Attendant's View
  • Cartoons and Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Links Elsewhere
Picture

Does your museum networking event leave a chasm behind it?

24/2/2021

4 Comments

 
The majority of museum, heritage and arts industry networking events I see leave a very definite chasm for a certain type of museum worker to try and cross over. An event may be welcoming, have good word of mouth, even be free to attend, but if it's held during the hours of the standard working week, there's your problem. It's not too complex to add greater access to networking events though.

Let's start with the issue, where events held during the standard working day assume that people either:
  • Are sufficiently their own boss, with suitable staff cover or time management, to decide "I'm going to this". 
  • Or, have management who realise the value of such events and are willing and able to arrange time out of work for them.
  • Or, are willing and able to book their own holiday time to attend.

(Bear in mind that for many museum and gallery staff, their normal working week also includes weekends, and for some it includes regular evenings up to 10.00pm, but I'm talking broad strokes here)​
Picture
The tendancy for networking events to be held in working hours makes it difficult for the majority of museum workers to meet face to face the people who may be able to help their career (and who they too may be able to help too) and lessens their awareness of and access to opportunities, training, workshops etc. How many times do casual chats at a professional event lead to "Oh, I had no idea about X!" and then someone offering to send a link, clarify a process, or make an introduction?

Some networks do meet outside usual working hours, like Emerging Museum Professionals groups who arrange pub socials, yet it feels like a leap happens from the few "Your role means you need to meet after work" groups to suddenly every opportunity being "You can join us 11am to 2pm Thursday, right? There'll be sandwiches!". Many 'emerged' museum professionals are still in situations where staff levels and duties make three to five hours out of a working day complex to manage.

What could possible solutions to this leap look like?

Lockdown has made meeting virtually something more people are confident with (not all, for some people the anxiety of online meetings is far above that of being in person and able to read all the social cues), allowing talks, presentations and discussions to happen without the expense and time of travel. Having adapted to the needs of social distancing, most online professional events I see are still held in the standard working day, not thinking through the further possibilities of access.

Positively, there's a greater trend for online meetings and conferences making videos available afterwards, which allows an increase in access to information, but still limits the ability to connect and network. Could your online meeting hold later scheduled sessions too? Allow people to view in real time and have their Q&A and discussion during the day, then also follow later with an arranged group to watch the recording and join a second live Q&A and discussion group with the speakers.

...follow later with an arranged group to watch the recording and join a second live Q&A and discussion group with the speakers.

​If you are involved in a network or similar industry group, what could it mean to swap one meeting per month, or quarter, or even one per year, to an evening or later in the day, to allow access to even just the latter half of the event? If held in person it may make travel more complex for some attendees ("ooh, a later night, before work the next day") and may make venue hire more complex ("Ah, the museum who usually loan us their event space is closed at that time") meaning some reguar attendees need to skip that session. But it may also open up your network to new people with valuable contributions to make, and demonstrate that your group is forward thinking. It gives museum workers a chance to try an event, confirming that yes, it is worth the time off work or haggling over work cover to attend your more frequently run work-time events.

My strong suspicion is that this kind of event happening during the working day is a kind of vetting process, conscious or not, ensuring the 'right' kind of attendees. Those museum workers who can self-determine their working day, or who are eager enough to book time off to attend, are the kind of people who can offer opportunities and are able to capitalise on them. Fair enough, people holding events get to make decisions about their events. Just stop a second though, and consider if the events you attend mean you're helping to pull up the ladder behind you, and make it harder for others to leap up. Can you make a suggestion to the organisers to at least drop a single rope down that chasm?

If you have any events to reccommend, which are suitable for a range of museum and heritage workers to attend, allowing people to mix, learn, network and feel welcome in the space (virtual or real) please please shout them out in the comments.
4 Comments
Alex
25/2/2021 10:09:55 am

Where you say timing of events might be "ensuring the 'right' kind of attendees", I believe that's necessary. Someone at a networking event looking for collaborators or support, finding they're talking to people without the seniority, budgets, experience or influence, will soon stop going to the event. Peers are at your level, and presumably have the same level of freedom to attend the same kinds of event.

Making efforts to welcome peers who may feel excluded, such as purposeful diversity outreach, advertising outside the same circles, offering financial support for attending etc., I agree with, as that helps peers meet. Perhaps there is a need for a wider range of museum industry relevant events, catering to the different levels different peers operate at, rather than diluting existing events.

Reply
The Attendant
25/2/2021 01:34:55 pm

Hi Alex, a solid and succinct set of views! You're right that most networking events work well because of who they gather, but I feel that the museums and heritage network has a lot of people just that bit further down the chain who are capable of offering insight, ideas, skills, and who are currently not easily able to do so in this kind of setting. It also creates a series of closed loops, where you have to somehow magically "level up" in job title, be permitted to the next tier, and apparently never look back (or only do so in specific mentoring situations).

The nature of museums work can also mean that peers (perfect word, wish I'd thought of it while writing the post!) who are "right" for an event, might also be sole workers, or engaged in work with the community or education, or have other factors which mean they're unable to easily leave their job in working hours. Someone may be right, but have an unsympathetic manager regarding an event being a professional/business opportunity, and the network misses out because they have to prioritise their holiday leave for child care instead.

Absolutely a wider range of events for a range of needs is good, but perhaps some existing events could experiment, rather than label it someone else's problem to start something new and seperate?

Reply
Peter Berg link
18/1/2023 08:57:21 am

<a href="https://www.networkeducative.com/">Network Educative</a> is the platform where you will find interesting and valuable content about networking and also about configurations of devices.

Reply
Peter Berg link
18/1/2023 07:34:00 pm

Network Educative is the platform where you will find exciting and valuable content about <a href="https://www.networkeducative.com/">Cisco training </a> and networking jobs.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Webcomic and occasional blog about the heritage sector.

    ​Follow The Attendant:

    Facebook
    Twitter
    Tumblr

    RSS Feed

    Topics

    All
    Archaeology
    Art
    Behind The Scenes
    Blog
    Book
    Cartoon
    Castles And Houses
    Complaints
    Daft Questions
    Don't Do That...
    Don't Do That...
    English Heritage
    Entrance Desk
    Forrin Tourists
    Guided Tours
    Handy Gallery Attendant Tip #
    Happy Stories
    Kids
    Mischief
    Museums
    National Trust
    Old Dears
    Parents
    Parks And Gardens
    Review
    School Visits
    Submitted
    Tourist Information
    Yuk

    Author

    All text and images are produced by and copyright of the artist, holder of the domain name of attendantsview.com
    Please contact for permission to use images, which will probably be gladly given, but it's only polite to ask first!

    Archives

    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Cartoons and Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Links Elsewhere