Making the Museum

What if we combined immersion, emotion, storytelling — and games?
 
We all want “engagement” … but what is engagement? How can our projects create it? What are the elements that go into it? Can game theory and play teach us how to make our experiences better? What is “narrative transportation”? Why are emotions key to memory creation? And what do Renaissance fairs have to do with museums?

 Ed Rodley (Co-Founder and Principal, The Experience Alchemists), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Playful Engagement.”
 
Along the way: holodecks, Sleep No More, portmanteaus, and Ed’s upcoming book.

Talking Points:
 
1. What is “Playful Engagement”?

2. The Magic Circle

3. Immersion 

4. Emotion

5. Storytelling

6. Games and Play

How to Listen:

Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G 

Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast

Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Ed Rodley, Co-Founder & Principal, The Experience Alchemists (TEA), is an award-winning experience designer with over thirty-five years’ experience in making exhibitions and experiences for cultural organizations large and small. Incorporating emerging technologies into museum practice has been a theme throughout his career. As a thought leader in the digital transformation of the cultural sector, Ed frequently speaks at events around the world like ICOM’s International Symposium 2024 in Dubai and the National Digital Forum 2023 in New Zealand. He was one of Blooloop’s 50 Museum Influencers for 2021. His book “Designing for Playful Engagement in Museums” is due out in Summer 2025 from Routledge.
 
About Making the Museum:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.

Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/

Links for This Episode:

Ed Rodley by Email:
[email protected]

The Experience Alchemists
https://www.theexperiencealchemists.com

“Taking the Plunge” in Museum Magazine
https://www.aam-us.org/2022/11/01/taking-the-plunge/ 
This article discusses the current state of immersive experiences, some of the conversations around these experiences and their “authenticity” and surveys the psychological research into immersion in digital environments to explore what makes them compelling.

"Thinking about Museums" Blog
https://thinkingaboutmuseums.com/
Ed’s personal weblog on museums, content, design, and why they matter.

Museopunks: The Podcast for the Progressive Museum
https://www.aam-us.org/programs/about-museums/museopunks/
Ed had the distinct pleasure of co-hosting with Suse Anderson her AAM-sponsored podcast which investigated the fascinating work and personalities in and around the museum sector, with a focus on emergent, boundary-pushing work and ideas.

Humanizing the Digital: Unproceedings from the MCN 2018 Conference
https://ad-hoc-museum-collective.github.io/humanizing-the-digital/
This book explored how museums can use technology to foster human connection and dialogue, advance accessibility and inclusion, and champion inquiry and knowledge, drawn from the Museum Computer Network conference.

CODE | WORDS - Technology and Theory in the Museum
https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-museum
Brought together leading museum thinkers and practitioners to explore emerging issues about the nature of museums in the light of the dramatic and ongoing impact of digital technologies.

Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
 
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact

Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger

Email Jonathan Alger:
[email protected]

C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/

Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.

Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/

Can a statue change American history?

How do we decide who gets a statue? What happens when you realize how many people deserve a statue but never got one? What’s the difference between a “forensic sculpture” for an interpretive exhibition, and one you’d put in a fine art show? Why are some museums just not complete without a bronze statue of the main characters? Are there “statues of limitations”?

Ivan Schwartz (Founder and Director of StudioEIS), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Sculpting History.”
 
Along the way: hagiography, phalanges, and ketchup bottles made of bronze.
 

Talking Points:

1. What is a “Forensic” Sculpture?

2. Sculptor as Visual Storyteller

3. How to Sculpt a President

4. A Phone Call from the Archives

5. Telling History Like It Is

6. Statues of LImitation

How to Listen:
 
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast

Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:

https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Ivan Schwartz is the founder and director of StudioEIS. He is a sculptor, painter, and designer, with a keen interest in American history and the use of sculpture in the development of our national symbols. With a degree in sculpture from The College of Fine Arts at Boston University, he packed up and spent a year working in Pietrasanta, Italy in the early 1970s. He was the recipient of a distinguished alumni award from Boston University in 2003, and has shown his work in New York since 1981. Ivan was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts until the end of 2009 and was also a founding board member of Art Omi, an international arts workshop. He was also President of Innovators in America, 2009-2011, working closely with Sir Harold Evans. The StudioEIS archive was acquired by the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas, Austin, in 2014 in association with a new area of study on American symbols.

StudioEIS has created hundreds of projects in its 50-year history; most notably for: The National Constitution Center, The New York Historical Society, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Virginia Women’s Monument, and The National Museums of African American History and Natural History. The studio has explored the American Presidency, Military History and Civil Rights history extensively. Current Projects include the Clara Luper Memorial that will be unveiled in May in Oklahoma City and Theodore Roosevelt & Barack Obama Presidential Libraries. 

