reality. Darcie MacMahon It is also a pleasure to report on SEMC’s financial Director of Exhibits & Public Programs, health. In addition to the successful conference Florida Museum of Natural History 4 Annual Meeting Attendance Has Increased 160% Since 2011 5 Our Mission The Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) is a networking organization that serves to foster profession- alism, mutual support, and communication. A non-profit membership association, SEMC strives to increase educational and professional development opportunities and improve the interchange of ideas, information, and cooperation. Our History 1951: SEMC was established at a meeting in 1959: First five-year plan and added Arkansas Norfolk, Virginia. It was agreed that the to the SEMC. organization should include the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, 1960: Hosted two professional development Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, workshops in North Carolina on museum South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, training and historic house restoration. and Virginia. SEMC’s first task was to appoint a committee to get the Southeast 1960s: Hired first SEMC staff with $25,000 included in a Congressional bill to foundation grant to carry out further appropriate money to provide places of safe- training workshops; SEMC urged the keeping for museum objects in case of war. American Alliance (formerly Association) of Museums to formulate a museum 1956: Maryland, Delaware, and the District of accreditation program. Columbia petitioned to join SEMC. The Council suggested they form their own 1969: SEMC established a three-day organization, today known as the Mid- annual meeting. Atlantic Association of Museums. 6 1970s: Local arrangements and program 2005: SEMC established a Hurricane Katrina committees were established for the grant fund and awarded over $500,000 to annual meeting; SEMC published a museums and museum employees affected directory of educational resources. by the storm in Mississippi and Louisiana. 1977: SEMC was officially incorporated; 2010: SEMC established a partnership with and exhibitors were added to the Atlanta History Center where the SEMC annual meeting. office relocated. 1982: Moved the central offices of SEMC 2013: SEMC, the five other regional museum to Memphis. associations, and the American Alliance of Museums completed the first 1986: Moved SEMC offices to Baton Rouge. National Museum Salary Survey, the only comprehensive study of its kind for our 1992: A full-time Executive Director and a diverse field. Director of Office and Memberships services had been hired. Shortly after 2017: SEMC, the five other regional museum that, SEMC’s endowment was established associations, five state museum associations, to promote financial stability. including Florida and Virginia, and the American Alliance of Museums completed 1996: The JumpStart Program began. This the 2017 National Museum Salary Survey. program flourished during the first decade of the 21st century and is now known as the Now: SEMC continues to create programs like Jekyll Island Management Institute (JIMI), JIMI and the National Museum Salary offering an eight-day intensive museum Survey to support its ongoing mission to training to museum professionals with foster professionalism and support for two years’ experience or more. museum professionals. 2003: Moved the central offices of SEMC to Atlanta. 7 SEMC Net Assets Have Increased 214% Since 2011 8 Impact Plan In 2017, SEMC Council launched our Organizational Focus: Advance racial/ethnic first Impact Plan, for 2017–2019. diversity of its membership, including individuals, museums, and the council. Impact: SEMC members, at all stages of their career, find professional support and camaraderie Action Plan Focus: from the SEMC leadership and members as they • Technology deepen their knowledge of museums, strengthen • Annual Gatherings their practice and skills, promote diversity, • Honing Our Craft and serve SEMC fellow members in need. • Marketing/Communication • Inclusion Our Past Year Highlights This fall SEMC launched our Endowment Gift you to those who contributed in the past year; the Campaign to reach half a million dollars. SEMC SEMC endowment now stands at $476,192. continued its goal of financial stability and sustainability in fiscal year 2017 with a net of SEMC had an awesome annual conference in New $60,879, and added $7,000 to the SEMC Reserve Orleans with a record of over 700 registrants; 650 Fund and $53,879 to the SEMC Endowment. Thank attended due to the impact of Hurricane Irma. 9 In 2017 the SEMC Exhibitions, Publications and New Orleans. In the keynote address, Dr. Jessica Technology Competitions had 143 entries and 56 Harris brought culinary history into museums. The award winners. In addition to the selected four Council discussed our impact and joint vision for student presentations, this was the first year of SEMC’s future. Students Work in Museums (swim) poster showcase. The SEMC Scholarship program offered 15 travel The Jekyll Island Management Institute 2017 (jimi) awards scholarships, four more than the previous had national impact with participants from nine year, including the Presidential scholarship, Southeastern states and from outside our region sponsored by Darcie MacMahon, the African including Washington, D.C., California, and Indiana. American Museum Professional scholarship, Thanks to the generosity of the Smithsonian’s and two scholarships for historic house museum National Museum of African American History professionals, sponsored by Lunney House and Culture (nmaahc) and a four-year partnership Museum and John A. Woods Appraisers. Sixty- with the Association of African American Museums three program sessions, 12 off-site tours/workshops, (aaam), SEMC was pleased to offer theJohn Kinard and 60 Resource Expo exhibitors provided new Scholarship for two AAAM members to attend JIMI. ideas, professional expertise and best practices. JIMI 2017 provided leadership training for the most This year many programs focused on diversity, diverse class in the past seventeen years. inclusion, equity, and social justice: “Interpreting African American History & Culture,” “Diversity SEMC wants to serve members’ diverse needs Across the Museum: Staff, Trustees, Exhibitions and improve communications. SEMC has & Programs,” “Interpreting Slavery in the 21st expanded the content of social media coverage Century,” ”Equity and Inclusion in Educational and digital communications. In 2017, SEMC Programming,” “Inclusion in the Classroom,” “Civil offered complimentary Institutional Membership War to Civil Rights: African American History and to new AAAM members. We restructured the National Park Service Sites in the Southeast,” ”Brave Corporate Membership program so that Corporate New World: Critical and Controversial Issues,” Memberships renewed by June 30, 2017. We had 146 “Generating Empathy Across Race and Time: new members in FY 2017, for a total membership Innovative Strategies for Interpreting Slavery,” of 2,267, including bundled members. SEMC “Slavery and Community: Inclusive Interpretation surveyed our members and focused on programs at the