Voice 3126 W. Cary St., #447 | Richmond, Virginia 23221-3504 | 804. 358.3170 | www.vamuseums.org | Summer 2016

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The plenary session at the 2016 VAM conference, entitled “Race, Place, and Memory at Virginia’s Colleges and Universities: Revolutionizing Collegiate Narratives,” drew an enthusiastic audience.

Uncovering Our Troubled Past: Universities Studying Slavery

Taming the Email Beast Member Profile: Hampton University Museum

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by Heather Widener

During VAM’s 2016 Annual Conference in March, we held a plenary session entitled Race, Place, and Memory at Vir-ginia’s Colleges and Universities: Revolu-tionizing Collegiate Narratives. Colleges and universities are re-examining their history and re-writing the narratives of that history to include formerly taboo subjects such as the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and other uncomfortable topics revolving around race and civil rights. The session was well-attended with an engaged audience of museum professionals offering thoughtful ideas and questions. Because of the success of that session, and because colleges and universities’ role in a complex and sometimes troubled American history has been making the news at intervals these days (see sidebar), we decided to dedicate this space to the effort Universities Studying Slavery (USS) is putting forth to research and interpret their histories.

USS is a consortium of institutions (cur-rently numbered at sixteen) that seek to address their ties to the legacy of slav-ery. The initial group (Virginia Colleges and Universities Studying Slavery) was founded by Dr. Kelley Deetz, research associate for the President’s Commis-sion on Slavery at the University, at the University of Virginia. However, it quickly became apparent that universities outside of Virginia were grappling with similar issues. Thus, the USS was born to encompass a larger body of institutions. The consortium held its first meeting at Morven Farm in Charlottesville during the summer of 2015.

The USS continues to grow. In April it held a meeting and panel discussion entitled Memorials, Markers, and Mon-uments to Enslaved Laborers: Progress, and Perceptions at Washington and Lee University. The University had just erected a public history marker that highlights its relationship with slavery and enslaved laborers. That historical marker names 84 slaves that the Uni-versity inherited in 1826. The marker was a recent project stemming from

the University’s own working group, es-tablished in August 2013 by University President Kenneth P. Ruscio, examining the role of African Americans in the his-tory of the University. Says Ruscio, “At Washington and Lee, we learn from the past, and this is an episode from which there is much to learn. Acknowledging the historical record – and acknowl-edging the contributions of these individuals – requires coming to terms with, and accepting responsibility for, a part of our past that we wish had been different, but that we cannot ignore.”

In September, the USS will meet at The College of William & Mary, where Dr. Jody Allen is the co-chair and manag-ing director of The Lemon Project: a Journey of Reconciliation. The Lemon Project is a multifaceted and dynamic attempt to rectify wrongs perpetrat-ed against African Americans by the College through action or inaction. An ongoing endeavor, this program will focus on contributing to and encour-aging scholarship on the 300-year re-lationship between African Americans and the College, and building bridges between the College and Williamsburg and Greater Tidewater area. Recently, the College announced it was chang-ing the names of two residence halls to honor key African-American figures in its history. Said College President Taylor Reveley, “Building names have meaning. It was long past time for African-Americans to be among those whose names grace major buildings on our campus.”

Both Dr. Deetz and Dr. Allen were in-strumental in bringing the plenary ses-sion to the VAM conference. We caught up with Dr. Deetz to ask a couple of questions. The focus of these will sound pretty familiar to museum profession-als awho share common struggles and goals in seeking to interpret and give voice to historical truths that may sometimes make us cringe, but that hold valuable lessons for today.

VAM: What challenges lie ahead for Virginia’s colleges and universities seek-ing to understand and communicate difficult histories?

College and University Slave History in the News

Hasan, Shafaq. (2016, April 28). The Case for Universities Paying Reparations to Descendants of Slavery. The Nonprofit Quarterly. Retrieved from: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/04/28/the-case-for-universities-paying-repara-tions-to-descendants-of-slavery/

Letters to the Editor. (2016, April 25). The Slaves in Georgetown’s Past, The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/25/opin-ion/the-slaves-in-georgetowns-past.html?_r=0

Sams, Cathy. (2016, April 17). Clemson launches effort to tell its full history, slavery included. The Lancaster News. Retrieved from: http://www.thelancasternews.com/content/clemson-launch-es-effort-tell-its-full-history-slavery-included