Ivan has been seen recently on the CBS Sunday Morning program and at the Lyndon Johnson Library in conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin on the subject of Abraham Lincoln. His film: “Lest We Forget, Statues of Limitation,” can be seen on Vimeo. 

About Making the Museum:
 
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
 
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/

 
Links for This Episode:

Ivan by Email:

[email protected]
 
StudioEIS Online:

https://www.studioeis.com

“Lest We Forget: Statues of Limitation” on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/211595498

Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
 
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact

Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
 

Email Jonathan Alger:
[email protected]
 

C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/

Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
 
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
 
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
 
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/

How do you make a museum display case disappear?

This episode is a masterclass in museum display case design. To the untrained eye, museum display cases look like what you’d find in a gift shop. But under the hood, they couldn’t be more different — and they are 100% unique to the museum world. Secrets we’ll reveal: art envelopes, non-offgassing, air exchange rates, and how glass is never, ever just glass. How can a display case be sealed, yet also designed to leak? What exactly makes a museum display case conservation grade? How do those little packets of silica gel work?

Stéphanie Bilodeau, (Director, Sales and Business Development, Zone Display Cases in Québec City, Canada), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to reveal the “Secrets of Museum Display Case Design.”

Along the way: reclaimed wood from Oregon, ordering a lot of insects, and falling in love with an industry.

Talking Points:

1. What Makes a Display Case "Conservation-Grade"?
2. The Basics: Microclimates, Art Envelopes, and Air Exchange Rates
3. How to Balance Conservation, Operation, and Design
4. Can a Display Case Look Antique but Be Modern?
5. Think You Know Glass?
6. I Need a Display Case - Now What?

How to Listen:

Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast

Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Born and raised in Québec City, Stéphanie has an extensive academic background in science, with multiple years of focused studies, including a specialization in entomology and a marketing certificate from Université Laval. She joined Zone Display Cases in 2011, drawn to the company’s collaborative and people-centered culture. Over the years, she progressed from Internal Sales and Project Management to Director of Sales and Marketing in 2018. Known for her energy and sociability, Stéphanie is highly skilled and passionate about supporting the various trades within the museum community. Her scientific expertise offers a unique perspective on artifact preservation, helping to showcase and protect cultural and historical treasures.

About Making the Museum:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.

Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/

Links for This Episode:

Zone Display Cases:
https://www.zonedisplaycases.com

Email Stéphanie Bilodeau:
[email protected]

Stéphanie on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/st%C3%A9phanie-bilodeau-52269177/

Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:

Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact

Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger

Email Jonathan Alger:
[email protected]

C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/

Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a newsletter on exhibition planning and design — for museum leaders, exhibition teams, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.

Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/ 

Can a building tell a story?

How do you design a glass wall to be ... mist? What if architecture, landscape, and exhibitions were all thought of as one thing? What changes when you etch barbed wire into a handrail? How can the floor plan of an entire museum relate to a nautilus shell? What does “A.D.R.O.I.T.” stand for? We’re going to find out, so notebooks at the ready.

Alan Reed, FAIA, LEED AP (President and Design Principal of GWWO Architects), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Story-Based Design.”

Along the way: dendrites, neurons, Seminole history, and a famous mathematical sequence that goes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 …

Talking Points:

1. What is Story-Based Design?

2. Do the Research

3. Define the Essence

4. One Experience: Architecture + Landscape + Exhibitions

5. Intuitive Wayfinding: A.D.R.O.I.T.

6. Materials Matter, Down to the Details

How to Listen:

Listen on Apple Podcasts >

Listen on Spotify >

Listen at Making the Museum, the Website >

Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor >  

Guest Bio:

Alan Reed, FAIA, LEED AP is President and Design Principal of GWWO Architects. Alan has focused his career on the planning and design of facilities that engage users, foster interaction, and enhance communities. Alan is a regular speaker on issues related to museum and interpretive facility design. He has spoken at numerous conferences, on many panels, and for many organization events including the National Association for Interpretation Conference, Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums Conference, Southeastern Museums Conference, and Building Museums Symposium. His work has been featured by Architectural Record and Metropolis, among other publications, and has received accolades at the national, regional, and local levels.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.

Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners >

Links for This Episode:

Email Alan Reed

Alan Reed on LinkedIn

GWWO Architects

Projects referenced:
Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Welcome Center at Niagara Falls State Park

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center

Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention

George Washington’s Mount Vernon Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum & Education Center

Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:

Contact Making the Museum
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn
Email Jonathan Alger
C&G Partners | Design for Culture

Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.

