Open Forum

Hello colleagues,

Do you have a museum or collection of exhibition spaces that span two locations or campuses? I am looking for examples of how other organization manage staffing, management structure, and workflow in this type of structure. What works and what doesn't? How do you stay streamlined while also authentically engaging the stakeholders and communities at each?

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, experience, and insight!

Best,
Kelly 

Strategy consultant for numerous academic museums and galleries
LinkedIn



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Kelly Sherman
Cambridge, MA
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Hi Kelly,
Holden Forests & Gardens is two distinct campuses - the Cleveland Botanical Garden in Cleveland, OH and the Holden Arboretum in Kirtland, OH. The two organizations merged about 7 years ago. Some staff are exclusively at one location - horticulture, guest services, security, facilities - but the rest of the staff float between the two, having a "home" office space at one location and using "hotel" spaces at the other.

I wasn't working here when the merger took place, but I'd be happy to talk to you if you have specific questions. Some generalizations that I could glean from the merger: 

Opportunities -
1. Ability to offer one membership with two places to visit is appealing
2. A bigger impact on the community. Larger audience - in our case both urban and rural; two different counties, very different constituents
3. Essentially doubled our collections 

Our Challenges - 
1. Merging the two corporate cultures took time
2. Technology challenges - one or two websites? do all floating staff need laptops? Phones that ring in two locations?
3. The inevitable feelings by staff, volunteers and members that one campus is being favored, or ignored.


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Jillian Slane
Director of Exhibits & Experiences
Holden Forests and Gardens
Holdenarb.org
jslane@holdenfg.org
216.707.2824
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-18-2021 01:12 PM
From: Kelly Sherman
Subject: Staffing Across Two Locations/Campuses

Hello colleagues,

Do you have a museum or collection of exhibition spaces that span two locations or campuses? I am looking for examples of how other organization manage staffing, management structure, and workflow in this type of structure. What works and what doesn't? How do you stay streamlined while also authentically engaging the stakeholders and communities at each?

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, experience, and insight!

Best,
Kelly

Strategy consultant for numerous academic museums and galleries
LinkedIn



------------------------------
Kelly Sherman
Cambridge, MA
------------------------------

We are a two-campus operation at The Museum of Flight. I'm not the right person to talk to about it, but if you would like me to connect you please let me know.

If you want a very large example, the National Air and Space Museum is also spread over two campuses. Consider reaching out to them, or if your museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate, reach out to the Affiliation Rep for your area and they can help you get connected.

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Sean Mobley
Volunteer Coordinator
Museum of Flight
Seattle WA
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-18-2021 01:12 PM
From: Kelly Sherman
Subject: Staffing Across Two Locations/Campuses

Hello colleagues,

Do you have a museum or collection of exhibition spaces that span two locations or campuses? I am looking for examples of how other organization manage staffing, management structure, and workflow in this type of structure. What works and what doesn't? How do you stay streamlined while also authentically engaging the stakeholders and communities at each?

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, experience, and insight!

Best,
Kelly

Strategy consultant for numerous academic museums and galleries
LinkedIn



------------------------------
Kelly Sherman
Cambridge, MA
------------------------------

Hi Kelly,
First off, I have to geek out over your background. I grew up in Gloucester, spent a lot of time in Cambridge (my dad founded the art therapy program at Lesley), and worked in Boston (at New England Foundation for the Arts) before moving to Denver.

I'd be happy to chat with you about best practices re: managing two locations. With my work at Artwork Archive, I see this a lot. We help organizations manage their art collections with our online art inventory management system. I also share these best practices on our blog.

You can learn more here
https://www.artworkarchive.com/organizations
https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog

I'd also love to hear more about your work.

Hoping to connect,
Elysian

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Elysian Koglmeier elysian@artworkarchive.com
Head of Growth
DENVER CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-18-2021 01:12 PM
From: Kelly Sherman
Subject: Staffing Across Two Locations/Campuses

Hello colleagues,

Do you have a museum or collection of exhibition spaces that span two locations or campuses? I am looking for examples of how other organization manage staffing, management structure, and workflow in this type of structure. What works and what doesn't? How do you stay streamlined while also authentically engaging the stakeholders and communities at each?

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, experience, and insight!

Best,
Kelly

Strategy consultant for numerous academic museums and galleries
LinkedIn



------------------------------
Kelly Sherman
Cambridge, MA
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