Schuessler, Jennifer. (2015, May 13) Columbia Examines its Long-Ago Links to Slavery. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/books/columbia-examines-its-long-ago-links-to-slavery.html

Svrluga, Susan. (2016, March 15). The Harvard Law shield tied to slavery is already disappearing, after corporation vote. The Washington Post. Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/15/the-harvard-law-shield-tied-to-slavery-is-already-disappearing-after-corporation-vote/

Swarns, Rachel L. (2016, April 16). 272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. What Does it Owe Their Descendants? The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/us/georgetown-university-search-for-slave-descen-dants.html

Uncovering Our Troubled Past: Universities Studying SlaveryDr. Deetz: I think we all share the challenge of discussing a very painful history and addressing the manifesta-tions of institutionalized racism both at our collective institutions, but also in society as a whole. This nation is at a crossroads. Political currents have inspired one of the most racially tense periods in our recent history, and the Black Lives Matter movement has brought race back to the center of this country’s consciousness. Museum pro-fessionals, teachers, students, parents, and citizens have responded to this current moment in many ways. Some of us have always thought critically about race, the history of slavery, Jim Crow, institutionalized racism, and the ways in which the past is always informing the present. Colleges and universities should be places where self-refection, critical thinking, and free speech are central to the culture. However, issues related to race tend to inspire fear at the administrative level, in alumni, and in current student populations. All of Virginia’s colleges and universities have some sort of shameful past, histories preferred left behind, unmentioned, or removed from record. USS represents in-stitutions that are grappling with telling those stories that have been silenced for far too long; stories that run the risk of alarming and angering alumni, current students, faculty, staff, and administra-tors alike.

Colleges are historic sites, and as such need to be responsible for the ways in which they tell their stories. Students gain a sense of belonging to their schools, but as people who are learning to be critically minded adults, they also need to own what it means to belong to place and a legacy that is complex. One of the biggest challenges is getting folks to see the connections between the past and the present. People like to think that slavery was so long ago that it doesn’t matter, that the lives and labor of enslaved African Americans somehow aren’t relevant to the 21st century. As educators and historians, we need to draw these connections. Once you know the history, contemporary issues begin to superimpose themselves onto a long troubling narrative, and one

that once you see, you cannot “unsee.” This combined with long-standing racialized “town and gown” tensions make these conversations increasingly cumbersome.

VAM: As universities research and come to terms with various histories related to slavery and Jim Crow, how are they “telling” those narratives? Museum organizations interpret the past; what types of interpretations are taking place on campuses related to this subject?

Dr. Deetz: This is part of the work that we do as race scholars--you have to en-gage with the community and discuss the legacies of slavery. It is some-what easy to do the research, but it is communicating it in ways that inspire respectful and productive dialogs that takes a certain finesse. USS members can help by sharing our “best practices” in dealing with public discussions on race. I think we can borrow a lot from some of the public history sites as well, and as a public historian I believe strongly in modeling our presentations after ones that have proven successful.

Interpretation includes everything from technical reports, digital humanities projects, heritage trails, memorials, and signage. The USS meeting at Washing-ton and Lee included a panel entitled Memorials, Markers, and Monuments to Enslaved Laborers: Process, Progress, and Perceptions and showcased the efforts at Washington and Lee, UVA, Georgetown, William and Mary, and Roanoke College. It is clear that we are all at very different stages in this process, but we share the same challenges in memorializing these histories. More conversations will come, as we move forward with our collective efforts to remember our complicated histories.

Indeed, as we as Americans continually seek to define ourselves and reconcile a past that, at times, flies in the face of the ideals upon which our nation was founded. We must examine difficult aspects of our history and ask hard questions to move forward in a way that acknowledges truth, interprets history inclusively, and leaves us with a better

understanding of where we are today. Museums, and now colleges and univer-sities, have a unique role as institutions where inquiry, truth, and open dialog can bridge past with present for the benefit of the future.

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Colleges and Universities Engaged in Slave History Research and Action *

In Virginia:Hampton UniversityLongwood UniversityNorfolk State UniversityRoanoke CollegeSweet Briar CollegeThe College of William and MaryUniversity of Virginia Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Military InstituteVirginia TechVirginia Union UniversityVirginia University LynchburgWashington & Lee University

Outside of Virginia:Brown University Clemson University Emory UniversityGeorgetown University Harvard University University of Maryland University of North Carolina University of South Carolina Yale University

* List not all-inclusive; additionally, all of these universities are not currently part of the USS consortium.

