Employment Opportunity: Historic London Town

Historic London Town and Gardens Hiring:

Public Programs Assistant

Museum Educators

Summary:

Historic London Town and Gardens is looking for 3 to 4 people with experience in museum education or education to assist us with programs, tours, working with teachers and other educators, scheduling and developing education activities and programs. These are part-time positions, and takes place primarily Wednesday through Friday, 8:30am till 2:30pm, August 29, 2012 through December 7, 2012 and March 6, 2013 through June 14, 2013 with additional summer camp weeks and potentially weekend dates as well. These positions will also assist with our living history days, family programming, candlelight tours, and other programs as they arise. We are looking for someone who enjoys working with the public and feels comfortable speaking to groups. This position will assist with the continued development of programs and materials that are appropriate for all levels of education, from pre-K to adult groups. 

Primary duties include recreating a variety of 18^th century lifestyles, tasks, and trades in a creative, educational, accurate and hands-on manner. The Museum Educator and Public Programs Assistant will help in coordinating and teaching museum education programs (primarily school group visits).  They will assist in developing and fabricating new education programs and activities and dealing with logistics of the program. They will also assist with creating and daily running of summer camps and specialized programming. Please see position descriptions for more information. 

Salary is $10 per hour. Please send your cover letter and resume to Lisa Robbins, Director of Education at education@historiclondontown.org or Historic London Town and Gardens Attn: Lisa Robbins 839 Londontown Rd. Edgewater MD 21037 or fax to 410.222.1918.

Responsibilities:

·         Demonstrated museum and/or education experience

·         Interest in working with school groups and special interest groups

·         Willingness to learn and perform all programs

·         Ability to research, prepare, and present educational materials

·         Conduct demonstrations of various 18^th century skills and assist in active interpretation and maintenance appropriate to the site

·         Support the museum’s policies and work practices by maintaining a prompt attendance record, offering encouragement to new staff, openly engaging the public, and displaying an inviting and enthusiastic attitude, attention to customer service

·         Assist with site maintenance using modern equipment

·         Other duties as assigned

Education and Experience:

·    High School diploma or equivalent preferred

·    One year of customer service preferred

·    Knowledge of colonial American history, domestic and agricultural skills preferred

·    Excellent communication skills

The applicant should possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities:

The following skills may be required in some or all exhibit areas. (Specific training is provided by Historic London Town and Gardens).

·    Knowledge of research practices and ability to perform critical analysis of historical studies, learn and then disseminate knowledge of colonial history to the public

·    Ability to take direction and to work efficiently either alone or with others

·    Ability to communicate effectively with people of varied ages and backgrounds in both individual and group settings

·    Ability to perform interpretive duties in 18^th century costumes in a wide variety of weather conditions, walk, bend, and/or stand for extensive periods of time.

·    Ability to learn about regional plants, animals, and geology for collecting resources

·    Ability to learn (or experience in) numerous craft skills including basic carpentry, hand sewing, hearth cooking, gardening, etc.

Museum Intern Olympics (Baltimore)

MUSEUM INTERN OLYMPICS
JULY 27, 2012
10:00am Opening Ceremonies

*Precision Cart Drill Team
*AAM Challenge
*1 Minute Living History
*Harvey’s a Wall Banger
*More Process!
*Stuff It!
*Object Triathlon
*Crafting Programs
*RU Museoknowledgical?
*Closing Kickball!

Games will be held at:
THE JEWISH MUSEUM OF MARYLAND
15 LLOYD STREET
BALTIMORE, MD 21202

CONTACT:
Jobi Zink, jzink@jewishmuseummd.org
410-732-6402 x226

EVENTS INCLUDE:
Museum Intern Olympics 2012 (MIO ’12) is meant to be a fun sort of field day for museum interns. While there is an air of competition we hope to emulate the real Olympics and make this a day for folks to come together and enjoy themselves.

MIO ’12 is open to ALL museum interns. A competition team is made up of 4 interns. Interns do NOT need to be from the same museum (i.e. if you’ve only got 1 or 2 interns this summer, we’ll match them up with other interns). Non-interns (supervisors, other museum staff, etc.) are strongly encouraged to volunteer as judges for the events or simply come enjoy the spectacle and cheer from the sidelines.

Registration will be $5.00 a team (this will go to fabulous snacks and prizes). The registration deadline for MIO ’12 is FRIDAY JULY 20th.

To register for MIO ’12 email Jobi Zink at jzink@jewishmuseummd.org with the names of all participants (both competing interns and spectating staff).

Some events will involve advance preparation. All materials for these events will be provided after registration has closed. All event materials will be provided by the Host Museum (JMM).

You will be responsible for your own transportation and lunch. Please direct all questions to Jobi Zink at the address above.

