Once again, @robertjweisberg surfaces a critical question for #museums: have we reached (or passed) Peak Conference? museumhuman.com/are-we-enterin… I've been thinking about starting a Twitter thread with "Conferences, we need to talk." The conferencing model is broken - and chairing two (good!) conferences in 2021 made that super clear to me.

Following the meeting of @FortHancock21 and @GatewayNPS. They were surprised at the pushback to Stillman proposal at the Town Hall and are proposing creating a Working Group to help them communicate better. @SHFNJ @MonmouthConserv #monmouth The thesis is that people don't understand the proposal process and are being misled by misinformation. They believe they've communicated enough, and want the working group to assist. There seems to be confusion between those who don't understand, and those who simply disagree.

Much-awaited @LaPlacaCohen report on COVID and arts/culture orgs is out. Just reading the topline PDF and a few things jump out (thread). culturetrack.com/research/repor… 1. Strong patterns in "what people want more of" and "what people miss most": connection with others, fun, relaxation, escape. Information/learning too, but it comes 4th on list of 5 choices.

Week 5 update on #museum staff impact: total furloughed and laid off staff this week stands at 11,429 (6.5% of Feb 2020 employment). It's not a huge increase over last week (10,688/6%). We know this sheet is an undercount, but it does indicate staff impact has slowed. That's likely thanks to the hope of payroll protection in the CARES act. Museums are currently exploring its stipulations and limits. It provides payroll support for 8-week period between March 27 and June 30. seyfarth.com/news-insights/…

At the of COVID Week 4, the total combined #museum furloughs/layoffs tracked on this sheet stands at 8485, or nearly 5% of the total people employeed in this profession according to BLS stats from Feb 2020. I'm adding a few additional notes to this thread. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d… First, we know this is a significant undercount. The sheet only shows data someone has entered. Sometimes data comes from announcements by museums themselves, sometimes by employees (both affected and remaining), and sometimes because it's been reported in the local press.