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i Taming the Email Beast

by Heather Widener

If you often feel that your days are a prescribed series of reactions to oth-ers’ emails, it is likely you are not alone. According to their Email Statistics Report, 2013 – 2017, the technology market research firm The Radicadi Group, Inc. estimates “over 100 billion emails are sent and received per day. Email remains the predominant form of communication in the business space. This trend is expected to continue, and business email will ac-count for over 132 billion emails sent and received per day by the end of 2017.”

Before you begin daydreaming about early retirement, consider the following ways to wrangle your inbox under control. Doing so will not only save your sanity, it will help you communicate more effec-tively. Well-managed email communica-tion has far-reaching implications for time management, productivity, and career growth.

Regaining Control

Each day when you arrive at work, have several productivity goals to accomplish (whether your boss provides these, your job description or a deadline provides these, or you create them for yourself ). Do at least one task prior to checking your email. That small step will help you establish control over your productivity. While we cannot ignore our customers, clients, and coworkers, too much time is spent (28% by popular estimates) reacting to email. As long as your inbox doubles as your task list, you will not be in control of your work or your day, nor will you be able to meet your professional goals.

While email is, of course, an extremely valuable productivity tool, the habitual checking-and-reacting-to-email cycle has a net negative effect on productivity. Each time we turn our attention away from the task at hand to answer an email, we have become distracted and must re-orient

ourselves after the distraction passes. Add social media notifications to that (for those who must manage those accounts for their museums), and focus diminishes even more. All the time spent transition-ing between tasks and re-orienting after a distraction is time lost, and the work done in this way is at risk of being of lower quality because the distraction disrupts the focus - the flow - we need for peak performance.

Now that your day has not been launched onto a tangent through email, and you have accomplished one of your produc-tivity goals, it’s time to establish some rules around email use. To better manage your email, turn it off. That’s right. If your screen flashes, or a bell rings, or a female voice chimes in with “You’ve got mail,” turn those notifications off (and in the case of the female voice, update the email service that you use!). Do the same with your social media notifications. You don’t need to know everything in real time (for those of us age 40 and “better,” we remember when).

Once your email program is not actively invading your realm of focus with notifi-cations, choose a convenient 1 – 3 times throughout the day when you can take some time to focus on email, since email is integral to the projects we work on, the service we provide, and the information we need. When you are not checking email, focus on your other goals for the day. The process might take some getting used to, but barring an absolute emergen-cy, folks can wait to hear back from you for a few hours. By doing this, when you do turn on your email and work on crafting and returning messages, you’re doing so on your terms and can focus completely on that task, because it’s not competing with others for your attention.

So, email now has a schedule in your world, rather than dominating it. At this juncture you may find that you are getting more done. You may even find that others are more respectful of your time and talents when you are not immediately responding to every bell and whistle. You

are no longer conditioning those you work with to think that email is the answer for urgent messages, since you aren’t re-sponding immediately to every email (text and phone conversations are great when an immediate answer is required). When you do take the time to work with email, there are some additional best practices for crafting and sending as well as for receiving and processing.

Sending Emails

Because everyone suffers from informa-tion overload, and because it has been shown that people only remember about 10% of what you communicate to them, we all need to take a critical look at how we communicate. Long, detailed emails are ineffective in today’s workplace (par-ticularly when you consider the people reading your email may be doing so on their smartphone, and no one wants to scroll through a long email). When crafting an email message, the key thing to remember is succinctness. Whether you make your point with a few bullets or a few sentences, try to keep it to that. If you have something long and involved to discuss, use another mode of communica-tion such as a phone call or a face-to-face meeting (both of which allow greater focus and opportunities to clarify points and ask questions).

Subject lines are also important. Make sure the subject line of your email is specific and clear so the recipient of your email knows what project, exhibit, or educational program that email pertains to. Use your subject line intelligently. If action is required, say so. “Due by Thurs-day: Report” will grab someone’s attention more than “RE: Report.” This is especially important since many people use email filters and rules to help categorize emails. Using important keywords (i.e. the name of that big project or exhibition) in the subject line of your email will make it easier for your recipient to search for that email later.

Beyond the subject line and length of your email, think about the “To:” and “cc:”

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fields. Only place someone in the “To:” field if the information is important for them to read or you need action from that person. Anyone in the “cc:” field can assume that nothing is required of them and the email is simply for their infor-mation. When an email is sent to a large group, think before you choose “Reply All.” It is rarely necessary, and only serves to fill up others’ inboxes and test their patience. Along those same lines, never respond to an email with “got it!” or “thanks.” Useless responses such as these simply chip away at your time and clutter up someone else’s inbox.