Subscribe here >

How would you design an exhibit — if an animal’s life depended on it?

What is the number one reason people come to the National Aquarium? When should you take ego out of design? What is a “machine for living”? Which is right: “know-feel-do” or “feel-know-do”? (Hint: might not be the first one.) Why would an aquarium visitor want to hear from the people who take care of the animals? What happens when you float an entire Chesapeake wetland on top of the ocean, in the middle of Baltimore Harbor? How have kitchens and exhibits had a similar evolution?

Jacqueline Bershad, Vice President of Planning & Design at the National Aquarium, joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Designing with Animals.”

Along the way: plankton, anemones, turtles, ducks, night herons, sloths, and rockwork sculpting geniuses.

Talking Points:

1. Architecture with a Small “a"
2. Embracing Unlearning
3. When Your Clients Can’t Speak for Themselves
4. Behind the Scenes IS the Scene
5. Passionate People and Pragmatic Problems
6. Vision with a Big “V”

How to Listen:

Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bio:

Jacqueline Bershad, Vice President of Planning & Design at the National Aquarium, is a licensed, LEED certified architect with 25 years of experience in the design of museums, exhibit experiences, zoos and aquaria. Her team is responsible for all capital improvement projects, experiential design, exhibit fabrication and operations. She represents the Aquarium at national conferences including AAM, MAAM, AZA and ASLA; has published on museum experience in national outlets; and was appointed by the Mayor to serve on Baltimore’s Public Art Commission. Jacqueline holds a Master’s in Architecture from North Carolina State University, Master’s of Science in Architecture from the University of North Carolina with a specialty in the design of public space, and a Bachelor’s in History from Wesleyan University.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:

[email protected]

Jacqueline on LinkedIn
 
National Aquarium - Harbor Wetland

Baltimore Floats an Artificial Wetland in Pursuit of a Cleaner Harbor - Bloomberg

National Weather Desk Harbor Wetland

National Aquarium Strategic Master Plan – Studio Gang

Harbor Wetland — Ayers Saint Gross

Urban Aquatic Health: Integrating New Technologies and Resiliency into Floating Wetlands. | 2018 ASLA Professional Awards

Evolutionary Thinking in Habitats® - CLR Design

Links for MtM, the Podcast:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. 

(And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.

Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):

https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

How do you make an institution that's both a museum and a memorial — at the same time?

How are exhibitions like theater? Is a museum a group experience, or a personal one — or is that a trick question? When is it time to trust your gut? Why is collaboration so important? When is a single milk can the most important object in a museum? How can one single, simple philosophy inform everyone’s work, from the curators to the team making mounts for the artifacts? How are the principles of making a memorial museum different from other types of museums — or are they so different after all?

Alice Greenwald (Principal of Memory Matters, LLC, and past President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Making a Memorial Museum.”

Along the way: spackling, reverence, and what happens when a museum director leaves their office door open.

Talking Points:

0. What is a Memorial Museum?
1. Start With Authenticity
2. It’s About Storytelling
3. Museums Are Not Books
4. Practice Conscientious Listening
5. Trust Your Gut
6. Collaboration is Required

How to Listen:

Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Alice M. Greenwald is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of museum practice, with expertise in history, ethnic heritage, and memorial museums. Currently the principal of Memory Matters, LLC, providing strategic advice to museums, memorial projects, senior executives, and boards, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum from 2017-2022 and from 2006 to 2016, as the organization’s Founding Museum Director and Executive Vice President for Exhibitions, Collections and Education. Previously, she was Associate Museum Director, Museum Programs, at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Alice serves on the boards of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and the United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial Foundation and is a Trustee Emerita at Central Synagogue in New York City. She is First Vice President of The Lotos Club, and in January 2024, concluded her service as a board member of the International Council of Museums-US. She holds an M.A. in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and a B.A with concentrations in English Literature and Anthropology from Sarah Lawrence College, where she delivered the commencement address to the class of 2007.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:

Alice by Email:
[email protected]

Alice at Memory Matters:
https://www.memorymattersllc.com

National September 11th Memorial & Museum:
https://www.911memorial.org

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
https://www.ushmm.org

Links for MtM, the Podcast:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:

Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. 

(And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)

Join hundreds of your peers with an ad-free quick one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, visitors, budgeting, content, and project management, to name just a few.

Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):

https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

Is there an organization for the exhibition field? A new initiative is picking up steam.

