Exhibit Expo-ration

Marcie, David, and me discovering a shadowbox in Phoenix, built by a company out of Germany, showing a video from Imperial Valley

One of the most impactful parts of my experience at AAM's convention this year came not from professional sessions (although I went to many very good presentations) but on the Expo Floor.

If you've never been to a museum conference before, it is probably similar to any other professional conference in that one large area is given over to vendors so professionals can wander their booths and discover new trends and topics.  We all secretly go there the first time to see if any vendors are giving away good swag, but there is a quiet hope- unexpressed, like a wish, so that it might come true- that we will see one new idea that we can bring back to our museum.  This year's conference did not send me home with one new idea.  No, it was more a case of- what can we do first because there are so many ideas!

Marcie explores a VR world

The big trend being pushed this year by vendors was clearly AR and VR.  Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technology have been around for awhile, but are now becoming less expensive (comparatively) and are something that even smaller museums can begin to realistically experiment with.  Marcie and David tried out some of the VR, flying over New York City and walking on the moon.  Those experiences got us brainstorming on how to bring VR to our museum.  Would our visitors want to 'fly' over the Coyote Mountains or the Salton Sea?  Virtually walk Painted Gorge with the bighorn sheep?

Touchscreen graphic rail for exhibits- I want this!

It was exciting to see some technologies that we've been trying to incorporate and get to be very hands-on with them.  One of my personal favorites was a touchscreen tabletop computer that allows people to overlay maps, watch videos, and anything else you can think to upload onto it! The company now even has smaller touchscreens that would work as highly interactive rail panels in future exhibits.  One of the hardest things about building new exhibits is editing down text for a panel- imagine a setup that let people access as much or as little information as they wanted on a part of the exhibit they were looking at!

Walking on the moon- in Phoenix

People always tell you not to let yourself be limited- that if you can imagine it, it can happen.  The Expo Floor this year reminded me that if I can imagine it, someone can build it.  Never say 'can't'.  There is no 'can't'; there is only the limits of the human imagination. And even those boundaries are forever being pushed.  After all, 100 years ago, people said 'can't' to the idea of walking on the moon.

Virtual Reality: What you see vs what they experience

Presenting AAM 2018

(As is usual for me, it takes me a few days to decompress from going full blast at a conference and then I can start organizing my thoughts into blogs and ideas.  Not sure why, but it's how my brain seems to work- which is why this blog and the next few are coming to you a week after the conference!) 

Heritage Square, Phoenix AZ

May 6-9 was the annual American Alliance of Museums conference, held this year in Phoenix, Arizona.  I've been to many other conferences and presented at conferences over the years (I actually connected with the IVDM at my first Society of American Archivists conference just after grad school) but this was my first AAM convention.  I met some great people, attended some good sessions, got blown away every time I walked onto the Expo floor, and am now trying to piece it all together in 'real' life.





I was honored to be included on  a panel where I got to share my experience developing field trips from scratch alongside other small museums.

"Small Museums/Large Classrooms: Three Solutions for expanding field trips at your institution"

This session was moderated by Jennifer Hance, the Director of Education at Heritage Square in Phoenix.  She put out an email last year about the topic because she was looking for ideas on how to expand her field trip programs and wanted to see what other places had done.  Megan Murphy, Visitor Services and Interpretation Coordinator at Golden History Museum & Park, and Tiffani Egnor, Curator of Education at Chandler Museum, presented as well.  Unlike other conference presentations I've done, this one was more of a 'talk show' format instead of each person getting up and talking about their institution by themselves.  We didn't stand in front of a podium but took the mike and stood at the front of the stage to talk-granted, a little awkward when you're looking at notes to remind you of something you wanted to mention, but much more conducive to spontaneous thoughts and (I think) it encouraged the sense of connectedness we were trying to make with the audience. We probably had about 60 people attend out session and it was really encouraging the number of questions and feedback we got towards the end, and the number of people who stayed after the session to talk with us.  I loved getting to meet these incredible women, share ideas with them, and present with them!

Tiffani Egnor, Me, Jennifer Hance, & Megan Murphy- AAM Presenters!

I'm not going to repeat the entire session here, I don't think that's what people want from me at this blog. Though if you want the slides or more details, feel free to email me (ivdmuseum@gmail.com). Each of us presented on what I think were good ideas at our institutions, but the main messages we wanted to send were:

Hands-on, interactive- and in nature! 

• Don't be afraid to try new things.  Experiment.  If one idea doesn't work, get feedback from co-workers and teachers about how to turn it into something that does work. 
•  Don't talk at kids, talk to them.  Be interactive.  
• If you think it's boring, guaranteed the kids do to.  Don't be boring.  Learning is fun, and the more fun it is the more you learn and remember. 
• Start out with your grade learning objectives, but as you go along listen to what the kids are asking.  Be flexible.  As long as they are asking questions and being engaged, they are learning and you are succeeding in your field trip.

  

  Interactive is the key to a successful field trip!

  
  
  
  

Hiking to the Bottom of the Ocean

My view of the Coyote Mountains may be one of my all time favorites, and I love hiking in them, but this was the first time I've actually hiked up the mountains.

I knew going in this was a bit of a stretch for me- I tend to be one of those people who needs to slowly adjust to altitude, and I haven't been hiking much in the last year or so.  But I'd never done the famous hike to the bottom of the ocean before and the first day of Spring seemed like a good time to give it a try. I admit, by the time I got back down to the car my legs were pretty tired, but I wasn't nearly as wiped as I had expected to be- and the day after I was still capable of walking, so that seems like a win to me!

Unbeatable view of Imperial Valley

Trace fossils from when this was the bottom of the ocean

 When I'm out hiking, I always try to read up on some of the geology of the area I'll be in and while I almost never remember more than 1% of what I read before any given hike, even that little bit of information I manage to retain increases my appreciation for what I see along the way.   Hiking up the Coyote Mountains, for instance, you are going back 4-10 million years in time, and if you look (one of my excuses for always being slow) you can find amazing evidence remaining that 10 million years ago this entire part of California was a part of the ocean.  When kids come to the museum asking what dinosaurs we had here, we talk about whales, sharks, coral, and oysters.


The entire hike I marveled at the views: the rocks around me, the trace fossils of so many different shells, the fresh scat as evidence that bighorn sheep had recently passed this way- not to mention the breathtaking view of the valley when I turned and looked behind me.  It was a great reminder of why it is so important to get outside some days.  I was not only enjoying nature on a lovely first day of spring (and feeling sorry for my friends and family on the East Coast dealing with their fourth nor'easter in two weeks) but renewing my enthusiasm for the incredible history and geology of the area, and why I encourage visitors to the museum to go take a hike!