Checklist of Small Museum Friendly Sessions at AASLH

We all eagerly await next year’s Small Museum Association Conference scheduled for February 17 – 19 in Ocean City. The SMA conference committee is hard at work planning sessions for the upcoming event titled, Superheroes: The Extraordinary Power of Small Museums. We are eager to hear your “Super” strategies for board development, fundraising, community engagement, or collections care. If you have an idea for a conference session, please submit a proposal by visiting http://www.smallmuseum.org/conference.html

While we wait for the SMA conference, I wanted to let you all know about some of the exciting sessions for small museums at the AASLH Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City (October 3-6). 

One session, Small Museums, Big Impact!, will feature representatives from three small museums who will share their successful experiences in developing exhibitions focused on members of their local community. These exhibits serve as role models of how a small museum can play a significant role in recognizing the achievement of local residents in, or their connections to, the wider world.

The AASLH Small Museum Committee has created a checklist (attached) including this and other small museum friendly sessions. Please pass it along to your co-workers and colleagues. 

For more information on this conference you can download the preliminary program at http://www.aaslh.org/documents/PrelimProgramforWebsite.pdf

Thanks to AASLH and to the conference committee, board members, and members of SMA for their continued commitment to excellence in small museums.

John Pentangelo

Small Museum Association

AASLH Small Museums Committee

Call for Proposals - SMA 2013 Conference

Small Museum Association

2013 Annual Conference Call for Proposals

The Small Museum Association (SMA) is planning its 29^th Annual Conference, which will be held in Ocean City, Maryland, February 17 - 19, 2013.  The most important part of that planning is assembling speakers for the 40+ concurrent program sessions that will be presented during the conference.  Through this Call for Proposals we invite you to share your knowledge, experience and lessons learned with hundreds of colleagues who – like you – are committed to small museums everywhere.  The deadline for submitting all proposals is September 1, 2012.

As the only conference in the country dedicated specifically to small museums, the Annual Conference draws museum professionals from the Mid-Atlantic region and from across the country as our membership and attendee base continues to expand.  The conference goal is to support and nurture the small museum community through a mix of invited speakers, contributed presentations, workshops and engaging discussion.  The conference provides a unique and comfortable learning environment for individuals and institutions with diverse experiences to meet and learn from each other, to share their expertise, build capacity and increase professionalism.  Conference sessions typically provide practical, relevant discussions and examples for small museums and institutions with limited budgets and staff.

This year, the Small Museum Conference would like to offer sessions that address the conference theme, Superheros: The Extraordinary Power of Small Museums.  Small museums, like superheros, serve their communities and provide inspiration.  This year’s conference will explore the myriad ways by which small museums accomplish their goals; particularly during these challenging years.  We invite proposals based on institutional experience or original research.  Proposal topics should help attendees learn from your institutions’ successes (or failures), and provide low or non-cost ideas for replicating success.  The power of small museums should be a central theme to any presentation, whether it addresses fundraising, education, curatorial issues, museum boards or volunteers.  Sessions should also indicate the level of the information that will be provided, and whether it is most appropriate for a beginner who is new to museums, someone with intermediate experience, or an expert in the field.  Possible session topics include:

●        From Mild-Mannered to Man of Steel - Transforming Your Museum into a Community Leader

●        League of Superheros - Pooling Your Resources to Accomplish Great Things

●        Defeating Evil Villains - Small Museums Overcoming Challenges

●        Side-Kicks, not Minions - Developing staff and volunteers as partners to the mission

●        Revealing the Backstory - How a Museum’s Origin Story Impacts Operations Today

●        “With Great Power...” - Responsibilities of Museum Boards

Proposals should be submitted using the form below, and sent to the SMA Speaker Coordinator no later than September 1, 2012.

SMA's mission is to develop and maintain a peer network among people who work for small museums, giving them opportunities to learn, share knowledge and support one another, so that they, in turn, can better serve their institutions, communities and profession.

-------------------------------- 

Small Museum Association

2013 Annual Conference Session Proposal Form

Your Name:

__________________________________________

Institution/Organization/Company:

__________________________________________

Your Address:

__________________________________________

Your Phone Number:

__________________________________________

Your Cell Number (needed for emergency purposes only during the conference):

__________________________________________

Your Email Address:

__________________________________________

Preferred Session Date:                

Mon (Feb. 20) _____  Tues. (Feb. 21)_____  Either_____

Preferred Session Length:             

60 min._____  90 min._____  Either_____

Audience Level:                            

Beginner____  Intermediate_____  Expert_____

Title of Proposed Session:

___________________________________________

Description of Proposed Session (use additional space as needed):

Contact SMA Speaker Coordinator Jennifer Ruffner, 410-514-7612, jagmuse@gmail.com with questions or completed forms. Forms must be submitted no later than September 1, 2012.