Leaders in Innovation Award - 2009
The Providence Children's Museum's The Power of Play: Innovations in Messaging the Mission has been chosen as the inaugural winner of the Leaders in Innovation Award. Cathy Saunders, Director of Education, and Megan Fischer, Marketing & PR Manager, accepted the award on behalf of their museum during the NEMA Annual Meeting In Nashua, NH, on November 13. NEMA will spotlight this project in the forthcoming issue of NEMA News.
The Power of Play has an integral connection with the Providence Children’s Museum’s mission and represents a long-term commitment to a broadly-conceived initiative. Among the qualities that make the project innovative is the fact that it takes the museum’s daily activities and puts them under a lens. It seeks to better understand and build on these activities, engaging families in the process on-site through a variety of programs and with its blog. The community is further engaged through the PlayWatch listserv and community conversations. The project positions the museum as a leader in its field. The commitment to understand one’s mission, core values and activities; to engage the public in this journey; and to utilize social media tools for these purposes is a commitment that museums of all budget sizes can emulate.
A sincere thank you to our three judges: Jane Bard, Associate Director of The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire; Ron Potvin, Assistant Director and Curator of the Public Humanities Program at Brown University; and Melissa Rosengard, former Executive Director of the Western Museums Association. They worked with NEMA Publications Manager Heather A. Riggs to judge seventeen very different entries submitted by museums of various sizes and disciplines.
Click here to read more about The Power of Play.
Leaders in Innovation Award
About
Have you organized an exhibit that conveyed your story to your visitors in an innovative way? Have you developed a cutting-edge system for collections management? Have you engaged communities with methods not traditionally used in museums? If you answered “yes” to any of the above or have implemented another innovative process or idea that will further the work of the museum community, let us recognize your efforts and share them with others. The sky is the limit in our search for innovative ideas and programs in museums.
The NEMA Leaders in Innovation Award (LIA) recognizes New England museum programs and initiatives that advance the museum field in new and creative ways. Innovation can take the form of, but not be limited to: exhibits; collections management; education programs; management practices; audience and community building; improving the visitor experience; use of technology; general public programs; outreach initiatives; and interpretation. Through the Publication Awards Competition NEMA recognizes innovation in design and communication through museum publications. For the second year, we would like to expand that effort to include other areas of museum practice.
Recognition will be given at the NEMA Annual Conference, November 3-5, 2010 in Springfield, Massachusetts during the Annual Meeting, November 5. The project leader will receive free registration and accommodations for the conference, a travel stipend and a chance to share their program with their colleagues at the conference. The project will also be spotlighted in NEMA News and on the NEMA website for the benefit of all our colleagues. It will be the intent of the judging committee to make an award to a small museum and a larger museum, but they reserve the right to adjust this if the nominations are much stronger in one area or another. Other submissions of merit will also have the opportunity to present their projects at the Annual Conference.
How to Submit a Nomination
Submit a description of your program, up to five-pages in length, explaining how it innovates current museum practice. Make sure to mention the intended goal, cost (if any) and timeline. Tell us what evidence you have that the target audience (this may include museum staff) agrees with/supports your conclusions concerning how the project is important/innovative. Also describe any measurable outcomes the project had in furthering your organization’s mission. Please attach this to a submission form as described below. Deadline is September 10th.
Eligibility
Selection criteria may include the following but are not limited to projects or initiatives that include:
A jury made up of NEMA members having a broad knowledge of New England museums, and non-member museum professionals from outside the New England region, will select the winner.
How to Enter:
Submit a description of your program, of up to five pages in length, explaining how it innovates current museum practice. Make sure to mention the intended goal, cost (if any) and timeline. Tell us what evidence you have that the target audience (this may include museum staff) agrees with/supports your conclusions concerning how the project is important/innovative. Also describe any measurable outcomes the project had in furthering your organization’s mission. Images and/or illustrations may also be submitted with the essay.
