Heritage Never Gets Old

It’s a great time to get involved in the museum and heritage sector. In the next few years alone, Canadians will celebrate the 150^th anniversary of Confederation (2017), the 200^th birthday of our first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald (2015), and the centennial of the Great War (2014), in which Canadians played a major role in important battles such as Vimy Ridge.

In light of all these commemorations, the government is focusing on our history more than ever. In 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared Canadian heritage to be a top priority. Even in a time of economic uncertainty, Harper has promised that the heritage sector, a $46 billion dollar industry which provides over 630 000 jobs, will have steady funding for the next five years.

Museums have a valuable role in society. They tell the stories of people who can no longer tell their stories themselves. They promote cultural unity through understanding and appreciation. They act as teacher, storyteller, and facilitator of discussion all at the same time.

Budget Day, a day like no other!

Uncertainties, tweets, and a cold 

Federal Budget Day in Ottawa: this is the most revealing day following our yearlong push for museums. Throughout the year, we are meeting MPs, Senators, hosting our annual Hill Day (where you can participate), and appearing before Parliamentary Committees, but it all cumulates in the Budget speech.

I always attend the budget lockup and despite having a very bad cold, off I went along with our indomitable Audrey Vermette. This was her first time in the lock up. This is one of those events not to miss, rubbing shoulders with famous journalists, lobbyists, consultants, politicians, etc.

When we arrived, there was the usual tension in the air; will we be discovering bad news, or good news? We arrived with draft statements for both scenarios, which had to be rewritten after we poured over some 600 pages of documents. We had to ask skill-testing questions of federal officials who frequently are at evasion.

Our objective is to report to our members, within an hour of the budget speech. We also have to do this in both official languages which in itself is a major feat. Afterwards,  we send it out to members by email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Back in the days when we had reporters devoted to our sector, I was in the unique position of being the only voice interviewed, which was a golden opportunity to get our message out. Today the media is only interested if there is a major story about cuts; good news is not news!

As soon as Mr. Flaherty started his budget speech at 4pm, we were back to the CMA office to finalize our communiqué so you would have the relevant news firsthand within the hour. The communiqué also goes to politicians. This year we quickly heard back from James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage, with congratulations on our accurate work. He even sent our message along on his own Twitter feed.

In actuality, it is his good work we must acknowledge as he once again has been the champion of our sector which survived the 2013-2014 budget intact. You can read our analysis of the federal budget, what is new and what news you need to know on our website at www.museums.ca.

Soon after, I went back to bed to nurse my cold!

John G. McAvity
Executive Director

The CMA will be Ignited! | L’AMC prendra feu!

Ignite talks have become a popular form of public speaking. They allow for coverage of a large number of topics within a short period of time. The CMA will be repeating this fun and innovative presentation style at this year’s National Conference, run by THEMUSEUM of Kitchener-Waterloo. Last year’s Ignite talks were a huge success and after receiving a lot of positive feedback we’re excited to be offering them again.

For those of you who might not be familiar with this style of presentation, each speaker is given 5 minutes to speak. They must have a power point presentation with a set of 20 slides set to automatically refresh every 15 seconds. This format can be fun for speakers and audiences, especially when a degree of respect is given to the presenters.

Welcome! Bienvenue !

Welcome to the Canadian Museums Association’s official blog! We are pleased to now be part of the blogosphere. Here, we will share pertinent information for our members and for Canada’s museum community.

Through this platform, we will discuss current issues affecting museums across Canada. Since this spring, the CMA has engaged with our members through social media outlets, allowing us to start a dialogue and be more involved in our community. Coming together, we can share ideas and come up with solutions to the challenges that our institutions are currently facing. Together, we are stronger!

Don’t forget to visit our website for the most up-to-date information on everything affecting Canadian museums.

Happy blogging!

John G. McAvity
Executive Director

****

Bienvenue au blogue officiel de l’Association des musées canadiens ! Nous sommes fiers de maintenant faire partie de la blogosphère. Ici, nous partagerons des informations pertinentes pour nos membres et pour la communauté muséale du Canada.

À travers cette plateforme, nous discuterons des enjeux actuels qui affectent les musées partout au Canada. Depuis ce printemps, l’AMC s’est engagée avec ses membres à travers les médias sociaux, ce qui nous permet d’entamer un dialogue et d’être plus impliquées dans notre communauté. En nous rassemblant, nous pouvons partager nos idées et penser à des solutions pour les défis que nos institutions font face actuellement. Ensemble, nous sommes plus forts !

N’oubliez pas de visiter notre site Web pour accéder aux informations les plus à jour sur tout ce qui affecte les musées au Canada.


John G. McAvity
Directeur général

It's a beautiful day !

With this blog post, the CMA has entered the world of social media.

The Canadian Museums Association (CMA) is the national organization for the advancement of the Canadian museum sector, representing Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internationally. The CMA works for the recognition, growth, and stability of the sector. It was established by a small group of people in Quebec City in 1947. There were 161 museums in Canada in 1951; by 1972 there were 838 museums, galleries and related institutions. As the quantity of Canadian museums increased, so did the need for the CMA.

Today, the CMA has nearly 2,000 members, and supports them with training and professional development programs, conferences, publications, networking opportunities, a body of knowledge, and a dedicated staff.

CMA members include non-profit museums, art galleries, science centres, aquaria, archives, sport halls-of-fame, artist-run centres, zoos and historic sites across Canada. They range from large metropolitan galleries to small community museums. All are dedicated to preserving and presenting Canada's cultural heritage to the public. Over the past 60 years, Canada's museums have developed an international reputation for excellent programming, dedicated public service, and high standards of professionalism.

The CMA is governed by an elected Board of Directors and maintains a full-service Secretariat in Ottawa.