Receiving Emails

When you are managing your inbox and receiving emails, there are also best prac-tices to keep in mind. The following are published by Microsoft for their Outlook product. Whether or not you use that particular platform, these are principles of good time management and organiza-tion. Process your messages by using the Four Ds. When reading your messages, decide whether to:

• Delete it.• Do it (respond or file for reference).• Delegate it (forward).• Defer it (using categories and flags) for a second review in your task list.

Proponents of inbox zero and other pro-ductivity philosophies will tell you that if you can do it in 3 minutes or less, handle it then and there, then delete or archive the email. Use filters to direct messages to various folders before they hit your inbox, and take advantage of tools such as cate-gories and flags as well as your system of folders to organize your email. Remember, in almost every email program out there, you can search for an email by keyword. This can be a great tool when you’ve lost that important piece of correspondence or misfiled an email that you intended to act upon.

Automated Tools

Even though email tools can be very

useful in staying organized and on-task, sometimes these functions can sidetrack us. For example, many email programs, such as Gmail and Outlook, have begun detecting and categorizing messages for you. You may have noticed, if you have a Gmail account, that your messages appear under one of three tabs: “Prima-ry,” “Social,” and “Promotion.” When you receive a Facebook notification (which you can turn off), Gmail will automatical-ly place it in the social tab. Likewise, an email campaign created using a program such as ConstantContact, MyEmma, or MailChimp will land in the promotions tab. Unless you indicate that you’d like these messages moved into the primary area, they’ll stay in promotions. You also have the ability to manage or delete your tabs in Gmail settings (see screen shot, page 11).

Similarly, Outlook has a folder called “Clutter.” Clutter pulls emails that are not quite Junk, but that are promotional in nature or are from a sender whose emails you rarely “act” on (clutter moves new and different messages periodically and so ‘learns’ from your email habits). Outlook allows you to turn clutter off altogether if you prefer not to manage another folder within your email system.

These tools and categories can be helpful, but can also make it easier to misplace a wanted email, or forget to respond to something that isn’t living in our pri-mary inbox. So think about your own email management and what works for you, and try to simplify. Take the time to unsubscribe – ruthlessly - from messages you are no longer interested in. Fifteen minutes devoted to unsubscribing will pay off in the long run in fewer emails received (and deleted). Likewise, when there is a message you are interested in that lands in your clutter, junk, or promo-tions folder, move it to your inbox. You can then indicate how you’d like those emails treated going forward.

More Tools for Productivity

There are additional tools for simplifica-tion. Most email programs offer a tool that allows you to use filters or rules to reduce the amount of unnecessary “noise” in your inbox and to make the most important items bubble to the top. These tools move messages into folders based on criteria that you set and free up your inbox for must-read items only. For example, you can set a rule that moves all automatic responses that don’t have content to “Deleted Items.” This can help immensely if – like me – you are in charge of email

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At-a-Glance: 2016 Annual Conferenceby Christina Newton

How many VAM conferences have you attended?

What is your current position?

Who was in attendance?

Our overall conference satisfaction rate was 4.43 out of 5.

Top to bottom: #VAM2016 was a time to connect with colleagues and friends; Outgoing VAM President Al Schweizer makes announcements during the business meeting; Enthusiastic VAM-ers unite for a snapshot outside the exhibit hall.

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At-a-Glance: 2016 Annual Conferenceby Christina Newton

Save the Date#VAM2017

MARCH 18 - 21

HOTEL ROANOKEROANOKE, VA

Are you planning to attend #VAM2017?

What about next year?

Increased Success in VAM’s Exhibit Hall

Events and Programs: Continued Success and High Marks

* More attendees discussed projects.

* Museum Shop and Mobile Tools moved to the top five topics of interest.

How would you rate the following programs ? (1 = poor - 5 = excellent)

How would you rate the following events? (1 = poor - 5 = excellent)

What topics interest you in the exhibit hall?Did you visit the exhibit hall?

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by Vanessa Thaxton-Ward, Ph.D.