The exhibition community in the US, some say, has recently gone from having “nearly one” professional organization — to none at all. That’s because of the unexpected 2023 dissolution of NAME, the National Association for Museum Exhibition, a group within the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). But now a new effort is rising at SEGD, an international organization headquartered in the US. It takes the form of a PPG, or professional practice group, specific to exhibition practitioners. How can everyone in the field access professional development and mentorship? What is the role of networking in a professional community? Should there be better standards for the field?

Cybelle Jones (CEO of SEGD) and the cofounders of the new PPG, Steven Rosen (President and Creative Director, Available Light), and George Mayer (Retired Vice President of Business Development, Kubik Maltbie), join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “A New Home for the Exhibition Community.”

Along the way: how listeners can get involved, the role of local meetups, and what a survey revealed that people in the field most urgently need.

Talking Points:

1. Elevate
2. Advocate
3. Educate
4. Standardize
5. Socialize
6. Celebrate

 How to Listen:

• Making the Museum: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G 
• Everywhere: https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bios:

Cybelle Jones is CEO of SEGD, a multidisciplinary community creating experiences that connect people to place. SEGD is a non-profit member organization focusing on education, innovation and design excellence by designing more equitable, sustainable, and user-centric environments. Prior to joining SEGD, Cybelle led numerous acclaimed design projects during her 25+ year tenure as Principal of G&A, including the National WWII Museum, the International Spy Museum, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum. Cybelle is actively involved in various boards and has spoken on the field of experience design at AAM, the V&A, FIT, AIGA, AIA and MuseumNext.

Steven Rosen, President and Creative Director, Available Light: Merging performance lighting techniques with traditional non-theatrical environments launched Steven’s career and his founding of Available Light over 30 years ago. From Museum exhibits to immersive architecture to trade shows, the fun never stops—it helps that he works with some of the planet’s most talented lighting aficionados. The originality and grand scale of Steven’s award-winning designs are evident in many one-of-a-kind award-winning projects as: The Neural Climber interactive at the Franklin Institute, Ocean Hall for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the International Spy Museum in DC, and Chicago MSI’s U-505. He is passionate about supporting the lighting community.

George Mayer first joined Maltbie Associates in 1986 and was responsible for identifying new business opportunities, proposal writing, presentations, contract negotiation, and oversight of project management teams to ensure satisfactory fulfillment for permanent and traveling exhibits. From 2002 to 2009, George worked as the founding director of a new museum fabrication business for Art Guild, Inc., a nationally active trade show exhibits producer. In 2010, George rejoined Maltbie (now Kubik Maltbie, Inc.) as Vice President of Business Development. He retired from the firm in June of 2022.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:
 

SEGD:
https://segd.org/

SEGD Membership:
https://segd.org/join/

SEGD Professional Practice Groups:

https://segd.org/resources/introducing-segd-professional-practice-groups/

SEGD PPG Unveiling at 2024 AAM:

https://segd.org/news/segd-unveils-professional-practice-groups-at-american-alliance-of-museums-conference/

Cybelle:

[email protected]

Steven:

[email protected]

George:

[email protected]

 Links for MtM, the Podcast:
 
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com 
 

Discover Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
 
Like the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. Join hundreds of your peers with an ad-free quick one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, visitors, budgeting, content, and project management, to name just a few. (And a bonus: newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
 
Subscribe here (and unsubscribe at any time):

https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

“The client’s role is not to solve the problem — it’s to state the problem.”

What’s the client’s perspective in major cultural projects? What are “client user groups?” What’s the difference between advocating for the client, and advocating for the project? How do you “inhabit your project?” How might a single gender-inclusive restroom project change an entire institution? Should every project have a “super contingency” in the budget?

Amy Weisser (Deputy Director for Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Client Side of Major Projects.”

Along the way: P.P.E., trusting the hiring decisions, and a 2,000-year-old Roman theory that still works today.

Talking Points:

1. The Three-Legged Stool: Vision, Schedule, Budget

2. Client Advocate, Project Advocate, User Advocate

3. Museum Building Projects are Linear, Not Cyclical

4. All Projects are Transformational

5. Project Phases: Watercolors to Hard Hats

6. Disasters DO Happen

7. Build Your Values

How to Listen:
 
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Amy Weisser is Deputy Director, Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center, where she incubates projects focused on strategic growth. Weisser has spent 30 years supporting cultural institutions undergoing profound development. Prior to Storm King, Weisser led exhibition development for the National September 11 Memorial Museum from 2005 to 2017 and helped open the contemporary art museum Dia:Beacon and the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space. She has taught Museum Studies at New York University. Weisser holds a doctorate in Art History from Yale University. She is a co-author of Martin Puryear: Lookout (GRM/SKAC, 2024). 

