In this episode, Amy officially introduces the fifth annual "Love my Museum Summer Series." She shares the origin story of the series and explains what's in store for each week in July and August. If this summer has you feeling like there's no way you can step away, the Summer Survival Guide is here to help!

Links from the Episode:

• Sign up for the Summer Survival Guide Series here!

More Free Resources for Museums:

• Getting Visitors Through Your Museum’s Doors: Building Connection in a Noisy World ebook
• Museum Planning Calendar
• Museum Metrics Template

About the host:

Amy Kehs is a brand strategist and communications expert for museums. She has owned Kehs Communications since 2000 and has worked for the most renowned and well-loved museums in Washington, D.C. Her goal is to ensure that museums thrive into the next century, and she hopes people will come to love museums as much as she does. Her proven process sets up proactive communication habits for museums, cultivating relationships with visitors who will want to return and bring a friend. Want to talk more? Click this link to book a call.

It's that time of year again.

2

The fifth annual Love My Museum summer

series is about to launch, and today

3

I'm telling you everything about it.

4

This year it's called The Museum

Professional's Summer Survival Guide,

5

and if you work in a museum, I think

you're going to wanna be a part of it.

6

Let's get started.

7

Hello, and welcome to the

Love My Museum podcast.

8

I'm your host, Amy Kehs,

and I love museums.

9

If you work in a museum and you wanna

get more visitors through your doors

10

and have them come back and bring a

friend, you are in the right place.

11

I'm a brand strategist and communications

expert for museums, and I have

12

spent decades helping museums just

like yours become places their

13

communities can't stop talking about.

14

Today on the podcast, I am so excited

to officially introduce The Museum

15

Professional's Summer Survival Guide, the

fifth annual Love My Museum summer series.

16

So let's just say it out loud.

17

Summer is supposed to be fun, and

if you work in a museum, summer

18

is also your busiest season.

19

There's extra programming and events.

20

There are tourists that are arriving

in your town and may be visiting

21

your museum for the first time.

22

And if you're in the United States,

America 250th celebrations are

23

also on your plate this summer.

24

It is full on.

25

And somewhere in the middle of all

that, you wanna take a vacation, but

26

here's what I hear from a lot of museum

professionals They end up skipping

27

the vacation altogether because the

thought of coming back to a mountain of

28

backed up work, unanswered emails, and

everything that piled up while they were

29

gone, it just doesn't feel worth it.

30

The vacation starts to feel more

like it's more trouble than it's

31

worth, and so they just don't go.

32

I talked about this two weeks ago in the

last episode, the AAM data showing that

33

only 4% of museums are working smarter

and using systems to support their teams

34

instead of just adding to their plates.

35

That's a big part of why stepping

away feels so impossible.

36

It's not that you're bad at taking

vacations, it's that nothing is set up

37

to run without you, and that is what the

Museum Professional's Summer Survival

38

Guide is going to help you change.

39

So for those of you who are new to

my community, every summer for the

40

past four years, I've put together

a series for museum professionals.

41

It started as a weekly email series, and

then two years ago when I launched this

42

podcast, I added episodes to it as well.

43

The first year I did this was 2022, and

honestly, it started because I had COVID.

44

I tested positive right before a

once-in-a-lifetime family vacation.

45

My daughter was studying abroad in France,

and we were going to visit her, and then

46

we were all going on a river cruise.

47

Once-in-a-lifetime

vacation, and I had COVID.

48

I was so worried about getting everyone

sick that I quarantined myself in

49

our guest room and I had a lot of

time while I waited to get better.

50

It also meant that I was about to

take a significant chunk of time off,

51

something I honestly hadn't done in

a while, and I started thinking about

52

my community that I was building.

53

I didn't wanna just go quiet for weeks,

And so I put together an email series.

54

I scheduled it all out in advance,

and I went on vacation knowing my

55

community was still being taken care of.

56

And I worked on that series

while I was in quarantine.

57

The first series had a summer

camp theme all around authentic

58

messaging, getting clear on who

you are and what you want to say.

59

And that experience of building it,

of creating something useful that

60

could run while I stepped away kind

of planted the seed for everything

61

that I'm teaching this summer.