Located in the heart of the historic Hampton University campus, the Hampton

University Museum (HUM) is the oldest African American museum in the United States and one of the oldest museums in Virginia. A national treasure, the museum was founded in 1868 and its collection features over 9,000 objects; it is the largest collection of African American art in the nation. The collection includes African American fine arts, tradi-tional African, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Island, and Asian art, and objects relating to the history of the University. Within its fine arts collection is the largest existing collection of works in any museum by the artists John Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthe and Samella Lewis.

Being embedded within a university community, it is not surprising that the Hampton University Museum has several initiatives for young peo-ple of different ages. We offer guided tours for public and private schools throughout the Hampton Roads area, as well as nationally. The associ-ate curator and director of education and community programs, Crystal Johnson Horne, is a former art edu-cator so she has developed several programs and workshops where she works directly with high school AP art students and their teachers. The students visit the museum for a spe-cial tour and complete a workshop

on portfolio development. She also conducts workshops for educators. Additionally, we have two special programs for younger students. The museum presents Tree House, which is a children’s membership program that was developed to expand our Friends of the Museum program and enhance family visits. Tree House is geared toward children between the ages of 4 and 14.

The other program that we are proud of is The Curiosity Room. This room was donated by the Greater Williamsburg Women’s Association, which is a group of professional women who have moved to the Williamsburg area. They presented the museum with furniture, carpets, books and their time to conduct programs for children ages 2 ½ - first grade. This organization has been active with the Hampton University Museum for more than 10 years.

For our older students, the Biggers’ Circle was formed. The Hampton University Museum’s Biggers’ Circle is

dedicated to promoting and enhancing the student’s experience with the museum through student initiated programming, volunteerism, and community outreach.

Founded in September 2002 by then-sophomores James Powell, Kendra Thompson, Elijah Heyward III, and Steven Chambers, the name Biggers’ Circle was selected in honor of Dr. John Thomas Biggers. Painter, sculptor, printmaker, muralist, educa-tor and author, John Biggers came to Hampton Institute in 1941 where he was inspired to pursue a career in art. Dr. John Biggers is among the best-known and renowned Ameri-can artists. Dr. Biggers was Hampton University’s Artist-in-Residence for the 1990-91 academic year when he painted Tree House and House of the Turtle for the William R. and Norma B. Harvey Library. Dr. Biggers died January 2001. I have recently supervised six University students as interns at the HUM through three different

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The Hampton University Museum: A National Treasure

The Hampton University Museum features the largest collection of African American art in the nation.

funding agencies. The museum received funding from the Luce Foundation, New York to inventory the American Art collection. We hired two interns from Hampton University and two from Christo-pher Newport University. Addi-tionally, we received funding from the Smithsonian Institute’s HBCU (Historically Black College and University) Initiative to hire a stu-dent from Hampton University to work on the International Review of African American Art journal published by HUM. We also hired a young business major to work with the International Review of African American Art. His position was funded by UNCF (the United Negro College Fund) and the As-sociation of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) recently announced the launch of a nationwide program to address diversity in the art muse-um field.

New Power Generation: A National Juried Exhibition gives the Hamp-ton University an opportunity to showcase the talent of artists of African descent. As stated by one of the jurors, Dr. Stella Jones who owns an art gallery in New Orleans,

“Art is a reflection of society, and as

artists, you, the New Power Generation, are the visual recorders of contemporary American society, and have a responsibil ity to be true to yourselves and your communities by telling your own stories and your own truths so that the collective story of the African Diasporic people will not and cannot be rewritten by others.”

The 24 artists selected for this exhibition reflected society today - whether it was a comment on Black Lives Matter or on the relationship between a father and his child.

In July, HUM will be presenting Akili Ron Anderson: A Fifty Year Retrospective of Black Art and Life. Akili Ron Anderson is an outstand-ing craftsman with an imagination and a visual language that is not only aesthetically beautiful but culturally strong. We hope to share his fifty-plus years of making art and show how versatile he is. The pieces selected will examine the artist’s ability to effectively communicate his understanding and love of Black Art and Black Culture. His ability to paint in all paint mediums, to excel in printmaking and sculpture, his experimentation with wood, ceramics and found objects will be on display. Unfortunately, we will not be able to display his stained glass commissions but what we will display will be fantastic.

HUM is happy to welcome VAM staff and board to the museum this July during the annual board retreat. We’re also hosting a VAM Happy Hour on Thursday, July 14th for all members and friends of VAM. Stay tuned for more details!

