WMMD Newsletter January 2017

Contents:

 West Midlands Museum Development Update  West Midlands Museum Development Events  News  Other Events  Opportunities

West Midlands Museum Development Update

Breaking Boundaries

The annual conference will take place on 16 and 17 March 2017. The conference will encourage delegates to build resilience by thinking beyond traditional boundaries in relation to collections, physical space, audiences and the workforce.

Funded through Ironbridge's Major Partner Museum and Museum Development programmes, this free two day conference will share best practice from a range of museums.

See the WMMD events section below for information about the programme.

Museum Learning Survey

Please complete our online survey of learning programmes in museums and galleries in the West Midlands and help to shape our future programme. To complete the survey please click here.

Thank you if you have already completed the survey.

Capital Grant Scheme

Expressions of Interest for the next phase of the Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Scheme will be invited from 1 March 2017. Now is the time to start thinking about what capital spend is required to give you the opportunity to borrow from a National museum or a Major Partner Museum. For an informal chat please contact Helen Johnson.

Diversity Champions Scheme

Hear from our Diversity Champions at the Breaking Boundaries conference on 16 and 17 March 2017.

WMMD Events

See the WMMD events section below for our upcoming events and to book your places.

Volunteer Portal

The regional Volunteer Portal will soon go live on mdwm.org.uk. Offering Accredited museums and those officially working towards Accreditation the opportunity to advertise for volunteers.

Contact [email protected] to register your museum

Resources

Accredited museums and those officially Working Towards are now able to access a wide range of resources drawn from our programme and workshops. See www.mdwm.org.uk/resources If you have not received your password to access these resources please [email protected]

Mystery Shopper Programme 2017

Service Science are leaders in the measurement of customer service quality in the tourism, hospitality and leisure sectors. They work extensively with clients in the museum and heritage sector.

There is an opportunity for 10 museums to be Mystery Shopped.

The Mystery Shopper Programme will:

 Provide a detailed and accurate picture of your service provision based on the feedback from two Mystery Shopper visits to your museum  Identify strengths and areas for improvements  Provide a detailed report with recommendations to help you improve your service

How does it work?

It will be launched with a workshop to ensure potential participants understand what the programme entails, the standards looked for and why. Following the workshop, all interested museums will need to complete an Expression of Interest form to apply to take part. 10 museums will be selected to take part in the programme.

Service Science will follow up with two Mystery Shopper visits to your museum and you will receive two sets of written feedback. On completion of the visits you will receive a detailed report with recommendations for improvement of your service.

This will support Section 3 of the Accreditation Standard: Users and their experiences.

See WMMD events section below for more detail about the launch workshop.

Small Grant Scheme

As this year's successful applicants continue to work on their projects here is a final reflection on 2016's successful recipients:

Red House Glass Cone - Teenage Market & Tweets

What were they able to achieve with their grant?

The aim of the project was to develop a new offer to encourage 14-25 year olds to visit The Red House Glass Cone through the use of the national brand ‘Teenage Market’. Teenage Market encourages young entrepreneurs to sell their wares or perform.

The museum wanted to explore new ways of marketing to a teenage audience who were not currently engaged with the museum through development of their use of social media, in particular Twitter. They also wanted to increase staff awareness of safeguarding issues and the correct use of images in social media.

As a result of the grant 15 museum staff were trained in the effective use of social media led by Born Communications.

Eight tablets were bought and are now in daily use by museum staff and the tourism officer for social media, being used to showcase tenants, collections, events and visits.

A successful Teenage Market was held on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 July 2016 at the Red House Glass Cone. 14 young people and their families attended the event as buskers and stall holders. They all made a profit and made contacts.

“Teenage Market at Red House Glass Cone – Amazing talent amongst our young people.” @DudleyMayor

Have You Considered Becoming a Museum Mentor?

Museum Mentors play a critical role in supporting smaller museums to retain Accreditation. Why take part?

100% of West Midland Mentors surveyed in 2014 would recommend mentoring to others: ‘It is an excellent way to gain real-life experience outside your employing organisation.’ ‘A great chance to work with different collections (and work with) different types of museums, dealing with the kinds of issues not necessarily facing your own organisation.’

