SmallTalks 2017 FUN is serious business...

 The morning began with a series of "Small Talks." Various speakers gave short talks meant to inspire and remind us that everything we do, as someone often says, “is for the kids!" 

I've listed the speakers along with a few points from their talks.

1) Rocky Whatule- comedian??  and Emcee

In between some really awful jokes, he made a few points about  the importance of our work and its potential to influence children.

·      we have the power to change lives through our work

·      as facilitators, we manage and make decisions about a child’s potential experience within our spaces, we should strive to ensure that it is a positive experience

Then he made more bad jokes.

2) Holly Robinson Peete- actress and autism advocate

She shared her experiences as a mother of a child with autism. Specifically, about visiting children’s museums with her family on special events in which the museum would shut down to the general public to then reopen for families with children with autism.  These provided a safe and comfortable environment free from judgment.  In working though her foundation, the HollyRod Foundation, she works with museums to organize these events.

“….you would never change your child for anything in the world,

            but do work to change the world for your child…”

3) Orrin Shively (at one point worked for the Walt Disney Co.)

Our guests are our most important assest.

He introduced Disney Imagineer, Marty Sklar’s "Mickey’s Ten Commandments".

Use these as guiding principles as they apply to our work in museums and libraries.

Mickey’s Ten Commandments

1. Know your audience – Identify the prime audience for your attraction or show before you begin design
2. Wear your Guests’ shoes – Insist that your team members experience your creation just the way Guests do
3. Organize the flow of people and ideas – Make sure there is a logic and sequence in our stories and the way Guests experience them
4. Create a wienie (visual magnet) – Create visual “targets” that will lead Guests clearly and logically through your facility
5. Communicate with visual literacy – Make good use of color, shape form, texture – all the nonverbal ways of communication
6. Avoid overload – create turn-ons – Resist the temptation to overload your audience with too much information and too many objects
7. Tell one story at a time – Stick to the story line; good stories are clear, logical, and consistent
8. Avoid contradictions – maintain identity – Details in design or content that contradict one another confuse an audience about your story or the time period it takes place in
9. For every ounce of treatment, provide a ton of treat – Walt Disney said you can educate people, but don’t tell them you’re doing it. Make it fun!
10. Keep it up! (Maintain it) – In a Disney park or resort, everything must work. Poor maintenance is poor show!

4) Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides- Astrobiologist, Co-founder of Yuri’s Night (annual celebration of space exploration),  founder astronaut for Virgin Galactic, and she was on a deep sea expedition with James Cameron to film Aliens of the Deep!

Fantastic speaker, truly passionate about her work and inspiring children!

Loretta shared that she became interested in space exploration and learning about the universe at age 6.  

We,  museum staff, need to:

• make science fun again…
• share our passion for science (STEAM) with kids
• encourage children to dream about things that are more and go beyond our current realities
• share our love of play with children
• lead by example and speak from our heart
• keep things in perspective, and
• not forget what is driving us to do the work that we do…It's for the kids!

5) Janina Garraway and Lamar Robinson spoke about their program,Dance and Focus, which combines dance instruction, photography instruction, and mentorship services to undeserved youth of Pasadena. A group of children aged 5-8? performed on stage-very cute!

6) Adlai Wertman- Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at USC

He spoke of the challenges of running Nonprofit Organizations that affect social change.

All socially benefiting nonprofits are competing of same philanthropic $$$

How do we stand out from the rest?

Through Measurement!  How do we measure inputs, outputs, and most importantly, outcomes?  Measurement is necessary for the management of the organization and to our stakeholders.

 *Keep in mind:

-Too often we determine what and how we measure based on our donors-this is a dangerous focus.

-We must convince our donors to trust that we know how to measure what is truly important. How do we do that?

With a mission statement that clearly states what we will measure.

• Sit with the Board to develop a strong, focused measurable mission statement
• Convince donors to buy into your mission statement
• Realize that sometimes you need to say NO and walk away from bad donors.

A nonprofit should not be run like a business, BUT it does need to adopt some business principles - Don't let donors tell you how to run your business!

“Study business, don't do business.”

7) Norm Jones aka Rhythm Child

He had everyone drumming, shaking maracas, and dancing –well, wiggling.  Great way to end the session and begin our conference experience!

-Carmen