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Book ReviewRecruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums: A Handbook for Volunteer Managementby Kristy Van Hoven and Loni Wellmanby John Forsythe

Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums: A Handbook for Volunteer Management is aimed at small museums where staff wear many “hats.” In the book, authors Kristy Van Hoven and Loni Wellman break down volunteer management into two parts, and bring it to a close with fictional scenarios that illustrated the concepts presented in the first two sections. The authors assume that the reader already is involved with a museum and this book looks to augment previous knowledge to further enhance the museum professional’s skill sets. This book is a short, easy to read hand-book on how to get started with volunteers in a museum.

Chapters 1-3 break down who volunteers are, where in an organization volunteers are useful and how different types of institutions benefit. While the familiar groups of teenagers, interns and adults are addressed, the family volunteer at an institution is introduced as well as what value a family adds. Lastly, types of institutions are contrasted in terms of needs and considerations. These brief summaries will help a smaller institution remove some of the guesswork involved in getting

projects done with the help of volunteers.

Chapters 4-6 lays out where museums should start to be success-ful with volunteers. Thinking through the volunteer needs and then recruiting them with a formal process are covered in depth. The authors include a template showing how to be in charge of the volunteer staff. Chapter 6 shows how to conduct evaluations and finishes by talking about laying off volunteers that are unable or unwilling to work towards the mission of the institution.

Chapter 7 shows the previous six chapters in action. The authors use case studies to show what success will look like for each volunteer age group and museum type. The case studies are very optimistic and fail to address ending a volunteer’s relation-ship with an institution, which is covered in chapter 6. Glossing over the one of the more emotionally trying parts of human resources weakens the book. However, the “Lessons Learned” at the end of each case study does provide a valuable summation of all the information in the previous six chapters. Overall, the book does a good job at breaking down each stage of a volun-teer’s role at a museum.

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blasts for your organization that inevita-bly result in many automatic and out of office responses.

In Outlook, you can also work to free up your inbox by making the most of your Outlook “To-do List.” You can mark any email that requires an action from you as a “Task.” This helps you delineate what emails require action vs. which you sim-ply need to delete or archive in a folder. Likewise, you can mark any message in Gmail as a “Task.” By not using your inbox as your to-do list, you’ll be freeing up space and lowering the chances that you miss a task because an email got buried in a cluttered inbox.

Many programs also allow you to set a lag when you send an email, allowing you a few seconds in case you decide to go back and edit, or think twice about sending it after you’ve hit send. If you’ve ever had that sinking feeling upon hitting the send button, you know why this tool can be a life saver.

Gmail and Outlook also offer the op-portunity to create canned responses. These can be a huge time saver if you find yourself answering the same questions of-ten. You save your response to a common question or questions in “canned respons-es” and use it to respond to emails when appropriate. This is great if you are in charge of receiving emails from the public that might ask about current exhibitions, operating hours, group policies, etc. You can cut down on the amount of work you duplicate with canned responses.

In addition to the tools highlighted in this section, you have practically unlim-ited choices of plugins and third party tools you can utilize to make your email workflow actually flow. Take some time to think about how your time is spent on email, and what types of tools can help you tame the beast within your inbox.

VAM Emails

A quick word about our own emails. As a professional membership organization

with members and stakeholders through-out the state and beyond, VAM relies on email to communicate important initia-tives, program announcements, advocacy alerts, museum news, and more. We hope you are interested in our news, which can also be found on our website at: vamu-seums.org/news/. Our news items are organized by category. VAM’s news cate-gories include Enews Forum, VAM Voice Newsmagazine, Press Releases, Program Updates, Advocacy Alerts, and Blog Post Announcements. Instead of using email to keep up to date on the goings on at VAM, you can always bookmark the VAM news page, as well as the VAM Calendar page, found at vamuseums.org/events/event_list.asp.

If you find that your VAM messages are landing in your Outlook Clutter or your Gmail Promotions, simply drag those messages into the folder or tab where you’d like them to appear. For example, in Gmail, if you drag an email from the promotions tab to the primary tab, you’ll get the following notification: “The conver-sation has been moved to “Primary.” Do this for future messages from XYZ@org.org?” Simply choose “Yes” to ensure that the messages you want load into your prima-ry folder. Outlook will periodically email

you a listing of the types of messages it is moving to Clutter. That message explains, “For some time, Clutter has been moving messages to the Clutter folder. Now you can quickly scan the folder and move any messages that shouldn’t be there back to the inbox. Clutter will learn from this and do better next time.”