64% of current West Midlands Mentors became a mentor as a form of continued professional development. ‘I feel privileged to mentor and list mentoring in my own biographical information and that of my organisation. Being a mentor adds to my professional credentials.’

Next steps? For full guidance please click here To discuss further please contact us; call 01952 435900 or email [email protected]

West Midlands Museum Development Events

All West Midlands Museum Development events are free

18 January - Collections Knowledge Café 10am - 4pm, Coventry Transport Museum

Choose from a selection of workshops and 'Ask the Expert' advice points to learn more about the areas of interest.

Our featured workshops: • Handling and packing collections - Jane Thompson-Webb, Birmingham Museum Trust • Hazards in museum collections - Derek Brain, Birmingham Museum Trust • Identifying and looking after plastics - Abby Moore, Museum of London

Ask the Experts: • Identifying and looking after numismatics collections - Henry Flynn, British Museum • Identifying and caring for photographic collections - Chris Copp, Staffordshire Archives and Heritage Service • Standards, copyright and collections care - Sarah Brown, Collections Trust • Environmental monitoring equipment advice - Michael Hall, Meaco

Workshops will be repeated and our experts will be on hand throughout the day to offer advice and answer questions about different areas of collections care.

Simply click below to book your place on this event. Lunch will be provided.

Book now

27 January - Arts Award Advisor Training - Full Details Announced

10am - 4pm, The Hive, Worcester WR1 3PD

Train to become an Arts Award Advisor and deliver Discover and Explore in your museum. You will receive an Advisor toolkit and meet other museum professionals who are planning to deliver Arts Award in their settings. The workshop will include the opportunity to share ideas and receive support from the Arts Award Trainer.

This course is open to Accredited museums and those officially Working Towards Accreditation. Please read the Arts Award Advisor person specification.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Click below to book your place for this free event.

Book now

30 January - Archives in Museum Collections: Meeting the Standard?

10am - 1pm, County Record Office, Stafford, ST16 2LZ

Many museums hold discreet archive collections within their main holdings. Owen Munday, Engagement Officer for The National Archives (TNA) will give an overview of the scheme and look at whether there is a case for museums working towards the Archives Accreditation Standard for these collections.

This half day workshop will help to answer the question, ‘What is the Standard and is it right for us?’

Click below to book your place.

Book now

2 February - Entrepreneurship in Cultural Heritage

10am-4.45pm, The Old Ikon Gallery, Fazeley Studios, Birmingham B5 5SE

Speakers from across the UK will explore innovative approaches to entrepreneurial management practices of the heritage sector and the challenges and opportunities for future entrepreneurship.

Organised by the Ironbridge Institute for Cultural Heritage, in association with West Midlands Museum Development. This event is for staff and volunteers from Accredited museums and those officially Working Towards Accreditation in the West Midlands.

Click below for the full programme and to book your place.

Full programme and booking

8 February - A Smile is the Universal Welcome

Fully Booked Please contact us to register your interest for future events

10am – 4pm, Museum Trust

Join us at Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust for a day of Customer Service Excellence. The morning will see examples of best practice from the sector including Vicky Howell from VisitEngland who will provide an overview of the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) and its benefits, ideal for anyone considering joining the scheme.

Vicky Parr, trainer and assessor for VisitEngland will provide an afternoon of ‘Exceeding Visitor Expectation’ which explores delivering a high quality service.

This training is aimed at:

 New or experienced Front of House staff who are meeting customers regularly  Museums who have participated in WMMD’s recent Mystery Shopper programme  Supervisors and Front of House managers who are seeking new tips and suggestions on how to improve the customer service at their venue or simply to be re- energised for the new season!

16 February - A Fresh Look at Forward Planning

9.30am - 4.30pm, Birmingham (venue to be confirmed) An opportunity to take an objective look at your organisation, its aspirations and challenges whilst engaging with peers and laying the ground work for an effective Forward Plan.

More details to follow.

Book now

23 February - Mystery Shopper Launch

10am - 4pm, Wolverhampton City Archives, Molineux Hotel Building WV1 1SF

This launch workshop will explain the logistics and workings of the Mystery Shopper programme and how to use the feedback to drive standards and motivate others.

Participants from the previous programme are welcome to attend.