Have you organized an exhibit that conveyed your story to your visitors in an innovative way? Have you developed a cutting-edge system for collections management? Have you engaged communities with methods not traditionally used in museums? If you answered “yes” to any of the above or have implemented another innovative process or idea that will further the work of the museum community, let us recognize your efforts and share them with others. The sky is the limit in our search for innovative ideas and programs in museums.
The NEMA Leaders in Innovation Award (LIA) recognizes New England museum programs and initiatives that advance the museum field in new and creative ways. Innovation can take the form of, but not be limited to: exhibits; collections management; education programs; management practices; audience and community building; improving the visitor experience; use of technology; general public programs; outreach initiatives; and interpretation. Through the Publication Awards Competition NEMA recognizes innovation in design and communication through museum publications. For the second year, we would like to expand that effort to include other areas of museum practice.
Recognition will be given at the NEMA Annual Conference, November 3-5, 2010 in Springfield, Massachusetts during the Annual Meeting, November 5. The project leader will receive free registration and accommodations for the conference, a travel stipend and a chance to share their program with their colleagues at the conference. The project will also be spotlighted in NEMA News and on the NEMA website for the benefit of all our colleagues. It will be the intent of the judging committee to make an award to a small museum and a larger museum, but they reserve the right to adjust this if the nominations are much stronger in one area or another. Other submissions of merit will also have the opportunity to present their projects at the Annual Conference.
How to Submit a Nomination
Submit a description of your program, up to five-pages in length, explaining how it innovates current museum practice. Make sure to mention the intended goal, cost (if any) and timeline. Tell us what evidence you have that the target audience (this may include museum staff) agrees with/supports your conclusions concerning how the project is important/innovative. Also describe any measurable outcomes the project had in furthering your organization’s mission. Please attach this to a submission form as described below. Deadline is September 10th.
Eligibility
- An award may be given to an individual and/or a committee. A committee can consist of staff from more than one museum/organization and/or consultants.
- Collaborations between institutions are also eligible.
- At least one representative from the project or the museum must be a current NEMA member.
- Nominated projects must take place in the NEMA region.
- Projects must have taken place within the last three years.
Selection criteria may include the following but are not limited to projects or initiatives that include:
- Innovation—How original and creative is the project? Does it give us a new model or does it improve on something in existence?
- Practicality and Replication—How practical is this project? Can it be done by only large (or only small) institutions? How does it transplant to other sites? Is it usable for different types of museums (history, art, science, etc.)?
- Connection to Mission—Does the project relate to the institution’s mission? Does it further the mission in some way?
- Impact on Community (locally, regionally, nationally)—What impact does this project have on the community? Does it provide benefits beyond the institution(s)?
- Impact on the museum field—In what ways does this project push the boundaries of the profession? Does it cross disciplines? Use technology in new ways? Set new trends? Respond to new trends in a different way?
A jury made up of NEMA members having a broad knowledge of New England museums, and non-member museum professionals from outside the New England region, will select the winner.
How to Enter:
Submit a description of your program, of up to five pages in length, explaining how it innovates current museum practice. Make sure to mention the intended goal, cost (if any) and timeline. Tell us what evidence you have that the target audience (this may include museum staff) agrees with/supports your conclusions concerning how the project is important/innovative. Also describe any measurable outcomes the project had in furthering your organization’s mission. Images and/or illustrations may also be submitted with the essay.
As a cover submission form, please provide the following information:
Museum Name:
Project Title:
Project Leader Name and Title:
Committee Members, if any:
Contact Name:
Contact Address:
Contact Phone:
Contact Email:
Is the museum, project leader or committee member a member of NEMA?
Museum Operating Budget:
____ less than $50,000
____ $50,000 to $100,000
____ $100,000 to $250,000
____ $250,000 to $500,000 ____ $500,000 to $1 million
____ $1 million to $3 million ____ over $3 million
Please submit the above to:
New England Museum Association LIA Awards
22 Mill Street, Suite 409
Arlington, MA 02476
or
nemanews (at) nemanet.org
Deadline is September 10, 2010.
Questions? Please call the NEMA office at 781-641-0013.
Download a .pdf of the entry form here.