This BIG IDEAS WORKBOOK is a simple and practical way to gather some great “BIG IDEAS” from the National Docent Symposium (NDS); then by using the tools provided in this workbook, translate those inspired ideas into a practical plan that can be implemented within your museum and/or your community back home. Our hope is that this game plan will be a fun and easy way to maintain enthusiasm and bring home your winnings from the NDS. We wish you and your museum the best of luck!
RACKING UP THE POINTS:
- 1.Play with partners. Ideally your museum did not send just one delegate to this symposium. Solitaire is not your best game; two heads are better than one. Maybe you are partnered up with a staff member from your museum or another docent or even several delegates from other small museums in your area. Spread out to pick up as much information from different venues as possible then get back together to bounce the ideas off each other while they are still fresh in your minds. The further afield you go during the symposium, the more ideas you will encounter.
- 2.Get your head in the game. This is the easy part during the NDS if you came ready to hear what others have to say. Your best asset will be your listening skills and your enthusiasm to Go Fish for ideas. The last thing you want to be is the Old Maid that stands alone and says: “This is all well and good, but there is nothing here that applies to our museum and how we do things.” With this attitude, you might as well fold your cards and count your losses. The real winners will be the ones who say: “This sounds interesting. How might we rework this concept and apply it to our situation back home?”
- 3.Turn over every card. Don’t assume all of the good ideas come from the break-out sessions alone. Network throughout the entire symposium in order to better the odds and rack up the points. Never let a bus trip across town, a chance meeting in an elevator or sitting across from a docent at breakfast turn into a missed opportunity to inspire you with a “Big Idea.” Sometimes a small exchange turns out to be the “Big Idea.”
STRATIGIC PLAY:
It is best to take several ideas home to share with your constituents. That way you can select the particular idea that resonates most with the rest of the group.
Consider several ideas, ones that have to do with different areas: anything from tips to enhance docent education (easy!) to a group project involving multiple organizations in your community (ambitious!).
Realize that your friends back home have not experienced the euphoria of NDS. Be prepared to deliver a sales pitch when you present your ideas. Try to recreate the excitement and enthusiasm you felt at NDS.
GAME CLUES: Think “Col. Mustard in the library with a candlestick”
It is easy to lose track of what inspired you and why amid the multitude of stimulating possibilities at NDS. To help you begin, think of the game of Clue. Keep track of WHO did it, WHERE they did it, and HOW they did it. Below and on the next page you will find a format to help you document and retain three ideas. The final question is “WHY?” Here is where you note what it was about this idea that strikes a chord, bowls you over, makes you stand up and cheer!
BIG IDEA #1
WHO DID IT? (What speaker or delegate expressed this idea? Get contact information in case you have follow–up questions.)
_________________________________________________________________
WHERE DID THEY DO IT? (What museum or venue used this method?)
_________________________________________________________________
HOW DID THEY DO IT? (What methods did they use to get the job done?)
__________________________________________________________________
WHY DID I GET EXCITED?
BIG IDEA #2
WHO DID IT? (What speaker or delegate expressed this idea? Get contact information in case you have follow–up questions.)
_________________________________________________________________
WHERE DID THEY DO IT? (What museum or venue used this method?)
_________________________________________________________________
HOW DID THEY DO IT? (What methods did they use to get the job done?)
__________________________________________________________________
WHY DID I GET EXCITED?
BIG IDEA #3
WHO DID IT? (What speaker or delegate expressed this idea? Get contact information in case you have follow–up questions.)
_________________________________________________________________
WHERE DID THEY DO IT? (What museum or venue used this method?)
_________________________________________________________________
HOW DID THEY DO IT? (What methods did they use to get the job done?)
__________________________________________________________________
WHY DID I GET EXCITED?
YOUR NEXT MOVES:
- 1. Outline a Tentative Plan
Describe how the “Big Idea” can be modified to fit your museum.
- 2.Answer These Important Questions:
- Who will benefit from this “Big Idea”? Will it be your museum, your docents or some other segment of your community? Or… will it be a combination of all three?
- How will each entity benefit?
- What expenses can we anticipate and how might they be funded?
- 3.Collaborate
- Collaboration is the key to any good project.
- You need to recruit a few likeminded, dependable cohorts who will enthusiastically invest themselves in this project with you.
- Work with this core group in further defining your goals.
- Jointly prepare a proposal to market your plan to others.
- 4. Present Your
- Your Museum Staff: Arrange a time when you can make a presentation to the staff of your museum. If they aren’t interested, all bets are off.
- Your Fellow Docents: Select a time when you can pitch your plan to other docents whom you will need to carry out the project. Mere warm bodies won’t work. Look for volunteers who will commit to sharing ownership and being part of a team.
- Your Community: Consider teaming up with other museums or entities that have docent programs. Pooling your resources will increase your options. You might even start a docent coalition in your area. However, be sure that whoever you get to join you has the backing of their organization. In other words, they need the authority to speak for their museum and make commitments on its behalf.
Community entities that you might consider include organizations as diverse
as a public library, a school, or a local chapter of a philanthropic or nonprofit
group.
- 5.Obtain Commitments
Remember, just because people like an idea does not mean they want to do all the heavy lifting involved in making it come to pass. We suggest you obtain from each participant a commitment in writing as to what they can and are willing to contribute to the project and what dates and times will work for them. Then you can measure how they will fit into the project and what their level of commitment will be. This will help avoid future misunderstandings.
PLANNING SEVERAL MOVES IN ADVANCE:
The following questions can help your group begin working on the final plan for the “Big Idea.”
Why should we do this? (Articulate the purpose of the “Big Idea” and explain what you hope to accomplish by going forward with this program or project.) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Who is the target audience? ___________________________________________
Is this going to be an ongoing program or a singular event? _________________
Location! Location! What is the logical venue? (What is your second choice?) Do we bring the people we will serve to the museum or bring the museum to those we intend to serve?
__________________________________________________________________
How many participants are needed?
_______________________Key players _________________Supporting players
When should we begin and when should we finish?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How are we going to fund this project? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How do we measure the success of the project? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________