We’re inviting submissions for a series of concise case studies to be included in our forthcoming book, Sustainable Museums: Strategies for the 21st Century, scheduled for publication in November.

Written by sustainability expert Rachel Madan – who as the Director of Greener Museums has worked with many US and UK organisations including Tate, the (UK Government’s) Department of Culture Media & Sport, National Museums Liverpool and the National Library of Scotland – Sustainable Museums will provide a system which enables museum professionals to start making changes that are both transformational and lasting. Its approach aims to help create museums which are resilient, confident and secure in their approach to sustainability.

We wish to include a range of international case studies in this publication and welcome submissions including, but not limited to, the following issues/themes, especially where these reflect new, innovative and successful practice:

• Leadership on sustainability from senior management, including the Director and Trustees.
• The ability of staff members to influence policy on sustainability.
• The activities of “green champions”.
• How sustainability is effectively managed within the organisation.
• How sustainability performance is assessed, and data collected and reported.
• How your museum’s sustainability strategy was developed.
• How your museum has set and achieved targets and milestones related to sustainability.
• How your museum has created policies and plans to support your efforts to improve sustainability.
• How your museum effectively communicates internally on sustainability.
• How your museum effectively communicates externally on sustainability.
• Other successful and innovative initiatives in the field of sustainablity.

Please initially submit an abstract (up to 300 words) and a biographical note (up to 150 words) by 12 September 2010. Invitations to submit a full case study will be notified by 17 September.

Final case studies should be between 500 – 750 words and may include images. The deadline date for submission will be 10 October 2010. Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the book and a discount on additional copies.

Please send your abstract to both the publishers, MuseumsEtc, [books@museumsetc.com] and the author, Rachel Madan [support@greenermuseums.org].

Limited-Time Offer: Save Over 20%
How can museums remain resilient in uncertain times?  How can they thrive under changing economic, legislative and cultural conditions? In Sustainable Museums: Strategies for the 21st Century, museum sustainability expert Rachel Madan covers new territory for any museum that is interested in becoming more sustainable. This is not a book about changing light bulbs…

Sustainable Museums provides a system enabling you to start making changes that are both transformational and lasting. It will help you create a museum that is resilient, confident and secure in its sustainability approach. (And as well as lots of advice, it provides a host of international case studies along the way.)

Among the key topics covered in the book’s information-rich 300 pages are:

• Developing a sustainability vision for your own museum
• The importance of leadership – and achieving it at every level
• Finding and bringing your sustainability team together
• Undertaking your sustainability audit and discovering where you are
• Determining where you want to get to
• Developing a sustainability strategy for your museum
• Setting and achieving critical targets and milestones
• Developing the policies and plans which will support your strategy
• Letting the world know – communicating your sustainability
• Overcoming the inevitable implementation problems
• Where do you go next?

Educated in New York and London, Rachel Madan is a leading international expert in museum sustainability and founder of Greener Museums. She has worked with Tate, the Department of Culture Media & Sport, National Museums Liverpool, National Library of Scotland and many other organisations large and small in the UK and USA. As Tate’s Director, Sir Nicholas Serota says, “She engenders fresh thinking and applies new solutions that are helping us achieve real change…”

Because of its timeliness and importance, we’re releasing this book in our Preview Edition format, which provides early access to the book’s content before it’s published. Order now and you:

1. save over 20% on the published price (limited-time offer);
2. access today – immediately – the initial chapters online in their final draft –  read, download or print out;
3. receive a complimentary copy of the final paperback edition on publication;
4. receive each new chapter as soon as it’s available;
5. provide feedback on the book’s content as it develops.

Publication details
Title: Sustainable Museums: Strategies for the 21st Century
Author: Rachel Madan
ISBN: 978-1-907697-09-8 [paperback] | 978-1-907697-10-4 [hardback]
Pages: 300 (est)
Preview Edition price: £34.95 (paperback), £69.95 (hardback) + £5 worldwide shipping
Full price: £44.95 (paperback), £89.95 (hardback) + shipping
Online Preview Edition available: now.
Paperback and hardback editions available: November 2010
Publisher: MuseumsEtc

Order the Preview Edition (Paperback) now:

Order the Preview Edition (Hardback) now:

We offer all our readers an unconditional guarantee: if, at any time, you decide this book’s not for you, simply return it to us for a full and prompt refund.

Problem ordering online? Download our Order Form.

There’s a useful and concise report on the recent Science and the Public Conference (organised by the Science Museum and Imperial College London) on the Edinburgh Beltane site.

In 52 presentations bringing together scientists, sociologists, psychologists, artists, communicators, policy makers over a weekend, the key themes addressed were:

Interesting stuff and well worth a read – and you can even request copies of the abstracts!

Read the conference report here

======================================

Also of interest:

Science Exhibitions: Curation & Design
Science Exhibitions: Communication & Evaluation

This major new 400-page Handbook distils the exceptional experience of one of the world’s leading museum store consultants, Andrew Andoniadis, who has advised on over 300 separate museum store projects. Designed either to be read from cover to cover, or to act as a reference on specific issues, this comprehensive new publication spans both the art and the science of museum retailing.

The art includes topics such as product selection, merchandising, display, customer service, layout and design. The science includes the numbers and key ratios needed for effective record-keeping, pricing and inventory/stock management.

Among the key topics covered in the book’s highly practical, advice-packed 60 chapters are:

• Recognize and Deal with Ten Big Retail Sins
• Use Proven Ratios to Plan your Future Sales
• Test How Low and How High Your Pricing Can Go
• Earn the Right To Maximise Your Margins
• Control Your Costs, Especially Your Inventory
• Let the Customer Drive Your Store Expansion
• Tracking Critical Data in Critical Times
• Retail Selling is a Tactile Experience
• Valuing and Managing Volunteers
• How to Sell What Your Visitors Want to Buy

Throughout, the emphasis is on achieving better real-world results and on simple, effective implementation. You can view the complete contents list here.