About MtM:
 
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Links for This Episode:
 

Amy’s Email:
[email protected]

Amy’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amysweisser/

Storm King: 

www.stormking.org
 

Storm King’s Capital Project:
https://stormking.org/capitalproject/

Building Museums Symposium, a project of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums:
https://midatlanticmuseums.org/building-museums/

Links for MtM:
 
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Newsletter:
 
Like the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)

Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

Can you get big press with a small budget? (Hint: Yes.)

For museums, small firms, and independent consultants, this episode is packed with literally dozens of ideas from a master of scrappy PR.

What is the #1 tip about PR, if you forgot all the others? How do you get a journalist’s attention? How do you get in the news without something new? Who should be your spokesperson? Is press actually about the topic — or is it about just being in the news? Once you get an article, what do you do with it? Do people still write press releases? How important is PR, anyway? (Hint: Very.)

Sarah Maiellano (Founder, Broad Street Communications) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Scrappy PR for Museums”.

Along the way: newsjacking, working the niches, and the magic of a holiday gift guide.

Talking Points:
 

1. Eight Story Ideas: Beyond the Exhibition

     a. New = News

     b. Humans are Interested in Other Humans

     c. Party Time

     d. Shopping!

     e. Localize It, Personalize It

     f. Education

     g. Newsjacking

     h. Money Money

2. Doing the Prep Work: Photos, Video, Writing, Talking Points, Spokesperson

3. Building a Media List

4. Maximizing Media Coverage

How to Listen:
 
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/

Guest Bio:

Equal parts creative and entrepreneurial, Broad Street Communications founder Sarah Maiellano’s superpower is discovering and telling stories. Sarah is an award-winning Philadelphia-based Public Relations professional and independent journalist. She serves Philadelphia area arts and culture institutions, with a focus on museums, and regional non-profits. Over the last 15 years, she has generated more than 3,000 stories about her clients. She’s a past board member of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association and is a frequent speaker at events and conferences, including the American Alliance of Museums 2024 annual meeting. As a freelance journalist, Sarah covers travel and food for regional and national outlets, including USA Today and Philadelphia Magazine.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:
 
[email protected]

www.broadstreetcomms.com
www.sarahmaiellano.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmaiellano/

https://www.instagram.com/sarahmaiellano/ 

MtM Show Contact:
 
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[email protected]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Newsletter:
 
Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

Have we lost a sense of playfulness in our work … and could we get it back?

In museums for children, why does “analog usually beat digital?” What’s a “climbing structure”? What are design metaphors, and why should planners beware of them? How can exhibition teams better empathize with one another’s fears and concerns? Why should a museum professional or designer “hyper-specialize”?

Jonathan Goldstein and Kyle Talbott (Principals, Skyhouse Studio) join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Six Keys for Unlocking Your Most Playful, Creative Work.”

Along the way: ancient trees, vacuum tubes, and Easter eggs.

Talking Points:

1. Finish Every Sketch
2. Beware of Design Metaphors
3. Design as if You’re Going to Build It
4. Demonstrate Empathy Through Disruption
5. Analog Usually Beats Digital
6. Hyper-Specialize

How to Listen:

Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G 

Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ 

Guest Bios:

As a child, Jonathan Goldstein accidentally built a 2-story treehouse surrounded by a thicket of poison ivy. Never deterred by a project’s audaciousness (or the limitations of his botanical knowledge), Jonathan designs climbing structures to conjure adventure and perceived risk—the stuff of childhood memories. Prior to his architectural studies, Jonathan’s earlier career as a junior high school history teacher prepared him for what would be his quest: To awaken people’s senses and engage their innate curiosities. His specialization in climbing structure design is born from a desire to make special places for families to share uncommon, joyous experiences. Jonathan is the founder and design principal of SKYHOUSE Studio.

Kyle Talbott is Design Principal at SKYHOUSE Studio. He is obsessed with designing complex three-dimensional labyrinths that challenge the mind and body. He uses cutting-edge parametric modeling software to sculpt weird, organic structures inspired by everything from a craggy mountainside to an osprey nest. Kyle sees the world as a complex, orderly whole, and his climber designs embody the harmony of natural and technological things. He is also a passionate educator who is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. In all his work, Kyle helps people cultivate a growth mindset and a heroic spirit through inquisitive play.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

Show Links:

Skyhouse
https://skyhousestudio.org/
SKYHOUSE Studio is a service of the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus

Jonathan Goldstein
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-goldstein-49856b2a

Kyle Talbott
Email for Kyle: [email protected]
LinkedIn for Kyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-talbott-9b17b325/

MtM Show Contact:

https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger 
[email protected] 
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com 

Newsletter:

Liked the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)

Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com