We’ve just returned from the annual Museums in Conversation conference where Upstate History Alliance announced the results of a six-month project with Paperkite Creative Communications to change its name and visual identity.

Why change?

Upstate History Alliance is an organization that serves museums and heritage organizations throughout New York with best practices, regular professional development and a popular regranting program.

In short, they had a name that not only was inaccurate, but actually limited their reach. Staff and board members constantly found themselves explaining that the organization was all over the state – not just upstate. And membership was open to all types of museums, not just history museums and historic sites.

They have as much to offer people working in a children’s museum in Westchester as they do a historic house in the Catskills.

How we approached it

Changing a name is probably the most dramatic and potentially nerve-jangling activity that any organization can undergo. Our hats are off to this organization’s leadership for being so engaged and hands-on in this process. Without the kind of genuine collaboration we experienced in this project, there is no way we could have done the work we did and come to a conclusion that pleased as many people as this one did.

We kicked-off this project at the board’s annual retreat at Great Camp Sagamore, and that set a tone for the relationship like nothing else could. We spent a full day in a beautiful setting that allowed creativity to flow, ideas to flourish and conversation to happen.

It was hard work, but by the end of the day, we had a DNA chart that spoke to the essence of the organization. That chart served as the basis for determining whether anything else we did on the project was successful. We were always asking whether we were hitting the truth we had identified in the beginning.

The result

As of April, 2010, Upstate History Alliance has become Museumwise. The name reflects both the constituency and the character of the organization while remaining inclusive and welcoming. Museumwise’s executive director and board president, Catherine Gilbert and Andrew Kitzmann,  unveiled its name Sunday evening at the opening reception of the Museums in Conversation conference, and board members handed out lapel buttons with the new graphics and the words “I Am Museumwise.”

We are so happy for Museumwise and everyone involved. Our work isn’t quite finished, as we’re moving forward now to update the Museumwise website. Stay tuned for the website launch in May!

Cooper the Fox, Mascot for Coop Kids

We are lucky enough to be part of a group of local organizations who have come together to create a community calendar hub called Coop Kids.

The page quietly launched last night after a few months of preparation and meetings and response was pretty swift. Within half an hour, we had enough fans to secure a user name for the page, so that we could give out an address that looks like this: www.facebook.com/coopkids rather than like this: http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Cooperstown-NY/Paperkite-Creative-Workshops/183742475331. (PS – if you’re reading this, why don’t you slip over to the Creative Workshops page and fan us up so we can get our custom user name).

Today, it has twice that number, and I expect it will continue to grow as we begin publicizing it in earnest.

This is one of those grassroots projects that grew organically out of a sincere desire to do something useful for the community: Namely to provide a place where families could find comprehensive listings of kid-oriented events, and where all the various organizations in town who offer children’s programming can communicate to find greater strength in collaboration.

Paperkite was involved on two fronts, both as a programming provider (because of our creative workshops) and as a communications facilitator.

Representatives from the initial organizations met last fall to begin the dialogue. Everyone was enthusiastic about the project, although there were reservations about getting involved in something that would add another layer of responsibility on already busy schedules.

After collecting notes, ideas, concerns and other thoughts from the group, we explored different directions the project could go.

Should it be a print calendar? A combination print and online calendar? How would we handle costs and responsibilities? Could the whole thing live online? If so, who would administer the site? How would we build it? Who would pay for hosting and design and day-to-day maintenance of the site?

We quickly dismissed the idea of a print-only piece as being both too costly and labor intensive to be sustainable. And since the goal was to create a truly comprehensive resource, we acknowledged that we could never do that in print.

Instead, we would use small printed promotional fliers (design donated by one affiliate and copying donated by another) to publicize the online space.

We explored different logistics for getting online, and ultimately decided that Facebook was a good way to start, since a Facebook fan page had all the functionality we wanted (multiple admins, events calendar, discussion forum, interactivity with the audience), it was free and – this is the best reason of all – people are there already. We don’t have the challenge of instilling a new habit of checking a new website.

I hope that this idea grows over time and eventually perhaps even outgrows Facebook. For now, it’s an excellent example of grassroots collaboration that benefits both the collaborators and their audiences.

We would like to thank all of the collaborators who have made this happen:

The Farmers’ Museum

Fenimore Art Museum

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

The Clark Sports Center

Cooperstown Art Association

Cooperstown PTO

The Brookwood School

The Smithy-Pioneer Gallery

Friends of the Village Library

Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival

Cooperstown Performing Arts

Paperkite Creative Workshops

It’s not just us – things are getting more and more interesting around our home-base of Cooperstown and the surrounding communities.

Most people know about Cooperstown because of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The opera crowd has long been familiar with Glimmerglass Opera and its stellar summer season. The Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum are two other little gems that have been touted by national media such as the New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today.

We’re big fans of all of our traditional cultural attractions. Susan and I even serve on a committee at the Fenimore and Farmers’ Museums to increase appeal to young professionals, which we joined because the committee meets in places like Brewery Ommegang (disclosure).

So there has always been something going on here. Even in the bitter, snow-drift-covered winter months, there’s usually something to do if you look hard enough.

But in the past six months, there are suddenly so MANY things to do it’s hard to keep up.

The Smithy-Pioneer Gallery is proving that you can bring some seriously new culture to a town’s oldest building (here’s their website and their Facebook page, which is more active).

The “Fen & Farm” (short for Fenimore and Farmers’) has continued hosting some wonderful cultural events, such as the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, as well as a stunning season of exhibits at the art museum, including Walker Evans photography and “America’s Rome.” They’ve also added weeklong immersive daycamp experiences for kids at The Farmers’ Museum, art classes for kids at the Feminore Art Museum and great events such as Taste of the Sublime (full disclosure: my husband works there, and I am friends with many of the other folks there, so I have first-hand knowledge of just how dedicated and passionate they are about what the museums stand for).

Just a few miles south of Cooperstown, Foothills Performing Arts Center is bringing in one amazing act after another from NYC and all over the country. Under new leadership, the team there has focused its mission on providing theater and entertainment that is just not available in this community.

Disclosure: Foothills is a client of ours, and we are honestly humbled by the work they’re doing. Instead of maintaining the status quo and wishing for the staff and money to run the type of venue they dream of, they jumped in and did it. And if it means their executive director is clearing martini glasses at Thursday’s cabaret night, that’s what they’re committed to doing.

And now, just outside of Cooperstown, the new Rangjung Yeshe Gomde meditation center has opened under the leadership of Phakchok Rinpoche. The center’s first weeklong retreat will happen Aug. 30 through Sept. 5.

Honestly, I could go on and on. Every day, it seems like we see one more activity, event or exhibition that makes us slap our foreheads and say, “What a great idea.”

What excited us most, though, is that we believe this type of cultural and creative activity is self-regenerating. Two art galleries don’t split each other’s potential in half; they double each other’s potential.

And in this economy, it’s going to be the creative, collaborative and innovative communities that thrive.