Read extracts here:
Recognize and Deal With Ten Big Retail Sins
Deploy Sound Arguments to Renovate Your Store
How to Report on Your Store’s Performance

Because of its importance, we’re releasing this book in our Preview Edition format, which provides early access to the book’s content before it’s published. Order now and you:

1. receive a complimentary copy of the final paperback edition on publication, currently scheduled for 15 September;
2. access today – immediately – the entire text online in its final draft – read, download or print out this digital edition.

Order now and join store managers in these leading institutions who’ve already ordered their copies: Australian Museum, British Library, Historic Royal Palaces, Museum of London, National Gallery – and museums throughout the USA from Berkeley to Valparaiso.

Publication details
Title: Museum Retailing: A Handbook of Strategies for Success
Author: Andrew Andoniadis
ISBN: 978-1-907697-00-5 (paperback) | 978-1-907697-08-1 (hardback)
Pages: 400
Publication scheduled: 15 September 2010
Publisher: MuseumsEtc
Price: £44.95 (paperback) | £74.95 (hardback) + £5 worldwide shipping

Order the Preview Edition (paperback) now:

Order the Preview Edition (hardback) now:

We offer all our readers an unconditional guarantee: if, at any time, you decide this book’s not for you, simply return it to us for a full and prompt refund.

Problem ordering online? Download our Order Form.

Getting your pricing – and importantly your range of prices – right is critical. It’s critical because it enables your institution both to maximise its income and to meet the needs of your entire range of users.

And yet, within the museum community the issue of pricing – not just admission charges where these are levied, but retail pricing, special exhibition pricing, membership pricing, catalogue or guidebook pricing, pricing for services, catering pricing etc – is so little discussed. Which is very surprising, since very small, almost unnoticeable – even just 1% – changes in price, can result in very significant increases in yield.

One of the gurus in this field is Author and Consultant, Dr Rafi Mohammed. Pricing, he so correctly argues, is an underused strategy and so a fertile area for producing new revenue. Rafi has provided some very useful pointers on how pricing strategy might be applied to the museum (and more generally non-profit) marketplace. They make stimulating reading…

Download: NINE TIPS TO BETTER NON-PROFIT PRICING

We are delighted to announce that Dr Neil Kotler has agreed to present an International Online Seminar on the theme of Audience Creation in Museums on Wednesday 13 October.

Dr Kotler is world-renowned as a leading thinker and practitioner in the field of museum marketing, with his groundbreaking book, Museum Marketing and Strategy: Designing Missions, Building Audiences, Generating Revenue and Resources - now in its second edition and translated into Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Korean – regarded as the key source in the field.

In his seminar, Dr Kotler will allow ample time to respond to questions from delegates about the practical concerns, challenges and issues of audience creation. This is a rare opportunity to tap into the insights and experience of one of the world’s leading exponents in the field!

Through his consulting firm, Kotler Museum and Cultural Marketing Consultants, Dr Kotler has worked with leading institutions in Asia, South America and Australia as well as Europe and the USA.

To facilitate questions and discussion, there are a strictly limited number of places available on this seminar and early booking is essential to secure a place.

Exceptional value and convenience
This seminar gives you access to unique advice, information and inspiration – from the convenience of your laptop or desktop computer. No travel time, expense or accommodation is involved – all you need is an internet connection and computer audio.

Audience Creation in Museums is terrific value at just £47. And this even includes at no extra cost:

1. participating with a group of your colleagues
2. accessing the recording of the event online
3. sharing the recording online with your colleagues

Can’t make the date or time? Just reserve your place and you’ll automatically receive the full video recording the next day to study at your convenience!

Reserve your place (UK delegates – includes VAT):

Reserve your place (International delegates):

Problem ordering online? Download our Order Form.

This is one of  a regular series of Twitter Tips taken from our latest book: Twitter for Museums: Strategies and Tactics for Success. We’re making available part of the chapter on Using Twitter for Research, in which author Beck Tench explains how you can archive your tweets to use them for research later on.

Download/view the extract here:
Chapter 8 extract: Turning the Twitterverse into a helpful dataset [PDF, 700KB]
The file also includes the book’s contents pages – and a handy link to place your order! To save this file to your own computer: right-click on the file and choose Save Target As (on a PC) or Save Link As (on a Mac).

Beck Tench is Director for Innovation & Digital Engagement at the Museum of Life & Science, Durham, NC, USA
www.twitter.com/10ch

Enjoy over 400 pages of Twitter
insights and inspiration in
Twitter for Museums: Strategies
and Tactics for Success

This is one of  a regular series of Twitter Tips taken from our latest book: Twitter for Museums: Strategies and Tactics for Success. We’re making available part of the chapter on using Twitter for Research, in which author Beck Tench explains how you can use Contextual and User searches in really useful ways.

Download/view the extract here:
Chapter 8 extract: Using Twitter For Research [PDF, 735KB]
The file also includes the book’s contents pages – and a handy link to place your order! To save this file to your own computer: right-click on the file and choose Save Target As (on a PC) or Save Link As (on a Mac).

Beck Tench is Director for Innovation & Digital Engagement at the Museum of Life & Science, Durham, NC, USA
www.twitter.com/10ch

Enjoy over 400 pages of Twitter
insights and inspiration in
Twitter for Museums: Strategies
and Tactics for Success