62

Year two was the Summer Vibe series,

and that was inspired by my first summer

63

after college working in the city and

what my office mates taught me about

64

slowing down and going easy on yourself

and still getting the work done.

65

And then year three was Brand Camp, one

of my favorites, all about the power of

66

brand messaging and why a brand kit is one

of the most underrated tools a museum has.

67

And last year, we did a summer book

club series around my e-book, Getting

68

Visitors Through Your Museum Stores.

69

Every year, I try to make it more useful

than the last, and this year, year five,

70

feels like the most necessary one yet.

71

So here is what the Museum Professional's

Summer Survival Guide is all about.

72

It really is permission to log off

even during your busiest season.

73

We kick off at the beginning of July,

July 7th, and every week in July and

74

August, you'll get a Tuesday email.

75

And then every other week, you'll also

get a podcast episode to go along with it.

76

The emails and the episodes

are designed to work together.

77

You really want both.

78

Here's what we're covering.

79

So in July, we start with the most

immediate useful stuff, what to

80

put in place before your vacation

so you can actually enjoy it, and

81

the, especially the communication

tasks you honestly should never be

82

doing yourself, practical, specific

things that you can use right away.

83

In August, we're gonna go a little deeper.

84

We talk about what it looks like when a

museum's communications operations are

85

really running smoothly, when everything

works and nothing falls apart just because

86

one person has to take a step back.

87

And that can be a summer vacation.

88

It could also be an illness.

89

It could be, family leave.

90

And then we will close out the summer

with something that I think is going to

91

be a light bulb moment for a lot of you.

92

I'm not going to give that away today,

but by the end of August, I think

93

you're going to see your museum a

little differently in a really good way.

94

One more thing that I'm weaving

through the email series this summer

95

is an AI tip for each topic, a real

prompt that you can copy and paste

96

into Claude or Microsoft Copilot.

97

Now, I know a lot of museums are

nervous about AI, whether it's

98

appropriate, whether it's safe, what

it means for the environment, what it

99

means for jobs, what it means for the

integrity of your communications, and

100

these are all legitimate concerns.

101

I want to acknowledge them

because I have them too.

102

But here's where I'm coming from.

103

I was a 20-something in the 1990s when

the internet was new, and there were

104

a lot of people who were hesitant, who

didn't want to use it, who thought it was

105

a fad or a threat or just not for them.

106

But my generation knew it wasn't going

away, and we knew it was important

107

that our voices were a part of it,

that we showed up and shaped how it

108

was used rather than stepping back

and letting everyone else decide.

109

And I feel the same way about AI.

110

I have all of the same concerns.

111

I am actively looking for the safest

and most appropriate ways to use it.

112

But I also know that it matters who is

in the room as AI is coming to life.

113

It matters that women are in that

conversation, that minority voices are in

114

that conversation, that people who care

about mission-driven work and community

115

and culture are in that conversation.

116

Because if we step back, we're

gonna lose our seat at the table.

117

So I am not here to tell you

that AI is perfect or that

118

your concerns aren't valid.

119

I'm here to help you find a way in

that feels right for your institution.

120

Just one small thing each week,

something practical and low stakes

121

that you can actually try out.

122

These AI tips will only be in the

emails, not in the podcast episodes.

123

So if you want those, you'll want to

make sure you're in my email community.

124

I'll tell you more about why I recommend

Claude and Copilot specifically

125

in the first email of the series.

126

Okay, so how to get the

most out of this series.

127

The Museum Professional Summer

Survival Guide lives in two places,

128

as we've already talked about, right

here on the podcast every other

129

week and in my weekly Tuesday email.

130

The podcast episodes this

summer will be shorter.

131

I want them to be short and

something that you can listen

132

to quickly and then take action.

133

In the weekly emails, you'll

find the links to the podcast

134

episodes, some additional stories,

tips, including those AI tips

135

The link to join the email

community is in the show notes.

136

You can also find it on my website.

137

You can find it on social media.

138

I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook,

and Instagram @lovemymuseum.

139

It just takes a few

seconds, and then you're in.

140

I would love to have you there.

141

the series starts July 7th, and I'll see

you then thank you so much for being here.

142

Keep loving your museum,

and I'll see you next time.