Open Forum

Small community in southern VA, once the largest manufacturing entrepot in the state, seeks a consultant to determine if a respected elderly collector and longtime resident has assembled enough unique items to display in a museum especially created for that purpose.

The collection features probably the largest number of early toy trains in the US, if not worldwide. Many are one of a kind, hand-made, nearly all 19th century. The next grouping of unique items are antique guns used by during the formation and expansion of the country by both native Americans and by the European colonizers.

The collector and his family are amenable to consigning his collection to a museum. They are also amenable to donating a building for use by the museum

We feel a consultant familiar with the "frontier" and "emerging America" theme this collection and its diverse accompaniments evoke can help, first, by critically evaluating it (i. e., is it sufficiently unique and worth preserving for future generations) and, if warranted, explaining the process to establish a museum to display the collection (e. g., the scope and cost of a feasibility study)




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James Roberts
Stanleytown VA
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This is quite the reasonable approach. The financial commitment moving forward is often, in business and marketing planning, what shuts a museum down in closure. Initial marketing expense can be intense to reach the public and drive traffic in.

Do they require the collections to stay near that town only?


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Martin Mongiello MBA
CEO
Grover NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2020 08:22 PM
From: James Roberts
Subject: Consultant Search

Small community in southern VA, once the largest manufacturing entrepot in the state, seeks a consultant to determine if a respected elderly collector and longtime resident has assembled enough unique items to display in a museum especially created for that purpose.

The collection features probably the largest number of early toy trains in the US, if not worldwide. Many are one of a kind, hand-made, nearly all 19th century. The next grouping of unique items are antique guns used by during the formation and expansion of the country by both native Americans and by the European colonizers.

The collector and his family are amenable to consigning his collection to a museum. They are also amenable to donating a building for use by the museum

We feel a consultant familiar with the "frontier" and "emerging America" theme this collection and its diverse accompaniments evoke can help, first, by critically evaluating it (i. e., is it sufficiently unique and worth preserving for future generations) and, if warranted, explaining the process to establish a museum to display the collection (e. g., the scope and cost of a feasibility study)




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James Roberts
Stanleytown VA
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This situation sounds as though it requires two different consultants: one to evaluate the significance of these collections and advise on any potential receiving museums who have collections policies that include these types of objects; and another, separate strategic planning consultant to outline the requirements for establishing a new museum (including the business case for long-term sustainability) and tee up the strategic decision-making process, probably with some advisory input. 

It would be unusual to find both skill sets in one individual, so I'd recommend staging this as two processes and engaging the two very different kinds of expertise.

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Michelle Moon
Chief Program Officer
Tenement Museum
New York, NY
mmoon@tenement.org
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2020 08:22 PM
From: James Roberts
Subject: Consultant Search

Small community in southern VA, once the largest manufacturing entrepot in the state, seeks a consultant to determine if a respected elderly collector and longtime resident has assembled enough unique items to display in a museum especially created for that purpose.

The collection features probably the largest number of early toy trains in the US, if not worldwide. Many are one of a kind, hand-made, nearly all 19th century. The next grouping of unique items are antique guns used by during the formation and expansion of the country by both native Americans and by the European colonizers.

The collector and his family are amenable to consigning his collection to a museum. They are also amenable to donating a building for use by the museum

We feel a consultant familiar with the "frontier" and "emerging America" theme this collection and its diverse accompaniments evoke can help, first, by critically evaluating it (i. e., is it sufficiently unique and worth preserving for future generations) and, if warranted, explaining the process to establish a museum to display the collection (e. g., the scope and cost of a feasibility study)




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James Roberts
Stanleytown VA
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