Museum Work Musings . . .: The Ka-Ching File

Ha. I have actually been musing about museum work . . . go figure my blog title actually makes sense . . .

Yes, I have been reviewing my work experiences, figuring out ways to highlight and categorize and document project accomplishments and goals met and all that. I have been struggling with what to focus on, and if I should categorize my work by specific museum projects, or should I focus on more general management skills. Or is it maybe more about how I connect with a specific position, and with the people there? How do I tell the world I have really enjoyed the experiences and connections I have made, and how I would bring that enthusiasm to future opportunities, with all my heart?

I have not been sure on how to process all of this, so I thought I could start with my most recent work. I have been wrestling on how to write a blog post about my experience as a senior registrar in a large institution, and wondering why it has been difficult to document, as I loved the work so much. I picked up a couple of work notebooks and went through them . . . holy moly, I was *smokin'* BUSY. Non-stop, so many projects, so many deadlines, so many responsibilities. Notes to myself, scheduling, timelines checked off, highlighted, moved forward, resolved and, ya, sometimes abandoned / set aside for another day. Notes of extra hours put in whenever they were required, getting those high priority issues resolved. Through all of this, though, I neglected to properly document what I was doing because the pace was so fast. Sound familiar to anyone else?

So here I am, trying to rebuild and write down what I did and how I got it done, taking stock of all the amazing experiences thus far. And although the past 8 years have been in a museum, I have had some recent reminders that a good amount of my career has been spent as a lone ambassador of history / collections care-giver / heritage person / interpretation specialist in organizations with other purposes. In fact, I even recently interviewed for a director role in a place I had worked previously. Although they ended up hiring the incumbent, it was a great experience to go through, for a number of reasons. One is that I updated my resume to a more general one, focussing on management tasks and guiding people more than collections-based projects. Another is getting an interview is intimidating but exciting, and I need practice using my energy to properly highlight all I can do. But the best part was reviewing what I did there 15 years ago, and finding out all the programs I developed -- the database I designed, the tour guide documents I pulled together and the interpretive panels I wrote -- they are all still being used today. And I was told how much they appreciated what I created while I was there, and how it added to the site.

How could I have 'forgotten' all that work? Why isn't it top of mind and why was I surprised to hear it made a difference, had longevity? I cannot be that humble, can I?

This got me thinking . . . and I then found further evidence that I need to really polish up how I self-assess my work and highlight it for others. You see, I was in an old email account and found a file called "Ka-ching". Here I had placed emails from people who said they enjoyed my work from ten years plus ago. There were over 40 emails! FORTY EMAILS OF HOW I MADE A DIFFERENCE?!! Some highlights, if I may be so bold:

Oh my goodness, I am overwhelmed! Thank you so much for taking the time to send those pictures to me. I am so grateful and touched at your kindness. I love them so much and I will forward them on to his sisters who are in Ontario. I am sure that they will appreciate your generosity as well.

Thank you so much for including me on all those E mails and most importantly facilitating this whole process. Your knowledge of procedures, contacts and dedication to this project has been absolutely fabulous and has gone a long way to solidifying great donor relationships and I know will be appreciated by the whole family who as you know were instrumental in establishing and significantly funding here.

Caroline has accomplished a heck of a lot since she started and has earned my heartfelt appreciation for her enthusiasm, her professionalism, and her ability to move plans to completion.

We thought it would be a great idea to chat to Caroline Posynick* to see if she could give us a “Short History Lesson” with some notes that we could be able to convey to our inquisitive guests, before suggesting that they continue on with an actual tour. Caroline was amazing. Not only did she jump at the opportunity to share, but she also spent some time, ‘sprucing up her Power Point’. And she didn’t bat an eye, when it was suggested that we also include our Tour Guide teammates, so the group became bigger. I organized a laptop, and with the help of AV Services, we were set up in a break out room with a flat screen. Caroline met us on Thursday morning, and gave us a truly fabulous and informative session. She brought some of the books out of the Archives, and had lots of notes to share, along with a couple of presentations. She even had a copy of a Census form from 1911 that was amazing to see, and try and figure out! It is easy to see that she is passionate about her work. (*Posynick was my last name until 2019.)

I am so, so glad that I thought to save these emails, as they are a reminder of just how many projects I have worked on, and these notes show how I got things done, and how I connected with people. For me to find my next work adventure, I need to be able to confidently and unabashedly state what I have accomplished in the past so that they can clearly envision what I could do for them in the future.

I know that days are fast-paced, and it is difficult to find time to take stock. It is vital though, and I am clearly seeing that now. I read just recently about a recommendation on how having an open document on your desktop that is regularly updated with accomplishments goes a long way to making you feel like you're making a difference. It also can provide energy when you need a boost, or when you know it is time to make a change. At least that is what I am finding... the ka-ching moments are most definitely golden. Keep them, re-read them, believe them and remember them!