*Please note attendance at this workshop is essential if you wish to participate in the full programme

Book now

16 and 17 March - Breaking Boundaries Conference

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, , TF8 7DQ

Come along to the beautiful Ironbridge Gorge in for a free two day conference to network with museum colleagues and hear from speakers with a wealth of experience on topics including:-

Day one

 Young people  Advocacy and Fundraising  Diversity  Partnerships

Day two

 Retail and catering  Collecting  Events  Social Media

We hope that you can invest the time to join us on both days. However you may choose to come for the day that best suits your needs.

Find out more and book your place

Other Events

V&A Professional Development Programme: 2017

Bookings Now Open!

The V&A Professional Development programme for Spring/Summer 2017 is now available to view online with details of courses available on the V&A website. The full course booklet is also available to download here (PDF)

Working with Special Educational Needs (SEN) Groups conference

Culture Coventry Develop an understanding of how to deliver outreach projects for young people with learning difficulties in this one-day conference for museum professionals.

Museums enable the community to voice its story and progressively this is done through multimedia. This course is aimed at creative professionals who want to set up outreach projects which enable the community to explore the museum collection and, in doing so, gain qualifications in the arts, multimedia or soft skills for work. Specifically, They will help creative professionals to understand the needs of community members with special educational needs or learning difficulties.

Click below to book your place.

Book now

News

Power through Diversity

On Monday 12 December 2016, Contact Manchester hosted Power through Diversity, a free one-day event for arts leaders, Chairs and decision makers.

The event was designed to provoke debate, inspire change and celebrate good practice around diversity of governance, leadership and thinking. Arts Council England's Chief Executive Darren Henley gave the keynote speech. The event also included speakers on different areas of diversity from across the arts and cultural sector. See below for videos of their talks.

Power Through Diversity

Disabled Access Day 2017

Disabled Access Day returns for its third year and will take place between 10th and 12th March 2017. Due to popular demand they have extended the dates so more people can get involved and more places can be visited.

Disabled Access Day began in 2015 to celebrate good access and created opportunities for people to try something new, highlighting the fantastic access that already exists in places, such as touch tours, relaxed performances, sensory experiences, level access and of course a warm welcome!

Click below to find out more and how you can get involved.

Get involved

Kids in Museums: Highlights of 2016

Kids in Museums has had much to celebrate in 2016, here are some of their highlights:  Over 10,000 people downloaded their resource How can your museum better welcome families and young people with autism? created with a wonderful team of partners including Ambitious about Autism. Check out their website for lots of other free factsheets and toolkits to make your museum more family friendly.

 Kids in Museums was one of three organisations selected to run a pilot project for the Cultural Citizens programme announced in March’s Culture White Paper. Over the next six months, Takeover Birmingham will see 200 young people taking over cultural and heritage organisations across the city.

 Nearly 30,000 people saw tweets from teenagers who’d taken over a museum Twitter feed on @takeovermuseums on Teen Twitter Takeover Day in August.

 In November, Takeover Day in England and Wales was a record-breaking event, with over 5,000 children and young people taking over 200 museums, galleries and heritage sites. Click below to find out more about Kids in Museums and how you can get involved.

KIds in Museum

Opportunities

Museum + Heritage Awards 2017

Entries Now Open!

The annual Museums + Heritage Awards, now in its fifteenth year, recognise projects of excellence, innovative and ground-breaking exhibitions from galleries and visitor attractions across the UK and Europe.

These range from remarkable achievements of national institutions to projects crafted with limited resources and those championing their staff and volunteers who work hard to deliver inspiring visitor experiences.

With 11 categories to choose from the Awards are open to all museums, galleries, cultural and heritage visitor attractions and their suppliers, no matter what size, this is an unrivalled opportunity for everyone.

For more information click here: http://awards.museumsandheritage.com/

Project Officer: HLF Education Model

This is a part-time post for 2 days a week. The post holder will train, recruit, develop, and manage a team of ambassadors employed under the University of Worcester's Ambassadors scheme.

Closing date Sunday 12 February 2017.

Follow the link below for full details and how to apply.

Find out more

Keep up to date with the Leicester University Museum Studies jobs desk site here.

Images copyright Lee Allen Photography.

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West Midlands Museum Development c/o The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Coalbrookdale Shropshire TF8 7DQ Tel 01952 435900 [email protected]