In sum, focusing on small, incremental changes to your daily email routine overlaid with an awareness of time management and productivity goals can be transformational. Doing this ensures that the value of your work is flowing consistently to your stakeholders (clients, visitors, board members, donors). Taking a hard look at the inbox “beast,” as well as at our own email habits, forces us to bring to consciousness our habitual processes and ask ourselves whether we are optimizing our time and efforts in support of our organizations.

Above: Managing tabs in Gmail (screen-shot).

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VAM Welcomes New Council President, Directors

During the business meeting at its recent annual conference in Williamsburg,

VA, VAM elected new council members. Gary Sandling, of Monticello, was elect-ed as president. Gretchen Bulova, of the Office of Historic Alexandria, was elected vice-president for planning and resources, and Rob Orrison, of Prince William County’s Historic Preservation Division, was elected as vice-president for member engagement. Additionally, Steven Blashfield, of Glavé and Holmes Architecture, was appointed as an at-large director, and Robin von Seldeneck, of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum was selected as VAM’s director for the Mountain & Valley region. Says Jenni-fer Thomas, VAM executive director, “VAM’s council will be in good hands with our new president, Gary Sandling-I’m excited about the new ideas and perspectives he, and our other new board members, will bring to our organization in the coming year.”

Gary Sandling is vice president of visitor programs and services at Monticello. San-dling has served on the VAM board since 2008. Says Sandling, “I’m honored to serve as VAM’s President as we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of VAM and undertake initiatives to ensure VAM continues to unite the Virginia museum community through professional development, networking, and advocacy. We are fortunate to be part of a community where profession and passion intersect to contribute to the quality of life, the educational opportunities, and to the economy of our Commonwealth. I hope you will all join with your colleagues to help shape the future of VAM and increase the circle of VAM’s engagement.”

Steven Blashfield serves as principal and director of the Cultural Studio at Glavé & Holmes. A specialist in historic preserva-tion, he leads a team of talented architects responsible for museums, historic sites, and ecclesiastical buildings. Steven is a longtime

VAM member who has been instrumental in our successful Virginia Museum Advoca-cy Days as well as our annual Leadership Forum. Says Blashfield, “It is exciting to be a part of the VAM council. As a long time supporter of VAM, I have admired the efforts that the Virginia Association of Museums puts forth on behalf of the museum commu-nity in professional education, collaboration and peer support. A seat on the council will provide a new and enhanced oppor-tunity for me to support the efforts of this marvelous and vital organization for the Commonwealth and I look forward to the work ahead.”

Robin von Seldeneck serves as the chief executive director of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. The Mu-seum strives to be the place to which both scholars and a broad spectrum of interested citizens look to understand how President Wilson changed the world and how his ide-als continue to do so. Says von Seldeneck, “It is an honor to serve on the board of the Virginia Association of Museums. VAM is an amazing resource for us at the Woodrow Wil-son Presidential Library, and I look forward to serving the museum community through-out the Commonwealth as we prepare for the future.”

Photos, left to right: Gary Sandling; Steven Blashfield; Robin von Seldeneck.

Our Governing CouncilPresident, Gary SandlingVP, Planning & Resources, Gretchen BulovaVP, Programming, Rob OrrisonSecretary, Dana PugaTreasurer, Eric AppPast President, Al SchweizerEx-Officio Members, Robert C. Vaughan and Jeffrey Allison

Direc torsPaige Backus Lisa MartinSteven Blashfield Jeffrey NicholsJamie Bosket Robin von SeldeneckDr. Mikell Brown Scott StrohKaren L. Daly Vanessa Thaxton-Ward, Ph.D.Charles Grant Sarah WhitingDebi Gray Charlotte WhittedJoe Keiper Eric S. Wilson

Our Staf fExecutive Director, Jennifer ThomasAssistant Director, Christina NewtonCommunications Director, Heather WidenerMembership Coordinator, Rebecca Guest Accountant, Su Thongpan

Our Contac tsPhone: 804. 358.3170 Fax: 804. 358.3174www.vamuseums.org

Our VoiceVAM Voice is published quarterly for our members. The editor encourages readers to submit article proposals. Contact the communications director for more information.

Our News Deadl inesSpring: February 15thSummer: May 15th Fall: August 15thWinter: November 1st

Our VisionA united museum community inspiring the world around us.

Our MissionThe Virginia Association of Museums is a statewide network serving the museum community.